Witch-hunt
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| + | "Vicious, tireless, [[Matthew Hopkins]] the [[Witchfinder General (film) |Witchfinder General]], scourge of the ungodly, flayer of the demented, burst into 1645 like a black-winged merciless [[Attila]], leaving behind him a trail of gibbet-hung corpses and vermin-infested gaols filled with beaten, terrified women – like bloody footprints across the length of Suffolk."--''[[Witchfinder General (novel)|Witchfinder General]]'' (1966) by Ronald Bassett, page 139 | ||
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| - | A '''witch-hunt''' is a search for [[witch]]es or evidence of [[witchcraft]], often involving [[moral panic]], [[mass hysteria]] and [[mob lynching]], but in historical instances also legally sanctioned and involving official '''witchcraft trials'''. | ||
| - | The classical period of witchhunts in Europe falls into the [[Early Modern period]] or about 1480 to 1700, spanning the upheavals of the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] and the [[Thirty Years' War]], resulting in an estimated 40,000 to 100,000 executions. | + | A '''witch-hunt''', or a '''witch purge''', is a search for people who have been labeled [[witches]] or a search for evidence of [[witchcraft]]. The [[Witch trials in the early modern period|classical period of witch-hunts]] in [[Early Modern Europe]] and [[European Colonization of the Americas|Colonial America]] took place in the [[Early Modern period]] or about 1450 to 1750, spanning the upheavals of the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] and the [[Thirty Years' War]], resulting in an estimated 35,000 to 100,000 executions. The last executions of people convicted as witches in Europe took place in the 18th century. In other regions, like [[Africa]] and [[Asia]], contemporary witch-hunts have been reported from [[sub-Saharan Africa]] and [[Papua New Guinea]], and official legislation against witchcraft is still found in [[Saudi Arabia]] and [[Cameroon]] today. |
| - | The term "witch-hunt" is often used by analogy to refer to panic-induced searches for perceived wrong-doers other than witches. The best known example is probably the [[McCarthyist]] search for communists during the [[Cold War]], | + | In current language, "witch-hunt" metaphorically means an investigation that is usually conducted with much publicity, supposedly to uncover subversive activity, disloyalty, and so on, but with the real purpose of intimidating political opponents. It can also involve elements of [[moral panic]] or [[mass hysteria]]. |
| - | == Early Modern Europe == | + | |
| - | :''[[Witch trials in Early Modern Europe]]'' | + | |
| - | The witch trials in [[Early Modern Europe]] came in waves and then subsided. There were trials in the 15th and early 16th centuries, but then the witch scare went into decline, before becoming a big issue again and peaking in the 17th century. Some scholars argue that a fear of witchcraft started among intellectuals who believed in ''maleficium'': that is, harm committed by magic. What had previously been a belief that some people possessed supernatural abilities (which were sometimes used to protect the people) now became a sign of a pact between the people with supernatural abilities and the devil. To justify the killings Christianity and its proxy secular institutions deemed witchcraft as being associated to wild [[Satanism|Satanic]] ritual parties in which there was much naked dancing, [[orgy|orgy sex]], and [[cannibalistic infanticide]]. | + | ==List of witch trials== |
| - | Witch-hunts were seen across early modern Europe, but the most significant area of witch-hunting in modern Europe is often considered to be southwestern Germany.{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}} Germany was a late starter in terms of the numbers of trials, compared to other regions of Europe. Witch-hunts first appeared in large numbers in southern France and Switzerland during the 14th and 15th centuries. The peak years of witch-hunts in southwest Germany were from 1561 to 1670. The first major persecution in Europe, when witches were caught, tried, convicted, and burned in the imperial lordship of Wiesensteig in southwestern Germany, is recorded in 1563 in a pamphlet called "True and Horrifying Deeds of 63 Witches". | ||
| - | In [[Denmark]], the burning of witches increased following the [[Protestant Reformation|reformation]] of 1536. [[Christian IV of Denmark]], in particular, encouraged this practice, and hundreds of people were convicted of [[witchcraft]] and burnt. In the [[North Berwick witch trials]] in [[Scotland]], over 70 people were accused of witchcraft on account of bad weather when [[James I of England|James VI of Scotland]], who shared the Danish king's interest in witch trials, sailed to Denmark in 1590 to meet his betrothed [[Anne of Denmark]]. | + | * [[Basque witch trials]] |
| + | * [[Bideford witch trial]] | ||
| + | * [[:nl:Heksenprocessen te Bredevoort|Bredevoort witch trial (in Dutch)]] | ||
| + | * [[Derenburg witch trials]] | ||
| + | * [[Islandmagee witch trial]] | ||
| + | * [[Liechtenstein witch trials]] | ||
| + | * [[North Berwick witch trials]] | ||
| + | * [[Ramsele witch trial]] | ||
| + | * [[Roermond witch trial]] | ||
| + | * [[Salem witch trials]] | ||
| + | * [[Spa witch trial]] | ||
| + | * [[St Osyth Witches]] | ||
| + | * [[Torsåker witch trials]] | ||
| + | * [[Trier witch trials]] | ||
| + | * [[Vardø witch trials]] | ||
| + | * [[Wiesensteig witch trial]] | ||
| + | * [[Witches of Warboys]] | ||
| + | * [[Würzburg witch trial]] | ||
| - | Current scholarly estimates of the number of people executed for witchcraft vary between about 40,000 and 100,000. | + | ==See also== |
| - | + | * [[Femicide]] | |
| - | During early 18th century, the practice subsided. The last executions for witchcraft in England had taken place in 1682, when Temperance Lloyd, Mary Trembles, and Susanna Edwards were executed at Exeter. [[Jane Wenham]] was among the last subjects of a typical witch trial in England in 1712, but was pardoned after her conviction and set free. [[Janet Horne]] was executed for witchcraft in Scotland in 1727. The [[Witchcraft Act of 1735]] saw the end of witchcraft itself as a legal offence in Britain: those accused under the new Act were restricted to people who falsely pretended to be able to procure spirits, generally being the most dubious professional fortune tellers and mediums, and punishment was light. In [[Switzerland]] [[Anna Göldi]] was executed in 1782. [[Poland]] saw the burning of two women in 1793. [[Helena Curtens]] and Agnes Olmanns were the last women to be executed as witches in [[Germany]], in 1738 and [[Barbara Zdunk]] in Rößel ([[West Prussia]]) in 1811{{Clarify|date=September 2009}}. | + | * [[Gendercide]] |
| - | + | * [[Inquisition]] | |
| - | Contemporary critics of witch hunts included [[Friedrich von Spee]], Gianfrancesco Ponzinibio, [[Cornelius Loos]], [[Reginald Scot]], Johann Mayfurth and Alonzo Salazar de Frias. | + | * [[Torture of witches]] |
| - | + | * [[European witchcraft]] | |
| - | The [[Salem witch trials]] in Britain's [[Province of Massachusetts Bay|Massachusetts Colony]] were an example of European witch hysteria in the [[Americas]]. | + | * [[Execution by burning]] |
| + | * [[Christian views on witchcraft]] | ||
| + | * [[List of people executed for witchcraft]] | ||
| + | * [[Satanic ritual abuse]] | ||
| + | * [[Scapegoating]] | ||
| + | * [[Trial by ordeal]] | ||
| + | * [[Fishing expedition]] | ||
| + | * [[Medical explanations of bewitchment]] | ||
| + | * [[Alonso de Salazar Frías]] | ||
| + | * ''[[Auto-da-fé]]'' | ||
| + | * [[Donas de fuera]] | ||
| + | * [[James VI]] | ||
| + | * [[Marie-Josephte Corriveau]] | ||
| + | * [[Matthew Hopkins]] | ||
| + | * [[Pierre de Lancre]] | ||
| + | * "[[The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street]]" (Episode from the original series ''[[The Twilight Zone]]'') | ||
| + | * [[West Memphis Three]] | ||
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"Vicious, tireless, Matthew Hopkins the Witchfinder General, scourge of the ungodly, flayer of the demented, burst into 1645 like a black-winged merciless Attila, leaving behind him a trail of gibbet-hung corpses and vermin-infested gaols filled with beaten, terrified women – like bloody footprints across the length of Suffolk."--Witchfinder General (1966) by Ronald Bassett, page 139 |
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A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern period or about 1450 to 1750, spanning the upheavals of the Reformation and the Thirty Years' War, resulting in an estimated 35,000 to 100,000 executions. The last executions of people convicted as witches in Europe took place in the 18th century. In other regions, like Africa and Asia, contemporary witch-hunts have been reported from sub-Saharan Africa and Papua New Guinea, and official legislation against witchcraft is still found in Saudi Arabia and Cameroon today.
In current language, "witch-hunt" metaphorically means an investigation that is usually conducted with much publicity, supposedly to uncover subversive activity, disloyalty, and so on, but with the real purpose of intimidating political opponents. It can also involve elements of moral panic or mass hysteria.
[edit]
List of witch trials
- Basque witch trials
- Bideford witch trial
- Bredevoort witch trial (in Dutch)
- Derenburg witch trials
- Islandmagee witch trial
- Liechtenstein witch trials
- North Berwick witch trials
- Ramsele witch trial
- Roermond witch trial
- Salem witch trials
- Spa witch trial
- St Osyth Witches
- Torsåker witch trials
- Trier witch trials
- Vardø witch trials
- Wiesensteig witch trial
- Witches of Warboys
- Würzburg witch trial
[edit]
See also
- Femicide
- Gendercide
- Inquisition
- Torture of witches
- European witchcraft
- Execution by burning
- Christian views on witchcraft
- List of people executed for witchcraft
- Satanic ritual abuse
- Scapegoating
- Trial by ordeal
- Fishing expedition
- Medical explanations of bewitchment
- Alonso de Salazar Frías
- Auto-da-fé
- Donas de fuera
- James VI
- Marie-Josephte Corriveau
- Matthew Hopkins
- Pierre de Lancre
- "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" (Episode from the original series The Twilight Zone)
- West Memphis Three
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Witch-hunt" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
