The Major Reasons Of The Witch Craze In Europe

Beginning in the 1480s and ending in about the 1700s, many countries participated in the witch craze, which included torturing, persecuting, and executing those thought to be witches. The persecution of witches and the trials that followed shaped the way society thought for generations to come and changed the way the Government conducted investigations and set up the judicial system. About 100,000 people were accused of being witches and were tried in many parts of Europe, especially in Western Europe. At first, they were thought to be works of the Devil trying to harm humankind, but soon other reasons came to be for their persecution. The major reasons why people were persecuted as witches in Europe was because of religious beliefs, socioeconomic status, sex, and greed for personal gain.

The witch craze, which happened right in the middle of religious reform, was much influenced by values and beliefs of people. Many religious leaders, who were fighting for reform from the Catholic Church made their opinions and beliefs public to everyone. As a result, religion was a very important factor in people’s decisions. For example, the influences of the Devil, who most look at as the evil in every religion, changed people to do harmful and destructive things. In Doc. 5, William Fulbecke says that “they use their very breath and their sight, being apt for contagion, and by the Devil whetted for such purpose, to the vexation and destruction of others.” As a lawyer and a learned man, Fulbecke is expected to use common sense to find an explanation, but he too believes that the work of the devil is what is causing all these people to become “witches.” His, and others’, fear of the devil is so great that they believe everything bad that is happening to them is the work of the devil, including producing heretic people. Although he, who is educated and literate, would be expected to have no religious bias is this case, he forgets about all his learning and reverts to religion, which was so influential at the time. Similarly, the Pope also spread the notion that the evil and chaos of people were caused by the devil. The Pope, who was the most important and powerful man in the world, had influence over what everybody thought. Pope Innocent VIII, in Doc. 6, said that “many persons of both sexes, heedless of their own salvation and forsaking the Catholic faith, give themselves over to devils male and female.” People revered and listened to the Pope in whatever he had to say, and when it came to this, he made people believe that the Devil was controlling people. The common folk, who were mostly uneducated and illiterate, mindlessly followed their religion, and when the Pope, and other religious leaders planted the idea of the Devil, they hung onto it and began persecuting in the name of God. In the end of this document, the Pope also calls for the punishment of these possessed people, which further progresses the witch craze. Based on these two documents, it is safe to say that religion was a big factor in the persecution of people believed to be witches.

Another reason people accused and persecuted others on account of being witches was because of socioeconomic status. During this time period, there were a plethora of unemployed, poor, and working-class citizens in every country. They were beginning to drag down the economy and make life overall harder for those making money. In one document, a study by Alan Macfarlane shows how the number of accused women in a region of England was compared to the occupations of their husband. The occupations, funnily, go up based on their level and importance in society at the time. In relation to that, the number of wives accused began to go down. For example, there were 23 accused wives of laborers, one wife of a shoemaker was accused, while zero wives of the gentleman were accused. The number was higher with the lower job. This implied that society was targeting mostly the low earning people who were less important to the greater good of the society. As society was worse of than it was 10 years after the witch craze ended, people thought of the lower class as a drain on society and indirectly tried to get rid of them to improve conditions for the others. The study, conducted by Alan Macfarlane, who was most likely a professor in the 1970s, most likely was very objective and had little to no bias. This shows that the accounts were most definitely valid and was intended for the continued research into medieval history. In other accounts, the idea of low socioeconomic levels was also a key factor for the persecution of supposed witches. For example, people wanted scapegoats for their misfortunes, and the poorest people were the ones without a voice in society, so the wealthier people picked the poorest and accused them for things like drought and fires, things that weren’t even in anybody’s control. In this way, socioeconomic also played a major role in the persecution of witches.

Another reason why people were persecuted as being witches was because of their sex. Although this sort of ties into religion, a lot of people believed that women were most likely to be possessed by the devil than men. They believed that women were less trustworthy and should be tortured and jailed. In Doc. 2, Alan Macfarland conducted a survey which showed ho the number of men accused compared to the number of women accused. In Germany alone, there were about 900 more woman accused than man and in Switzerland and France, there were about 800 more women accused than men. In his study, Macfarland is just displaying the sheer difference in the number of women thought to be witches compared to men. An outside source claims that there were many widowed women who did not work or contribute to society. They, like the poor workers, were also thought of as drains on society. Another piece of evidence that supports the fact that sex determined who was accused and why they were accused was because women were thought to be weaker. People believed that women were more likely to be possessed by the Devil and were generally the preferred target. In Doc. 7 Sperger and Kramer, who were demonologists claimed that “women are naturally more impressionable, and more' ready to receive the influence of a disembodied spirit; and that when they use this quality well they are very good, but when they use it ill they are very evil.” At the time, men were thought to be the superior sex and women had virtually no rights. People thought women were not as smart and not as smart, which made them prone to being possessed. People readily believed this because not only priests but demonologists, like the two above, made these claims with “scientific evidence”. The Hammer of Witches, by Sperger and Kramer, where they made these claims, was most likely motivate by making money rather than informing the public about witches’, which is why it has a lot of bias and influenced many people in Europe in the wrong way.

Finally, the last reason for the persecution of individuals as witches is because of greed for personal gain. The craze for witches created and strengthened many jobs. The need for policemen, judges, executioners, and others became a necessity. Although some took the trial fairly, others just wanted to persecute witches for the money they would make from working and from the things the jailed witches left behind. In the Canon Linden, it clearly states that “this movement was promoted by many in office, who hoped for wealth from the persecution.” People were benefitting from the persecutions and prosecution of others which is why they encouraged it. It also explains how executioners walked around like princes riding “blooded horses.” This goes to show how they were only doing it for their personal gain. The Canon Linden, which witnessed the persecution in Trier, most likely wrote this to show others how maleficent people’s intentions were to persecute innocent people. It probably had bias but it was most likely against the persecutions altogether.

In conclusion, the witch craze brought Europe into a new age of civility and judicial power. Although it was cruel and unnecessary, it did have lasting impacts. The major forces that drove this movement were religion, socioeconomic instability, personal gain, and sex.