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WITCHES IN THE 17 TH CENTURY

WITCHES IN THE 17 TH CENTURY. WARNING. Some of the images are very graphic, but I am sure you are mature enough to handle them. If you feel that you are not, please do not look. Who was a Witch in the 17th Century?. A practitioner of magic Heretics: people who spoke against the church

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WITCHES IN THE 17 TH CENTURY

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  1. WITCHES IN THE 17TH CENTURY

  2. WARNING • Some of the images are very graphic, but I am sure you are mature enough to handle them. • If you feel that you are not, please do not look.

  3. Who was a Witch in the 17th Century? • A practitioner of magic • Heretics: people who spoke against the church • Practitioner of the Occult • Alchemists • Drug-deluded • Mentally ill • Brain injured • Physically ill –lepers, boils, missing limbs…. • Mostly Women: they were especially susceptible to the Devil’s persuasions (75% to 80% killed were women) • Elderly women—most 50 or older • Men could be witches as well. Shamans, Warlocks..

  4. The Good Witch • The Emperor Charlemagne decreed that the burning of supposed witches was a pagan custom that would be punished by the death penalty. • The Witch Doctor

  5. Powers of European Witches • turning food poisonous or inedible, • flying on broomsticks or pitchforks, • casting spells, • cursing people, • making livestock ill • making crops fail, and • creating fear and local chaos

  6. The Change of Attitude • Traditional attitudes changed at the end of the 14th Century • First mass trials started in the 15th Century. • Why? Plague, social and religious turmoil—Catholics vs. Protestants.

  7. “The Burning Times” • “the crazes, panics, and mass hysteria -- largely occurred in one century, from 1550-1650. • Germany, France, Switzerland, and England faced the most witch hysteria. • Why? They were going through the reformation. • Least: Spain, Italy, Ireland, and Portugal • High: 260, 000 deaths in Germany to Ireland: with 4 deaths

  8. PROOFS of Witchcraft • The diabolical mark. This was usually a mole or birthmark. If not found the examiner would say it was invisible. • Witch-pricking: Prick the mark and if it did not bleed or hurt it would be seen as a witches’ mark. • Denouncement by another witch • Relationship with other convicted witch/witches • Blasphemy • Participation in Sabbaths • Possession of elements necessary for the practice of black magic • To have one or more witches in the family • To be afraid during the interrogations • Not to cry under torment (supposedly by means of the Devil's aid) • To have had sexual relationships with a demon—illegitimate children • If she floats she is a witch

  9. The Examination

  10. Witch Pricking instrument

  11. Picture of condemned Witch, Mary Dyer,going to her execution in Boston 1660

  12. TRIALS • Animals targeted—Animal Trials • Most prosecutions started off with denunciations. • Methods to extract an admission of guilt: Hot pincers and thumbscrews

  13. scold’s bridle as it is also known, a device for depressing the tongue and keeping suspects quiet. • Sleep deprivation • Light deprivation: If they had access to a naked flame the witch hunters believed that they would use their magical powers to summon the devil to set them free.

  14. Interrogation Chair

  15. Punishments for Witchcraft • Excommunicated • Chained for years to the oars of a ship • Burnt at the stake while alive • In England: hang the person and then burn the corpse • Drowning • Strangling • Pressed to death

  16. WATER TORTURE

  17. DUCKING

  18. Number of Executions • Historians believe it is between 12,000 to 100,000 • Some say as high as 10 million

  19. A Trial You are Accused

  20. My name is of no importance. We have gone back in time to the 1630's. We are in the Holy German Reich: in Rheinbach near Bonn in the dukedom of Cologne. You have an enormous problem. It is my duty to accompany you with my hints and advice on a tragic path even if, ultimately, I can not help you. You are unlucky today. After years of quarrelling, the venomous female neighbour of yours has accused you, in public, of being a magician. The roof of her house is leaking again. Well may you laugh now, but that will soon change. Already you are a corpse on holidays, you just don't know it yet. You now have only two possibilities: you remain quiet to those accusations or you fight against them. • If you remain quiet, your guilt is almost proved. By a traditional dictum of justice we learn: "qui tacet, concentiret", who keeps silence, agrees. • If you fight against the accusations your guilt is likewise almost proved. The more actively you fight against them, the more suspicion you arouse. People will think: if that person is so eager to refute the charge, that must have a good reason.

  21. MODERN DAY WITCH HUNTS WHO ARE WE AFTER NOW?

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