the decline of witchcraft prosecution in the 17th-18th centuries

1661 Words4 Pages

Throughout the late 17th century and into the early 18th century witchcraft prosecutions had been declining. This trend was the result of a multitude of social developments which altered the mentality of society. One of the predominant factors in this decline was the Scientific Revolution, the most important effect of these advances was making society question concepts of witchcraft. Along with this new mental outlook, we see that the Reformation had a similar effect on social opinion concerning witchcraft and magic. These two developments changed societies view on the occult and this led to a wider scepticism concerning witchcraft, this favoured those who had been accused and therefore caused a decline in prosecutions. Beyond the two trends mentioned however, it is important to consider judicial reforms and an improved socio-economic situation which reduced tensions within society. These two changes were certainly not as influential as the Scientific Revolution and the Reformation but heavily altered the circumstances in which accusations were normally made. With the altered social attitudes and mental outlook these changes in living situations all contributed to bring about the decline in witchcraft prosecutions. To begin studying the decline of witchcraft prosecutions it is important to note the changes in judicial methods. Levack addresses this 'because in most cases it was the objections to witchcraft prosecutions on legal and judicial grounds that first led to their reduction in numbers.' This suggests that the Scientific Revolution and Reformation were actually less significant in initiating the decline. However, the nature of judicial reform actually relied heavily on a new mental outlook. This is highlighted by a growing... ... middle of paper ... ... see things more rationally led to a mechanical philosophy which contradicted the major concepts concerning witchcraft. It is therefore inevitable that the developments throughout the period led to a decline in witchcraft as they largely focused on increasing awareness throughout society and thus leading to wide spread questioning about magic and witchcraft. This questioning created a situation in which witchcraft prosecutions were much rarer and took much longer to reach. Finally, therefore the changes in attitudes across the period were the most important consequence of the factors described and led to the decline in witchcraft prosecutions. Works Cited Edward, Bever, 'Witchcraft Prosecutions and the Decline of Magic', Journal of Interdisciplinary History vol.11 no.2 (Autumn 2009) Brian, Levack, The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe (2nd Edition), Longman 1995

Show More
Related

  • Salem Possessed: The Social Origins Of Witchcraft

    931 Words  | 2 Pages

    Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft is a concise, 231 page informational text by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum. Published in 1974, it explores the economic and social conditions present in the Salem village during the 1600s that led to the hysteria surrounding witchcraft. Multiple graphs and illustrations are present, as well as an average sized font, an abundance of footnotes typically on the left page, and a prominent voice from the authors. The book was written to serve as a more comprehensive informational piece on the Salem witch trials due to the authors finding other pieces written about the same topic to be inaccurate. Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum wanted to create something that utilized

    Read More

  • Were Pre-Modern European Witchhunts Mysogynistic?

    1099 Words  | 3 Pages

    Were the witch-hunts in pre-modern Europe misogynistic? Anne Llewellyn Barstow seems to think so in her article, “On Studying Witchcraft as Women’s History: A Historiography of the European Witch Persecutions”. On the contrary, Robin Briggs disagrees that witch-hunts were not solely based on hatred for women as stated in his article, “Women as Victims? Witches, Judges and the Community”. The witch craze that once rapidly swept through Europe may have been because of misconstrued circumstances. The evaluation of European witch-hunts serves as an opportunity to delve deeper into the issue of misogyny.

    Read More

  • Salem Possessed: The Social Origins Of Witchcraft

    1225 Words  | 3 Pages

    Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft explores and breaks down the events that took place in the small village of Salem in 1692. Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, authors of Salem Possessed, use primary sources, both published and unpublished, to tell the crazy and eventful history of Salem. They go into great detail in why some folks were accused of being Witches, the arrests and the so popular Salem Witch Trials. The main reason for this book was to try and find out what caused the terrible outbreak of events that happened in Salem and they do so by looking into the History and Social life in the famed Salem Village. The history of Witchcraft in Salem is a well-known story from High School on and this book goes in depth about why things happened the way they did and how the social aspect played a big role is the story.

    Read More

  • The Devil in the Shape of a woman

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    The book begins with a brief history of the colonial witchcraft. Each Chapter is structured with an orientation, presentation of evidence, and her conclusion. A good example of her structure is in chapter two on the demographics of witchcraft; here she summarizes the importance of age and marital status in witchcraft accusations. Following this she provides a good transition into chapter three in the final sentence of chapter two, “A closer look of the material conditions and behavior of acc...

    Read More

  • Witchcraft in North America between 17th and 21st century

    1674 Words  | 4 Pages

    Woodward, Walter “New England’s other Witch-hunt: The Hartford Witch-hunt of the 1660s and Changing Patterns in Witchcraft Prosecution” OAH Magazine of History, 2003. 8. Cavendish, Richard. The. “A History of Magic” New York, 1977 pg 69-79 9.

    Read More

  • Causes of the Salem Witch Trials

    2019 Words  | 5 Pages

    Hinds, Maurene J. Witchcraft on Trial: From the Salem Witch Hunts to the Crucible. Library ed. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2009. Print.

    Read More

  • The Role of Young Women in the Salem Witch Trials

    1318 Words  | 3 Pages

    The term witchcraft is defines as the practice of magic intended to influence nature. It is believed that only people associated with the devil can perform such acts. The Salem Witch Trials was much more than just America’s history, it’s also part of the history of women. The story of witchcraft is first and foremost the story of women. Especially in its western life, Karlsen (1989) noted that “witchcraft challenges us with ideas about women, with fears about women, with the place of women in society and with women themselves”. Witchcraft also confronts us too with violence against women. Even through some men were executed as witches during the witch hunts, the numbers were far less then women. Witches were generally thought to be women and most of those who were accused and executed for being witches were women. Why were women there so many women accused of witchcraft compared to men? Were woman accused of witchcraft because men thought it was a way to control these women? It all happened in 1692, in an era where women were expected to behave a certain way, and women were punished if they threatened what was considered the right way of life. The emphasis of this paper is the explanation of Salem proceedings in view of the role and the position of women in Colonial America.

    Read More

  • Witchcraft: The Murder Of King James VI

    1796 Words  | 4 Pages

    The European witch-hunts that took place from 1400 to 1800 were complete monstrosities of justice, but the brutality seemed to have been concentrated more in certain parts of Europe than other parts. This is especially true in the British Isles during the witch trials of 1590-1593, where Scotland, a country with a fourth of the population of England, experienced three times as many executions as them. Before these particular trials, England and Scotland were both only mildly involved in the hunts, but a Scottish witch’s confession in late 1590 unveiled a plot to kill King James VI by creating a storm to sink his ship. This confession led to the implementation of others and quickly festered into the widely publicized hunts throughout Scotland in the late 16th century.

    Read More

  • Witchcraft : An Epidemic Of The Conspiracy Of Witchcraft

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    As we may already know, the town of Salem was subject to an epidemic of the accusations of witchcraft that lasted over ten months. Witchcraft of this time period was not taken lightly. In England alone over 40,000-60,000 people were killed after being found guilty of witchcraft. Needless to say the people found witchcraft as a virus that infected the town. The first cases started off with the daughters of Samuel Parris, the town minister, accusing his slave, Tituba, of being a witch. She claimed that she and others in the town were witches and there was even a wizard. The town broke out in hysteria in further months. Over 100 people were put in jail because of accusations. The council that were to find these people’s innocence or guilt were corrupted as well because to claim innocence meant you were guilty and if you were to claim guilt you could be redeemed. Many of the items found incriminating were pins and voodoo dolls. Many of these people faced the psychological terror of being pressured into claiming guilt to a crime, you didn’t commit in front of a committee and scared the community to death that they were going to be subjected to. Many of the witnesses to these trials were said to have undergone physical distress or act inhumanly. Many historians say to these records that since their body was put under so much strain and fear of the witchcraft that surrounded them all the time, their bodies going through strange changes such as paralysis or temporary blindness with no real cause rather than stress. But many historians also believe the witnesses were voluntarily acting and committing fraud against the others. But why was this such an enigma to understand why this small town in New England was all of a sudden becoming a cen...

    Read More

  • European Witch Hunt

    891 Words  | 2 Pages

    The epoch of Medieval European history concerning the vast and complicated witch hunts spanning from 1450 to 1750 is demonstrative of the socioeconomic, religious, and cultural changes that were occurring within a population that was unprepared for the reconstruction of society. Though numerous conclusions concerning the witch trials, why they occurred, and who was prosecuted have been founded within agreement there remains interpretations that expand on the central beliefs. Through examining multiple arguments a greater understanding of this period can be observed as there remains a staggering amount of catalysts and consequences that emerged. In the pursuit of a greater understanding three different interpretations will be presented. These interpretations which involve Brian Levack’s “The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe,” Eric Boss’s “Syphilis, Misogyny, and Witchcraft in 16th-Century Europe,” and Nachman Ben-Yehuda’s “The European Witch Craze of the 14th to 17th centuries: A Sociologist’s Perspective,” share various opinions while developing their own theories. The comparison of these observations will focus upon why the witch trials occurred when they did, why did they stop when they did, why did the witch trials occur when they did, and who was persecuted and who was responsible for the identification and punishing of witches.

    Read More

  • From Fact To Fallacy Margret Alice Murray Analysis

    1854 Words  | 4 Pages

    Understanding the scope and context of witchcraft is key to deciphering the subject. Margaret Alice Murray’s understanding of witchcraft, evident through her books The Witch-Cult in Western Europe, and The God of the Witches, increased public interest in witchcraft. However, it was almost immediately denounced by professionals in the field, and has been discredited many times since. Cathrine Noble completely dissects Margret Murray’s hypothesis in her article “From Fact to Fallacy: The Evolution of Margaret Alice Murray’s Witch-Cult,” however she does not completely discredit her work. Noble gives credit to Murray in that she increased the awareness and popularity of witchcraft. Nonetheless, most of Murray’s ideals are flawed on the basic principle of her generalization. Noble is able to pinpoint Murray’s inconsistencies through other

    Read More

  • The History of Witches and Witchcraft

    1338 Words  | 3 Pages

    What do you think when someone calls someone a witch? What comes to mind? Do you think of the movie, ‘Hocus Pocus’ or do you think of the black pointed hats and the long black, slit ended dresses? What about witchcraft? Does the term “Devil worshiper” ever cross your mind? Do you think of potions and spells? For many, many generations, we have underestimated what the true meaning of a witch and what witchcraft really is. What is the history that hides behind it? Witches and witchcraft have been in our history since the ancient times. There is a little bit more than the ghost stories told on Halloween, the movies shown on TV and dressing up on Halloween.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between The Crucible And Domestic Violence

    671 Words  | 2 Pages

    When relating the crime of witchery in the 17th century to modern day domestic violence, we must first examine the similarities between the two crimes. First of all, they were and are both considered serious crimes, with witchery punishable by hanging, and domestic violence today

    Read More

  • Why Did Witch Trials Happen

    1810 Words  | 4 Pages

    During the 16th century Europe was changing from an accusatorial justice system to an inquisitorial legal system. In terms of charging and convicting people of practicing witchcraft, the inquisitorial system was much more effective. This is because in the accusatorial system the criminal charges could only be brought up by one person (generally the victim), the judges were generally impartial, receiving nothing regardless of the result of the trial, and if the accused was found innocent, the accuser could then be put to trial for what is essentially slander, by the previously accused. However, in the new inquisitorial legal system charges were able to be brought up by individuals or by officers of the court. This allowed for the creation of victimless crimes, since officers of the court could accuse the person of the crime without a victim ever have existing. This is in contrast to the accusatorial legal system where generally the victim was the person to report the crime. Further, all stages of the legal system were officiated by these officers, allowing a greater role for human judgement in the court systems. The accusatorial system implemented a new, higher, standard of proof. For the accused to be guilty the accuser had to have two witnesses that could swear to having seen the accused doing the crime, or had to have a confession from the accused. Perhaps the biggest and most important difference between the inquisitorial and accusatorial justice systems was is that in the inquisitorial justice system the accuser has no ramifications if the accused is found innocent. Therefore, if a person suspected another person of something there is no (legal) danger in accusing them of whatever the accuser suspects. These changes in the justice system made it a lot easier to charge and then convict women (and men) of witchcraft because on top of everything else,

    Read More

  • Witch Hunt Essay

    2362 Words  | 5 Pages

    Witchcraft persecution peaked in intensity between 1560 and 1630 however the large scale witch hysteria began in the 14th century, at the end of the Middle Ages and were most intense during the Renaissance and continued until the 18th century, an era often referred to as the Enlightenment or Age of Reason. Representation of witches, nay, representation in general is a political issue. Without the power ot define the female voice and participate in decisions that affect women -similar to other marginalised groups in society- will be subject to the definitions and decisions of those in power. In this context, the power base lay with men. It can be said that the oppression of women may not have been deliberate, it is merely a common sense approach to the natural order of things: women have babies, women are weak, women are dispensable. However the natural order of things, the social constructs reflect the enduring success of patriarchal ideology. As such, ideology is a powerful source of inequality as well as a rationalisation of it. This essay will examine the nature of witchcraft and why it was threatening to Christianity.

    Read More

More about the decline of witchcraft prosecution in the 17th-18th centuries

Open Document