Witchcraft Dbq

From the 1500s-1800s the people of Europe went through a phase of paranoia and violence. Thousands of people were accused of being witches, and numerous mass persecutions were held in parts of Europe. This period is also known as the Burning Times, and leading the way with the highest number of trials and executions was Germany. In total, roughly 100,000 people were accused of witchcraft in all of Europe during the Burning Times, and nearly 50,000 of these were in Germany (Sommerville). Furthermore, of the 50,000 accused in Germany, the estimated death toll was about 26,000. Moreover, the majority (about 80 percent) of those arrested and executed were female because the specially appointed witch commissioners “could not easily imagine men as

witches” (Durrant 84).
As for why people were accused of witchcraft, there were many. In the early 1600s, the Holy Roman Empire (which included Germany) was in a fragile condition due to an ongoing Thirty Years War. This war was fought over how much power the emperor would have, as well as the clash between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. Furthermore, many people had died, political systems were weakened, and bad weather in the 1620s resulted in crop failures, famine, and plague. People then started blaming witches, “in league with the devil”, for their unfortunate circumstances. They would accuse people who kept cats (which were considered demons given to witches by the devil), people with a “witches’ mark” (certain moles, scars, birthmarks, etc.) or just a person that someone in power just wanted to get rid of.
Once a person was arrested, they had almost no chance of escaping the death penalty as they were not allowed to have a proper defence. When many prominent people in Germany were tried and hung for witchcraft, their properties were sold to pay for their trials, and anything left over went to the bishop. However, the most common method of execution for witchcraft was burning victims to death. In Germany, they constructed a number of ovens and stakes were set up to put to death those found guilty or accused of witchcraft; even some as young as two were burned in ovens or placed on stakes (“Around”).
Learning about these staggering numbers of the German witch trials really surprised me, because I had never even heard of something this big. When Americans think about violent witch hunts and the wrath of a raging mob, their thoughts are most often turned to the infamous events that took place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. However, now I know it was really the Germans who set the most records in witchcraft.

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Witchcraft trials in France started as early as the 1200s and ended in the late 1600s. During this time frame, also known as the Burning Times, there was an estimated death toll of about 6,000 people. Additionally, out of the 100,000 number of trials/accused for witchcraft in all of Europe, France had about 10,000 trials. Therefore, witch trials were very common in France, as they had the second greatest number of execution (second only to Germany).
As for number of males versus the number of females accused of witchcraft, in northwestern France, men made up the clear majority of accused witches, while in northern France (around Normandy), men made up approximately half of the population of accused witches (Monter).

This is very different from the norm of the rest of Europe where the majority (about 75 percent) were female and the significant minority were male. This is because in France, many suspected male witches were also “magic healers” who worked to counter the effect of witchcraft. They were condemned for witchcraft due to the widespread belief that “whoever knows how to heal also knows how to harm” (Monter). In conclusion, many of the accused witches were healers, who were very common in the villages in France, and since most of them were men, a higher percentage of males were executed for witchcraft in France than in most other countries in

Europe.
The most prominent form of execution for witchcraft in France was burning people to death; however, another popular form of punishment for men in both France and Germany was the wheel. This is where the prisoner would be stripped, then tied and stretched around a wheel that resembles a big spool of thread. The wheel would then be rolled around slowly, crushing the male prisoner. Once the prisoner was at the verge of death, the executioner would roll the wheel up so the the spectators could watch him die. However, if the death took too long, the prisoner would receive blows to the chest until he finally died… lovely.
Researching about French witch trials educated me on another grim side of French history. Many people think of France as a sophisticated and heavenly country. On the contrary, after one year of world history, combined with the research that I did this summer, I realize that the luxurious country of France has some bumpy history. For instance, the French revolution, the witch hunts, numerous civil wars, etc. Also, it really surprised me to learn that the ratio of males vs. females accused were so different in France than in pretty much all other European countries; however, the reason for this is logical, and almost makes me wonder why other countries did not accuse a higher percentage of male witches.
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Although Germany and France had the highest number of executions for witchcraft, Switzerland holds its own notable record for persecutions.

“The French-speaking area of Switzerland executed some 3,500 people, [which is] more than anywhere else in Europe per head of population” (Eichenberger). Witchcraft was considered a heresy and criminal offence starting in the 1400s, and the last witch to be executed in Switzerland was Anna Göldi in 1782. In total, approximately 10,000 people were accused of witchcraft, and about 5,000 people were executed in Switzerland.

Beliefs about witchcraft varied. Some people who believed in witches believed that they held meetings at night called sabbats. Many people also believed in “swimming” witches. So one form of test/torture was that the witch would be thrown into water, and if they were a real witch, the water would “reject” them and they would float. However, if they sank they were innocent, in which case they might drown. So either way, the victim was going to lose his/her life.

As for the gender ratio, women made up between 70 and 80 percent, and overall, about 60 percent of the accused were executed. Although there were various methods of execution, the most prevalent method was burning prisoners to death. However, before they did that, they would often torture the witches until they confessed and named other people

involved.
In conclusion, I was baffled to learn about the histories of witchcraft in various European countries because as a realist-minded student, I know all of this witchcraft drama was just a series of superstition and corruption. For that reason, it really surprised me that this obsession to get rid of witches actually exploded out of control to the degree that it did, and especially the fact