Anthony Accuar

Period 0

11/4/08

The Causes of Witch Hunting Hysteria

From the late fifteenth century until the seventeenth century, Europe

experienced a hysterical religious movement, centered on the persecution of

individuals as witches. The movement was born during a period of considerable

economic, religious, and social upheaval. The Protestant Reformation challenged the

old structures of the Catholic Church; as a result, many parts of Europe had broken

away from papal authority. Yet, the Catholic Church was far from defeated, it still

held the attention of avid followers especially those in Spain and Italy. Certainly the

Inquisition was in part responsible for instigating the witch craze and also for

creating social tensions, which contributed to its propagation. Moreover, there were

great socio-economic changes resulting from imperialism, mercantilism, and the

deterioration of the manor. The main causes for the witch craze lie in the

Reformation, the socio-economic changes, the scientific ambiguities indirectly

endorsing mass hysteria and the failure of the justice system to deal effectively with

preposterous claims.

A witch is a person with supernatural knowledge and powers, usually

acquired from the Devil in exchange for his or her soul. Witches are believed to be

able to change shape, transform others, cause illness and death, concoct charms,

and tell the future. In Europe from the late fifteenth through the seventeenth

centuries, people accused of practicing witchcraft were generally poor, working

class people. In addition to being poverty stricken, they were for the most part

female and between the age of 24 and 50. As the lower class, unemployed, old, and

women were collectively seen as the doormat of society, they were easy targets in
this time of instability. Many parts of Europe (e.g. Germany, France, England, and

Switzerland) employed this widespread discriminatory policy. Persecution was most

prevalent in those areas where Protestant friction heightened religious tensions.

Witchcraft predates the reform period. All religious authorities of the time

believe in witchery. Pope Innocent VIII's policy stated that, "… it shall be permitted to

the inquisitors to exercise their office of inquisition and to proceed to the…

punishment of the aforesaid persons for their said offences and crimes," (Document

9) in 1484 establish the problem of witchcraft. The pope commissioned his

inquisitors to punish witches, in doing so the pope gave them a wide range of

powers to question, imprison and execute those, who were believed to be witches.

The same inquisitors doling out the law in the name of Christianity found willing

volunteers to accuse witches, so as to efface suspicion from themselves. By 1555 it

was clear that Christianity would never return to being a unified religion under the

Catholic Church and the papacy. In spite of this, the rift in the various religious

theologies was not the root of the witch craze. Although, they did not agree upon

the specific nature of witches, one of the few things that most religious leaders

agreed upon was the concept of witches and their persecution. Under the religious

scrutiny of the Inquisition all strange or different behavior could be interpreted as

an act of sorcery; especially, in the religiously charged atmosphere of Reformation

Europe, where Protestants and Catholics alike were still trying to determine exactly

what their religion demanded of them. Acts that otherwise would have warranted

merit were denounced as sorcery, "…Alice Prabury…help[s] Christian people with a

variety of diseases…" (Document 4) Luther and Calvin also espoused the witch

craze. Luther claimed that, "…witches are the Devil's whores…" (Document 10) and

Calvin feared the "…infinite number of enemies…" (Document 12). All of Europe,
Protestants and Catholics alike, were being told to hunt down witches. Everyone was

perpetually examining themselves and others. "I suffered terrible from fear of Hell

and the devils, whom I thought I saw [everywhere]…(Document 11)" This

introspection led to the unnerving of the masses and a witch craze born of religious

tension. Although the Pope may have unleashed the inquisition upon Europe in an

attempt to solidify the Catholic faith by weeding out heretics, he only succeeded in

creating a hysterical religious reaction. Most people in Europe, at the time of the

witch craze, were religious. To this end they listened to their respective religious

leaders for instruction and examples of how to live their lives.

The force of the hysteria also manifested itself within in the sciences. Rather

than the sciences providing a voice of reason amidst the chaos, it made public

poorly evidenced claims. Within the scientific community, "scientists" were

inventing explanations for witchcraft. Johan Wier argued that the elderly and women

accused of witchery had "small brains" and thus, "…the Devil easily affects and

deceives their minds with illusions and apparitions that so bewilder them they

confess to action that they are very far from having committed" (Document 14).

Furthermore, it was believed by the scientific community that the impact of age

upon the body made people weak and susceptible to the devil. Scientific

conclusions were no longer solely based upon reason and logic, but they were also

subtly affected by religion. Fulbecke further endorses the witch craze by

condemning women (as the Devil's instruments of "contagion and destruction of

others") and allowing them to face wrath of an unnerved people. Therefore, both

the scientific and religious communities had affirmed the presence of witches and

as such propagated religious hysteria.

 Alongside scientific and religious change, were the changing socio-economic

conditions in Europe at the time; it was another of the underlying causes of the

witch trials. The manorial system of agriculture was disappearing and had been

doing so since the start of the Renaissance. This movement was manifested in the

reorganization of society along less rigid hierarchical lines. The manorial system had

been based upon the idea of community and clear division of labor. However, the

new change on the manor was clearly in the direction of profiteering, and the

individual accumulation of wealth. The peasantry began to revolt against a new

economic system they did not comprehend. Martin Luther even condemned the

peasants as "the greatest of all blasphemers". The destruction of communal values

led to resentment targeted at society's dependents. Old women, widows, and the

common laborers were seen as those holding back social and economic growth. The

lower classes and the old were prime targets. The median age of suspected witches

in various regions was between 55 and 60, showing that the old were often targeted

more than the young (Document 17). In an English region those women accused of

witchcraft were most often married to men of lower social status; 23 of the accused

women were married to laborers while none of the accused women were married to

gentleman (Document 15). Though the nobility or upper class were not free of

accusations, "Nor were spared the leading men…" (Document 2). The lower classes

were certainly targeted more often than their richer counterparts. As the economic

fabric of European society unraveled, society began to alienate the dependents,

who, according to traditional values would have been cared for by the community.

Unfortunately, the accommodation of this new value system emphasized the old

maxim: "every man for himself;" thus dependents were looked upon as

inconveniences amidst a developing society.

 Once the witch craze had begun, a reasonable and impartial justice system

could have quickly put to rest the hysteria in its pre-mature stages; but the justice

system in Europe at the time had no clearly defined system of jurisprudence.

Therefore, accused witches and their defenders, found defending themselves very

difficult, juxtapose accusing a witch was a simple matter. Frequently, the defenders

of the witch in question were denounced as witches themselves. Such judgments

greatly diminished the impetus to testify in favor of an accused witch. "If a judge is

so clear and open as declare himself against the impious vulgar opinion…cry, this

judge hath no religion (Document 6)." Once accused of witchcraft, there was no

escape. The use of torture to extract confessions churned out a horde of false

confessions and executions. Johannes Junius, an accused witch realized that, "…

whoever comes into the witch prison must become a witch or be tortured until he

invents something out of his head…" (Document 7) Therefore, the witch-hunt

became a self-fulfilling prophecy, a person was accused of witchcraft, and

eventually they confessed to the crime and/or were executed as a witch.

The witch trials in Europe show the effects of a socio-economic change upon

a population beset by confusion. While the main causes for the witch trials were an

incompetent justice system, the splintering of the church and a socio-economic

change, do not forget that the witch trials were supported as a popular movement.

Although many people viewed the trials as a mechanism of revenge to attack their

enemies, it was also used as a means of gaining wealth through the confiscation of

goods of accused witches (Document 4). While, there were several causes for the

witch trials in Europe, it was mainly an instance whereby religious fervor and

confusion combined to produce societal hostilities. This hot bed of accusations

alienated anyone who deviated from the ‘norm' (daily routine and/or religious

habits).