In the three documents, “Bull Summis desiderantes” written by Innocent VIII, “The Ant Hill ”, written by Johannes Nider and Extracts from “The hammer of witches” written by Malleus Maleficarum, regarding the hunting of witches, the beliefs of witchcraft and the trail process for those accused of witchcraft all show a great deal of evidence that those accused of witchcraft had no chance at a fair trial.
In the document, “Bull Summis desiderantes” written by Innocent VIII, sheds light on how the catholic faith viewed those whom were thought to be practicing witchcraft. For the accused, there was little to no hope of a fair trial, for the accusers had already made their minds up on what they believed to be true about witchcraft. Innocent VIII spoke on the cruel intentions of witchcraft, claiming those whom practiced gave themselves to the devil and for all intensive purposes these witches had powers that threatened the faithful. An example of the believed threat from witchcraft came when Innocent VIII wrote, “[those whom practice witchcraft], ruin and cause to perish the offspring of women, the foal of animals, the products of the earth” ("Witchcraft Documents [15th Century]”).By addressing the general public in this way, one-sided to his faith, and fear mongering, Innocent VIII basically signed off on the killing of all those whom were not of Catholic faith and suspected of witchcraft ("Witchcraft Documents [15th Century]”).Innocent VIII then justifies his wishes by claiming heretical pravity in the areas of “ upper Germany, the provinces, cities, territories, regions, and dioceses of Mainz, Ko1n, Trier, Salzburg, Bremen, and throughout certain parts of the Rhine” ("Witchcraft Documents [15th Century]”). Innocent VIII believed he w...
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...as Johannes opinion bias on women witches but that his beliefs were shared amongst those noble and trust worthy men whom he shared stories with.
In the “The Hammer of witches” written by Malleus Maleficarum, Malleus writes,
Here it may be asked whether the judge, in the case of a prisoner much defamed, convicted both by witnesses and by proofs, nothing being lacking but his own confession, can properly lead him to hope that his life will be spared when, even if he confess his crime, he will be punished with death ("Witchcraft Documents [15th Century]”).
There is little doubt according to the three documents that there was ever, if any fair trials for those accused of witchcraft.
Works Cited
"Witchcraft Documents [15th Century])." Internet History Sourcebooks Project http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/witches1.html (accessed 12 February 2014).
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.
Witchcraft burned tens of thousands of people in the Middle Ages. Just in Salem, Massachusetts, the citizens accused over one hundred and fifty people of witchcraft. As a result of these accusations, the court hanged twenty of these supposed witches. How much evidence was there to convict the supposed witches? Not enough to select death as the punishment. However, the court sentenced the accused to be hanged if they did not confess which causes another problem: why hang when one could confess to a lie and live? Indeed, the court system broke down during these witch trials.
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...
Whenever we think of witches, we think of shriveled up ladies who wear pointy hats with a big black drape over her. But in England, in the Renaissance era, that is not always how they were distinguished out among the crowd. Many citizens were put on trial and even killed if they were accused of being witches. Many times, these people were falsely accused and therefore murdered wrongfully. Witchcraft was a problem starting around the mid-1400’s and influenced many writers such as Shakespeare, and although it is not a big problem in today’s society, looking back at how this affected the renaissance era in England is something that had a huge impact on their society.
Karlsen, Carol. "Witchcraft: Prejudice and Intolerance Targeted Gender During the Witch Hunts: Effects on Early Mode." setonhill.edu. n.p., 1998. Web. 18 February. .
Were the Witch-Hunts in Pre-modern Europe Misogynistic? The “YES” article by, Anne Llewellyn Barstow, “On Studying Witchcraft as Woman’s History” and the “NO” article by, Robin Briggs, “Women as Victims? Witches, Judges and the Community,” will be compared, and summarized.
Godbeer, Richard. ""How Could They Believe That?": Explaining to Students Why Accusations of Witchcraft Made Good Sense in Seventeenth-Century New England." OAH Magazine of History July 2003: 28-31. Ebscohost.Web. 05 Nov. 2013.
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.
Carlson, Laurie M. A Fever in Salem A New Interpretation of the New England Witch Trials. Chicago: I.R. Dee, 1999. Print.
American history is a collaboration of all of the wonderful events and the not so successful ones that make up this great country that we call the United States. Records of this fabulous nation date back all the way to dates way before our original founding fathers. However, few episodes of American history have aroused such intense and continuing interest ad the trials and executions for the witchcraft which occurred in Salem Massachusetts in 1692. Historians have scrutinized the event from many perspectives; novelists and playwright from Nathaniel Hawthorne to Arthur Miller have capitalized upon its inherent dramatic possibilities. The value, then, of a collection of primary documents relating to this event would seem to be clear, or would it.
During the early winter of 1692 two young girls became inexplicably ill and started having fits of convulsion, screaming, and hallucinations. Unable to find any medical reason for their condition the village doctor declared that there must be supernatural forces of witchcraft at work. This began an outbreak of hysteria that would result in the arrest of over one hundred-fifty people and execution of twenty women and men. The madness continued for over four months.
Concerning why the witch hunts occurred when they did the agreed upon opinion by all three author’s is the social unrest and uncertainty felt due to the Protestant Reformation and the schism it created amongst the populace, the effects of recovering from plague and war, and the enforced patriarchal structure of a society that was changing. It was during the Reformation that Christian...
Ram, Arnon. ‘The ‘Other’ Witches: The Male Witch of Early Modern Europe’ Beersheba: Ben Gurion University, 2006.
The magistrates, in the common practice of the time, asked the same questions of each suspect over and over: Were they witches? Had they seen Satan? How, if they were not witches, did they explain the contortions seemingly caused by their presence? The style and form of the questions indicates that the magistrates thought the women guilty
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.