In honor of Women’s History Month
“…a greater number of witches is found in the fragile feminine sex than among men; it is indeed a fact that it is idle to contradict, since it is accredited by actual experience, apart from the verbal testimony of credible witnesses … all witchcraft comes from carnal lust, which is in women insatiable…wherefore for the sake of fulfilling their lusts they consort even with devils.”
–Malleus Maleficarum, c. 1486 (Source: Witchcraft in the Middle Ages – Medieval History)
The catch phrase “witch hunt” has been around since the Middle Ages. Politicians and clergy have used this popular expression for centuries to describe the rooting out, investigating, and punishing of anyone accused of suspicious activity. US Senator Joseph McCarthy infamously used the phrase during his all-out hunt for communists.
Rumor Mill
Throughout history, rumor mills led to witch hunts notorious for persecuting innocent people at the hands of religious leaders and politicians to show power over others and gain loyal followers. Worldwide, most of the presumed witches—about three-quarters of the total—were female, and older women or “hags” more often targeted. Over a period of two centuries, at least 100,000 people were persecuted and 60,000 executed.
Middle Ages and the Bible
During the Middle Ages, belief in witchcraft and sorcery was common, even among religious leaders. In the Bible, the word “maleficos” is used to describe people who practice harmful magic, but sorcery was not seen as evil or practiced by women more than by men back then.
Even authors of the Bible believed in witches. In Samuel I, King Saul visits the Witch of Endor, even though he had outlawed mediums and spiritists. The witch summons Samuel from the dead to prophecy the outcome of the battle for the Kingdom of Israel.
Rise of the Great Hunt
A book in wide circulation beginning in 1487 was Malleus Maleficarum by clerics Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger. These radical clerics proclaimed that magic came from the devil himself and anyone involved in it was in a pact with Satan. They also declared that witches were mostly women as proven by the many vices of the female persuasion.
Following the publication of Malleus came Reformation(1517 – 1559), a historical movement when religious leaders separated Protestants from Roman Catholics. The fiction of witches as female and evil grew in popularity, and the heated practice of witch hunts exploded.
Most of the hysteria happened in Europe from 1560 to 1630, known as the Great Hunt, when about 80,000 people were tried for witchcraft and 40,000 executed.
From force to protection
Before 1600, Churches used force to keep constituents loyal, making it a crime to practice any other religion. When people fought against this coercion, the Church moved onto other strategies to improve their brand.
The reason behind the witch-hunt frenzy has been debated by many scholars. Research in the Economic Journal asserts that competition between the Catholic and Protestant Churches was the main reason for the sudden growth in popularity during this time.
Competition and branding
After the Reformation, the Protestants and Roman Catholics were competing for market share. To attract new members, they became embroiled in a battle to show how one could protect members from witchcraft and the evil of Satan over the other.
With the Church squarely on the side of God, and witches on the side of Satan, people looked to the Church to save them. Religious leaders played into people’s fears, claiming they could protect them from the devil worshippers—they were building their brand.
These so-called witches were accused of everything from calling demons for magical deeds and vandalizing the crucifix to engaging in sexual orgies, having sex with Satan, and kidnapping and killing children.
Accusations to gain power
Witchcraft was commonly used to explain natural disasters and diseases that destroyed livestock and crops. What else, other than the devil and his worshippers, could explain the sudden loss and destruction? Without scientific understanding, people naturally became fearful and suspicious.
Unfortunately, accusations of witchcraft were also used against neighbors and family members who feuded over everything from property rights to inheritance. Accusers used suspicion to stir up rumors and gain power against so-called evil, just as the Church did.
Stoking fear and suspicion
Churches and courts seized the opportunity to showcase how they could detect evil, suppress it, and protect people against satanic threats. They gained advantage and profited by stoking fear and killing innocent people, mostly women.
The European witch hunt frenzy mainly took place in Germany, Switzerland, France, England, and the Netherlands. By 1600 and the Age of Discovery, European courts began decriminalizing witchcraft, reducing trials significantly.
Salem Witch Trials
The notorious Salem Witch Trials in colonial New England came about at the end of the 17th Century. Even though this witch hunt was relatively small compared the Great Hunt, it demonstrated the power of the church. Early settlers, who were under constant threat of disease and attack, relied on the pious teachings of the church to calm their fears.
When a group of young girls became afflicted with convulsions and seizures with no known cause, fear and suspicion gripped the Village. A Puritan minister suspected witchcraft afoot and some historians believe that families in Salem took advantage of the hysteria by accusing their rivals of witchcraft.
Public hangings and oppression
The Puritans were known as being strict and hostile toward anyone who did not follow their religious doctrine. Among the accused in Salem were outspoken women, criminals, Quakers, and slaves—people who were marginalized by society.
We can only imagine the frenzy stirred up by the rumor mill in Salem at the time. Prosecutions led to the execution of 20 people (19 hanged and one tortured to death).
The trials were often public and the executions a community spectacle with hundreds of spectators. Charges against the accused were read to the audience before the accused were hanged to death.
Scientific revolution
During the Enlightenment (1687-1789), also known as the intellectual revolution, reason and progress grew in Western Civilization. The influence and advances of science led to the fall of the popular belief in witchcraft and the supernatural, and the demand for protection from so-called witches faded in popularity.
What a Witch Hunt is Not
The Great Hunt and Salem Witch Trials persecuted hundreds of thousands of women in the name of an unknown evil by order of clergy and judges, mostly men. What a Witch Hunt is not is the investigation of one politician or religious zealot’s wrongdoing. That is simply a bad metaphor.
Sources
Britannica Moral panic | Youth Culture, Media & Stereotypes | Britannica
The Economic Journal, 128 (August), 2066–2105. Doi: 10.1111/ecoj.12498 © 2017 Royal Economic Society. Published by John Wiley & Sons, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. Retrieved from Witch_Trials.pdf (peterleeson.com)
Pavlac, Brian A., PhD, Explanation of Events for the Timeline of the Witch Hunts (kings.edu)
Witchcraft in the Middle Ages – Medieval History
Witch hunt | Definition, History, & Examples | Britannica
Did the witch of Endor really summon Samuel from the dead (1 Samuel 28:7-20)? | GotQuestions.org
The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 – Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA (pem.org)
The Salem Witch Trials Victims: Who Were They? – History of Massachusetts Blog
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