History:
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Witchcraft, practice of magic or sorcery by those outside the
religious mainstream of a society; the term is used in different ways in
various historical and social contexts. In the early Christian centuries, the
church was relatively tolerant of magical practices. But in the late Middle
Ages (13th century to 14th century), opposition to alleged witchcraft deepened.
Those who used simple sorcery were increasingly regarded as being in league
with the Devil and as practicing diabolical witchcraft. Nearly all those who
fell under suspicion of witchcraft were women. A lurid picture of the
activities of witches emerged in the popular mind, including gatherings over
which Satan presided, flying broomsticks, and animal accomplices. This popular
image of witchcraft was perhaps inspired by features of occultism and by
theology concerning the Devil. It was given shape by the Inquisition, which
originally concerned itself with religious heresy but eventually extended its
activities to witches. During the so-called witch craze that possessed Europe
from about 1450 to 1700, thousands of people, mostly innocent, were executed
for diabolical witchcraft. The persecution of witches declined about 1700, with
the flowering of the Age of Enlightenment. One of the last outbreaks of
witch-hunting took place in colonial Massachusetts in 1692. Twenty people were
executed as a result of the Salem witch trials. Belief in traditional
witchcraft, in the sense of sorcery, remains alive in India, Africa, Latin
America and elsewhere.
Quote:
Every old woman with a wrinkled face, a furr'd brow, a
hairy lip, a gobber tooth, a squint eye, a squeaking voice, or a scolding
tongue . . . a dog or cat by her side, is not only suspected but pronounced for
a witch.
John Gaule (fl.
1640-60), Vicar of Great Stoughton, Huntingdonshire, England.
Sermons on Witchcraft (30 June 1646), on the activities of Witch-Finder General
Matthew Hopkins.
