Nachman Ben-Yehud Article Analysis

Nachman Ben-Yehuda, a sociologist at the Hebrew University Jerusalem, enlightens the reader on the events in Europe before and during European Witch Prosecutions with “a macro sociological point of view”, through their article The European Witch Craze of the 14th to 17th Centuries: A Sociologist’s Perspective (Ben-Yehuda, 1980, p.1). During the Article, Ben-Yehuda discusses how Witchcraft began as a “neutral” and how in “classical Greece and Rome” it was used for things like “increasing wealth” and to “produce rain” (Ben-Yehuda, 1980, p.2). Ben-Yehuda continues to give their views, through wide variety of both primary and secondary resources, on how it “transformed into a completely evil entity” starting with the creation of “The Inquisition…in the 13th century”, which

Such as when the author states “Evidence indicates that the majority witch craze’s victims were women” and “Recent research, however, reveals that while…single women were persecuted at the beginning… they were replaced by younger and married women…” Followed by the author’s commentary of “Except for these shifts…the choice of victims, no particular group of women was spared from persecution.” (Ben-Yehuda, 1980, p. 6 and 8). Ben-Yehuda’s work is very clear and thorough, with strong statements such as “In order to justify the continuation of the Inquisition’s machinery, the inquisitors began to search for new apostates.” And “The Importance of the Malleus cannot be overestimated. Its enormous influence was practically guaranteed…” (Ben-Yehuda, 1980, p.9 and 11) The article often quotes other works on the subject by stating “according to Jarrett (1962)” and “Sources on the history… attest to the sharp increase…” (Ben-Yehuda, 1980, p. 17 and 18). its topic of European witchcraft is not uncommon, but it stands out through its unique perspective on the