"4 This in turn would mean that other countries like England, Spain, Italy and Scotland had less people being accused of being witches.
The English Civil War was when the witch-craze all began. Every economic and social class was consumed with the idea of witches. The general population of Europe had a mission to find and then punish anyone who was a witch or who practiced witch craft. The public felt the need to distract themselves from bigger issues at the time. The time of the witch-craze was when the central government's collapsed.5 The people of Europe found intrigue in believing something so evil could be walking among the public and they felt empowered that they could destroy this evil. The witch hunt resulted in hysteria throughout the entire continent. Meaning the people of Europe were in a state of uncontrollable panic. It was the social norm to have witches in a town just like if there was any other crime. No matter anyone's social status they would be so interested in the trails it was like TV.
The idea that witches were real wasn't just adopted by a few, rather it was a widespread idea. Shakespeare put witches in Macbeth, many artists put witches in their work, some people went so far as to write full stories on them. The most well known is probably Malleus Maleficarum. This was written to explain what a witch is and what they do. The authors say that witches are deceiving and that they seem innocent at first glance but later reveal an evil that is equal with that of the devil himself. It is said that the devil would try to seduce people into doing wicked things. Woman would be more susceptible to this persuasion because they are weaker than men both physically and mentally.
According to the authors, men wanted nothing to do with women's "evil confining" ways. Woman were seen as a secretive sex with something to hide. The authors talk about how on the outside even though she might be beautiful more wickedness hides underneath; they state this when they say, "When she speaks it is a delight which flavours the sin; the flower of love is a rose, because under its blossom there are hidden many thorns" the sins of man were blamed on the woman.