Triggers/Causes

• Greed Theories 


  Elites initiated hunts for the Property of others and or their wealth. Matthew Hopkins and Dornheim (Bamberg). BUT - many persecuted did not have a lot of wealth, property wasn't confiscated everywhere.
• Disaster Theory 


  Actual misfortunes such as plague, famine and war. People blamed the supernatural and thus witches were used as a scapegoat. BUT many persecution occurred during times of relative peace, Anglo French War had not witch hunts. Other scapegoats historically like Jews and deviants.
• Misogyny Theory 


  Social hostility towards women. Ongoing subordination of women and women's link to midwifery and folk healing throughout the medieval period. Widows and poor were seen as drains on the state. BUT in Iceland 80% of victims were men, some historians exaggerated the amount of women
• Geographic Origins Theories


  Witch Hunts occurred in specific locations, an example would be the Alps. Or it occurred in places between regions that were suddenly caught in competition between commercial revolution. BUT there are counter examples such as low lands being just as heavily affected
• Satanic Religious Rebellion Theory

  devil worship actually existed to subvert the ruling Christian order. Some historians (Michelet 1862) took the confessions from torture as factual confessions. BUT there was no evidence to support the idea of Satanic Cults before the 19th Century
• Pagan Religious Rebellion Theory

  Misinterpreted by the Christian hunters as Satanic. Theory was formulated by Folklorist Murrary who said the horned God Dianus was the key figure of paganism. BUT there is no credible evidence for this as there was no evidence for the survival of paganism
• Confessional Conflict Theory


  Reformation and its resultant fights between Protestants and Catholics and denominations with Protestantism led to the use of witchcraft accusations to attack one another. BUT this was rarely used to accuse people of witchcraft. Most victims were the same denomination as the victims.
• (Mistaken) Conspiracy Theory 


  Late Middle Ages, religious elites created a new intellectual framework of Christian theology and heresy concerning demons. Linked the ideas of witches to an imagined organised sect against Christianity. BUT very little evidence
• Social Control / State Building

  Governments exploited the fears of witchcraft in order to centralise authority. Bureaucratic jurisdiction, impose cultural uniformity and dominate the church. Hierarchy may or may not have believed in Witches, but they created a threat to distract and crush opponents. BUT this implies that the masses were stupid
• Social Functionalist / Social Accusations Theory

  Witch Accusers acted on a psychological need to blame others for their own personal problems. Witch hunts could have been seen as beneficial for society as they got rid of drains on the states in some circumstances. Functioned to reinforce societal norms. BUT Bamburg Dornheim stole wealth from the rich
• Illness theory 


  Mass Hysteria - peasants became clinically neurotic and even psychotic

  Disease theory - ergotism as an example in Salem

  Drug - consumed dangerous herbs

  BUT hard to explain how so many people become ill at once. Systemic organisation???
• Religious Attitudes:

  • 1500 most in Western Europe were Catholic - changed as the Reformation and Counter Reformation spread
  • Thirty Year Wars - Holy Roman Empire
  • Puritans in Salem
• Belief in Magic:

  • people had faith in the spiritual world
  • educated people believed in the malleus - used in Universities in the HRE
  • historical connotations of the cunning woman
• Belief in Witchcraft:

  • most Europeans believed in witchcraft
  • harmful and beneficial magic
  • cures and assistance
  • 16th century - church would require people to do penance for harmful magic
  • meeting the devil at Sabbats
• State - building:

  • to take control
  • East Anglia - disruptions to normal functions
  • Paris in France had strong central control
• Quest for social discipline:

  • create a Godly state - James VI and Dornheim
• Impact of the reformation:

  • impact of the changes in the Christian club
  • Protestants split with the teaching of the Catholic Church
  • Justify their dogma and weed out the heresy
  • impose religious orthodox for a Godly state
  • Calvinists Protestants - pushed the government to act
• Describe the inquisitorial system

  Used across much of Europe (HRE) torture allowed and very quick escalation
• Describe the accusatory system

  Used by England. Torture not permitted and escalations weren't common.
• What country used a sub-inquistorial system?

  Scotland
• Impact of Catastrophes:

  • natural and man made encouraged witch hunts
  • Diseases, epidemics, crop failures and wars - escalation
  • 30 years war, English Civil War, King Williams War
  • harvest failures
  • mini-ice age
• Socio-Economic Developments:

  • rising population
  • inflation
  • poverty
  • social tensions within communities
  • local communities rather than elites
• What was the percentage of the accused that were women?

  80%
• How many of the accused were men?

  20%