Witch hunts??

Question

What are your views on the 16th century witch hunts in Europe and why do you think they happened? What is your own personal theory on them and do you think they were justified?

Wow such fantastic answers, have studied this myself and totally agree so far.

Thanks all x

Thanks Maid Angela I live in East Anglia too and its very true there was certainly a lot of unjustified persecutions at the hands of that awful specimen of a man!!! Didn't he get accused himself of being a witch in the end or was that just a myth??

Answer 1

Witch hunts had little to do with actual witches.

They began for several reasons: A) post-enlightenment views of religion, ie "the enlightenment made my religion less powerful, so it can't protect me anymore. I have to destroy evil myself", and B) political and religious leaders taking advantage of paranoia and using it to declare their opponents witches

Mostly older unmarried or widowed women were targeted. Some of them were midwifes, and few of them were the "wise women" or healers of their villages.

Answer 2

Actually, the reasoning for the "witch hunts" started back in the 1400's with what is known as the Malleus Mallificarium, otherwise known as "The Witches Hammer".
This was a book written by 2 german monks who worked as inquisitors to identify "heretics"
It was a handbook that described not only what a witch was, but who was able to accuse someone of being a witch. There were practically no rules about the integrty of the accusers, and anyone or anything could constitute someone for being a witch.
The handbook also identified how to get a "submission of guilt" from the accused, as well as different ways of killing, punishing or torturing these people, (usually women).

It was found out 2 centuries later that the approval of the church that the 2 monks proclaimed to have, the endorsement of the church, if you will, was fake. By that time all of the damage had been done and people were already into full swing with the witch hunt deal.

To get a complete and more accurate accont of this, you can look up The Witches Hammer, or The Malleus Mallificarium on either google or some search engine from the internet.

Blessings to you...
I hope you find what it is you seek.

BB
)o(
Trinity

Answer 3

Witch hunts certainly happened in my area. I live in East Anglia and Mathew Hopkins the witch finder general came from here. There were as many people convicted of witchcraft in East Anglia as there were in the rest of England put together.
Hopkins came to Great Yarmouth and "found" a number of witches. They were put on trial and a number of the executed. (Not burned at the stake. In England that was the penalty for heresy not witchcraft) However the cost to the town was enormous because most of the people convicted had no money to speak of and of course Hopkins had to be paid as well. The town refused to have him back again.

Answer 4

I think the witch hunts in the 16th century happened for the same reason witch hunts are still happening in parts of Africa and India (and even right here in the good old USA), and for the same reasons most evil acts are done, said reasons being to acquire power (over the victims and others), to acquire wealth, to blame someone (other than oneself) when things go wrong, dislike of anyone who is different, hatred, envy, justification and elevation of one's own beliefs by oppressing and suppressing those of others - and of course some people are just vile and like to cause pain and grief to others. The amazing thing is that one or two evildoers can instigate these things - and then everyone else, the supposedly "nice" people, go along with it. That is the part that really appalls me - and if there is one thing seriously wrong with us, with humankind, I think that is it.

Hey, your neighbor pissed you off by being smarter than you? Do you want his farm? Has he got more goats than you? Accuse him and his wife of witchcraft - as the accuser, you'll get his goats and land when he and his wife are found guilty (after the judge and headman get their cut). And he and his family will be fertilizer.

And then there's the typical pick-on-some-other-group-to- cause-mass-hysteria-and- draw-your-group-together-and amass-popular-support- and-more-followers, notoriety and money ploy (also known as finger-pointing). Picking a group that someone else has already victimized or vilified works especially well. Did wonders for Hitler during WWII. And who could forget the McCarthy era - good times - if you were conscience-less power-hungry scum that is. Your political opponent beating you in the polls? Accuse him of witchcraft! Or some other "un-American" activity. Evildoers never get tired of the finger-pointing ploy because it keeps on working - which doesn't say much for our intelligence or ability to learn from past mistakes. Of course, in the case of Hitler and McCarthy, the ground swell against actions that were utterly vile finally stopped them - but only after much evil was done - still, I guess there is hope.

Any of you read about the 15 year old in Oklahoma who was persecuted in 1999 because she supposedly cast a spell on her teacher and made him sick? She was apparently persecuted by the entire student body - and the teachers - and was suspended from school. Or that nutty pastor in Texas who encouraged his parishoners to burn witches and targeted a local wiccan sect - after being encouraged by then Texas Governor George W. Bush saying "Wicca is not a religion, and that military bases should not allow Wiccans the same freedoms that Christians enjoy"? Uh huh - so if somebody has a different religion than me, it is ok to burn them up? - yup, really enlightened. Hey, you can't make this stuff up - as always, truth is stranger (and more appalling) than fiction:
http://www.aclu.org/religion/schools/16295prs20001026.html
http://www.positiveatheism.org/writ/bushwicca.htm
http://altreligion.about.com/b/a/257575.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/31/AR2007083101954.html

Answer 5

I believe it was based on a lust for power fueled by fear and ignorance. This is one of the darkest periods in world history, in my view. No less catastrophic than the Holocaust.

Justified? It would take a sick individual to even attempt such at this point in history.

Brightest Blessings

Answer 6

there is a fantastic book on the subject, titled The Witch Hunts, the author's first name is Robert I think, the last name I can't recall, but it lays out the reasons behind the Witch hunts, which were multiple and complex.

Answer 7

Misguided, superstitious people. But in many respects Jesus's crucification was a similar episode. He was killed because he didn't fit the religious beliefs of the time. He was accused of sorcery and witchcraft for healing people and befriending "sinners" and outcasts.

Answer 8

Of course they weren't justified.

All those poor Christians and Jews that were killed. It's terrible for them to be labeled witches by people of their own faith and executed by those self-same people.

I think the 17th century stuff was worse.

Answer 9

It was also done to steal other peoples land, so many reasons for this evilness. Eventually I think it was a King that stopped it thank God.

Answer 10

A combination of religious intolerance and bigotry, and ergotism.

The fungi, ergot, when consumed can produce hallucinations.