Causes of the Witch Hunts

Political Causes
1. A way to control the masses
2. Snowballing affect
  1. Not a direct cause but continued the craze
3. Met the demand of the populace
4. Ruler could demonstrate his power
5. Prevented pressure bubbling through the masses
6. Politically safe
  1. No one from the upper classes was implicated
7. Witchcraft became an act of heresy
8. A way of politicians discrediting their opponents
9. Confused boarders meant that there were more 'outsiders' who were the typical victims in the witch trials
10. Princ-Bishops could consolidate their power
11. Fragmentation of political authority-panic got out of hand
12. Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn
  1. Saw women as weak
  2. Believed that female lust would undermine social&religious order
13. The officials' fear of heresy
14. No powerful members of society opposed the witch hunts
15. Politicians sought to exercise an increasing moral authority
  1. Witchcraft legislation was often accompanied with measures to regulate morality
Social Causes
1. Revenge
  1. Beggars denied charity would accuse neighbours of witchcraft
  2. The Church was not longer providing for the poor
  3. Suspicion led to neighbours denouncing each other
    1. Suspicion about 'mysterious' event
2. Malleus Maleficarum
  1. Judges more aware of the presence of evil
  2. Caused people to acknowledge witchcraft
  3. Allowed judges to prosecute without proof
3. Poor records of practising Christianity
4. Pressure from the populace
5. Trials usually emerged out of complex disputes within local communities
6. Lack of scapegoats; in Spain the Jews were the scapegoats therefore the witch hunts were more controlled
Economic Causes
1. Peaks in witch trials coincided with period of famine, and natural 'disasters' or war
2. Need for scapegoats
Religious Causes
1. Religious reform attracted more women BUT they were more suspicious of women
2. Role of women was more defined in the Protestant church therefore people who diverged from this role were automatically suspicious
3. Mass unrest and suspicion between Catholics and Protestants
4. Religious divide
5. Anti-Semitic movement in the 17th century led to Jews and witches being grouped together
6. Malleus Maleficarum transformed witchcraft from a diabolical conspiracy to overthrow the established church
7. Linked to the Christian obsession with the devil
8. Catholic belief in the miracle of Mass made it easier for people to belief in witchcraft
9. Protestants believed the Pope was the Antichrist
10. Catholics viewed Lutherans and Calvinists as agents of the devil
11. The regions that were hardest hit were the areas with the most disputes between Protestants and Catholics

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Causes of the Witch Hunts

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