Witch hunts in Europe reached a peak in the late fifteen to early sixteen hundreds, because of this an Inquisitors job became quite profitable, since they were paid for each conviction. Many people (mostly woman) were being falsely accused of Witchcraft. Any person the church felt threatened by was a possible target. This included out spoken women, the elderly and midwives, who were considered threatening the patriarchal medical society. The accused were often tortured into confession, forcing them to reveal the names of the others in their coven whether they belonged to one or not. They were then either imprisoned, banished or executed.
The hunting of witches was happening across Europe. In the early sixteen hundreds even Germany hopped on board. Under the guidance of Bishop Johann Gottfried von Aschhausen, more than three hundred witches faced death between the years 1609 and 1622. The Bishop earned himself the nick name "The Witch Bishop" because of his nature and beliefs. After his rule Bishop Johann George II took over. He too encouraged Witch Hunts, he even built prisons to keep them in. These type of trials continued in Germany for many years until the Swedish Army Invasion, it was at that time those kind of trials were terminated.
After all the suffering they had endured by the late seventeenth century most of the surviving members of the craft had gone deep underground. This gave the perfect opportunity for the Christian religion to take the upper hand. With the people of the Old Religion in hiding, they were unable to defend themselves from any slander. So the church took this time to publish a lot of incorrect information, on it's own jaded version of Witchcraft.
In 1603 James the sixth of Scotland became James the first of Scotland and England. When James went to England he brought with him his own views on "Demonology". In 1604 James the First convinced parliament to pass a new act changing the emphasis from "Malleficarnum" as it had been for sometime, to "a pact with the Devil" he did this to heighten the acts against witches. Even though by the end of his reign, his personal views and attitudes had changed, the act he had passed remained until the year 1736. This act was then replaced by one passed by George the second which stated, "there is no such thing as Witchcraft and for a person to pretend they have occult powers, was to commit fraud".
The Witchcraft craze was starting to subside across Europe. The last execution was in 1685. However what happened in Europe made it's way overseas to New England and the people of the craft were once again put to the test. In fact most of the witches involved in the Salem Witch Trials were tried under the King James the First Statue.
Witch Hunts in New England
The hysteria that plagued Europe was now doing it's damage in New England. December 14, 1692 the Massachusetts General Council enacted the 1604 bill, to give more particular direction in the execution of the laws of Witchcraft and remained Massachusetts law until 1695. This strict religious society, along with the strict upbringing of their children, and their adherence to the bible created a very strong belief in the Devil and the churches definition of Witchcraft made for an easy scape goat.
One of the most famous American Witch trials, was one that occurred in Salem, Massachusetts 1692. A small group of girls, one of which was the daughter of Rev. Samuel Parris. They became fascinated with the occult. The girls were said to be having meetings with a West Indian slave name Tituba. During their visits with Tituba the girls received divinations such as, who their future husbands would be. Due to the strict religious upbringings they had, it wasn't long before guilt and anxiety set in. Some of the girls involved began "taking fits" as they called them. Acting strangely, lashing out and speaking words that made no sense. There was no medical evidence to explain what may have been causing the girls episodes. During this time in history, if something could not be explained or understood, then suddenly the answer became quite simple it must be Witchcraft.
There are several theories on what actually happened to those girls. Some people say they made it up to avoid punishment, others believe the girls ingested a mold known as ergot, which is said to produce fits and other symptoms similar to the girls. Unfortunately it is all just speculation and what did happen we will never know, but regardless of the cause after this incident intense questioning and accusations began to spread. First with the more vulnerable members of society such as; the poor. Eventually it started to spread to the more prosperous members as well and then no one was safe from being accused.
