"Witch trial" redirects here. For the Rush song, see Fear series. Rush is a Canadian rock band originally formed in August 1968 in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, currently comprised of The " Fear Series," or as it's more commonly known among Rush's fanbase "The Fear Trilogy" is a set of four songs by the band Rush. For the novel by Ian Rankin, see Witch Hunt (novel). Ian Rankin OBE, DL, (born 28 April 1960 in Cardenden, Fife) is a Scottish Crime writer. Witch Hunt is a 1993 Crime novel by Ian Rankin, under the pseudonym Jack Harvey.

A witch-hunt is a search for witches or evidence of witchcraft, often involving moral panic, mass hysteria and mob lynching, but in historical instances also legally sanctioned and involving official witchcraft trials. Witchcraft, in various historical anthropological religious and mythological contexts is the use of certain kinds of Supernatural or magical powers Witchcraft, in various historical anthropological religious and mythological contexts is the use of certain kinds of Supernatural or magical powers A moral panic can be defined as "the intensity of feeling expressed by a large number of people about a specific group of people who appear to threaten the social order at a given Mass hysteria, also called collective hysteria, mass psychogenic illness, or collective obsessional behavior, is the sociopsychological Lynching is an Extrajudicial punishment meted out by a mob Lynching an enumerated Felony in some states in the United States, is defined by some

The classical period of witch-hunts in Europe falls into the Early Modern period or about 1450 to 1700, spanning the upheavals of the Reformation and the Thirty Years' War, resulting in tens of thousands of executions. The early modern period is a term used by historians to refer to the period in Western '''Europe''' and its first colonies which spans the three centuries between The Protestant Reformation was a reform movement in Europe that began in 1517 though its roots lie further back in time For the Mauritanian Thirty Years' War see Char Bouba war. For the band see The 30 Years War.

Many cultures throughout the world, both ancient and modern, have reacted to allegations of witchcraft either with superstitious fear and awe, and killed any alleged practitioners of witchcraft outright; or, shunned it as quackery, extortion or fraud. Witch-hunts still occur in the modern era in many communities where religious values condemn the practice of witchcraft and the occult.

The term "witch-hunt" is often used to refer to similarly panic-induced searches for perceived wrong-doers other than witches. The best known example is probably the McCarthyist search for communists during the Cold War. McCarthyism is a term describing the intense anti-communist suspicion in the United States in a period that lasted roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the

Contents 1 Antiquity 2 Middle Ages 3 Early Modern Europe 4 Modern witch-hunts 4.1 Saudi Arabia 4.2 Indonesia 4.3 Britain 4.4 Africa 4.5 United States 5 Causes and sociology of witch-hunts 6 Political usage 6.1 Homage to Catalonia 6.2 McCarthyism 7 See also 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External links

Antiquity

Punishment for sorcery is addressed in the earliest law codes preserved; both in ancient Egypt and in Babylonia it played a conspicuous part. This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. Babylonia was an Amorite state in lower Mesopotamia (modern southern Iraq) with Babylon as its capital The Code of Hammurabi (18th century BC short chronology) prescribes that

If a man has put a spell upon another man and it is not justified, he upon whom the spell is laid shall go to the holy river; into the holy river shall he plunge. The Code of Hammurabi ( Codex Hammurabi) is the best-preserved ancient Law code, created ca The short chronology is one chronology of the Near Eastern Bronze and Early Iron Age, which fixes the reign of Hammurabi to 1728 BC – 1686 BC and the Sack of If the holy river overcome him and he is drowned, the man who put the spell upon him shall take possession of his house. If the holy river declares him innocent and he remains unharmed the man who laid the spell shall be put to death. He that plunged into the river shall take possession of the house of him who laid the spell upon him. ^[1]

The pre-Christian Twelve Tables of pagan Roman law has provisions against evil incantations and spells intended to damage corn. The Law of the Twelve Tables ( Lex Duodecim Tabularum, more informally simply Duodecim Tabulae) was the ancient Legislation that stood at the foundation Ancient Roman religion encompasses the collection of Beliefs and Rituals practised in Ancient Rome in the form of Cult practices Roman law is the legal system of Ancient Rome. As used in the West the term commonly refers to legal developments prior to the Roman/Byzantine state's adopting

The Hebrew Bible condemns sorcery. The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written in Biblical Hebrew (and the related Biblical Aramaic Deuteronomy 18:11-12 calls it an "abomination" and Exodus 22:18 prescribes "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live"^[2], and tales like that of 1 Samuel 28, reporting how Saul "hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land"^[3] suggesting that in practice, sorcery could at least lead to exile. Deuteronomy (Greek deuteronomion, Δευτερονόμιον "second law" is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament Exodus ( Greek: έξοδος eksodos = "departure" is the second book of the Jewish Torah and of the Christian Old Testament. The Books of Samuel ( Hebrew: Sefer Sh'muel ספר שמואל are part of the Tanakh (part of Judaism 's Hebrew Bible) and also of Saul (שאול המלך (or Sha'ul) ( Arabic: طالوت,Tālūt ( (reigned 1047 - 1007 BCE is identified in the Books of Samuel, 1 Chronicles

In later Jewish history, Rabbi Simeon ben Shetach - Pharisee scholar and Nasi of the Sanhedrin in the First Century B. Simeon ben Shetach or Shimon ben Shetach (c 120-40 BCE was a Pharisee scholar and Nasi of the Sanhedrin during the reigns of Alexander The word Pharisees ( lat. pharisæ|us, - i) comes from the Hebrew פרושים perushim from פרוש parush, meaning "separated" For the Arab month by this name see Nasi (month. Also the Malay/Indonesian word for rice The Sanhedrin (סנהדרין συνέδριον ''synedrion'', "sitting together" hence " assembly " or "council" was an assembly C. - is reported to have on a single day sentenced to death eighty women in Ashkelon, who had been charged with witchcraft. Ashkelon (אַשְׁקְלוֹן ٲشكلون also عسقلان; Latin: Ascalon; Akkadian: Isqalluna is a coastal city in southern Later, the women's relatives took revenge by bringing false witnesses against Simeon's son and causing him to be executed in turn.

The 6th Century Getica of Jordanes records a mythical persecution and expulsion of witches among the Goths in an account of the origin of the Huns. De origine actibusque Getarum (lit The Origin and Deeds of the Getae but referring to the Goths whom Jordanes considered Getae or the Getica Jordanes (also Jordanis or even Iornandes) was a 6th century Roman Bureaucrat, who turned his hand to History later in life The Goths ( Gothic: Gothic usvg|14px|u]]Gothic asvg|14px|a]]Gothic s The Huns were an early confederation of Central Asian equestrian nomads or semi-nomads with a Turkic core of aristocracy The ancient fabled King Filimer is said to have

"found among his people certain witches, whom he called in his native tongue Haliurunnae. Filimer (meaning "very famous" was an early Gothic king according to Jordanes. Suspecting these women, he expelled them from the midst of his race and compelled them to wander in solitary exile afar from his army. There the unclean spirits, who beheld them as they wandered through the wilderness, bestowed their embraces upon them and begat this savage race, which dwelt at first in the swamps, a stunted, foul and puny tribe, scarcely human, and having no language save one which bore but slight resemblance to human speech. "^[4]

Middle Ages

During the Early Middle Ages, the Church did not conduct witch trials. The Early Middle Ages is a period in the History of Europe following the fall of the Western Roman Empire spanning roughly five centuries from AD 500 Canon law, in Canon Episcopi, followed the views of the church father Augustine of Hippo (AD 400) that belief in the existence of witchcraft was heresy, since according to Augustine "a heretic is one who either devises or follows false and new opinions, for the sake of some temporal profit". The Canon Episcopi is an important document in the history of Witchcraft. The Council of Paderborn in 785 explicitly outlawed the very belief in witches, and Charlemagne later confirmed the law. The Council of Paderborn of 785, debating the matter of Christianization of the Saxons resolves to make punishable by law all sorts of Idolatry Events By Place Europe Widukind and many other Saxons are baptized Charlemagne (ˈʃɑrlɨmeɪn Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus meaning Charles the Great) (747 – 28 January 814 was King of the Franks from 768 to his The first medieval trials against witches date to the 13th century with the institution of the Inquisition, but they were a side issue, as the Church was concentrating on the persecution of heresy, and witchcraft, alleged or real, was treated as any other sort of heresy. The term Inquisition can refer to any one of several institutions charged with trying and convicting heretics within the Roman Catholic Church and Heresy is an introduced change to some system of belief especially a religion that conflicts with the previously established canon of that belief

There were still secular laws against witchcraft, such as that promulgated by King Athelstan (924-999)

And we have ordained respecting witch-crafts, and lybacs, and morthdaeds: if any one should be thereby killed, and he could not deny it, that he be liable in his life. But if he will deny it, and at threefold ordeal shall be guilty; that he be 120 days in prison: and after that let kindred take him out, and give to the king 120 shillings, and pay the wer to his kindred, and enter into borh for him, that he evermore desist from the like. Weregeld (alternative spellings wergild, wergeld, weregeld, etc ^[5]

It had been proposed that the witch-hunt developed in Europe after the Cathars and the Templar Knights were exterminated and the Inquisition had to turn to persecution of witches to remain active. The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Solomonici commonly known as the Knights Templar or the Order In the middle of 1970s, this hypothesis was independently disproved by two historians (Cohn 1975; Kieckhefer 1976). This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. It was shown that the pursuit originated amongst common people in Switzerland and in Croatia that pressed on the civil courts to support them. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation Croatia (Hrvatska ˈxȓvatska officially the Republic of Croatia ( Republika Hrvatska) is a southern Central European country at the crossroads between In law a lawsuit is a civil action brought before a Court in which the party commencing the action the Plaintiff, seeks a legal or equitable remedy Inquisitorial courts became systematically involved in the witch-hunt only in the 15th century: in the case of the Madonna Oriente, the Inquisition of Milan was not sure what to do with two women who in 1384 and in 1390 confessed to have participated in a type of white magic. Madonna Oriente or Signora Oriente (Lady of the East, also known as La Signora del Gioco (The Lady of the Game, are names of an alleged religious Milan (Milano Milan (listen) is one of the largest cities in Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy.

Early Modern Europe

Main article: Witch trials in Early Modern Europe

The period of witch trials in Early Modern Europe came in waves and then subsided. The period of Witch trials in Early Modern Europe came in waves and then subsided The early modern period is a term used by historians to refer to the period in Western '''Europe''' and its first colonies which spans the three centuries between There were early trials in the 15th and early 16th centuries, but then the witch scare went into decline, before becoming a big issue again and peaking in the 17th century. Some scholars argue that a fear of witchcraft started among intellectuals who believed in maleficium; that is, bad deeds. What had previously been a belief that some people possessed supernatural abilities (which sometimes resulted in protecting the people), now became a sign of a pact between these people with supernatural abilities and the devil. Witchcraft became associated with wild Satanic ritual parties in which there was much naked dancing, orgy sex, and cannibalistic infanticide. For other uses of the word see Satanism (disambiguation. Satanism can refer to a number of belief systems depending on the user and context An orgy (όργιον was a secret cultic congregation at nighttime in Ancient Greek religion, overseen by an orgiophant (a teacher or revealer of Child cannibalism, or fetal cannibalism describes the act of eating a child or Fetus.

Witch-hunts were seen across early modern Europe, but the most significant area of witch-hunting in modern Europe is often considered to be southwestern Germany. In Germany the number of trials compared to other regions of Europe shows it to have been a late starter. Witch-hunts first appeared in large numbers in southern France and Switzerland during the 14th and 15th centuries. The peak years of witch-hunts in southwest Germany were from 1561 to 1670. ^[6] The first major persecution in Europe, that caught, tried, convicted, and burned witches in the imperial lordship of Wiesensteig in southwestern Germany, is recorded in 1563 in a pamphlet called “True and Horrifying Deeds of 63 Witches” ^[7]

Current scholarly estimates of the number of people executed for witchcraft vary between about 40,000 and 100,000. ^[8] The total number of witch trials in Europe which are known for certain to have ended in executions is around 12,000. ^[9]

During early 18th century, the practice subsided. The last execution for witchcraft in England took place in 1716, when Mary Hicks and her daughter Elizabeth were hanged. Year 1716 ( MDCCXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Jane Wenham was among the last subjects of a typical witch trial in England in 1712, but was pardoned after her conviction and set free. Jane Wenham (d 1730) was the subject of what is commonly but erroneously regarded as the last Witch trial in England. Year 1712 ( MDCCXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap The Witchcraft Act of 1734 saw the end of the traditional form of witchcraft as a legal offence in Britain, those accused under the new act were restricted to people who falsely pretended to be able to procure spirits, generally being the most dubious professional fortune tellers and mediums, and punishment was light. In England, a succession of Witchcraft Acts have governed Witchcraft and provided penalties for its practice or (in later years for pretending to its practice Year 1734 ( MDCCXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Helena Curtens and Agnes Olmanns were the last women to be executed as witches in Germany, in 1738. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Year 1738 ( MDCCXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or

Critics of witch hunts in this time period included Friedrich von Spee, Gianfrancesco Ponzinibio, Cornelius Loos, Reginald Scot, Johann Mayfurth, and Alonzo Salazar de Frias. Friedrich von Spee ( February 25, 1591 - August 7, 1635) was a German Jesuit and Poet, most noted as an opponent Cornelius Loos, also known as Losaeus Callidius ( 1546 - February 3, 1595) was a Roman Catholic priest theologian and Professor of Theology Reginald Scot (c 1538 - 1599 was the English Author of The Discoverie of Witchcraft, which was published in 1584

Modern witch-hunts

In some parts of the world, including South Africa and India, witch-hunts still occur to this day. The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country ^{[10][11][12][13]}

Witch-hunts against children were reported by the BBC in 1999 in the Congo^[14] and in Tanzania older women are killed as witches if they have red eyes. ^[15] A lawsuit was launched in 2001 in Ghana, where witch-hunts are also common, by a woman accused of being a witch. ^[15] Witch-hunts in Africa are often led by relatives seeking the property of the accused victim.

In December 1999 a student in Oklahoma, USA was suspended from school for 15 days for allegedly casting spells. ^[16]

Saudi Arabia

On February 16, 2008 a Saudi woman Fawzi Falih was arrested and convicted of witchcraft and now faces imminent beheading for sorcery unless the King issues a rare pardon. Events 1249 - Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khan of the Mongols ^[17]

Indonesia

There have been alleged-witch persecution and public trials in Indonesia, even in the 2000s. Hundreds have died because of persecution. ^[18]

Britain

There continued to be occasional prosecutions under the Witchcraft Act in the 19th and 20th century. In England, a succession of Witchcraft Acts have governed Witchcraft and provided penalties for its practice or (in later years for pretending to its practice The most well remembered is that of the medium Helen Duncan in 1944, the last person to be imprisoned under the Act. Helen Duncan ( November 25, 1897 &ndash December 6, 1956) was a Scottish medium best known as the last person to be imprisoned under Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Supposedly the authorities feared that by her alleged clairvoyant powers she could betray details of the D-Day preparations, but the accusations in court centred round defrauding the public. Clairvoyance (from 17th century French with clair meaning "clear" and voyance meaning "visibility" is the apparent ability to gain D-Day may also refer to Decimal Day in the United Kingdom. D-Day is a term often used in Military parlance to denote She spent nine months in prison. The last conviction under the act was that of Jane Rebecca Yorke. Jane Rebecca Yorke (born c 1872 date of death unknown was a medium who was the last person convicted under the Witchcraft Act of 1735 The Act was repealed in 1951. Year 1951 ( MCMLI) was a Common year starting on Monday. Events of 1951 January

Africa

In many African societies the fear of witches drives periodic witchhunts during which specialist witch finders identify suspects, even today, with death by mobs often the result. Audrey I. Richards, in the journal Africa relates in 1935 an instance when a new wave of witchfinders, the Bamucapi, appeared in the villages of the Bemba people. ^[19] They dressed in European clothing, and would summon the headman to prepare a ritual meal for the village. When the villagers arrived they would view them all in a mirror, and claimed they could identify witches with this method. A mirror is an object with a surface that has good Specular reflection; that is it is smooth enough to form an Image. These witches would then have to "yield up his horns"; i. e. give over the horn containers for curses and evil potions to the witch-finders. A horn is a pointed projection of the Skin on the head of various Mammals consisting of a covering of horn ( Keratin and other Proteins A curse (also called execration) is any manner of Adversity thought to be inflicted by any supernatural power (such as a spell, a Prayer, an The bamucapi then made all drink a potion called kucapa which would cause a witch to die and swell up if he ever tried such things again. The villagers related that the witchfinders were always right because the witches they found were always the people whom the village had feared all along. The bamucapi utilised a mixture of Christian and native religious traditions to account for their powers and said that God (not specifying which God) helped them prepare their medicine. In addition, all witches who did not attend the meal to be identified would be called to account later on by their master, who had risen from the dead, and who would force the witches by means of drums to go to the graveyard, where they would die. Richards noted that the bamucapi created the sense of danger in the villages by rounding up all the horns in the village, whether they were used for anti-witchcraft charms, potions, snuff or were indeed receptacles of black magic.

The Bemba people believed misfortunes such as hauntings and famines to be just actions sanctioned by the High-God Lesa. A famine is a widespread shortage of food that may apply to any Faunal species which phenomenon is usually accompanied by regional Malnutrition, Starvation Lesa is a Comune (municipality in the Province of Novara in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 110 km northeast of Turin The only agency which caused unjust harm was a witch, who had enormous powers and was hard to detect. After white rule of Africa beliefs in sorcery and witchcraft grew, possibly because of the social strain caused by new ideas, customs and laws, and also because the courts no longer allowed witches to be tried.

Amongst the Bantu tribes of Southern Africa the witch smellers were responsible for detecting witches. Bantu may refer to Bantu expansion, a series of migrations of Bantu speakers Bantu languages Bantu people Southern Africa is the Southernmost Region of the African Continent, variably defined by Geography or Geopolitics. Witch smellers, almost always women were important and powerful people amongst the Zulu and other Bantu languages speaking peoples of Southern Africa, In parts of Southern Africa several hundred people have been killed in witch hunts since 1990^[20]

Several African states, Cameroon, Togo for example, have reestablished witchcraft-accusations in courts. The Republic of Cameroon is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. TOGO was a Japanese roller coaster design company famous for inventing the Stand-up roller coaster. A person can be imprisoned or fined for the account of a witch-doctor.

It was reported on the 21st of May 2008 that in Kenya a mob had burnt to death at least 11 people accused of witchcraft^[21]. The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north Somalia to the northeast Tanzania to the south

United States

Further information: Satanic ritual abuse

Some Christian fundamentalists in the United States react to Neopaganism, and Wicca in particular, with rhetorics reminiscent of the European witch-hunts. Satanic ritual abuse ( SRA, sometimes known as ritual abuse, cult related abuse, ritualized abuse, sadistic ritual abuse, ritual Fundamentalist Christianity, also known as Christian Fundamentalism or Fundamentalist Evangelicalism, is a movement that arose mainly within British and The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Neopaganism or Neo-Paganism is an Umbrella term used to identify a wide variety of modern religious movements particularly those influenced by historical ^[22]

In August 1999, Jack Harvey, pastor of Tabernacle Independent Baptist Church in Killeen, Texas allegedly arranged for at least one member of his church to carry a handgun during religious services, "in case a warlock tries to grab one of our kids. . . I've heard they drink blood, eat babies. They have fires, they probably cook them. . . " During speeches which preceded his church's demonstration against Wiccans, Rev. Harvey allegedly stated that the U. S. Army should napalm Witches. One of the protesters carried a sign which read "Witchcraft is an abomination" on one side and "Burn the witches off Ft. Hood" on the other. A Wiccan faith group is active at Ft. Hood, a large army base near Killeen. ^[23]

In 2008 Jim Piculas, a substitute teacher at Rushe Middle School in Florida, was reported to have lost his job for "wizardry. " Piculas performed a sleight of hand trick in front of students, making a toothpick seem to disappear using concealed adhesive tape. In a phone conversation with Piculas, an administrator is claimed to have told Piculas that he had been "accused of wizardry. " School officials later informed reporters that wizardry was "just one of the reasons Piculas was let go. "^[24]

Causes and sociology of witch-hunts

One theory for the number of Early Modern witchcraft trials connects the counter-reformation to witchcraft. The Counter-Reformation (also Catholic Reformation denotes the period of Catholic revival from the pontificate of Pope Pius IV in 1560 to the close of the In south-western Germany between 1561 and 1670 there were 480 witch trials. Of the 480 trials that took place in southwestern Germany, 317 occurred in Catholic areas, while Protestant territories accounted for 163 of them. ^[25] During the period from 1561 to 1670, at least 3,229 persons were executed for witchcraft in the German Southwest. Of this number 702 were tried and executed in Protestant territories, while 2,527 were tried and executed in Catholic territories. ^[26] Nineteenth-century historians today dispute the comparative severity of witch hunting in Protestant and Catholic territories. Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. Catholic is an Adjective derived from the Greek adjective '' / 'katholikos' meaning "whole" or "complete". “Protestants blamed the witch trials on the methods of the Catholic Inquisition and the theology of Catholic scholasticism, while Catholic scholars indignantly retorted that Lutheran preachers drew more witchcraft theory from Luther and the Bible than from medieval Catholic thinkers. ”^[27]

Other theories have pointed that the massive changes in law allowed for the outbreak in witch trials. Such laws pointed out heretical nature, and punished all aspects. Another theory is that rising number of devil literature popularized witchcraft trials, in which the German market saw nearly 100,000 devil-books during the 1560’s. ^[28] Another assumption is that climate-induced crop failure and harsh weather was a direct link to witch-hunts. This theory follows the idea that witchcraft in Europe was traditionally associated with weather-making. ^[29] Scholars also imply that a connection between witchcraft trials and the Thirty Years’ War may also have a direct correlation. For the Mauritanian Thirty Years' War see Char Bouba war. For the band see The 30 Years War. ^[30]

While the previously mentioned theories mainly rely on micro level psychological interpretations, another theory has been put forward that provides an alternative macroeconomic explanation. ^[31] According to this theory, the witches, who often had highly developed midwifery skills, were prosecuted in order to extinguish knowledge about birth control in an effort to repopulate Europe after the population catastrophe triggered by the plague pandemic of the 14th century (also known as the Black Death). Midwifery is a Health care profession where providers give Prenatal care to expecting Mothers attend the birth of the Infant Birth control, sometimes synonymous with contraception, is a regimen of one or more actions devices or Medications followed in order to deliberately prevent Bubonic plague is the best-known manifestation of the bacterial disease plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis (formerly known as The Black Death, or the Black Plague, was one of the deadliest Pandemics in human history widely thought to have been caused by a bacterium named Yersinia ^[32] Citing from Jean Bodin´s "On Witchcraft", this view holds that the witch hunts were not only promoted by the church but also by prominent secular thinkers to repopulate the European continent. Jean Bodin ( 1529 / 1530 &ndash1596was born in Angers France and became a French Jurist and political philosopher, member of the Parlement ^[33] By these authors, the witch hunts are seen as an attempt to eliminate female midwifery skills and as a historical explanation why modern gynecology - surprisingly enough - came to be practiced almost exclusively by males in state run hospitals. In this view, the witch hunts began a process of criminalization of birth control that eventually lead to an enormous increase in birth rates that are described as the "population explosion" of early modern Europe. In Criminology, criminalization or criminalisation is "the process by which behaviors and individuals are transformed into Crime and criminals" Overpopulation refers to a condition where an Organism 's numbers exceed the Carrying capacity of its Habitat. This population explosion produced an enormous youth bulge which supplied the extra manpower that would enable Europe's nations, during the period of colonialism and imperialism, to conquer and colonize 90% of the world. A population pyramid, also called age-sex pyramid and age structure diagram, is a graphical illustration that shows the distribution of various age groups in a See Colony and Colonization for examples of colonialism which do not refer to Western colonialism Imperialism has two meanings one describing an action and the other describing an attitude ^[34] While historians specializing in the history of the witch hunts have generally remained critical of this macroeconomic approach and continue to favor micro level perspectives and explanations^[35], prominent historian of birth control John M. Riddle has expressed agreement. ^[36]

As this theory has an alternative macroeconomic explanation some scholars oppose it. Diane Purkiss argues "that there is no evidence that the majority of those accused were healers and midwives; in England and also some parts of the Continent, midwives were more than likely to be found helping witch-hunters. Diane Purkiss (born 30 June 1961 is Fellow and Tutor of English at Keble College, University of Oxford. ^[37] Also the fact remains that most women used herbal medicines as part of their household skills, and a large part of witches were accused by women. ^[38]

Some sociologists have attributed the occurrence of witchhunts to the prevalent human tendency to blame unexplainable occurrences on someone or something familiar. For example, Europe relied heavily upon agriculture during the period of the witch hunts; if there were large scale crop failures, the consequences would very likely be disastrous. Crop failures often correlated with the occurrence of witchhunts, leading some sociologists to suggest that communities often took out their anger about a lack of food on community members who were unpopular (witches. ) This can be paralleled in more recent examples such as the Nazi use of anti-semitism to apportion blame for economic problems. Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German Antisemitism (alternatively spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism; also rarely known as judeophobia) is the Prejudice against or hostility A perception of moral righteousness, by the community, is a necessary element that enables rationalization. This, however, is only one element in a complex tapestry of factors leading to the events in question.

The modern notion of a "witchhunt" has little to do with gender, the historical notion often did. Gender comprises a range of differences between men and women extending from the biological to the social In general, supposed "witches" were female. Female (♀ is the Sex of an Organism, or a part of an organism which produces ova (egg cells Noted Judge Nicholas Rémy (c. A judge, or justice, is an Official who presides over a Court of law Nicholas Remy (aka Rémy and Remigius) (1530 - 1616 was a French magistrate who became famous as a hunter of witches comparable to Jean Bodin and De Lancre 1595), "[It is] not unreasonable that this scum of humanity, [witches], should be drawn chiefly from the feminine sex. An organism's sex is defined by the gametes it produces males produce male gametes (spermatozoa or Sperm) while females produce female gametes (ova or Egg cells; individual " Concurred another judge, "The Devil uses them so, because he knows that women love carnal pleasures, and he means to bind them to his allegiance by such agreeable provocations. The Devil is the "^[39]

Political usage

Further information: Moral panic

In modern terminology 'witch-hunt' has acquired usage referring to the act of seeking and persecuting any perceived enemy, particularly when the search is conducted using extreme measures and with little regard to actual guilt or innocence. A moral panic can be defined as "the intensity of feeling expressed by a large number of people about a specific group of people who appear to threaten the social order at a given

Homage to Catalonia

The Oxford English Dictionary describes the first recorded use of the term in its metaphorical sense in George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia (1938). Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950 who used the Pseudonym George Orwell, was an English writer The term is used by Orwell to describe how, in the Spanish Civil War, political persecutions became a regular occurrence. The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict in Spain that started after an attempted Coup d'état committed by parts of the army against the government of

McCarthyism

The term 'witch-hunt' was widely popularized in a political context through Arthur Miller's play The Crucible, ostensibly about the Salem witch trials, but actually a criticism of the McCarthy hearings as well as the general atmosphere of paranoia and persecution that accompanied them. Arthur Asher Miller (October 17 1915 &ndash February 10 2005 was an American Playwright and Essayist. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play based upon the events in 1692, which led to the Salem Witch Trials, a series of hearings before The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before local magistrates followed by county court Trials to prosecute people accused of Witchcraft in Essex McCarthyism is a term describing the intense anti-communist suspicion in the United States in a period that lasted roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s ^[40] The hearings, held by anti-Communist committees, panels and "loyalty review boards" across the United States, became the most famous 'witch-hunt' of the 20th century. Anti-communism refers to opposition to Communism. Historically the word "communism" has been used to refer to several types of communal social organization and The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Later deemed unconstitutional, they represented a major breakdown in civil liberties and civil discourse, and for tens of thousands of people resulted in ostracism, ruined careers or even imprisonment. thumb| |Broken Liberty Istanbul Archaeology Museum Civil liberties are freedoms that protect the Individual from the Government.

See also

• Christian views on witchcraft
• European witchcraft
• Trial by ordeal
• Pierre de Lancre (conductor of a bloody witch-hunt in Labourd)
• Salem witch trials
• Torsåker witch trials
• Basque witch trials
• Würzburg witch trial
• Ramsele witch trial
• North Berwick witch trials
• Bideford witch trial
• Parma witch hunt
• Blood libel

References

Further reading

• Behringer, Wolfgang. Witches and Witch Hunts: A Global History. Malden Massachusetts: Polity Press, 2004.
• Briggs, Robin. 'Many reasons why': witchcraft and the problem of multiple explanation, in Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe. Studies in Culture and Belief, ed. Jonathan Barry, Marianne Hester, and Gareth Roberts, Cambridge University Press, 1996.
• Levack, Brian P. The Great Scottish Witch Hunt of 1661-1662, The Journal of British Studies, Vol. The publication of the North American Conference on British Studies The Journal of British Studies is an Academic journal published by the University of 20, No, 1. (Autumn, 1980), pp. 90-108.
• Levack, Brian P. The witch hunt in early modern Europe, Second Edition. London and New York: Longman, 1995.
• Macfarlane, Alan. Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England: A regional and Comparative Study. New York and Evanston: Harper & Row Publishers, 1970.
• Midlefort, Erick H. C. Witch Hunting in Southeastern Germany 1562-1684: The Social and Intellectual Foundation. California: Stanford University Press, 1972. ISBN 0804708053
• Oberman, H. A. , J. D. Tracy, Thomas A. Brady (eds. ), Handbook of European History, 1400-1600: Visions, Programs, Outcomes (1995) ISBN 9004097619
• Oldridge, Darren (ed. ), The Witchcraft Reader (2002) ISBN 0415214920
• Poole, Robert. The Lancashire Witches: Histories and Stories (2002) ISBN 0719062047
• Purkiss, Diane. "A Holocaust of One's Own: The Myth of the Burning Times. " Chapter in The Witch and History: Early Modern and Twentieth Century Representatives New York, NY: Routledge, 1996, pp. 7-29.
• Sagan, Carl. The Demon-Haunted World, Random House, 1996. ISBN 039453512X
• Thurston, Robert. The Witch Hunts: A History of the Witch Persecutions in Europe and North America. Pearson/Longman, 2007.
• Purkiss, Diane. The Bottom of the Garden, Dark History of Fairies, Hobgoblins, and Other Troublesome Things. Chapter 3 Brith and Death: Fairies in Scottish Witch-trials New York, NY: New York University Press, 2000, pp. 85-115.
• West, Robert H. Reginald Scot and Renaissance Writings. Boston: Twayne Publishers,1984.
• Briggs, K. M. Pale Hecate’s Team, an Examination of the Beliefs on Witchcraft and Magic among Shakespeare’s Contemporaries and His Immediate Successors. New York: The Humanities Press, 1962.

External links

• The Stages of a Witch Trial — a series of articles by Jenny Gibbons.
• 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia entry on "Witchcraft"
• The Burning Times A Wiccan discusses what she considers the three myths of "The Burning Times"
• Jenny Gibbons (1998). [4]. Retrieved 21 November 2006. Events 164 BC - Judas Maccabaeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family restores the Temple in Jerusalem. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
• Crises: Witch hunt
• The Decline and End of Witch Trials in Europe by James Hannam
• Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project
• Cornish witch-trials
• Witch Trials
• Dame Alice le Kyteler, convicted of witchcraft in Kilkenny, Ireland, 1324
• Elizabethan Superstitions in the Elizabethan Period by Linda Alchin

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