History of Witchcraft Persecution

Torture of heresy

Nov 13, 1252

Pope Innocent IV authorizes papal inquisitors to use torture in the prosecution of heresy. This move sets the stage for the torture of witches since witchcraft would become heresy. At first, torture could not be repeated, eventually suspects were tortured until they confessed.

Joan of Arc

Nov 13, 1431

Joan of Arc burned at the stake for being a witch. She was burned alive, the wood pile was constructed to prolong her death agonies

The Hammer of Witches

Nov 13, 1486

Publication of the Malleus Maleficiarum, the Hammer of Witches. Written by two Inquisitors, Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger, it was widely distributed and responsible for much of the similarity in witch trials and confessions. With papal backing, the Malleus claimed that those who did not believe in witchcraft were heretics, in itself a crime punishable by death. http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/mm/

HRE decrees death for witches

Nov 13, 1532

Holy Roman Emperor decrees witchcraft can be determined by judicial torture and punishable by burning to death

Secular Government Confirms Religious Belief

Nov 13, 1542

English parliament makes witchcraft a capital crime, the legal code carries over to the new world colonies. 1550 About mid century, infanticide began to come to the notice of the courts. Along with this development, witchcraft is increasingly seen as a secular crime rather than an ecclesiastical or spiritual mistake.

French Government interprets natural causes

Nov 13, 1556

French Parlement issues edict that every expectant mother must register her pregnancy and have witness at the birth. A stillbirth or dead infant could lead to murder charges and execution of the mother.

Witchcraft linked to sex

Nov 13, 1560

Women begin to be accused of witchcraft and sexual crimes. For the first time women have legal standing as the accused.

Scottish courts

Nov 13, 1563

1563 Scottish courts declare witchcraft a secular crime.

Witchcraft and women

Nov 13, 1580

1580 The English witch hunts begin in earnest, over 1,000 are put to death. Where the sex of the dead is known, over 90 percent are women. Most virulent witch persecutions coincide with redistribution of property and wealth from working peasantry to wealthy.

133 in one day

Nov 13, 1589

1589 In Quedlinburg, 133 witches executed in one day

Civil and Religious

Nov 13, 1590

1590 - 1700 Scottish witch hunts lead to over 3,000 accusations and about 1,300 executions. The hunt was spurred on by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church although the prosecutions and executions were civil.

Compendium Maleficiarum

Nov 13, 1608

1608 The most comprehensive guide to the identification, capture, questioning and execution of witches is published. The Compendium Maleficiarum featured illustrations of some of the more bizarre behaviors ascribed to witches including boiling babies and kissing the devils buttocks.

German craze

Nov 13, 1610

1610 - 1630 The German witch craze is at its height. Tens of thousands die, more than 80 percent are women.

Alse Young

Nov 13, 1647

1647 Alse Young, a widow, hanged for witchcraft in Hartford, Connecticut. Hers was the first trial and execution expressly for witchcraft in the colonies. Her daughter Alice was accused of witchcraft 30 years later, in MA.

Reward for Witches

Nov 13, 1649

1649 A witch-pricker is awarded 20 shillings for every witch he finds in the English town of Newcastle-on-Tyne. Thirty women were publicly accused, stripped, and pricked. Not surprisingly, most were found guilty.

Widow Ann Hibbens

Nov 13, 1656

1656 Widow Ann Hibbens tried and convicted of witchcraft in MA colony and hanged. Hibbens was a woman of property, having inherited from her husband. Her main crime however was challenging the religious, secular, and familial structures of the colony.

Hartford, CT

Nov 13, 1661

1661 -1663 Hartford CT, witchcraze outbreak, over a dozen accused, four were hanged three women, the fourth was the husband of one of the women, others fled

Salem, MA

Nov 13, 1692

1692 Salem, MA witchcraze outbreak, which spread to surrounding communities. Since confessing witches were not executed, a large number of the accused admitted to being witches. While the possessed young girls were the central accusers, most of those bringing the accusation of witchcraft were men. Over 200 were accused, 75 percent of them women, most of the men accused were relatives of the accused women. By the time Governor Phips halted the proceedings, 14 women had been hanged, five men hange