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.