The Witch Hunts of Early Modern Europe

This week I watched another lecture on witchcraft but this time I watched a lecture on the early witch hunts in early modern of Europe by professor Ruiz of UCLA. This lecture was very interesting in that he explains why it happened and what the culture was that allowed this to happen. He goes on to say that in the Middle Ages witchcraft was not rampant and the church didn’t really take it seriously.  In the late 15^th century is when witchcraft was starting to become what we know today. He goes on to say that magic, religion, and science are all mixed together and that is one of the reasons that these witch hunts happened. Germany, Scandinavia, France, England and some parts of Italy were the main countries that the witch hunts happened. He goes on to say that the witch hunts missed Spain and Italy because of the Inquisition. He also talks about how the witches all confessed to the same things because they were asked the same questions.He goes on to talk about how beggars were associated with witchcraft because there was an animosity towards poor and old people. The burning of witches was a show of power of the centralized kingdoms.  The protestant revolution also had a huge part in the witch hunts because certain practices that were acceptable before were no longer acceptable in both the Catholic church and Protestant churches. He says that the people were looking for a scapegoat. And that during this time the religious wars were going on meaning that there were more women than men and there were more older women than older men. These women practiced in natural medicine and midwifery add the devil into this and you have witches. He says that the date when the first witch hunts happen is in 1484 the Pope commands inquisitors to find out what is going on the mountains. Because the mountain areas were barley Christian they still practiced in agriculture cults. The inquisitors came back and wrote a report on how to recognize a witch, how to deal with a witch, and how to protect yourself from witches. This pamphlet is very misogynistic and is the base of all of the witch hunts. I found this lecture very inserting in understanding how the witch hunts happened, what led up to them, and why women were persecuted.