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The History of Witches

"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.


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1. Rise Of Witchcraft

... to Montague Summers, the author of The History of Witchcraft and Demonology, "witches can be described as heretics and anarchists," most of which follow the chief of demons, also known as the Devil. The belief in witches comes from such documents as the Malleus Maleficarum, a witch-hunt manual that helped to interrogate, prosecute, and torture potential witches during the Inquisition. The church was the main attacker of nonconformists. Not only did the church attack heretics and witches, but other citizens ... did too, "from the twelfth ... ...

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2. The Stereotyping Of Witches

... for collaborating with the Devil (Richardson 6). Throughout the history of witches there are many instances where men also participated in witchcraft. So where did all these stereotypes originate? The idea has always had a strong grasp on the imaginations of Americans. The fear of witches arose from stories that their magical powers came from the devil. Many people have said it all began with the bible. The bases for the witchcraft law ... woman, after legal conviction, shall worship any other God but the Lord God, he shall be put to death. Also, religious leaders would tell the people t...

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3. The Historical Macbeth

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4. Witches and Witchcraft: the What and the Why

... , two things come into our mind: demonology' and women' respectively. The mystery behind witches and their practices brought a lot of controversy over the years, which led to much research to discover the true story of witchcraft. The history of witchcraft can be divided into three phases: Sorcery, Diabolical Witchcraft, and Modern Witchcraft (Ellwood). According to Robert S. Ellwood, the first part of the history of witchcraft is sorcery, which refers "primarily to witchcraft in primal ... no one is safe as long as they are socializing with other people and keep their appearances presen...

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6. The Salem Witch Trials

... Many thoughts about Salem float around the history books of today. Some believe that Witchcraft is just a hallucination of the mind under stress, other believe that it is real and should not be taken as a joke. Whatever the case is there are strong feelings on both ends. During the late spring of and early fall of 1692 there were 141 witches arrested. Nineteen of them were hanged, and one ... was pressed to death. During the trials against the witches there were many false accusations against them. One of these accusations what the use of familiars. Familiars are pets of witches, like ad...

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7. The Crucible

... or animals born with deformities after visits by one of the suspects. The magistrates, in the common practice of the time, asked the same questions of each suspect over and over: Were they witches? Had the seen the Devil? How, if they are not witches, did they explain the contortions seemingly caused by their presence? The style and form of the questions indicates that the magistrates thought the women guilty. The matter might have ended with admonishments were it ... , had been pressed to death. About one to two hundred other persons were arrested and imprisoned on witchcraft charges. T...

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8. History of Witchcraft

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9. Philosophy Of Witchcraft

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