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This freed prosecutors from having to prove the existence of a physical pact. Among Catholics and the secular leadership of late medieval Europe, fears about witchcraft rose to fever pitch and this led to large-scale witch-hunts. Each new conviction reinforced the beliefs in the methods (torture and pointed interrogation) being used to solicit ...
The rise of witch trials is brought about by changes in religion as well as changes to the political world in Europe showing once again how different topics had an influence on witchcraft.The fourteenth century already brought about an increase of sorcery trials, however the second and third quarters of the fifteenth century were known for the ...
Later, the Pendle witch trials of 1612 joined the ranks of the most famous witch trials in English history. [64] The Malefizhaus of Bamberg, Germany, where suspected witches were held and interrogated. 1627 engraving. In England, witch-hunting would reach its apex in 1644 to 1647 due to the efforts of Puritan Matthew Hopkins.
The Salem witch trials followed in 1692–93, culminating in the executions of 20 people. Five others died in jail. Five others died in jail. It has been estimated that tens of thousands of people were executed for witchcraft in Europe and the American colonies over several hundred years.
European witch-hunts and witch trials in the early modern period led to tens of thousands of executions. While magical healers and midwives were sometimes accused of witchcraft themselves, [7] [4] [8] [9] they made up a minority of those accused. European belief in witchcraft gradually dwindled during and after the Age of Enlightenment.
Europe's Inner Demons: An Enquiry Inspired by the Great Witch-Hunt is a historical study of the beliefs regarding European witchcraft in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe, with particular reference to the development of the witches' sabbat and its influence on the witch trials in the Early Modern period.
Throughout the medieval era, mainstream Christian doctrine had denied the belief in the existence of witches and witchcraft, condemning it as a pagan superstition. [14] Some have argued that the work of the Dominican Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century helped lay the groundwork for a shift in Christian doctrine, by which certain Christian theologians eventually began to accept the possibility ...
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. [84] In early medieval Europe, magia was a term of condemnation. [85]