Witchcrafts Effects on the Early Modern Period and Beyond Little children run across the street dressed in a multitude of different costumes. Werewolves, vampires and fairies flood the streets. You see little girls dressed as witches, smiling as they knock on doors, going house to house. You stop to wonder, what do their costumes really represent? Why are we so fascinated with witches? What really is witchcraft? Webster's dictionary defines witchcraft as “the practice of magic for evil purposes; the use of spells.”. If you asked anyone during the early modern era of history what their definition of witchcraft is they would give you two words, death sentence. The idea of witchcraft has been around since biblical times, yet the increase …show more content…
Forty-five years before Salem, the Connecticut trials took place. The hanging of a young girl named Alice Young marked the first death in the colonies for the accusation of witchcraft. According to the official website for the state of Connecticut, the harford trails started in 1647 with the death of Alice but the trails would last until 1497. During 1962, The Hartford Witch Panic had more accused that year than any other during the entirety of the trials. The trials ended in the 1690s, right when the Salem trials were beginning to take shape in …show more content…
The town of Pendle held trails from 1612-1634. Twelve people were accused of using witchcraft to cause the deaths of ten people. Ten of the twelve were found guilty and accused for their alleged crime. The “Great Hunt” was in other portions of Europe too. The largest witch trial in Sweden occurred in Torsåker from 1674-1627. Seventy-five people were accused of witchcraft and sentenced to death. Around one-fifth of all women in the area were beheaded and burned at the stake in just a single day. In North Berwick, Scotland, while King James VI of Scotland was away for several weeks a mass hysteria spread surrounding witchcraft. The number of the deaths from these trials are unknown, however, seventy people including some families associated with the royal family were accused and held in court. Today, we look back at the Great Witch Craze of the early modern era not only to memorialize those who lost their lives so unjustly, but to also learn from the mistakes of the past. Witchcraft’s influence on Europe and colonial America during the early modern era has shaped the world we live in today. Because of all the witch trials, we have strengthened our legal system to not only require stone cold evidence but to also practice the right of being innocent until proven guilty. The trials showed how fear can turn neighbor against neighbor if
According to the source “Salem Witch Trials. Documentary Archive and Transcription Project”, in May 1692, in Salem, Massachusetts, one of the largest New England trials began on charges of witchcraft. During the Salem witch-hunts, 19 people were sentenced to death by hanging and above people were imprisoned and accused of witchcraft. In 1963 the Governor of the Massachusetts pardoned the remaining defendants and stopped witchcraft court. In confessed to an erroneous decision and then the court decision was declared illegal.
The first set of witchcraft persecutions occurred during Elizabeth 1st reign, this was Around 1563. Commonly people associated witches with a woman and the beliefs were the following of that they have made a pact with the evil spirit Satan. The rush of the witch persecutions mainly happened after 1563 and by the time period of 1750 roughly 200,000 witches were tortured, burnt, or hung across the whole of Western Europe. Therefore, in this essay, I will be mainly focusing and arguing which of the hysteria surrounding witchcraft and witchcraft trials had a greater impact in Britain or the American colonies in the time period of the 17th century. And I will be arguing it following different factors which could contribute to this such as the social factors geographical factors, religious factors and also control law and order.
The secular courts created laws and statues that defined witchcraft as a crime along with procedures on how to prosecute witches. Once the threat, based on shared understanding, was promulgated though the various levels of society the judicial machinery could take over and legally try witches. With a framework in place to handle witchcraft trials at all levels, the template of identifying witches in use, and a fearful populace seeking an outlet in turbulent times all it would take are trigger events to set witch hunts in motion. Wars, religious conflicts, and localized political issues factored into creating fear and anxiety because it created unstable situations that impacted people’s lives. Economic hardship stemming from drought, famine, limited resources for a growing population, and other natural disasters needed an explanation (Levack, 2016).
In late 17th century Massachusetts, there were The Salem Witch Trials. It was a series of prosecutions and hearings of people that were accused of witchcraft, and those who did witchcraft were to be praising the devil. All of this ended up taking place in the year 1692 and 93, it resulted in 20 people being executed during that period. It was mostly women who were too accused of all of it. The big question that's been around for a long period was whether the trials were really about witches or something else, which has been debated by scholars and historians for years.
Nadiia Horbul Professor Johnson English 151 3/20/2023 Draft Annotated Bibliography Witches represent the fear and desire of society Throughout history, witches have been both feared and admired, representing society's deepest fears and desires for power. Bever, Edward. “Witchcraft, Female Aggression, and Power in the Early Modern Community.” Journal of Social History, vol. 35, no. 4, 2002.
A witch is someone that is supposed to have evil, magic powers, and is working with the devil. The Salem Witch Trials was a notorious time in history, when many people endured unfathomable deaths. All of this commotion started in the 14th century across the pond in Europe. The belief in witches was spread to New England. This was around the time of January 1692 in Massachusetts.
Nearly anyone from the New England has heard of the famous Salem Witch Trials. A year of persecution, leading to the accusation of nearly 200 citizens of all ages. No one was safe; men, women, children, even pets stood trial and 20 were hung for the supposed crime of witchcraft (Blumberg). 1692 was a year of witch hunting. Most today blame the trials on hysteria, or perhaps a bad case of paranoia.
In 1692, the Salem Witch Trials occurred in Massachusetts Bay Colony. Before the trials, witch hunting occurred longer in European countries; England, Germany, Italy, and France for over 300 years. Witch hunting was a common activity after Pope Innocent VIII declared that witchcraft was against Christianity in 1484. Many Christians would purge the suspected people of witchcraft with torture methods such as hanging, being pressed to death, etc . Two centuries later, King Charles I developed a new religion called the Puritanism that is made up of pure christians that devote and base their lives on the word of God.
Salem, Massachusetts, USA and occurred between February 1692 and May 1693. Over 150 people were arrested and imprisoned and even more accused; but not pursued by the authorities. 29 were convicted of witchcraft but only 19 were hanged. The best known trials were in the Court of Oyer and Terminer.
The peak of witch-hunting occurred between 1560 and 1630, which saw a drastic rise in hunts, trials, and executions throughout much of Europe. In some cases, witch hunts and trials would escalate into a full-blown witch panic, where entire villages, towns, or regions got caught up in the hysteria and witnessed a large number of hunts and executions within a short period of time. Unfortunately, it is somewhat difficult to establish what specific factors led to any particular witch hunt; it is an even greater challenge to comprehend the complexities behind the outbreak of a complete panic. However, throughout the peak of the witch hunting period it is evident that witches were increasingly perceived as a malevolent threat to the public good,
The era of witch trials has come to an end. The last living witch was hanged in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. Despite the fact that there's no proof that witches were actually hunted down and killed by people wearing pointy hats and carrying pitchforks, many people still believe that witches were real and that they could be banished from their homes by burning them alive at the stake. The Witch Trials were a series of events that took place in the 17th and 18th centuries.
For the 16th and 17th centuries of early modern European history, many societies were consumed by a trepidation over alleged theories of witchcraft and sorcery in their communities. “Witch-hunts”, especially in Central Europe, resulted in the trial, torture, and execution of tens of thousands of victims, a large proportion of whom were women . In England alone, more than 90 percent of those convicted of witchcraft were women, and the few men who were accused were generally married to a woman who had already been deemed guilty of the offence . Although there are numerous ideas behind the explanation of this witch-craze, there are few which explain why it was almost exclusively women who were targeted. It is possible to say that neither before nor since these centuries have adult European women been the main focus for such a large scale barbarity.
In 1962 the most infamous even in early American history happened. Approximately over 150 Massachusetts men and women were charged with witchcraft. There was another lesser known witchcraft case also. Escaping Salem The Other Witch Hunt of 1692, is the story of a witchcraft trial that took place in Stamford, Connecticut in 1692. Many believed that Kate Branch had been witchcrafted by some women in the town.
The Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692 may have been instigated by religious, social, geographic and even biological factors. During these trials, 134 people were condemned as witches and 19 were hanged. These statistics also include 5 more deaths that occurred prior to their execution date. It is interesting to look into the causes of this stain on American History, when as shown in document B, eight citizens were hanged in only one day.
INTRODUCTION Princeton University online dictionary explains magic as “…any art that invokes supernatural powers”, or it can be explained as practice which aims at controlling and summoning natural creations by use of charms or rituals, it is usually done with intention of disrupting natural course of events in order to produce desired outcomes. It was common notion that men or women acquire these magical powers through learning special techniques and rituals especially in reformation era. Hence during fifteenth to seventeenth century magic was considered as learned activity. Magic is a one large umbrella where witchcraft comes under it. Meaning of word witchcraft is not specific but varies culturally.