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

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

“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