Death and misery
The Witch Craze is a consequence of the great social and economic trouble of the times. Epidemics, wars, hunger that brought death, pain and misery to the population had to
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Origins of witchcraft
There are numerous explanations for the bloody practices of our ancestors who tortured and killed several thousands of innocents because they suspected them to be witches. Being a witch was then considered to be some sort of monster that belonged to the devil.
Historians and other scholars have long debated the reasons for the witch trials. The majority of historians concur that there never were any such organized group of witches.
Mainstream historiography sees the reason for the witch craze in a complex interplay of various factors that mark the Early Modern period, including the religious sectarianism in the wake if the Reformation, besides societal, economic and climatic factors.
Bloody business
A careful study of the victims of witch trials shows that not only poor people were accused and executed but also rich and respected townpeople. It was easy to accuse
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The Goddess Connection
One of the leading, though controversial, advocates of the connection between the European witchcraft of more modern times and the prehistoric pagan past was the Egyptologist Margaret Murray who authored
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Stereotype of the witch
At the end of the Middle Ages, the recurring beliefs about witches were: The ride by night The pact with the Devil The formal repudiation of Christianity The secret nocturnal
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Psychiatric disorders
The cases of possession that made the headlines at the end of the witchcraze (Loudun, Louviers, …) cast a new light on the origins of witchcraft. Nuns and monks that
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Secret Cult of the Devil
It is usually said that there was no organization of witches until the thirteenth century. Nevertheless, numerous documents have been written about an organized anti-Christian religion supported by consistent testimonies
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Women’s persecution
The study of the witch-hunt reveals that 90% of the victims were women. Among the accused women, most of them were elderly women aged more than 60. The Renaissance Christian
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Political executions
The Church and the legal power have used witchcraft as the main charge against other religious or political groups that were following a different course.The Albigensians (1209-1324) of the south
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