Modern-Day Indian Witch-Hunts

In August of this year, residents of a village in Jharkhand state, India were subjected to fatal abductions from their homes, and severe beating. These residents, five women, were all accused of practicing witchcraft and were then blamed for unlucky accidents that occurred throughout the village.

Superstitious beliefs fueled these attacks, and prompted the death of these women. The beliefs of those we’ve studied throughout the semester also – coupled with economic problems, political unrest, and a plethora of other factors – were victimized and suffered as a result of their actions, and of accusations thrown against them. Through our studies, we’ve seen women accused of witchcraft for poor weather patterns, illnesses, reduced crop growth, and many other qualms that still occur today.

With the arrest of fifty villagers involved in the attack, this would appear to be a larger incident in a smaller village. We’ve seen mass prosecutions occur, such as in Basque and Wurzburg, which make these numbers seem like drops in a bucket in comparison, they are still lives that have been taken too soon, and taken forcefully by others. 

Image credit:

http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.2319281.1439065843!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_970/543197240.jpg?enlarged

Witch Hunts in Europe vs Witch Hunts in Africa

A laymen would believe the witch-hunts in Europe to be a backwards, disorganized affair. However time and time again it shown that the witch-hunts in Europe were a very legalized, record based process. The witch-hunts would never have taken off and been as widespread without the growth of the legal powers of the church and state. Only when inquisitors were given the ability to coerce "information" out of the accused "witches" could the ideas behind the cumulative concept become legitimate and widespread. (Levack 304-305)

In Europe there were tens of thousands of of prosecutions, which can be attributed to the legal process. In Africa however while there have been witch-hunts and witch cleansing, they have not reached the heights that they did Europe. This can in part be attributed to cultural differences and the lack of Christian influence in Africa. Levack seems to argue however that it was in fact a lack of a legal process in Africa that has kept the numbers of the accused from reaching dramatic levels. In Africa the prosecutions and executions were all in the form of vigilante justice. There was no legal process and no torture therefore the cumulative concept could never take root in Africa.

Are there any other reasons that witch-hunts in Africa did not reach dramatic levels?

What other differences do we see between European witch-hunts and African witch-hunts? 

Witch-hunts and the Modern State

      An interesting aspect of the reading by Levack is that although the specific hunting of witches has for the most part ended in western nations the same processes that caused it remain. The fear of modern social deviants has resulted in similar persecution as those perceived to be witches in early modern Europe. In the United States there were witch-hunts for communists during the Cold War and in Europe during Nazi occupation, Jews and other social and ethnic minorities were persecuted to an extent that dwarfs the persecutions experienced by perceived witches in the past. The main difference between the witch-hunts of early modern Europe and those that have happened more recently or could potentially happen in the future is that it is the modern state in western society that is mainly persecuting "witches". Should they be they members of a particular ideology contrary to their government's positions or styled terrorists the people now representing witches can be persecuted on a much larger scale than was ever possible when it was mainly local communities who were responsible for persecutions. Although witches are not necessarily being persecuted currently, the the capacity for witch-hunt style persecutions against others is just as great now as it was during the early modern era in Europe.    




Do you believe that mass persecution in the style of witch-hunts is possible today? How is it that the change in the source of the persecution from local communities to the state has changed the groups being targeted for mass persecution?

The Decline of Witch-Hunting

I have always supported the idea that the use of torture perpetuated the witch-hunts and was one of the most important factors that kept the witch-hunts alive for as long as they were. In the 17th and 18th century however the widespread witch-hunts began to dwindle, so much so that by 1782 the last officially sanctioned witch execution took place. (Levack 253) This decline and eventual end is largely thanks to the prohibition of torture. In the 17th and 18th century many critics of torture began to emerge, deeming it an inefficient method for obtaining information, pointing out its many flaws. One such critic was Christian Thomasius, Thomasius is quoted saying "I am afraid that if someone tortures you or me, we will confess to everything that the torturer wants to demand." (Kors and Peters 447) As more and more ideas similar to these began to emerge pressure was put on administrations that utilized torture until it eventually subsided.

Why do you think critics of torture took so long to emerge or vocalize?
What other aspects helped lead to the decline of the witch-hunts?

Roper's enlightened witch-trials

Tomorrow's reading in Roper is about the influence of the Enlightenment and how it changed the ideas and proceedings of witch interrogations and trials.The trial of Catharina Schmid is a focus of Roper and used to display her argument from the beginning to the middle of the chapter. As Roper explains, Catherina's trial which took place in southern Germany, used torture that violated rules, was targeted towards an elderly woman (74 years old), and displayed a separation between the lower class (Schmid) and the upper (Roper, 227 and 231). However there is a new significance to this case. As Roper explains, this case took place in 1745 which was over 100 years after the attributed end to the witch crazes that caused mass panic and executions and with the Enlightenment came an increase in record keeping (Roper, 228). Her major point through all of this is the detail of the emotion that scribes recorded through the entire process. Although the trials followed a similar format, instead of focusing on the confessions the scribes during the Enlightenment focused on the testimonies of others throughout the case. Why would there be such a drastic change in focus for proof? Roper briefly explains that due to the long break between 1650 and the reemergence of witch-trials in the 18th century the court systems had to redesign their tactics because they didn't have access to many of the original doctrine (Roper, 231). As a student of history I would like to believe that people learn from previous history. Thereofore, and I think this is what Roper is trying to argue as well, because of the lack of records concerning the search for proof there was an increase in displaying this process and what people said through the trial for future generations to come. Within her chapter she also discusses the Enlightenment and some other characteristics that influenced the witch-trials, briefly what are these new ideas? Also, if at the end of these witch hunts, just like those earlier in the 16th and 17th centuries, there were still executions of people were these changes truly significant?


source: Roper, Lyndal. Witch Craze. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004.

 

“Not So Serious…” The Spanish Inquisition and Witches

   Oftentimes the Spanish Inquisition gets a bad rap. Even though countless individuals were persecuted for being Jewish or Muslim, no one can argue that a plethora of people were victimized by means of a bloody purge to rid Iberia of witchcraft and magic. On the contrary, a small percentage of the total number of people accused and brought before inquisitorial courts during the period between 1540 and 1700 were charged with Superstition and Witchcraft, according to Christina Larner (CP, 2015). Out of almost 45,000 total charges only 3,500, or roughly 8%, were based on witchcraft and magic. Furthermore out of 535 executions in the region of Aragon during 1540-1640, a measly 12 souls lost their lives because of accusations of superstition and witchcraft, most receiving the “mildest penalties [of]… confession and absolution,” (qtd. in CP, 2015).

    Although any loss of life is a sad occurrence, the numbers in Spain illustrate a significant downplay compared from the massive witch-hunts that were occurring in northern Europe during this time. While many of the magistrates over witch trials in northern Europe were secular, in Spain the Catholic “Inquisition had jurisdiction over all offenses involving… superstition and magic…” (qtd. in CP, 2015). It was in this role that the Inquisition presided over the cases of accused witches and magicians during the early modern period. Addressing the issue of the amount of severity that witches were dealt, or more accurately NOT dealt, resides in the common notion that individuals who were accused of witchcraft were actually attempting to invoke God’s power through the use of legitimate Church “magic”. Larner contends that many did not know that they were sinning and that had they of known it, they would have stopped. Moreover the “only reason that the [commoners’ practice of magic] did not qualify as Church ‘magic’ was that the practitioners violated the Church’s monopoly on divine access,” (qtd. in CP, 2015).

    Needless to say the leniency that accused witches in Spain received during the Inquisition nullifies the belief that all were treated with extreme harshness. Since most inquisitors “assumed that most accused of magic were sincere Catholics who truly did not knowingly call upon demons,” they would receive much lighter punishment compared to more serious offences such as heresy, sodomy, and opposition to the Inquisition (qtd. in CP, 2015).

 

An early 19th century engraving of what many experienced during
the Inquisition. However, according to Larner individuals who were accused of
witchcraft and superstition were almost always not subjected to torture.

Why was the main focus in Spain was on different issues than witchcraft and magic, while many other regions were focusing their attention on eradicating all forms of magic practice?

Do you feel that Spain’s recent past at the time contributed to the Inquisition’s attention to religious matters?

Source:

Wolbrink, Shelley, comp. Course Packet: History of European Witch-hunts. Springfield, Missouri: Drury University Carbon Copy, 2015.

Implicit Partnership: Witchcraft and the Atlantic World

Elizabeth Reis (CP 217) discusses the idea that witchcraft in America was often deemed as such even when it went against the standards laid out in the Malleus Maleficarum. While the American judicial system also used confessions to convict witches, they weren't looking for the same thing European Inquisitors were looking for. In Europe, if confessions didn't edify the notions that the Inquisitors already had about witchcraft, they generally weren't accepted.

In contrast, Reis writes, "Simply to sin implied the forging of an implicit covenant with Satan, a spiritual renunciation of God. For Puritans, to become an actual witch demanded the acceptance of a more literal and physical invitation from the devil. But during the Salem witchcraft trials and other episodes, these distinctions were blurred" (CP 218).

What do you think of this idea of implicit partnership? Does it remind you of any other readings we've done this semester? 

Aberdeenshire: The Beginning of the Scotland Panic

Julian Goodare begins his article about the Scottish witchcraft trials with the trials about Slain which is in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. While reading his article I could only think about the common theme concerning the progression of persecution of witches. In Slain the panic, as Goodare calls it, began with the persecution of two women, Isobel Strachan and Janet Wishart. Both of these women were executed and following their executions panic developed.

It began with Wishart's son, Thomas Leys. He was interrogated, confessed and named many women who had been present whenever he was participating in his devil worshiping/witchcraft. Following Leys' confession led to the interrogation of these other women who also confessed upon interrogation and named more women. In the end the panic had grown exponentially. In a matter of 3 months, "At least eighty people [had been] caught up in the panic, thirty of whom died as a result of it," (Goodare, 2007). It is amazing to me how a panic can show the same characteristics of development even though it is secluded on the northern tip of an island away from the main land that is attributed to the masses of witch trials. Is this a result of the printing press that had been invented 100 or so years prior? I also wonder if the Reformation that sparked the spread of ideas from theologian to theologian, which was arguably made possible through the utilization of the printing press, also fostered the spread of news about trials in Germany and surrounding areas to further places such as Scotland? This could possibly explain some of the stark similarities between the trials. And, because both Germany and Scotland were hubs for some of the most influential protestant theologians it seems plausible.

Evil Children or Mistreated Souls?

Children have historically embodied two very different personas as made evident by the readings on child witches. There is the stereotypical idea of a child that pops into our head; innocent, curious, fragile, and most certainly incapable of witchcraft. But then there is the "sinister" child, the child that whispers ominously and behaves strangely (think Damien from "The Omen"). This child is less frequently thought of, but nevertheless in the back of our minds. For example, something as seemingly innocent as a child's laughter can be both delightful and terrifying. If you're playing peek-a-boo with a child you can't get enough of their little giggle, but if you're home alone and you hear a child's laughter in the night, you're probably going to start praying--at least I would. Clearly there is something both eerie and adorable about children. Perhaps it's for this reason that mature, logical adults were easily able to believe children capable of being witches.

 In the case of Trier, when multiple children claimed to be witches, it is obvious they had no idea what they were doing, and were more than likely just playing pretend. Children love attention, and the mass amounts of attention they would have received during this trial would only serve to fuel the fire of what was most likely to them simply a game. We also know that children can be easily manipulated into giving false testimony, as in the ritual abuse cases of the 80's and 90's. If they feel pressured into it they would easily denounce their neighbors as witches, either out of fear, or because they thought it was fun. The idea of manipulation becomes even more likely when you factor in the fact that minors were allowed to be tortured. We know adults have a very difficult time withstanding torture, one can only imagine how much harder it must have been for a child.

Walinski-Kiehl, Robert S. "The devil's children: child witch-trials in early modern Germany." The History of European Witch-Hunts Course Packet, 2015. Print.

Save the Children: Child Witches During the "Witch Craze"

Children during the early modern period of the witch-trials seemed to have a major role, both passively and actively. In the beginning of Robert Walinski-Kiehl's article, he talks about how children were sometimes primarily seen as victims of witchcraft, rather than actual participants. Children were subjected to violent mutilation and violence as it was believed to be a major identifier for what makes a witch a witch (CP 195). However, Walinski-Kiehl quickly moves on to point out that there were, in fact, children that were tried and even executed because they themselves were accused of being witches.

While we do not seem to have a definitive number as to how many child witches were actually tried and executed, but the author does point out a series of accounts that have been documented of children confessing and accusing others of witchcraft. What I find most interesting about these accounts is trying to figure out just what exactly is going on in the children's psyche while the trials are in full swing. Walinski-Kiehl explains that while children obviously carry an air of innocence about them, and that these shocking accusations of the witch-trials might be far beyond their ability to understand, the author explains, "However, it is unlikely that children were completely unfamiliar with demonic witchcraft notions, particularly in areas that experienced mass panics. They would have overheard adult conversations discussing the trials, and they had the opportunity to obtain information by attending the public executions where the witches' demonic confessions were read out aloud" (CP 202). The children may very well know some of the mechanics of the witch-trials, but they may not know exactly what the trials mean on a deeper level of understanding.

But what do you think of the child confessions? Where do you suppose they stem from, based on our readings for today, and/or any experience you might have with children?

Walinski-Kiehl, Robert S. "The devil's children: child witch-trials in early modern Germany." The History of European Witch-Hunts Course Packet, 2015. Print.

The Many Faces of Possession

The origin of demonic possession during the witch-hunts is one that has differing perspectives. Levack writes that possession was the caused by a witch and points out that a number of witch prosecutions can be attributed to the "witch" being accused of inflicting the possession on a large group of peoples (Levack 184). On the other hand Johann Weyer believed that the Devil possessed the afflicted directly, not as a result of witchcraft. (CP 187)

Possession had reached its peak in Europe in the 1550's but its prominence in Colonial America was not until the late 17th century. A case of possession in Boston in 1688 led to a witchcraft trial and an eventual execution. Then there was the witch-hunt at Salem, this was a highly publicized event that led to a number of cases in England and Scotland. Cases like these helped cement the idea of possession and exorcism in the minds of generations to come and tales of possession are still seen today. 

The Exorcist or as I more commonly refer to it as "the reason I didn't sleep during the summer of 2000" is the most classic example of an exorcism/possession in pop culture today. A number of movies have tried to emulate its success, but I wouldn't know if they were good or not because I'm now permanently broken to scary movies. It seems that without fail there is a movie every year or two regarding this topic (my personal favorite being the exorcism of Jonah Hill in This Is The End).  

For those of you who are interested here is the Exorcism of Jonah Hill: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOQwsiwE0x4

Possession Then and Now

The perception of possession has changed drastically from the days of the witch hunts. Levack introduces the idea that possession was believed to be caused by a witch, and manifested specifically in nuns and children in large numbers. It's interesting to note that in the cases in Aixen-Province and Loudon, the culprit supposedly behind the nuns' possession was non other than the priest. Additionally, as Levack writes "according to demonological theory the Devil actually entered the body of the afflicted person rather than acting upon it externally".

Possession has become mainstream. Stories of exorcism have become box office hits. There are hundreds, if not thousands of scary movies out there that all deal with possession. Long gone are the days when we would cower in fear of the witch who could cause us to be possessed by the Devil. The "roles" in modern day possession have changed immensely. The witch has either disappeared completely, or been replaced by Satanists as is the case in the movies "Annabelle" and "Rosemary's Baby". No longer are large groups of people possessed, but rather one or two individuals, although usually not at the same time. The priest has gone from the evildoer to the much sought after savior as evidenced by the classic movie "The Exorcist". Perhaps most importantly, the role of the possessor has changed. Possession has been outsourced to demons, rather than being done by the Devil, I guess he's just too busy with other business. The idea of possession by demons holds true for all the popular possession movies released over the last 40 years. The one thing that doesn't seem to have changed is that women and children are still portrayed as the primary victims of possession.

Possession is no longer something we fear, because it's not something that is "real" to us. We see videos of supposed possession, and hear stories of people being possessed, but we don't really believe it's caused by a demonic entity. Science and modern medicine have given us ample ways of explaining symptoms of possession. People throwing up seemingly inedible objects such as bones, pins, or straw, is explained away by an eating disorder called Pica. Interestingly enough, Pica is most common among women and children. Schizophrenia explains why victims of possession might experience hallucinations, hear voices, or speak in "tongues". Unlike in the past, today possession is easily explained away.

Social Statuses of Old Women as Portrayed in Art

     

                           The Bath of Leuk, 1597 by Hans Bock

   

     Old women in early modern Germany were a group of people that according to Roper were potentially a despised segment of society and this image called The Bath of Leuk illustrates this mentality in multiple ways. The younger women are shown as expressing fertility with some such as the woman in the foreground and others appearing pregnant. Pregnancy was an important feature of fertility during the time period and presents the younger women in a positive light. Another positive aspect of the younger women in the image is that they appear to be wealthier than the other women with expensive looking necklaces and many of them are attracting male attention or are at least interacting with with others in the image. All of these attributes contrast with the older women portrayed in the image. The older women portrayed in this image are not socially interacting with anyone else in the image nor seem to be particularly enjoying themselves in contrast to basically everyone else in the image. The older woman on the far left with her arms crossed appears to be among only women in the image to not have a necklace of some type implying a difference in wealth between her and the younger fertile women in the scene. All of these differences between the older women and the younger serve to illustrate the mindset of German society at the time of old women as different from the rest of society. 

Why is it that you think that old women in German society during the early modern era were targeted for witchcraft? Was it primarily about fertility or something more?                

Envious Ol’ Hags: Fertility, Age, and the Witch-Hunts

Albrecht Dürer: Witch riding backwards on a goat,

copperplate engraving (repro-negative), c. 1505

Witches are old, ugly haggish women. At least that is a common viewpoint of the twenty-first century. However this is not a time bound phenomenon according to Lyndall Roper. The author, whose 2004 book Witch Craze focuses on the psychological aspects of the witch-hunts that occurred throughout Europe over the 400 years from the fifteenth century forwards. Looking at the accounts of torture and executions that were committed during the era, Roper constructs her argument that “older women were strongly over-represented amongst the victims of the witch craze,” (Roper, 161). Official records illustrate that the majority of women prosecuted for witchcraft were older than age forty and largely the women had experienced motherhood. One example of this is the town of Nördlingen, Germany during the years 1589-98 where there were 35 individuals which were executed as witches. All but one were female, and roughly twenty of those women were at least forty years old with an additional six having had adult children. Similar incidences occurred throughout Europe during the period, leading to Roper’s conclusion that fertility played a significant role in contributing to the witch-hunts. She contends that older women, especially menopausal and post-menopausal were more likely to be accused of being witches due to the fact that they were more likely to be envious of young mothers who were in the prime of their life. Furthermore society’s expectations regarding women’s roles as being rooted in fecundity would contribute to the negative view of older and sterile women.

Why do you think that so much emphasis was placed on fertility and infertility during this era? Was it just social beliefs/traditions or was there a more calculated, logical reason?

Roper, Lyndal. Witch Craze: Terror and Fantasy in Baroque Germany. 1st ed. New Haven: Yale UP, 2004. Print.

Regulations in Society

Regulating fertility and marriage was a big part of early modern history. In Roper's chapter on Fertility one of the most common regulations for marriage was being financially stable. Not only was it required that you be in a financially stable position but also that you weren't too young. Of course with age comes more money such as if a parent dies and one inherits the assets. One of the regulations was even that they didn't want you marrying an "outsider" or the example Roper gives, you must show documentation of the properties owned by the person you wish to marry. One man was denied the marriage to a woman for not being able to provide documentation. For regulations on fertility it's pretty reasonable to regulate the amount of births in a community due to food shortages or something of that matter. It would be much harder in today's world but as adults we can make that decision ourselves based on our situations in life. We may read this chapter and think how can they put regulations on fertility and the birth of children let alone who you fall in love with and the denial of marriage. But is it all that crazy? If we think about it our parents tell us as we are growing up not to get married to young and that we need to save money as we go so that we will have a comfortable lifestyle. Although there is no actual law regulating this I think we still follow these guidelines in today's world.

Regulations on Fertility and Marriages

Regulations on Fertility and Marriages

Regulations and rules were put on marriages and fertility because of the wide fear of witches and this way they can have some control over society.  Limiting population was a concern for the early modern government because of the lack of resources and the down fall of the economy. Keeping population down was important because the resources, like food, were limited. To be able to get married a couple must be financially stable and able to provide from themselves. This helped to decrease fertility by making couples wait to marry and to have children sooner. As woman age it is harder for them to conceive and by making them wait there is a less chance they will have multiple children. Parental permission was another regulation on marriages, if two people decided to get married without permission it was considered ‘irresponsible marriage’ (Roper 129). There are multiple rules that stop fertility and marriages throughout Germany.

In this chapter Roper used many images that displayed fertility, which was a common theme in many witch trials. The painting Allegory of Nature displays the connection between human fertility and the earths fertility. Like woman providing for her children the earth provides nourishment when the time comes. During this time the earth was not as fruitful and there for woman could not bear as many children.

What did you think about the images that Roper displayed in chapter six?

What did you think about the regulations and restrictions on marriages and fertility? 

Post-Partum Depression and Fertility

As I read Roper's chapter on womanhood, I'm realizing just how many risks, both real and imagined, surrounded a pregnancy. First you have the worry that you may miscarry, if you manage to reach birth, then the mother, child, or both might end up dying, and if you're lucky enough to make it to the laying in period, well your child may end up being killed by a witch. Roper's accounts of the "terrors, anxieties and dependence" brought about by the childbed makes me wonder whether post-partum depression played a part in the accusations of witchcraft. We know from prior readings about guilt transfer, and from the actions surrounding the "satanic abuse" cases, just how heightened a mother's sense of guilt can be. I wonder if perhaps feelings brought on by post-partum depression would cause a new mother to feel extremely guilty, and therefore try to transfer her guilt onto someone else if something happens to her baby.
The government crackdown on marriage and illegitimacy, combined with the need to continue lineages and the population overall, caused quite a catch 22. One can see why fertility became so important. By having to wait longer for marriage, a woman decreased her likelihood of having children and in conjunction with the high infant mortality rates, women of the time became less and less likely to have living children. Without knowing that her "advanced" age would have an effect on how many children she would bear, its easy to see why a jealous witch may want to steal what fertility she has left.

Roper 126-159

Midwives, Stepmothers, and the Old Crone Who Lives Next Door

The image of a witch as an old crone is incredibly pervasive today, just as it was in the early modern period. Today witches in popular culture are almost invariably presented as old women, sometimes supernaturally ancient and sometimes just old. Witches (understandably) are cast as the antagonists, the villains, and in many cases witches were close to the protagonist or their family members prior to becoming evil or their powers revealed (think Snow White and Into the Woods).
These associations have firm roots in the witch hunts of early modern Europe, when the majority of those tried for maleficia were women and the average age exceeded 50, even 60 years of age in some regions. Thus, the average witch could be understood to be a menopausal or postmenopausal woman. The association of witches with fertility is an ancient one, brought about when pagan fertility rites became heretical with the popularization of Christianity.
Mothers and midwives were a natural extension of the fertility association, and while Levack points out that the image of a witch as a midwife was less common in the early modern period than modern associations would have one believe, he also brings up the idea of family members accusing each other of witchcraft as an allowable vengeance in the early modern period. Accusations of this sort, such as a young person accusing their mother, stepmother, or another older female family member of witchcraft as payback for her opposing an early marriage, were not common per se, but were definitely not unheard of.

Thinking about witches in modern popular culture, what might be some historical bases for the way they are presented today?

Levack, 141-163.

A Most Horrifying "Scandal"

This week's reading hasn't been easy. With the topic of torture we like to think that we are somehow separated from that of the witch-hunts, but that is not entirely true. Photos and recorded documents of the Abu Ghraib incident prove that.

During the war in Iraq, military personnel stationed at Abu Ghraib prison were said to have abused detainees with various forms of torture and sexual violence. It was said that these acts of torture were used as a means of gathering information, such as in the incidents of the witch-hunts. What is also similar to the witch-hunts, is that torture was authorized by government military leaders. "There was evidence that authorization for the torture had come from high up in military hierarchy, with allegations being made that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had authorized some of the actions" (Wikipedia).

As we have read before, many people react differently to the topic of torture and with this incident in particular. In the "Global Reaction" section of the Wikipedia article, it quotes Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, the foreign minister of the Vatican, saying that this incident at Abu Ghraib was "a more serious blow to the United States than September 11, 2001 attacks. Except that the blow was not inflicted by terrorists but by the Americans against themselves" (Wikipedia). This means that since the incident has proven that the United States is in fact willing to use torture, that the rest of the world will look on the country very poorly, and possibly even encourage new enemies. However, many people also responded in favor of the torture, saying that if it is necessary, it should be used.

These might be a hard questions to ask, but what do you think of the whole "scandal"?

Do you think that torture should be permitted as a means of gaining information?

"Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse." Wikipedia.org.

Misogyny, Misandry, or Misanthropy: Gender Bias in the Early Modern Witch-Hunts

In our class discussions, we critically analyze the causes, effects, and parties involved in the medieval European witch-hunts. At times, such as when viewing woodcuts and illustrations such as the cover of our Kors and Peters book, depicted below, we also address the concept of gender and the role that it played. We see that the vast majority of those accused of witchcraft were females, the majority of those prosecuting and investigating such accusations were males, and we see two stark contrasts between the punishments awarded to these groups.

The word misogyny is often used far more often than is necessary or than is appropriate. Yes, our studies and texts in class primarily focus on those who lack a Y chromosome, but it does not solely focus on punishing only those individuals. Misandry is a concept that is often ignored, many don’t want to speak of the oppression, contempt, and prejudice that are held against men throughout various aspects of history and in our modern day. As opposed to labeling the entire scope of the witch-hunts as being misogynistic, or misandristic, a much more adequate and fitting term would be misanthropic.  

In our Kors and Peters book, we read the Malleus Maleficarum written by Heinrich Kramer. In this text, which quickly became paramount to the witch hunts, both men and women are described in how they succumb to the practice of witchcraft, and goes so far as to explain and justify the reasoning behind why women were more often accused, such as claiming “women are more carnal than men,” “women are more easily swayed and influenced,” and “a woman falsely accused Joseph which resulted in his incarceration because he refused to engage in intercourse with her, thus they are more likely to act out in jealousy or envy and turn to evil methods in order to achieve such means” (K&P).  

Although there aren’t any current studies heavily examining gender and the representation of each and every accused individual in these hunts, in order to fully understand the implications of one’s sex and certain body parts that they may or may not have, one first needs to understand and come to view gender as more of a spectrum than a binary, in addition to concepts such as human sexuality. Why does the Bible condemn homosexuality and acts of sodomy? Why were such acts punished during these hunts? If two consenting adults choose to engage in private activities, even if one of those adults happens to be a demonic or evil entity, what exactly gives the rights to these inquisitors and these magistrates to pass physical judgment and execute, fine, or otherwise punish these individuals? Why were Catholics able to prosecute Jews, Waldensians, and pagans?

Although the majority of these prosecutions and interrogations were reserved for women, in order to fully understand the implications and scope of the witch-hunts, men and their roles as accused cannot be overlooked. 

Image credits:

Baldung/Kors and Peters image:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Baldung_Hexen_1508_kol.JPG

Malleus Maleficarum image:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Malleus.jpg/250px-Malleus.jpg

Bibliography:

Kors, Alan Charles, and Edward Peters. Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700: A Documentary History. Second ed. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001.

Torture at Abu Ghraib

The photographs taken by the 372nd Military Police Company that shows detainees being tortured at Abu Ghraib are hard to look at. Male detainees were stripped naked, arranged in sexually explicit positions, and even forced to masturbate; all while being photographed or filmed. Many were beaten, waterboarded, and threatened with death. It is hard to believe that the United States could be responsible for such atrocities, but according to a Newsweek article titled The Debate Over Torture, it states that "The international Convention Against Torture, ratified by the United States in 1994, bans the "cruel, inhuman, and degrading" treatment of all prisoners. But Justice Department lawyers had obligingly declared that the president could ignore such constraints" (CP 166). It is also worth noting that many of these prisoners are not even prisoners at all, but rather considered enemy combatants that are not afforded the protection of the Geneva Convention rules. When the barbarity of what was happening at the prison came to light, an investigation was launched, and many of the lower ranking military members were sentenced to various lengths of jail time. One of the key components that came from the investigation was that "the 800th MP Brigade was not adequately trained for a mission that included operating a prison or penal institution at Abu Ghraib Prison Complex" (CP 160). Of course, those who were involved in the aggravated torture of the prisoners deserve to be punished, but do you believe that they were acting on their own, or were they merely following orders from higher command?

An American Alternative: Torture in the 21st Century

When one hears of torture, they immediately think of the middle ages (incorrectly) or of the inhumane treatment by the Axis Powers during the Second World War. However the use of torture is not a bygone process. On the contrary torture has been found to have occurred in the last decade. And the party responsible is not an uncivilized group or nation. The assailants acted under the authority of none other than the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency. The individuals which were subjected to various tortures – such as waterboarding, containment in small boxes, standing handcuffed to hanging rods for weeks at a time – were prisoners who were accused of being important leaders of the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda. The goal of this torturing and subsequent interrogations was to extract information regarding the identities of additional terrorists and potential targets. Although there was much controversy regarding this use by the American forces to gain information, the importance lies in the fact that the torture was not the product of rogue subordinates in the field. What is more the decision to utilize this form of extraction was decided by higher officials back in the states.

In a 2009 article from the New York Times, a C.I.A. officer stated that, “It wasn’t up to individual interrogators to decide… [because every step] had to have the approval of the deputy director for operations” (Danner). The officer continued that before any torture could be done, those in the field had to ask permission via cable transmission of their superiors (Danner, 2009). Thus it was beyond the power of the “boots on the ground” to make the decisions about whether or not to apply torture to an individual. The author of the article further writes that although there is need for justice to be directed toward the alleged terrorists that “the use of torture deprives society… of the possibility for rendering justice. Torture destroys justice… in effect [relinquishing] this sacred right in exchange for speculative benefits whose value is… much disputed” (Danner, 2009).

Essentially torture of terrorists would come to be a major trouble in the American War on Terror, creating much highly debatable results. There are many similarities that exist between the 21^st century and the early modern era when torture would be used to great extant to withdraw information during the great witch-hunts. Looking back at the accounts of the witch-hunts, what are the links that officials in power had over the torture procedures? And do you feel that the information that is gained from torture, whether in the present day or centuries ago, is truly beneficial to the original intention of the torturers?

Early Modern Depiction of a Torture Technique that would be used in the 21st Century.

To read the New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/opinion/15danner.html?_r=0

Damned if you do, Damned if you don't

As we have learned in class, it seems that people (especially women) who were accused of witchcraft had little to no rights when it came to their defense. From Rebecca Lemp, who's letters from her own children and husband could not save her, to Johannes Junius, a burgomaster from Bamberg, legal defense for accused witches appeared to be a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario for them.  Friedrich Spee, a confessor of witches wrote in the Cautio criminalis about a woman named Gaia. When it comes to living a good life or a bad life, he says "If a bad one, then, say they, the proof is cogent against her" and "If, however, she has led a good one, this also is none the less a proof; for thus, they say, are witches wont to cloak themselves and try to seem especially proper" (Kors and Peters 426). Usually, torture was used in order to obtain a confession. However, it doesn't seem to matter because, according to Spee, "when once a beginning has been made with the torture, the die is already cast - she cannot escape, she must die" (Kors and Peters 427). Even though there was the appearance of fairness (judges, lawyers, note takers, etc.), do you believe that those accused of witchcraft were doomed right from the beginning?

Judicial Torture

When we discuss torture we think of words like inhumane, degrading, and painful. But one word that is not quite the first thing that pops into our heads is judicial. Adding this word judicial in front of torture suddenly makes it seem like it's okay, that it's legal and that there are rules. Levack talks about a few rules, which varied from place to place, like the prohibition of torture unless the judge could prove that a crime had actually been committed. This is interesting because witchcraft is not actually a crime that judges could prove had been committed. Being accused of witchcraft almost entirely relies on confessions and stories from others. This being said it is also interesting that the most serious tortures were saved for the accused of witchcraft not because it was a heinous crime, Levack says, but because judges feared they would employ magic to help them withstand pain.
Levack also talks about how the torture greatly increased the chances of witches being convicted. He says that the use of torture resolved the problem of having insufficient proof and made the conviction of anyone who incurred the suspicion of witchcraft possible. Levack says that there is no question about it, without torture the convictions of witches would have been much less common. So is it correct in saying that without torture the witch hunt and conviction of witches would be almost nothing? Can we thank torture for giving us this great topic to study?

Torture and Its Uses

Torture and Its Uses

Torture was used to get confessions out of accused witches. This type of torture was described as judicial torture by Levack. Torture is inflicting pain either physically or psychologically, it is inhuman and degrading punishment.  In class we discussed the Pappenheimer family who were tortured so they would confess to killing a pregnant woman. This family of a mother father and four sons were all tortures and killed due to the amount of torture inflicted on them. They were tortured physically and mentally. The father was the last to be tortured and faced the most punishment, in my opinion, because he watched his family go through all the different torture techniques.

The judicial torture developed into a more reasonable system after the thirteenth century. Before the degrees of torture there was accuses and then immediate torture to get confessions. The degree of torture was a system that judges used to extract confessions. First degree of torture was simply asking if the accused if he or she was a witch. Second degree of torture was to show the accused the torture instruments. The third degree of torture was to prepare for torture. The fourth degree was to do small torture punishments to the accused witch for example, thumbscrews. The fifth degree of torture was to advance in the amount of punishment and use things like the witches chair.

There are multiple different torture techniques and equipment used during the witch trials. Some images I saw put me into uneasy state. The type of torture techniques I saw were hard for me to even think about let alone would I be able to stomach the thought of watching it happen. During this time watching witches being tortured was a public event and the town would come and watch it happen.  How do you feel about the different torture techniques? 

Reckless Abandon: The Transformation of Court Appointed Torture Rules

I was very surprised to learn just how strict torture rules were initially. Throughout our readings, we've heard dozens of accounts of women who were tortured endlessly. Some buckling under pressure while others died at the hand of the executioner. Levack lists a number of rules regarding torture beginning in the 1200s. They include ideas about torture that even to modern standards, are far more reasonable and reliable than the tactics used during the great hunt. Levack says that torture is likely to be most unreliable when these conditions are met, “(a) the person tortured is innocent of alleged crime or ignorant of the desired information; (b) the details of the confession are suggested to him by means of leading questions; and (c) the amount of torture was excessive” (Levack 81-82). For this reason, rules against repetition of torture, severity of torture and the nature of questions asked during torture were all carefully laid out. These provisions also included exclusion of pregnant women and children from torture altogether.

When the witch-hunts were at their height, however, we see a blatant disregard for such regulations. Areas with what seem to be the freest forms of torture had conviction rates as high as 95% compared to regions that used little or no torture at less than 50% (Levack 87). Most striking was the statement from the hangman in Dreissigacker in 1631 to a pregnant woman, “I do not take you for one, two, three, not for eight days, nor for a few weeks, but for half a year or a year or the rest of your life until you confess and if you will not confess, I shall torture you ro swarh, and you shall be burned after all” (Levack 85).

Why do you think judges allowed executioners/hangmen to go so far off-book as far as torture regulations go? Which do you regard as the most effective (to illicit confessions) modification to torture regulation: multiple instances of torture, using leading questions in interrogation or using more severe forms of torture?   

Torture - Justice in the Witch-Hunt

From the reading, I would like to focus on Roper’s take on torture- its application and the relational aspects at play between the accused and the various overseers of justice. Firstly, Roper emphasized how torture was incorporated into the entire legal process of the time period, not singularly in the witch-hunts carried out. As the author states, “the widespread conviction that pain freed the tongue of the criminal was a cornerstone not only of the legitimacy of the witch hunt, but of the entire legal edifice of the time” (Roper 46). In essence, torture was acceptable as a tool in a broader legal context, applied in degrees to ultimately seek truth. Overall, torture was part of an intact system of justice, a procedural way to extract the information believed to be available- especially in regards to the Devil (Roper 51).  In this way, the author suggests that torture was not an extreme reaction utilized only in the case of the witch-hunts. Moreover, the text supplies evidence that women did, at times, endure torture without confession. For example, “Maria Noll of Nordlingen resisted sixty-two applications of torture and her steadfastness eventually undermined the basis of the Nordlingen panic” (Roper 50). Therefore, torture was a crucial element in the confession-driven landscape of the hunts, but it was not necessarily a unique application itself.

However, Roper develops ideas of torture that do situate its uses more specifically to the witch-hunts. The author delves into the interactions amongst those carrying out justice and those accused, identifying a relationship between interrogator and accused as “unequal” yet still somehow collaborative (Roper 58).  This bond becomes reflected by a “particular kind of empathy” by the interrogator, who is also at times a “compassionate philanthropist” (Roper 57).  This does fit into the pattern of Roper always considering the very human and very real aspects of the witch-hunts through the lens of psychology and emotion. Yet, as a reader, the above-noted ideas sit uncomfortably for me. I am not positive I agree with Roper’s terminology, if I understand the attempt to demonstrate that the perspective of the interrogator was not simply cruelty. An interrogator was subject to the new strict moral order, as well as the systematic approach of the legal system with the purity of justice at the heart. In effect, justice required the interrogator to take into account all the factors- to listen to relations of daily life and to seek a wide range of information. I am just not convinced empathy is the right word here.

What did you think of Roper’s approach/ideas in the reading?

 

Defense or Torture: Legality through the Malleus Maleficarum

A few interesting ideas about justice and the legal process emerge from the Malleus Maleficarum. For one, the authors of the Malleus emphasize discretionary privileges, as well as general rules of conduct for the Judge at hand. For example, the text states, “If the accused...is asking to defend herself...let the Judge take note that he is not bound either to publish the names of the deponents or bring them before the accused (Kors 206). As the authors were likely aware, such a concept appears aimed at disarming attempts at defense by the accused. In the Malleus, the secular Judge is an active limb of the law, a powerful, enabled controller of justice. Thus, unsurprisingly, Kramer’s work encourages the use of torture by the empowered Judge; the text describes, “let her [the accused] be often and frequently exposed to torture” (Kors 213). The document asserts torture as a standard, a commonality of trial, a natural tool of the secular court.

Torture is not in question per se, if defense is more subject to consideration. Hence, the idea that there is a “question of allowing the accused to be defended, and whether she should be examined in the place of torture, though not necessarily in order that she should be tortured (Kors 206). Consequently, the overall tone of the text conveys a justifiable application of torture in most cases, as defense becomes questionable. In general, the text incorporates new legal standardization into the objective of the prosecution of witches, namely female. To me, the document places the Judge as a symbol of state power, while the more intensely procedural aspect of the legal world, as the authors employ it, make the arguments seem more rational, if not necessarily so.

How do you perceive “the Judge” in the text?

On Exposure, Humilation, and Helplessness

Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger, authors of the Malleus Maleficarum, gave very detailed advice as to how a suspected witch should be investigated, questioned, tortured, and tried. She was not to be left alone after torture, lest the Devil coerce her to commit suicide. She was to be led backwards into any chamber the judge was in, lest she bewitch or curse him with her eyes. She was to be questioned in a different location than the torture chamber in the event she confessed under torture.
By far the most interesting bit of advice Kramer and Sprenger gave to judges and inquisitors was to search a suspected witch upon taking her into questioning, and again more invasively before torturing her. They advised removing her clothes (or having a virtuous woman do so in private chambers) to search for any concealed magic implements that might impair the investigation. Before torture, she was to be shaved, removing all the hair from her body in search of hidden devil's marks, magic implements, or other damning evidence hidden in the hair.
In the 15th century, when the Malleus Maleficarum was written, and in the subsequent century or two when the advice within was implemented, adult women would ordinarily be seen naked by only their husbands, and their hair would ordinarily never be removed for any purpose (except perhaps medical reasons). Searches of this nature would be highly unusual and humiliating, only adding to the dehumanization suspected witches faced as their family, friends, and neighbors were turned against them, their reputations were destroyed, and their every word discredited. Though such searches were ostensibly to reveal damning evidence, the humiliation a witch would likely feel surely added to the pressure to confess and make everything stop.

Kors and Peters, p. 204-224

Thou Shalt Not Kill: theological parameter for the church?

Immediately after I began the reading of Kors & Peters tonight in the introduction to Part III in the Malleus Maleficarum something really stuck out. Kramer and Sprenger discuss the transfer of responsibility to try witches to secular courts along with ecclesiastical. However specifically in the case of sole heretics it is the responsibility to try and judge, "but for the secular judge to carry out the sentence and to punish; that is, when a capital punishment is in question." In any other case of sole heretics, the punishment was left to the penitential, but in the case of a possible punishment of death the secular judges were responsible to administer the punishment. I was just curious if this was for the commandment not to kill. Also, for some reason I was under the impression the the church may have been supportive of the burning of witches, if that is true then why could they not administer the punishment? In this section and later on the authors again discuss the responsibility of the secular court to try witches based on the encompassing danger, threat, and offense of witch craft not only to the church but also secular society.

In their section titled "Of the Manner of pronouncing a Sentence which is Final and Definitive," the authors explain this again saying, "It must be remembered, also, that this crime of witches is not purely ecclesiastics; therefore the temporal potentates and the Lords are not debarred from trying and judging it." While reading this I came to the conclusion it wasn't necessarily a call for a more vast court system in order to stop more witches rather, it strikes me as a plead for more support. Whenever one desires more support for his or her position, specifically in politics, the communal threat is invoked (specifically the notion that everyone's children are endangered by this "threat" if people do not join in to fight it is utilized regularly).By framing witchcraft as encompassing into the secular realm and calling for the use of secular courts to also try the witches do you, as the reader, sense the authors' plead for more support outside of the church?

On the Wrong Side of the Law: States, Legal Codes, and the Witch-Hunt

Thus far, we have studied papal documents, church penitentials, and religious views on everything from sex with the devil to the everyday uses of magic in the medieval period. Undoubtedly, as Levack argues, the non-secular development of perspectives on witchcraft contributed fundamentally to the propelling force of demonology and accusations of witchcraft moving into the early modern period (Levack 89). However, the foundational aspect of religion did not impede a secular appropriation of these techniques for use in the other political arena: among kings, emperors, and rulers of states, that were becoming both more nationalistic and bureaucratic. Although earlier rulers utilized inquisitorial techniques in the political sphere, like Philip the Fair of France in the 1300s against the powerful Templars, both state power and the inquisitorial processes were not yet defined, centralized, or coordinated as they would appear in the 1500s to 1600s. Not to mention, church authority became the lesser, as the state became the overseer of both the religious and secular realms in the sixteenth century (Levack 91). Overall, Levack’s ideas demonstrate that the legality or more appropriately, illegality of witchcraft in the sixteenth-century had been absorbed by the growing secular domain in general.

Therefore, for me, one interesting representation of the secular domain mentioned in the reading was the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina or as Levack refers to it, the Carolina code of 1532 (Levack 90). In her article, Joy Wiltenburg suggests that the sixteenth-century code of the Holy Roman Empire reflected societal changes. For one, it was an effort at reform of legal practice, yet still employed Roman inquisitorial procedures. Two, it had an “educative goal,” one that eased and encouraged the employment of standard legal processes at local levels of justice. Lastly, the author stressed the text indicates that courts had become places of “public business,” prone to an intermingling of rationality and emotion (Wiltenburg 713-734). Wiltenburg’s study shows how the Carolina code both connects to secular power and to witch-hunts. In effect, the Carolina is evidence that people were far more steeped in a background of acceptable legal/non-legal actions, while legality became a public concept tied inextricably to standards of state and power. Witches became a link in the ties between people, justice, and state. The secular influence took hold in the witch-hunt at hand. However, secular power was just one consideration in the continued heightening of witch-hunts, as the Carolina is just one example of how witchcraft was translated into standards of state power.  

Levack, Brian P. The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe. London: Rutledge, 2013.

Wiltenburg, Joy. “The Carolina and the Culture of the Common Man: Revisiting the Imperial Penal Code of 1532.” Renaissance Quarterly 53.3 (2000): 713-734.

 

Damned if You Do, Damned if You Don't: Tests for Innocence in Early European Court

It is definitely a relief that some of the early methods of court order in Medieval Europe no longer apply when it comes to law and order. Some of the descriptions Levack presented were somewhat frightening, in that there seemed to be no hope whatsoever for the accused, even if they were to be proven innocent. When I read the examples, the term, "Damned if you do, damned if you don't," comes to mind. You see, in order to prove one's innocence, the accused would have to perform some form of task that was more or less dangerous as a way of testing in God's name whether or not the accused (or victim) was innocent. Levack explained how people would have to do things like, "put his arm into hot water and in similar fashion reveal a healed limb after bandaging; or he would be thrown into a body of cold water and would be considered innocent only if he sank to the bottom..." (Levack 75-76). Tests such as these in order to prove someone's innocence are troubling because they are simply too dangerous and could very much cause the death, or at least severe injury of the accused. And the accused cannot even back out of the test, otherwise he will be proven guilty. So as you can see, this is why I would describe these methods of law and order as a "Damned if you do, damned if you don't," type of scenario. However, in regards to the changing trial laws during the witch-hunts, do you think the change in court law improved, or became worse?

Levack, Brian P. The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe. London: Rutledge, 2013. Page.

Dancing with the Devil

     Upon reading Lynda Roper's chapter on Sabbaths one of the many things that stood out to me was the mention of dancing. Although many view dancing as a time of joy and happiness and even Roper mentions that dances punctuated social life. She mentions how dances celebrated weddings, the birth of children, and other festivities throughout the village. Yet there is another tone given to dancing as Roper goes on. Women accused of witchcraft most often "flew" to Sabbaths and confessed to dancing with/for the devil. During this time dancing seemed to have gone from an act so joyous to something sinister. Roper mentions certain authors and their take on dancing at that time. The most common theme among these authors was that dancing was associated with fighting, adultery, murder. Even Jean Bodin condemned the dances that made "people wild and raging, and women to miscarry." Dancing was seen as an anti-fertility rite. Yet mentioned before it also celebrated the birth of children.
      It's interesting how these things in life, dancing, feasting, playing music, are simple acts yet during the witch hunts many of these activities were suddenly viewed as sinful.


   Just a fun side note: the whole time I was reading about this I was thinking "Footloose" this sounds exactly like the plot of the movie Footloose.

Silver Age: The Devil's Rejects

Even in the heretical divisions of the demon loving women across Europe, there still was a further divide in how demons viewed classes and beauty.  It was not enough to give your heart and soul to the Devil, but to be further judged in how much you as a woman brought to the table in looks and loot was a factor revealed under interrogation.  The humiliation and how far it went under the circumstances of feast and sexual debauchery was dependent on demon’s favor based on the aforementioned.  As Roper describes regarding women and their confessions of roles within the evil banquets, there was an obvious disparity in old and young hearts sought out by the demons.  While the young beauties are sought from all classes, the less affluent or older women suffered sideline rejection and even more humiliating acts that substantiated their cast within the feast, “…forced to act as human candle holders, lighting the dancing of the younger with a candle stuck in their anus” (Roper 122).  While this is a graphic representation of anal rape and humiliation, the cultural parody is derived from German custom in which young women coming of age place a lit pot outside their door as a signal of sexual maturation (Roper 123). 

Using the brief example above, how much of women’s confessions were maybe a conduit for grievances by way of fantasy/parody of cultural customs/age discrimination/societal cast.  

Roper, Lyndal. Witch Craze. Yale University Press, 2004. Print