People in the sixteen hundreds experienced an expanding population which made the available resources much scarcer. Because of these hardships, they had a hard time making a living, which often caused them to suffer from starvation and malnutrition due to bad harvests. All of this aided to the weakening of their immune systems, which made them more susceptible to diseases such as the bubonic plague, pneumonic plague, dysentery, small pox, and syphilis. It would not be far fetched to also assume that these conditions also affected the minds of the people. If one were to judge these people according to twenty first century standards, it would be completely understandable if they were said to be suffering from hallucinations and possibly schizophrenia. However, they could not be judged according to these standards because they did not have the medical nor scientific knowledge that exists today. Therefore, the only way to explain these hallucinations or mental disorders was to accredit them to evilness or bad magic.

Throughout the readings of The Witches of Huntingdon, Their Examinations, and Confessions, many similarities can be identified. First, in all of the cases, the accused witches talked about the various ways that the devil appeared to them and how he asked them to renounce God and Christ in order to serve and worship him. However, this seems questionable because during the sixteen hundreds, the people were very religious. Therefore, they would not have given up their souls to the devil so easily. Secondly, there were always two spirits given to the people. One spirit was white, and the other was black, or various shades of these colors. These spirits were said to have been used to perform mischievous deeds as well as to have sucked from the person’s body. However, any markings that were found on the accused witches were probably nothing more then just birthmarks or freckles, instead of being left by the spirits. Although there are only two similarities mentioned, many more were apparent. What the reader must wonder, is why these cases were so similar considering the accused witches did not live near one another? The answer to this question might be seen in the ‘Malleus Maleficarum’, which was written by some Dominican friars in order to help people learn about witches and their habits. It could be assumed that the clergymen would have informed their peasants about the tract and what to look for in a witch. Therefore, when a person began suffering from a mental disorder and started hallucinating, they may have thought that they were possessed by the devil. Because they could not explain these hallucinations, they repeated stories that they may have heard about other accused witches. With the case studies and the arguments set forth, the reader can easily accept the idea that

Some topics in this essay:
God Christ, Matthew Hopkins’, Elizabeth Weed, England Scotland, Secondly Winnick, Galileo Galilei, Kings Justices, Examinations Confessions, , Protestant Reformation, accused witches, mental disorder, horses cows, sixteen hundreds, malevolent witches, bear-like spirit, suffering mental disorder, god christ, suffering mental, renounce god christ, renounce god, evil spirits, mental disorder hallucinations, whatever mischief desired, kill horses cows,