The+Witchcraft+Craze

The Witchcraft Craze by Trevor Muehring __Beliefs__ · Compared to the works of the Devil · Rush to find a scapegoat to explain the disaster of the Black Death · Jacob Sprenger and Heinrich Kramer (// Malleus Maleificarium //; methods to discover and try witches) · Anyone was believed to be a witch · Witches said they feasted, danced and had sexual orgies with the Devil · Used special ointments and powders to wreak havoc on neighbors (killed livestock, injured children, or raised storms to destroy crops) · considered to be the willing dupes of the Devil and his cohorts __Reactions__ · Witches were burned at the stake or hanged · Increased trials · Increased number of executions of presumed witches · Fear of being accused of being a witch · Those accused of being a witch confessed to a number of practices · Confessions were extracted by torture __Those Accused__ · Women of lower classes · Older women · Milkmaids · Servant girls · Single or widowed · associated with the poor and illiterate Speake, Jennifer, and Thomas G. Bergin. "witchcraft during the Renaissance." Encyclopedia of Renaissance and the Reformation, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2004. Modern World History Online. Facts On File, Inc. [] Spielvogel, Jackson J. "The Witchcraft Craze." //Western Civilization//. 4th ed. Stamford: Clark Baxter, 1999. 415-418. Print.