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Tens of thousands of people were executed, and others were imprisoned, tortured, banished, and had lands and possessions confiscated. The majority of those accused were women, though in some regions the majority were men. [27] [74] Accusations against witches were almost identical to those levelled by 3rd-century pagans against early Christians:
The villagers related that the witch-finders were always right because the witches they found were always the people whom the village had feared all along. The bamucapi utilised a mixture of Christian and native religious traditions to account for their powers and said that God (not specifying which God) helped them to prepare their medicine.
In the Nordic countries, the late 17th century saw the peak of the trials in a number of areas: the Torsåker witch trials of Sweden (1674), where 71 people were executed for witchcraft in a single day, the peak of witch hunting in Swedish Finland, [41] and the Salzburg witch trials in Austria (where 139 people were executed from 1675 to 1690).
The number of people who practice Wiccan or pagan religious rituals has increased dramatically over the last few decades. ... are the main reasons why fear and stigma around witchcraft perpetuate ...
In the years since the witch trials, the unfairly-accused have been exonerated and, in 1957, Massachusetts issued a formal apology for the trials, stating that the proceedings were "shocking" and ...
Often these people were involved in identifying alleged witches. [52] Such helpful magic-workers "were normally contrasted with the witch who practiced maleficium—that is, magic used for harmful ends". [57] In the early years of the European witch hunts "the cunning folk were widely tolerated by church, state and general populace". [57]
Witches were said to make pacts with the devil in exchange for powers, belief and prosecution of witchcraft in Scotland was especially focused on the demonic pact. Witches no longer were seen as healers or helpers, but rather were believed to be the cause of many natural [5] and man-made disasters. Witches were blamed for troubles with ...
These witch trials were the most famous in British North America and took place in the coastal settlements near Salem, Massachusetts. Prior to the witch trials, nearly three hundred men and women had been suspected of partaking in witchcraft, and nineteen of these people were hanged, and one was "pressed to death". [31]