Witchcraft
- Created by: bexfra16
- Created on: 19-12-17 17:54
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- Witchcraft
- The True Picture:
- Women - almost always (although in Elizabethan witch trials, 23 included men, known as warlocks).
- Old women - most were over 50
- Cats - many believed that witches met with the devil and that the devil gave them animals (called familiars) to help them with their evil work (often cats).
- Ugly - often unmarried and nearly always lived alone.
- Background
- Cases of witchcraft were not new in the 1640s. There had been accusations of witchcraft in the Middle Ages, but these were dealt with by the Church Courts which were more lenient.
- However, in 1542, during the religious changes that took place under Henry VIII, the law changed and witchcraft became a criminal offence.
- Elizabeth also made tough laws against witches and, in 1590, the future King James I wrote an important book on the horrors of witchcraft.
- Stricter laws meant witches were tried in ordinary courts and could be punished by death
- There was no sudden flood of witchcraft cases after the laws changed, but over the next 200 years up to 1,000 people (mainly women) were executed as witches. Most accusations were from ordinary people.
- Why women?
- Over 90% of all those accused were women. This was despite the fact that people believed that both men and women could practice witchcraft and black magic. The women were usually over 50 and lived alone.
- According to some historians, many men either feared or even hated women. This has led to some historians to use the phrase 'gendercide' to describe the European witch-hunts.
- Christianity had always portrayed women as morally weaker than men. For example, the story of Adam and Eve. As a result, it was believed that women were more likely to be persuaded to do the Devil's work.
- The Puritans in particular tended to see women as temptresses and objected to the fact that some older women carried out abortions, which was also a capital offence.
- People blamed witches and witchcraft as the cause of their bad luck. Remember, during this period there was plenty of economic hardship. Women were easier scapegoats than men, especially older women who were unmarried.
- How were they tried?
- The accusers would present their charge and bring witnesses to support it.
- The accused would have to defend themselves.
- Around 80% of those accused were elderly widows or unmarried women with no husbands to speak up for them.
- That meant they were tested further.
- The True Picture:
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