WITCHCRAFT
In the modern world, witchcraft is a form of nature religion that emphasizes the
healing arts. The term is also applied to various kinds of MAGIC practiced in
Asian, African, and Latin American communities. Little is known about the
history of witchcraft in Europe, and what is known comes from hostile sources.
In traditional European society, witchcraft was believed to be a kind of harmful
sorcery associated with the worship of SATAN, or the devil (a spirit hostile to
God). The European doctrine of witchcraft was formulated in the late Middle
Ages. Just how many of the beliefs about witches were based on reality and how
many on delusion will never be known. The punishment of supposed witches by the
death penalty did not become common until the 15th century. The first major
Witch-hunt occurred in Switzerland in 1427, and the first important book on the
subject, the Malleus maleficarum (Hammer of Sorceresses), appeared in Germany in
1486. The persecution of witches reached its height between 1580 and 1660, when
Witch trials became almost universal throughout western Europe.
Geographically, the center of Witch-burning lay in Germany, Austria and
Switzerland, but few areas were left untouched by it. No one knows the total
number of victims. In southwestern Germany alone, however, more than 3,000
witches were executed between 1560 and 1680. Not all Witch trials ended in
deaths. In England, where torture was prohibited, only about 20 percent of
accused witches were executed (by hanging); in Scotland, where torture was used,
nearly half of all those put on trial were burned at the stake, and almost three
times as many witches (1,350) were killed in England. Some places had fewer
trials then others. In the Dutch republic, no witches were executed after 1600,
and none were tried after 1610. In Spain and Italy accusations of witchcraft
were handled by the INQUISITION, and although torture was legal, only a dozen
witches were burned out of 5,000 put on trial. Ireland apparently escaped Witch
trials altogether. Many Witch trials were provoked, not by hysterical
authorities or fanatical clergy, but by village quarrels among neighbors. About
80% of all accused witches were women. Traditional theology assumed that women
were weaker then men and more likely to succumb to the devil. It may in fact be
true that, having few legal rights, they were more inclined to settle quarrels
by resorting to magic rather then law. All these aspects of witchcraft crossed
over to the Americas with European colonists. In the Spanish and French
territories, cases of witchcraft were under the jurisdiction of church courts,
and no one suffered death on this charge. In the English colonies, about 40
people were executed for witchcraft between 1650 and 1710, half of them in the
famous SALEM Witch TRIALS of 1692.
Witch trials declined in most parts of Europe after 1680. In England the death
penalty for witchcraft was abolished in 1736. In the late 17th and 18th
centuries
one last wave of Witch persecution afflicted Poland and other areas of eastern
Europe, but that ended by about 1740. The last legal execution of a Witch
occurred in Switzerland in 1782.
Beginning in the 1920s, witchcraft was revived in Europe and America by groups
that considered it a survival of pre-Christian religious practices. This
phenomenon was partly inspired by such books as Margaret Murray's "The Witch
Cult in Western Europe (1921). Some forms of modern witchcraft follow the
traditions of medieval herbalists and lay healers.
The term Witch-hunt is used today to describe a drive to punish political
criminals or dissidents without regard for the normal legal rules.
Bibliography: Baroja, Julio C., The World of Witches (1964); Guiley, Rosemary,
The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft (1990); Levack, Brian, The Witch-Hunt
in Early Modern Europe (1987); Luhrmann, T.M., Persuasions of the Witch's Craft
(1989); Monter, E.W., ed., European Witchcraft (1969).
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