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European witchcraft can be traced back to classical antiquity, when magic and religion were closely entwined. During the pagan era of ancient Rome , there were laws against harmful magic. After Christianization , the medieval Catholic Church began to see witchcraft ( maleficium ) as a blend of black magic and apostasy involving a pact with the ...
The book became the handbook for secular courts throughout Renaissance Europe, but was not used by the Inquisition, which "denied any authority to the Malleus" in the words of historian Wolfgang Behringer. [23] In modern times, the book has often been viewed as a typical inquisitorial manual, a perception that many historians have refuted.
The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-285449-6. Levack, Brian P. (2006). The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe. Pearson Education. ISBN 0-582-41901-8. Stack, Richard A. (2006). Dead wrong: violence, vengeance, and the victims of capital punishment. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0 ...
Many faced capital punishment for witchcraft, either by burning at the stake, hanging, or beheading. [70] Similarly, in New England, people convicted of witchcraft were hanged. [71] Meanwhile, in the Middle Ages, heresy became a heinous crime, warranting severe punishment, so when one was accused of being a witch they were thus labeled as a ...
Under the Scottish Witchcraft Act 1563, enacted effective 4 June 1563, [7] both the practice of witchcraft and consulting with witches were capital offences. [8] This Act remained on Scottish statute books until it was repealed as a result of a House of Lords amendment to the bill for the post-union Witchcraft Act 1735.
Medieval Europe also saw magic come to be associated with the Old Testament figure of Solomon; various grimoires, or books outlining magical practices, were written that claimed to have been written by Solomon, most notably the Key of Solomon. [11] In early medieval Europe, magia was a term of condemnation. [12]
The witchcraft persecutions in Switzerland became less common in the second half of the 17th century. In 1652, Michée Chauderon became the last execution for witchcraft in the city of Geneva in the Republic of Geneva. In the 18th century, the Swiss authorities and courts were less and less willing to accept charges of witchcraft or, if they ...
In order to learn about the benandanti, these scholars therefore relied on the English-language book review produced by the witchcraft historian William Monter, who did read Italian. [42] A summary of Ginzburg's findings was subsequently published in English in the History of Religions journal by Mircea Eliade in 1975. [ 43 ]