Europe as a whole

• What were the ideological preconditions of witch-hunting in Europe?

  belief in the supernatural, magic, common misfortune etc
• Which combination of circumstances sometimes resulted in witch-hunts?

  plagues, famines and preaching of the clergy
• What was essential for witch-hunting to occur?


  there to be an accusation or denunciation of someone
• What was the role of officials in the process?


  assumed control after hearing of witchcraft charges
• The impetus to prosecute came from below, the way in which hunts developed was mainly from above
• What type of hunts were common


  the prosecution of one person or just a handful of people
• Where were large-scale hunts most commonly seen?

  Germany
• Why did such hunts escalate?

  chain reactions
• What characterised large hunts


  lack of cohesion and the long length
• Offenurg as a long Hunt 


  began in 1627 and 40 lives taken within three waves
• What was an essential feature of all witch-hunts?

  Intensity of fears
• How did fear manifest?


  Fear of friends being witches, diabolical powers and false accusations
• How might fear be characterised?


  hysteria
• How did small hunts generally end?


  Will people being executed and it dying out
• How were large hunts different to small hunts?


  Potential for indefinite extension which revealed levels of torture
• What was the situation in Rottenburg 1585?


  Afraid that the witch trial would result in a loss of women
• What was the longest duration of a hunt?

  4 years
• What might lead to a hunt ending? List as many reasons as you can.

  loss of female population, children + males accused, aroused suspicions, innocent people, nobles
• How might the agency of ordinary people obstruct a witch-hunt?


  Denounce their neighbours, boycott executions and or protests
• In what ways did large hunts encourage a decline of prosecute?

  Difficultly in proving they were true + displaced enthusiasm caused the hunts to end
• What makes it difficult to establish overall patterns in witch-hunting activity?

  number of convictions + executions varied over different times making it hard to keep track
• Number of prince electorates

  7
• Number of secular principalities

  43
• Number of ecclesiastical principalities

  32
• Number of independent earldoms + lordships

  140
• Number of imperial abbacies

  76
• Number of imperial cities

  75
• Number of independent knights

  100s
• Number of total territories + independent jurisdictions

  2000
• How much control did the Empire have over the justice system across the Empire?

  empire had very little control over the judicial system only released the Carolina
• What were the shortcomings of central control of the legal system?

  lack of regular procedures and the lack of upholding of the code
• How did the required collaboration with universities impact on the witch trials?

  Universities had to help with local judges with the complexities
• What was the impact of small jurisdictions on witch-hunting?

  Higher intensity due to the lack of central control
• Where was there relatively little witch-hunting?

  In the north east
• Where did the most witch-hunts occur?

  South west
• Bavaria:

  • Population - 1.4 million
  • size - large
  • executed - 1000
  • dates - entire period
• Trier:

  • Population -
  • size - Prince Bishopric
  • executed - 900 (overall)
  • dates -1581-93
• In what ways was the witch-hunt in Holstein 1600-60 atypical (unusual)?

  Located in the North West of the Holy Roman Empire, protestant reformed area
• How many witch trials took place in the Holy Roman Empire?

  20 000 - 25 000
• What proportion of those tried were executed?

  50%