Witch Crazy

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Recommended: Witchcraft during the 17th century

In England, during the 15th and 16th centuries, the previously underground and ignored practice of witchcraft became an offense that was punishable by death. Women were the majority of the citizens who were tried for the crime of witchcraft. The belief that they were given their supernatural powers by the devil and aimed to crush all Christian values and people caused their excessive persecution.1 This paper will explain why most individuals accused of witchcraft in England were women and will be backed by primary sources from a variety of historical individuals and also secondary sources from various historical backgrounds. King James I was particularly interested in witchcraft and through his life changed his opinion about how those suspected of witchcraft should be treated. Before 1590, the practice of witchcraft and its adherents were generally ignored. When King James I published the documents of Daemonologie, the persecution of those suspected of practicing witchcraft accelerated because James and his followers believed that witches were a threat to him and all other Christians.2 Reginald Scot became one of the few opposed to the accusations of witchcraft and he detailed his beliefs in his book, Discoveries of Witchcraft, written in 1584. When the witch- hunts were coming to end, hundreds of mostly English women would be tortured and then hanged. The accusations would generally cease by the 18th century, when people became tired of the false accusations, unnecessary tribulations, and the deaths of many innocents.

King James I was the King of England from 1567 to 1625. King James is important because under his authority more trials were held than any other time before in England.3 King James's ship carrying him an...

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...understanding. It is in part because of the beliefs of that time that many people held that men were superior to women in body and mind. That spiritual and physical weakness they perceived in women caused them of consorting with the Devil to easily accuse women. The accused women that were hanged were executed because of the individuals who believed that they were superior than them. This kind of dangerous thinking meant death for women who were seen as a threat to the scared men.

Works Cited

Ankerloo, Bengt Witchcraft and Magic in Europe: The Period of the Witch Trials. The Athlone Press 2002.

Burns, William Witch Hunts in Europe and America. Greenwood 2003.

James the 1st Daemonologie Dodo Press 1597.

Kors, Alan Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700. University of Pennsylvania Press 2000.

Scot, Reginald Discoveries of Witchcraft. Dover Publications 1584.

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