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WITCHES IN THE 17 TH CENTURY

Delve into the chilling world of 17th-century witch hunts, uncover the figures targeted, gruesome trials, and shocking executions. Learn the startling criteria for accusations and the relentless persecution faced by supposed witches. Embrace the change of attitude, historical background, and modern-day reflections on witch hunts. Brace yourself for a journey into the dark and unnerving realm of witchcraft hysteria in the 17th century.

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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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