Hi! For the third day of this year's series, I wanted to touch on a subject I don't think I covered last year. Outside of Salem, I've never really researched witch trials or how they swept the world for centuries before finally being deemed unnecessary. Originally I wanted to cover the British Isles witch trials, but when I started looking it up I saw that there wasn't as much information on the area's trials, so I asked some questions to help widen my scope. The resources for each question will be at the bottom of each section so you can see where I got everything from. Because a lot of the same information is circulated across different sources, I apologize that a lot of the post may read the same as others. Be warned, this post will probably be full of my sarcasm. lol Hope you enjoy!
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*Who was more likely to be accused of witchcraft?
This was the most ridiculous list I'd ever seen in my life. Basically, if you weren't just right, you could be accused of witchcraft. I found nearly identical lists on a number of sites but I think I'll just include a few so you can see how easy it was to be part of the accused, partially due to things out of your control.
--Women
Apparently, women are the more cunning, manipulative sex, so by nature it was more likely that women would be witches. Gee, I wonder who made up that rule. lol But anyway, biblically speaking, there are quite a few temptresses throughout the Bible, and as a result it caused women to have a negative reputation if they were anything but the picture of pristine Godliness. This mentality was that if a woman went against the grain with her sexuality (flirting, having sex out of wedlock, etc.) or even if multiple men seemed interested in her, she was bewitching them and cursing them rather than just being attractive.
--Either the poor or sole inheritors (especially if they were women) of estates
For some reason, it looked very bad for a woman to be the primary inheritor of an estate, but it looked even worse for her if she had no male relatives to share the inheritance with. How a woman's inheritance--or lack thereof--immediately equates to her being a witch is beyond my comprehension; I never would have made the connection. But when I checked out the lists I found out that in the times where witchcraft was prevalent, an extremely poor woman was believed to be a witch. I didn't understand that but I found out that because they had less influence, less clout in the community and often needed help with obtaining basic items, local residents could see them as a burden and prosecuting them of witchcraft was easier to do.
--Those who had freckles, moles or birthmarks
The birthmarks or physical marks we are born with are out of our control and it seems a little inconceivable now that we would be judged for those things, but back during the witchcraft trial days, it was just the thing that could get someone accused. Birthmarks, especially those in visible places, received the most heat because it was classified as a "witch's/devil's mark," meaning that the devil marked them specifically to carry out his work. If the wrong person got wind that someone had an unusual birthmark or mole somewhere on their bodies, it could subject them to a public reveal of the mark and the decision afterward was up to the legal system. This was also used in a method of witch hunting, which I'll detail below.
--A midwife
This was a little surprising to me because the profession was so common, especially in those days, but midwives were frequently accused of being witches. The religious beliefs were largely Puritan and although some sources cite the Puritans for having progressive medical views for the time, anyone with any sort of religious background knows the age-old argument between religion and medicine. Those in the medical field were given the side-eye by locals because many medical efforts conflicted with religious beliefs. Add in the belief that witches could control a person's health by being the person to manage it, and you have a ripe ground for witchcraft accusations.
--The elderly (especially if they were unmarried women), the young...and the middle-aged (according to some sources)
When I first looked up this question, the elderly and the young kept repeating themselves on the lists I found. But Huff Post mentioned the middle-aged as well, and that tossed this criteria from excessive to ridiculous. If you're not young, middle-aged or elderly, what the hell are ya? Unless you were in the sweet spot between young and middle-aged or middle-aged and old, you were getting accused.
--Those who were sassy or had attitude problems
As was the custom in many societies hundreds of years ago (and in many societies today, actually), submissiveness and obedience were key, even if a woman was unmarried. Any show of temper, attitude or sass was seen as going against the grain and doing the devil's work, so it made you more likely to be accused.
--Those who claimed to be able to tell fortunes or see into the future
This one is a bit more obvious because it involves things that people can't normally do, so it would stand to reason that the ability to do these things involved some sort of dark assistance. Attempting to tell fortunes or gain the ability to do so was definitely considered witchcraft, as was the concept of having visions or being able to predict any kind of future event. I would assume this was tenfold if the future event one predicted was a negative one, because then it would be too easy to accuse the person of cursing them.
--Those who were around others already suspected of being witches
For the most part, those who were suspected of being witches but had yet to be formally accused were just as good as rejected by the majority of the local residents. It was a kiss of death to be around those people, because the accusations eventually found their way to their friends and associates. "Birds of a feather" rule and all that. Groups of women in general were often accused (since we can't hang out together without doing shit we're not supposed to be doing lol) of being in a coven so once one woman was accused, it was best for her friends to leave her alone lest they be included in that accusation at a later date.
--Cat owners
So basically 98% of the Internet belongs in jail. Cats were seen as the gateway drug of sorts to evil behaviors and have been closely linked with witchcraft and black magic since the witchcraze days, so those who owned cats were more likely to be accused of witchcraft. Black cats were especially negative, so owning a black cat was even more suspect.
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*What behaviors and abilities did "witchcraft" consist of?
--The now-signature things of riding around on a broomstick, putting curses or hexes on people, or casting spells
--Wishing ill on others or wishing for/trying to predict future partners
--The ability to cause infertility in couples, halt the growth of or ruin crops, control a person's health or inflict diseases, injury or even death on them, seduce or otherwise beguile the opposite sex
--Medical assistance, especially the more complicated procedures and issues, were often accused of being practices in witchcraft. Salves, lotions (and potions, obviously lol) that were just at the roots of people's cultures and lifestyles were brought into suspicion because they were untraditional.
As for the afflicted, their typical behavioral patterns would vary greatly if they had been touched by witchcraft, which is usually what alerted others.
--The biggest sign that someone had been afflicted was the odd mannerisms and habits they would adopt like barking, crying out, having hallucinations and in some cases, suddenly dying. They would also exhibit symptoms of being possessed. The "scratching tests" were said to help cure the person who cursed them.
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*What were some popular witch hunting methods?
I mainly used the same two sources for this question because the lists were nearly identical, so this is more of a condensed merging of the two. To be honest, I didn't know there were so many different witch hunting methods; I thought you accused someone of being a witch and then they were burned at the stake. It wasn't quite that rapid for every witch facing an accusation, but in the occasions where it wasn't that cut and dried, here are some of the more common witch hunting methods:
--Eyewitness accounts
This was a large motivator for witchcraft accusations because all it took was one witness to say something, regardless of whether it was truth or lie, to get someone accused of being a witch. If someone saw two people hanging out then one started behaving strangely, someone could then go and put out the accusation that the other person was practicing witchcraft. If someone was visiting a person who had questionable artifacts or decor items in their home, they could tell authorities that they suspected the person of being a witch. Eyewitness accounts are largely what drove accusations but to be honest, it didn't take more than "I think this person's a witch," followed by an explanation of vaguely questionable behavior in order to get someone accused.
--Witch cakes
The first time I'd heard of this was when I was reading the story of Tituba, a slave who was caught up in the witchcraze. She later admitted to practicing witchcraft but her owner asked her to bake the witch cakes in an effort to see whether or not his daughters had been affected by witchcraft. The way these cakes would work is that the urine of the afflicted party would be added to a basic cake batter, then fed to a dog. If the dog started exhibiting similar signs of affliction, then it was proof that there was witchcraft in the midst. The dog would then be able to sniff out the witch. Another source cites this method as being useful because when the witch cursed her victims, she basically touched them with her energy, which would show up in the urine that would later be collected for the cake. I have such an issue with feeding a dog a cake literally made from human urine. I know they lick their own asses all day long, but it still rubs me the wrong way.
--Swimming tests
This was a lose-lose test for the accused because they died either way. The question was whether or not they died with their reputation intact or as a confirmed witch. Some tests would bind the person's thumbs and big toes together before pushing them into a lake. If the person sank, they were innocent (and dead, obviously) but if they floated, it was confirmation that the person was a witch, and they would then be killed.
--Sleep deprivation tests
This one sort of falls under the forced confessions category, but I suppose many of these are technically forced confession methods. This one stood out to me for being both physical and psychological. After the person being accused of witchcraft was detained, they would then be deprived of sleep, oftentimes for days. Anyone with significant insomnia knows that after hours and hours without sleep, a delirium of sorts sets in and this can distort reality quite a bit. Add in the physical, emotional and mental distress of the situation and you'll get a suspect ready to confess or admit to nearly anything. I imagine this method resulted in a ton of confessions from people who had simply lost touch with reality due to fatigue. We really have come a long way with understanding the limits of the human body, haven't we?
--Forced confessions through torture/pressing
One of the more common methods was what we call waterboarding today, and the person being accused was forced to undergo a simulated drowning experience in an effort to coax a confession out of them. Unfortunately, a lot of the time, in order to avoid confessing and get the heat off of themselves, they would accuse someone else of being a witch.
Another forced confession method was pressing, which notably killed one of the men accused of practicing witchcraft. This method would have a person placed on a block or flat surface, then have a weight slowly lowered on top of them in order to force a confession. Sometimes the accused person died before being able to refute or accuse someone else, but the usual goal was to press more and more weight on them until they either confessed or died.
--Pricking/"witch's teat" tests
Somewhere near the top of this post, I mentioned that those with physical marks like moles, freckles or birthmarks were more prone to being accused of witchcraft. The "witch's teat" test involved someone pricking someone in the mole, freckle or birthmark and seeing if it bled. The person wasn't always poked in the mark, but the point was to see if they could produce blood. The thought behind it was that all witches had moles, freckles or warts and since witches are supposed to be incapable of bleeding, poking them in said marking (or poking them at all) would have no effect on them. Pain tolerance levels and ability to bleed from a poke be damned, I guess. lol
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*What were some of the notable witchcraft trials in different countries?
For this section, I only wanted to give a preview of the more notable trials so you can check out the resource links. The resource link was largely where I got the list from, I just chose a few names from that list so I could get some variety in my own list and branched out from there.
Val Camonica Trials
Italy, 1505-1521
--The Val Camonica trials focused on a rather remote area of Italy that hadn't accepted traditional religion. Most of the inhabitants were avid participants of paganism and this defiance set off supporters of the Inquisition. There were some confessions from the accused in Val Camonica, though, and this further pushed the belief that witch trials were beneficial. The Renaissance helped to ensure that trials in Italy didn't reach the level of bloodlust that plagued other European countries.
Bamberg Witch Trials
Germany, 1626-1631
--Like many witch trials, this one was born partially out of economic issues affecting the area. After a change in temperatures, crops failed and the economy suffered. Suspicions of witchcraft always grew afterward, as the belief was that witches had aligned with the devil and cursed the lands. Every time the crops suffered, a new round of witch trials would begin. These and other trials affecting the country around the same time caused this to be a very bloody time for the country.
Salzburg (or Zauberjaeckl) Witch Trials
Austria, 1675-1690
--The notable thing about these trials was that many of the accused were male. Typically, the accused and convicted were overwhelmingly female so this was strange for the times. Another distinctive thing about this set of trials was that most of the accused were young followers of a man called "Magic Jack," who was accused of being the devil and coercing innocents to turn to evil.
Spa Witch Trials
Belgium, 1616
--The Spa trials started as a way to figure out the cause of a plague that had hit both animals and residents and witches seemed to be the convenient thing to blame for it. Residents were told to report suspicious behavior and as a result, a few people were accused (and most were later executed) for reasons that by today's standards, sound rather ridiculous.
Basque Witch Trials
Spain, 1609-1611
--These trials were the largest carried out by the Spanish Inquisition but what was interesting about these trials was that there were judges and bishops overseeing the situation who were skeptical about the presence of witchcraft. Despite their skepticism, there is quite a tale to be read in that first link about witchcraft definitely being in the midst.
Vardo Witch Trials
Norway, 1593-1692
--This trial differs a bit depending on the source, which is why I included two sources here. One source notes that like many of the other trials, economic failure was a reason for the spike in witch trials, while the other source mentions that some of the contributors involved wild confessions from a couple of the accused parties. The Vardo witch trials involved several mass executions in which quite a few people were burned alive at the stake.
Pendle Witch Trials
England, 1612-1634
--This focuses on the story of a girl who incriminates herself by admitting to practice in witchcraft after supposedly paralyzing a man. She then went on to implicate both members of her family and another family in committing acts of witchcraft against others.
The Great Scottish Witch Hunt
Scotland, 1597
--This was the second of five nationwide hunts to clear Scotland of witches but unlike the other hunts of this nature, this one is hard to find a lot of information about. Over 200 witches were executed as a result of these trials but the more interesting part of it for me is that this trial saw the death of The Great Witch of Balwearie, who falsely accused numerous people before being exposed and executed.
Connecticut Witch Trials
America, 1647-1697
Research: 1 | 2
--Salem usually gets most of the attention when it comes to America's participation in the witchcraze, but the first trials actually weren't in Salem. By the time the Salem trials had gone public, two decades had passed since the first trial in Hartford, CT. From the bit I read, a few of the trials seemed to be based on human conflict and jealousy rather than multiple cases of contact with dark magic.
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*What are some random facts about witch trials in different parts of the world?
--While I was looking up the witch hunt methods, I found an article (that should be sourced in that section) about how pricking was done in England and Scotland. These people called in the big guns. By 'the big guns' I mean professional prickers, who were supposed to have extra-sharp, specialized needles just for the purpose of calling out supposed witches. In reality, these 'prickers' were con artists with regular needles that they'd dulled in order to confirm people's suspicions, which would then garner them more reputation and money. Sounds like they were just pricks to me. Hmm--was that a dad joke?
--Witches in England could be accused of witchcraft years before actually being prosecuted for it, while witches in other places were prosecuted and executed almost immediately after the accusations began to carry some weight.
--France, Germany and Scotland seemed to have some of the highest numbers of executions across the European continent. When it died down in Europe, it switched over to the Americas, where the number of executions skyrocketed at its height before falling out of fashion.
--By contrast, England had a more structured system in place for handling the prosecution of witches. At times it was so different from other countries in the continent that there was barely any activity at all with some of the trials. There were many situations in which someone was accused but was never prosecuted, and many cases in which the witch was found guilty but never executed.
--Where England took more of a structured approach, Italy's seemed more humane, as they often didn't employ the torture and forced confession methods that I detailed earlier. Many of the typical methods caused conflict with the country's deep religious history, but there were limitations placed upon the torture methods that were employed. Strangely enough, Italy was one of the countries that employed sexual humiliation and torture as a way to force a confession out of an accused witch.
--The Inquisition caused quite a few witch accusations and executions for Afro-Caribbean women and men, but much like their Northern American and European counterparts, the majority of the accused were women. From what I understand, torture was a large part of the punishment for sorcery or witchcraft; a few received public lashings and prison sentences but some died from the brutality of the lashings before getting to serve any time.
--The general attitude towards witchcraft seemed to be more relaxed in the South American regions until the Inquisition began making frequent visits to the countries. Some places had a high amount of African slaves who knew nothing of the Catholic religion, so their homeland religion and practices looked suspicious to those who did not understand. As a result, many of those people were later accused of witchcraft.
--In the South American countries, there was a lot more sexual humiliation involved than in the other countries. Check the third link in this category if you'd like to hear how bad it got. One of the more notable names accused of witchcraft in South America was a woman whose crimes sounded more like a sexually promiscuous (for the time) attitude rather than witchcraft, but if you're confused then check out item #1 under the "Who was more likely to be accused?" question and you'll have your answer.
And that was a brief look into the witchcraft craze around the world. The Witchcraft Act of 1735 was a groundbreaking law of its time, because it ended a large majority of "criminal activity" and executions as people's beliefs shifted and the legal system became more stabilized. For the most part, the 19th century and afterward have been relatively dry in terms of witchcraft, although there have been a few isolated incidents where a citizen took the law into their hands and murdered someone they suspected of practicing witchcraft or sorcery.
Nowadays we have an entire spiritual body dedicated to what could be interpreted as witchcraft in Wicca and people are able to practice it freely, so I'd say the world has come a long way. If you've never given witch trials much of a look before, I hope today's post taught you something new. Check out the links; all of today's sources have a lot more information that I didn't include in my post. See you in a couple of days!
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