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. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp Spielvogel, Jackson J. "The Witchcraft Craze." Western Civilization. 4th ed. Stamford: Clark
Baxter, 1999. 415-418. Print.
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. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp
Spielvogel, Jackson J. "The Witchcraft Craze." Western Civilization. 4th ed. Stamford: Clark
Baxter, 1999. 415-418. Print.