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Why Did Witchcraft Become A Crime Between The 1400's And 1700

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For over three centuries the people of Europe lived in a time of mass hysteria and fear. Between the late 1400’s and 1700’s thousands of everyday folks were accused of witchcraft (Lipscomb). Accusations of witchcraft lead to the fantasised myths we know today, but the real stories behind them are far less charming. Witchcraft became a crime in the mid-1500’s thus inducing some of the most prominent legal trails of the century, and the rise of the witch hunter.

The first proclamation against witchcraft was passed in 1542 and was followed by a harsher and more intense revision in 1562, which was signed into law by Queen Elizabeth I. The revision stated that witches convicted of murder through the “dark arts” in england would be sentenced to
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The first set of witchcraft persecutions occurred during Elizabeth 1st reign, this was Around 1563. Commonly people associated witches with a woman and the beliefs were the following of that they have made a pact with the evil spirit Satan. The rush of the witch persecutions mainly happened after 1563 and by the time period of 1750 roughly 200,000 witches were tortured, burnt, or hung across the whole of Western Europe. Therefore, in this essay, I will be mainly focusing and arguing which of the hysteria surrounding witchcraft and witchcraft trials had a greater impact in Britain or the American colonies in the time period of the 17th century. And I will be arguing it following different factors which could contribute to this such as the social factors geographical factors, religious factors and also control law and order.

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There are several incidences in history when someone was accused of witchcraft. Maybe they didn’t have anything to do with witchcraft but if someone said it, everyone believed them. Some many people’s lives were taken because of something they didn’t do not had a part in. From June – September 1692, 19 men and women have been convicted of witchcraft. They were carted to Gallows Hill, a barren slope near Salem Village for hanging.

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There was much superstition and ignorance in the 17th century England and hundreds of women were wrongly accused and punished. From 1484 until around 1750 some 200,000 witches were tortured, burnt or hanged in Western Europe and England. Most supposed witches were usually poor old women. Women who weren’t lucky enough to look beautiful. Any woman who was ‘crone-like’ with broken irregular teeth , sunken cheeks and a hairy lip was assumed to be a witch !

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The European witch craze between 1563 and 1620 highlighted a variety of problems across society over how these individuals were treated and what the root cause of the increase of the sweeping paranoia of witchcraft and magic. Ultimately, like the beliefs of historians such as Anne Barstow and Marion Gibson, the sweeping paranoia increase was ruled by misogyny both as a direct and underlying cause. Justification for misogyny during trials came in many forms such as religious justification as female witches magic was viewed as the complete opposite to Christianity’s God and his holy power. Legislation against witchcraft didn’t really come into power in England until the 1563 Witchcraft Act created by Queen Elizabeth I and it “formally criminalised

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Christianity was prevalent in the 1600’s and anyone who didn’t believe in God was seen as a heretic and put to death. In 1641 the colonists established a legal code and put witchcraft as the second one, the punishment for that, of course, was death. The Devil was highly feared and if there was word of somebody using witchcraft a big deal would be made out of it; as The Salem Witch Trials have proven. Women were mainly the ones who happened to be executed because they were also feared, if any woman had the same amount of power as a man she must’ve made a deal with the Devil. All of this made 1692 was an intricate time for the people of Salem Village, Massachusetts.

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In medieval times, there was a widespread belief among Christians and others that witches had made deals with the devil to harm people. This led to the execution of tens of thousands of suspected witches, with the majority being women. It caused a "witchcraft craze" across Europe, highlighting the influence of superstition and fear during that dark period of history (Blumberg). To add on, showing the impact of hysteria, one editor claimed that “many in the community who viewed the unfolding events as travesties remained mute”, they felt this way because they were “afraid that they would be punished for raising objections to the proceedings” (Wallenfeldt). This fear arose because if they were to be punished, they would be “accused of witchcraft themselves” and could be hanged as well (Wallenfeldt).

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The secular courts created laws and statues that defined witchcraft as a crime along with procedures on how to prosecute witches. Once the threat, based on shared understanding, was promulgated though the various levels of society the judicial machinery could take over and legally try witches. With a framework in place to handle witchcraft trials at all levels, the template of identifying witches in use, and a fearful populace seeking an outlet in turbulent times all it would take are trigger events to set witch hunts in motion. Wars, religious conflicts, and localized political issues factored into creating fear and anxiety because it created unstable situations that impacted people’s lives. Economic hardship stemming from drought, famine, limited resources for a growing population, and other natural disasters needed an explanation (Levack, 2016).

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The 1600s were a very religious and superstitious time. People’s faith in God was strong, however it also brought them great fear of devil. It was easy to accuse anyone who did not follow social standards of conspiring with the devil and practicing witchcraft. Once somebody had been accused of being a witch mass hysteria and panic ensued.

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As the witch hunts got worse is when they started to execute them. In the middle 1400s to the mid-1600s, witchcraft trials became popular, sending death rates up. From 50,000 to 80,000 people were executed throughout Europe. From the 80,000 people roughly “80% were women” (Grace Z. 2007). This shows how mostly women were the ones that were giving up their life to the devil in order for them to have power and be able to proceed rituals.

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