Analyze at least TWO factors that account for the rise and TWO factors that explain the
decline of witchcraft persecution and trials in Europe in the period from 1580 to 1750.
The European great witch hunt began before the Protestant revolution and continued until
1750. People were hunting the devil spirit which they believed lived is some people, or
people that used dark power to get what they wanted. Mostly women were affected
because of their beauty and lack of physical power. At the middle of the 18th century
tortures and witch hunts reduced due to new scientific and reasonable ideas.
One of the reasons why witch hunts and trials became common in Europe in the middle of
16th century is because they were many sexists men at
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Also, women
we're involved in pleasant actions like giving birth. If a woman did something suspicious or
was just to beautiful, she could if need denounced by the church and burned. There was
no way for a women to prove her innocence because a word of a man meant more.
Another big reason why witch hunt increased, was the legal change from accusatorial legal
procedure to inquisitorial procedure. In fact, if the suspect knew the accuser and what he
had done, the accused could be put on trial with out proof, and authorities would continue
the case. This change made people want to tell on others more than before. If the was
tension in the neighborhood people could tell on a woman that she used magic to soil
their milk, made child ill or kill an animal. Torture was used to get more names for people
who were suspected of being in any relations with witches. The victims sometimes would
lie to save their life.
Toward 1750 Witch hunts decreased because countries were to busy fighting with each
other and exploring new worlds and creating treads. State was more concerned about
getting new territories, increasing gold supplies and improving agriculture that