Research paper finished!04:14 Mar 07 2006
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here's my research paper due tomorrow morning that won't fucking print...*cries*
Mr. Liskey/English
Research paper
March 5, 2006
Witch-hunts of Europe
The Witch-hunts of Europe were mass gendercides, brought on by the Orthodox Christian Church. This massive gendercide was brought on by fear and misunderstandings of others beliefs and way of life. From the 15th century to the present, witch-hunts claimed and still claim the lives of many witches and the innocent. They were captured and submitted to many forms of unspeakable tortures. When a confession of deeds they may or may not have done, they were sent to the stake. The witch-hunts of then and now are mass gendercides of the women of the world set forth by the Christian Orthodox Church.
The witch hunts clamed many thousands of lives from 1450 to 1700. Of the hundreds of thousands of trial conducted, only 48 percent of them ended in death, killing an estimated 60,000 witches (The European Witch-Hunts). The witch-hunts were usually a part of religious campaign to oppress the unruly and force their views upon the people of the area, and take them away from their polytheistic views. Of the tens of thousands killed during the witch-hunts, an overwhelming majority were women. Women were more likely in the trials as the accused and the accusers than men (Miesel). It was said by Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English that midwives were most likely of all women to be targeted as witches during the witch-hunts (The European Witch-Hunts). Through research, the opposite has proven to be true; midwives were less likely to be charged and were found to be helping the witch-hunters (The European Witch-Hunts). Robin Briggs calculates that only 20 to 25 percent of all who were executed were actually male, leaving 80 to 75 percent to be women (The European Witch-Hunts). Proving that the overwhelming majority killed were indeed women. Women were suspected especially if they lived into their fifties, sixties, or even their seventies. In addition, if a woman was older and no longer either useful or able to bear children she was much more likely to be charged with witchcraft, because she was no longer useful to the community. Many women were pressured into confession that they had been dealing with the devil. While if I man confessed of dealing with the Devil he was called a liar and dismissed more often than not, while the women were taken for their word. Along with being taken for their word over the men, women were treated harshly when compared to the few men that were also convicted.
Throughout medieval times, men and women were tortured into giving confession of their acts of witchcraft, even if they were innocent or not. The English used other less violent methods than Germany, to gain their confessions, such as sleep-deprivation (Miesel). Throughout Europe, France gained fewer confessions through their limited torture while Germany gained the most confessions through unlimited means (Miesel). The torture in Europe was the bloodiest in two cities in Bayern (or Bavaria) Germany, Bamberg and Wurzberg (Parent). Of the thousands of witches killed and tortured in Germany, most came from these to cities in Bayern. Witches were put through as many as 17 different kinds of unspeakable tortures, all of which were authorized by “the Saxon lawgiver,” Benedikt Carpzov (Miesel). Many confessions were gained “without torture,” which meant without drawing blood, in Germany. Even the blameless that went through this torture, along with nearly all who were subjected to this broke. Witches were kept in dungeons until they were to be tortured by some means. When they through torturing them, many witches would confess to anything suggested to them to avoid being sent back to the dungeons and later submitted to the same torture repeatedly. Then if the witch did not die during torture, they were to be burned. Most were publicly executed or burned, so to keep them from speaking with the crowd wither their tongues were cut out or wooden gags were placed in their mouths. Even the children of accused witches were not out of harms way. Many of the children were brutally treated by the Church. The children were tortured for witchcraft as early as nine and a half for girls and ten and a half for the boys. Even younger children could be tortured to gain a testimony to use against the child’s parents.
The Reformation of Europe was not done through preaching and catechisms alone, during this 300-year period the witch-hunts were held (Ellerbe). Witches were seen as Satan worshippers, and followed his commands. This was brought on by the Orthodox Christian Church, and the Pope. In 1320, witchcraft was added to the Churches list of heresies (Parent). Also during the 13th century the Inquisition started by Roman Catholic Church, its purpose was to wipe out all heretics (Parent). The Church used the concept of Satan worship as a way to wipe out all of those they saw as a threat and to “openly denigrate women” (Ellerbe). Orthodox saw women as the season for all sin, and held them responsible (Ellerbe). In Apocrypha in the Bible it states “Of all women came the beginning of all sin/ and thanks to he, we all must die” (Ellerbe). Their goal was to totally wipe out all evidence and influence of witchcraft, and if they could not accomplish this then Satan and evil forces would rein (Parent). In 1486, the great bibles of witch-hunting appeared the Malleus Maleficarum, or also known as Hammer of Witches (Meltzer). At the height of the burning times, the Malleus Maleficarum as surpassed only by the Bible in publication (Lovelace). It was written by two German priests, Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger (Meltzer). Pope Innocent VIII had the two German priests write the book and were then sent to wipe out all witchcraft in Germany (Meltzer). Even today, many of the beliefs set forth by the Malleus Maleficarum are still held by Christians today toward modern day witches (Lovelace).
Even though a quarter of Europe saw trials during the 17th century, its effects still last through to today. Witch-hunts still occur even now in other underdeveloped countries based on fears of the unknown. Along with the stereotypes set over three hundred years ago, that wrongly portrays many witches. Witches have been feared and misunderstood for centuries due to the beliefs of the few, and not on their way of life or their own beliefs. Many witches today and than are innocent of any crime they are tried for. There are witches out there that to practice dark magick, but a vast majority do practice white magick and try to help others, not harm. Therefore, the stereotypes of the past are out dated and witches need to be seen for who they are first, not for what path they choose.
Works Cited
• Ellerbe, Helen. "The Witch Hunts: The End of Magic and Miracles 1450-1750 C.E.." The Witch Hunts: The End of Magic and Miracles. 23 Jan. 2006 .
• "Case Study: The European Witch-Hunts, c. 1450-1750 and Witch-Hunts Today." Gendercide Watch: European Witch-Hunts. 23 Jan. 2006 .
• "History of the Burning Times." The Burning Times. 2002. Crescent Magazine. 23 Jan. 2006 .
• Lovelace, Wicasta. "The Malleus Maleficarum of Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger." The Malleus Maleficarum. 12 Feb. 2006 .
• Meltzer, Milton. Witches and the Witch-hunts: A History of Persecution. First Scholastic paperback printing. October 200
• Miesel, Sandra. "Who Burned the Witches?." Who Burned the Witches?. Oct. 2001. Crisis. 21 Jan. 2006 .
• Parent, Margie. "Information on the Burning times." Information on the Burning times. 2002. >>eSSORTMENT. 23 Jan. 2006 .
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