Witch Dbq

In the late fifteenth and late seventeenth centuries, it was believed that witches were amongst towns, usually deemed as herb gatherers, gypsies, and any women ‘suspiciously attuned to the natural world.’ When churches realized witches were living amongst them, they quickly decided to kill all ‘suspicious’ women, including midwives, who would use special medicines to relieve the pain of childbirth, usually seen as an act of witchcraft. Many of the women accused were not witches but were assumed as one. Three major reasons for the persecution of individuals as witches were religious, social, and moral factors, which showed that people needed something to turn to in time of instability, looking for a scapegoat out of fear, to explain why things

are so bad.

The rumor that witches were walking the Earth spread to other countries, which led them to believe the rumor and take precaution, resulting to the idea of torturing and killing ‘witches’.

Many of the women and men accused of being witches were innocent but were still tortured. In order to stop the torture, they had to confess witches and name other witches living in the town, so they will not continue to suffer. Witches were believed to work in groups called “Covens.” So the townspeople expected the witches to be in groups. When they did capture a ‘witch’, they would ask to name other witches, who lived in the town. Johannes Junius, the author of Letter of Johannes Junius and mayor of Bamberg, was a victim of the Bamberg witch trial. He was accused of witchcraft by other victims of the witch craze, who had been pressured under torture to reveal the names of other witches they knew. Junius denied all charges, at first, and wanted to see all witnesses. He continued to deny all charges until he was faced with a week of torture, so he confessed and was later burned. Junius’s letter defends his innocence, and the ones that accused him secretly asked for his forgiveness. Document 6 keenly represents how the common people would create ‘witches’ out of people, in fear of what they do not know, forcing these characters on innocent

people.

Many townspeople could not comprehend the reason for natural incidents and sicknesses, which led to the superstition of witches being the source of all their problems. Thomas Ady, when describing the feelings of an English householder, states his superstition. He states that after denying an old man or woman, he experiences strange things, from his wife, child, even he started behaving oddly. The things around him were unusual, he then decided that the woman that came to see him was a witch. He then swears she is a witch, confused as to what other thing it might be. The townspeople’s theories lacked credibility, as to how and why it could be witches, who caused all of these problems. Document 3 represents how when people did not understand the reason for their problems, they would blame witches.