HIST 2930 Lecture 5: Week 5-Witches, Heretics and the Law
5 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
1500s-1600s in europe witch hunts and trials existed, wherein people were persecuted for practicing black magic. The majority of those tried and convicted after 1500 = primarily women accused due to being a woman, out of fear, and because many were impoverished. In western europe and salem, widespread accusations and executions occurred. Europe 15-1600: 100-200 000 people tried for witchcraft: between 50-100 000 were executed. Salem: 78% of those accused were women. Catholic church created the quintessential early modern witch, and these passed into protestantism. Witch as the opposite of a good christian: a threat to the moral and social order of the community in which she lived. Fear of witches both an elite and popular belief. Women more prone to becoming witches due to their frailty, lesser economic and social power: the witch-as-woman stereotype (most convicted witches met these). They were socially deviant in some way, often. Misogyny: church taught that women were temptresses.
