Transcript III. The Spread of Protestant Ideas

John P. McKay • Clare Haru Crowston •
Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks • Joe Perry
A History of Western Society
Eleventh Edition
CHAPTER 13
Reformations and Religious Wars
1500–1600
Copyright © 2014 by Bedford/St. Martin’s
Learning Objectives
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Identify the central ideas of the reformers, & explain why they appealed
to different social groups.
Analyze how the political situation in Germany shaped the course of the
Reformation.
Explain how Protestant ideas & institutions spread beyond Germanspeaking lands
Discuss the reforms the Catholic Church made & its response to
Protestant reform movements.
Analyze the causes & consequences of religious violence, including
riots, wars, & witch hunts.
I. The Early Reformation
A. The Christian Church in the Early Sixteenth
Century(pgs. 390-404)
– What were the central ideas of the reformers, & why were they appealing to different
social groups?
The Christian Church in the Early Sixteenth Century
• Europeans are deeply pious, & people of all social groups devoted an enormous
amount of their time & income to religious causes & foundations.
• Many are highly critical of the RCC & its clergy
-Prestige of RCC has been damaged by the papal conflict with the German
emperor Frederick II, the Babylonian Captivity, The Great Schism, & the 15th C
popes’ concentration on artistic patronage & building up of family power.
-Papal tax collection methods are attacked
-Some criticize the papacy itself & the wealth & powerful courts of the entire
church hierarchy
-Some argue that certain church doctrines are incorrect and are asking for
reform
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Few reform efforts have success – Bohemia’s reform leads to the
formation of a church independent of Rome.
Anticlericalism concentrated on clerical immorality, clerical ignorance, &
clerical pluralism with the related problem of absenteeism.
Stories of drunkard, barely literate, greedy priests, lecherous monks, &
lustful nuns spread.
Clerics held several benefices simultaneously but seldom visited the
benefices or performed spiritual responsibilities.
- collected revenues from the benefices & hired poor priests to
fulfill duties
- not only held officials in different cities but in different nations
also
Priests, monks, & nuns are exempt from defending the city & paying
taxes
City governments want to integrate clergy into civic life by reducing
their privileges & giving them public responsibilities
Urban leaders want a say in appointing high church officials, instead of
being told what to do by the pope in Rome
I. The Early Reformation
B. Martin Luther (1483-1546)
– German university professor & priest
– Joined the Augustinian friars & became an ordained priest in 1507
– Later served as a professor of Scripture at the University of Wittenberg from
1512 – 1546
– Study of St. Paul’s letters led him to believe that salvation & justification come
through faith alone & that God’s word is revealed in Scripture not in traditions of
the Church
– Pope Leo X authorized the sale of a special Saint Peter’s indulgence to finance
his building plans in Rome
– Archbishop over Wittenberg, Albert of Mainz, promoted the pope’s indulgence
sale in exchange for a share of profits
– Indulgence – piece of parchment signed by the pope or another church official
that substituted a virtuous act from the “treasury of merits” for penance or time in
purgatory
– Albert promised the indulgences granted full forgiveness for ones sins or could
release from purgatory for a loved one
– 95 Thesis – letter written by Luther to Archbishop Albert saying that
indulgences are wrong & competes with the Gospel; states other
criticisms of the church also
– Thesis is quickly printed and spreads and Luther is called to Rome
– Luther engages in debate with Johann Eck (rep of the church) in
Leipzig & refuses to recant his thesis and reform of church
– Luther publishes more pamphlets challenge church tradition &
power
– Papacy condemns Luther’s ideas & orders his books be burned &
that he must recant or be excommunicated
– Luther’s ideas are interwoven with public controversies about
church’s wealth, power & structure
– Emperor Charles V holds the Diet of Worms, summoning Luther to
appear & recant
– Luther refuses to recant again & his ideas grow stronger spreading
throughout Europe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuDUSB-uI4g
I. The Early Reformation
C. Protestant Thought
1. Ulrich Zwingli
– Swiss Humanist pries is convinced that Christian life rested on the scriptures
which were the pure words of God & the sole basis of religious truth
– Attacked indulgences, clerical celibacy, Mass & monasticism
– Had support of city authorities who also resented the privileges of the clergy
2. Protestants
– Followers of Luther & Zwingli & others who called fro a break with Rome
– Name derived from a group of reforming German princes who protested the
decisions of the Catholic majority at the Diet of Speyer in 1529
– Applies to all non-Catholic western European Christians
3. Protestant Ideas
– Salvation comes by faith alone
– Authority rested in the Bible alone; rejected Catholic teachings about the
sacraments, holding that only baptism & the Eucharist have scriptural support
– No hierarchy in the church; every person should serve God in his or her
individual calling
4. Protestant Disagreements
– Colloquy of Marburg, summoned in 1529 to unite Protestants,
reached agreement on almost every issue except an important one
concerning the Eucharist, or communion
– Luther believed Christ is really present in the consecrated bread &
wine as a result of God’s mystery
– Zwingli understood Christ to be present in spirit among the faithful
but not actually in the bread & wine.
I. The Early Reformation
D. The Appeal of Protestant Ideas
1. The Power of Luther’s Ideas
– By mid 16th c, people of all social classes had rejected Catholic teachings &
became protestant
– Many are attracted to the idea of a simpler personal religion based on faith, a
return to the spirit of the early church, the centrality of the scriptures in the liturgy
& in Christian life, & the abolition of elaborate ceremonies.
– Townspeople attracted to the notion that the clergy should also pay taxes & not
have legal privileges
2. The Printing Press
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Rapidly reproduced & made known the ideas of Luther
Printed in the vernacular
Helped to increase literacy & vernacular
Luther translated the Bible into German
3. Political Authority
– Zwingli & Luther know they need to get acceptance of political authorities
in order for reforms to be permanent
– Zwingli worked closely with Zurich city council to help appoint Protestant
pastors, requiring them to take an oath of loyalty, & overseeing their
preaching & teaching.
– Luther demanded that German rulers reform the papacy & its institutions,
instructing all Christians to obey their secular rulers
– Territories became Protestant when its ruler, noble or city council, brought
in a reformer or two to reeducate clergy, sponsored public sermons, &
confiscate church property
I. The Early Reformation
E. The Radical Reformation and the German Peasants’
War –How did the political situation in Germany shape the course of the
Reformation?
1. Radical Reformers
• Some sought to create a voluntary community of believers separate from the
state, as they understood it to exist in New Testament times.
2. Impact of Radical Reformers
• Anabaptists (rebaptizers) adopted the baptism of adult believers
– One group took over city of Munster, predicting it would be the New
Jerusalem that would survive God’s final judgement
– Called for ownership of property & expelled those who refused
rebaptism
– Combined armies of Catholics & Protestants to take the city & execute
its leaders
– Radicals unwillingness to accept a state church marked them as social
outcasts, & Anabaptists & other radicals were banished or cruelly
executed
• Radical ideas survived influencing the Quakers, Baptists, Congregationalists,
& authors of the U.S. Constitution
3. Peasant Rebellion
• 1523 & 1524: Crop failures, new rents, & services aggravated the
deteriorating economic condition of German peasants causing peasants to
demand reform according to the Scriptures
• Luther first sided with peasants but found that his idea of freedom from
Roman Catholic authority didn’t support peasants’ opposition to legally
established secular powers
• Luther is convinced that rebellion would quicken the end of civilized society
so he wrote the tract: Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of the
Peasants.
• German Peasants’ War of 1525
– 75,000 peasants killed & the authority of lay rulers is strengthened.
• After 1525, Reformation loses its popular appeal but some peasants & urban
rebels found a place in radical groups.
I. The Early Reformation
F. Marriage, Sexuality, and the Role of Women
1. Attack on Clerical Celibacy
• Luther & Zwingli believed that a priest’s or nun’s vows of celibacy went
against human nature & God’s commandments & that marriage was the ideal
state for humans
• Luther & Zwingli are both married
• The wives of other Protestant reformers created a new & respectable role for
themselves
– Pastor’s wife, a model of wifely obedience & Christian charity
2. Position of Women
• Be obedient to husbands & support them in a Godly manner
• Be subject to men, cheerful, supportive, sharing
3. Marriage
• Protestant Reformers denied that marriage was a sacrament, but stressed
it’s ordained by God, served as a “remedy” for the sin of lust
• Proper marriage reflected both the spiritual equality of men & women & the
social hierarchy of husbandly authority & wifely obedience
• Marriage is a contract that if broken then a divorce is possible as a last resort
4. Condemnation of Prostitution
• Closed brothels & set harsh punishments for prostitution
• Selling sex is considered on type of “whoredom”
– Could also include premarital sex, adultery, & other unacceptable sexual activities
5. Nuns and Convents
• Reformation closed many monasteries & convents, eliminating many literary,
artistic, medical, or administrative avenues for women who couldn’t or
wouldn’t marry
– Marriage is the only occupation for upper-class Protestant women
– Made unmarried men & women suspect
• Few women wrote religious works, & female rulers set religious policies
• 16th c Protestants didn’t allow women to be members of the clergy
II. The Reformation and German Politics
A. The Rise of the Habsburg Dynasty (pgs 404-414)
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Reform movements suppressed easily by strong central
governments in Spain & France
HRE Reformation spread as local rulers assumed religious
authority
1. Strategic Marriages
• Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick III acquired a small amount of territory & a
great deal of money with his marriage to Princess Elenore of Portugal (1452)
• 1477 – Frederick’s son, Maximillian’s children & the children of Ferdinand &
Isabella meant that their Grandson Charles V inherited a vast & incredibly
diverse collection of states & peoples
2. Charles V
• Hapsburg Prince becomes ruler of HRE
• CatholickKing who felt it was his duty maintain political & religious unity of
Western Christendom
II. The Reformation and German Politics
B. Religious Wars in Switzerland and Germany
1. Assumptions about Religion
• Rulers determined the religion in their jurisdictions
• Few believed in religious liberty as it posed a threat to the political security of
the state
2. Luther’s Appeal to German Leaders
• Influenced German leaders to reject Roman Catholicism & adopt
Protestantism
– Leads to legal confiscation of lush farmlands, rich monasteries, wealthy
shrines
3. Religious Wars
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Charles V – defender of Catholicism
Catholics vs. Protestants
After Zwingli’s death bot sides agree to a treaty allowing each canton to
choose its own religion
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Ordered each side to give up its foreign alliances
Charles calls an Imperial Diet (Augsburg Confession -1530) – Protestant
princes present the Lutheran statement of faith to emperor
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Charles refuses to accept & orders all Protestants to return to CC
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Protestant territories form military alliance
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Emperor can’t respond at first b/c he’s engaged in the Habsburg-Valois
wars
Peace of Augsburg – officially recognizes Lutheranism, but permitted the
political authority in each territory to decide if it would be Catholic or Lutheran
& would be left in peace
Northern & central Germany became Lutheran, while the south is RC
No freedom of religion in territories & dissidents had to convert or leave
Religious refugees become common
Charles V abdicates in 1556 & moves to a monastery.
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Gives his holdings in Spain & Netherlands to his son Philip & his imperial
power to his brother Ferdinand.
III. The Spread of Protestant Ideas -How did
Protestant ideas & institutions spread beyond German-speaking lands?
A.
Scandinavia
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1st area outside the empire to accept the Reformation was the kingdom of
Denmark-Norway under King Christian III
1. Denmark-Norway
• Danish scholars study at University of Wittenberg & Lutheran ideas spread
into Denmark quickly
• 1530s – King officially breaks with the CC & most clergy follow
2. Northern Norway and Iceland
• Ruled by Christian
• Reactions are more violent & Lutheranism was gradually imposed on largely
unwilling populace
3. Sweden
• Gustavas Vasa comes to the throne during a civil war with Denmark
• Gustavus takes control of church personnel & income
• Protestant ideas spread but Swedish church doesn’t’ officially accept
III. The Spread of Protestant Ideas
B. Henry VIII and the Reformation in England
1. Henry’s Wives
• King Henry breaks with the church due to his desire for a male heir
– Married to Catherine of Aragon but he only has a daughter (Mary) as a living heir
– Henry asks church to annul the marriage so he could marry Anne Boleyn
– Pope Clement VII (under pressure by Charles V) is nephew of Catherine of Aragon and is
opposed to annulment
– Henry uses Parliament to remove English Church from papal jurisdiction & declares himself
supreme head of the church of England
– Many oppose Henry
– Anne Boleyn fails to give Henry a son & he charges her with adulterous incest , having her
beheaded
– Henry’s 3rd wife, Jane Seymore, gave him a son (Edward), but she died in childbirth
– Henry dissolves the English monasteries so he can have their wealth, but he allows some
traditions to continue
– Confiscation & sale of monastic lands enriched royal treasury & strengthened the upper
classes, tying them to the Tudor dynasty & Protestant Church
– Tho
2. Government Administration
• Thomas Cromwell (Henry’s chief minister) reformed & centralized the king’s
household, the council, the secretariats, & the Exchequer & set up new
departments
• Creates a centralized bureaucratic state
• 1536 popular opposition in the north leads to the Pilgrimage of Grace –
massive rebellion in English history.
3. Popular Support
• People rarely converted to Protestantism overnight
• Most reacted to an action of the Crown in their neighborhood with a
combination of resistance, acceptance, & collaboration
4. Ireland
• Strong loyalty to CC
• Religious antagonism
– Irish parliament severed ties with Rome establishing the church of Ireland
• English harshly repressed Irish armed opposition to the Reformation
• Confiscated & sold Catholic property & shipped profits to England
III. The Spread of Protestant Ideas
C. Upholding Protestantism in England
1. Edward VI (r. 1547–1553)
• During reign, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer simplified the liturgy, invited
Protestant theologians to England & prepared 1st book of Common Prayer
2. Mary Tudor (r. 1553–1558)
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Daughter of Catherine of Aragon
Rescinded the Reformation legislation of her father’s reign
Restored Roman Catholicism
Executed several hundred Protestants
3. Elizabeth I (r. 1558–1603)
• Henry’s daughter with Anne Boleyn
• Raised Protestant
• Brings beginnings of religious stability
– Chose course between the extremes of Catholics who wanted a Roman Catholic ruler & the
Puritans who wanted all Catholic elements of the Church of England eliminated
• Worked through Parliament to have officials swear that she was supreme in
religious & political matters
• Required her subjects to attend services in the Church of England but didn’t
interfere with their privately held beliefs
• Anglican Church (Church of England) was moderately Protestant
– Conducted services in English & allowing clergy to marry
– Hierarchical structure remained & elaborate services continued
4. Threats to English Protestantism
• Mary, Queen of Scots (Elizabeth’s I Cousin) is next in line to the throne & is
implicated in a plot to assassinate Elizabeth
– Conspiracy had full backing of Spain’s Philip II
• Mary is executed by English& Catholic Pope urged Philip to retaliate
– Philip sends vast fleet across the English Channel to attack England
5. The Spanish Armada
• May 9, 1588 – Spanish Armada met an English fleet of ships that were
smaller, faster, & more maneuverable & carried greater firing power
• Storms & squalls, spoiled food & rank water, inadequate Spanish
ammunition, & English fire ships give England the victory enhancing national
sentiment.
• Defeat prevents Philip II from reimposing Catholicism on England by force
but war between them continues for years.
III. The Spread of Protestant Ideas
D. Calvinism
1. John Calvin (1509–1564)
• Experienced a ‘religious crisis” in 1533 & converted to Protestantism
• Believed God had choosen him to reform the church
• Established a Christian society in Geneva where church & state acted
together
2. Calvin’s Theology
• Embodied in The Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536)
– Belief in the absolute sovereignty & omnipotence of God & the total weakness of humanity
• Humans don’t have free will (predestination) – God has decided who
will/won’t be saved
– Hard work, thriftiness, & proper moral conduct could serve as signs that one was among the
“elect”
• Consistory (most powerful organization) – body of laymen & pastors charged
with investigating & disciplining deviations from proper doctrine & conduct
– Handled serious crimes & heresy – sometimes used torture to extract confessions
– 1542 – 1546: 76 people banished from Geneva, 58 are executed for heresy, adultery,
blasphemy, & witchcraft
• Geneva is model of a Christian community attracting religious refugees
3. Impact
• Calvin’s church served as model for the Presbyterian Church in Scotland, the
Huguenot Church in France, & the Puritan Churches in England & New
England
4. John Knox (1505?–1572) – studied & worked with Calvin
• Dominated reform movement in Scotland & is determined to set up a state
church structured after Geneva
• Persuaded Scottish parliament to end papal authority & rule by bishops and
instead establish governance by presbyters, or councils of ministers
• Presbyterian Church of Scotland is strictly Calvinist in doctrine, adopted a
simple & dignified service, & emphasized preaching
III. The Spread of Protestant Ideas
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How did Protestant ideas & institutions spread beyond German-speaking lands?
E. The Reformation in Eastern Europe
– affected by many Ethnic factors.
1. Bohemia
• Most Czechs had adopted the ideas of Jan Hus & the German emperor had
befen forced to recognize a separate Hussite Church
• Nobility embraced Lutheranism in opposition to the Catholic Habsburgs
2. Poland-Lithuania
• Luther’s ideas opposed by King Sigismund I as well as ordinary Poles, who
held strong anti-German feeling
• Reformed tradition of John Calvin, which stressed the power of the church
elders, appealed to the polish nobility
• Doctrinal differences among Calvinists, Lutherans, & other groups prevented
united opposition to Catholicism
– 1650 – due to the efforts of the Jesuits, Poland is again staunchly Roman Catholic.
3. Hungary
• Lutheranism was spread by Hungarian students who had studied at
Wittenberg, & sympathy for it developed at the court of King Louis II
– Held status as “the German heresy” & was an issue until Ottoman sultan
Suleiman crushed the Hungarians in 1526 & divided the Hungarian
kingdom into 3 parts
• Many Magyar (Hungarian) nobles accepted Lutheranism despite the Turkish
indifference to the religious conflicts of Christians, whom they regarded as
infidels & required to pay an extra tax to the sultan
• Lutheran schools & parishes multiply & peasants welcome the faith
• Majority of Hungarians were Protestant until late 17th C.
• Hungarian nobles recognized Habsburg (Catholic) rule & Ottoman Turkish
withdrawal in 1699 led to Catholic Restoration
IV. The Catholic Reformation (414-422)
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What reforms did the Catholic Church make & how did it respond to Protestant reform
movements?
A. Papal Reform and the Council of Trent
1. Catholic Reform Under Pope Paul III (pontificate
1534–1549)
• Became center of Catholic reform movement
– Supported education for clergy, end of simony, & stricter control of
clerical life
2. The Holy Office (1542)
• Established by Pope Paul III
• Had jurisdiction over Roman Inquisition – group of 6 cardinals with power to
arrest, imprison, & execute suspected heretics
• Published the Index of Prohibited Books – catalogue of forbidden reading
that included works by Christian humanists & Protestants
• Inquisition destroyed heresy in Papal States
3. Council of Trent (1545–1563) – Goal is to reform CC & secure reconciliation
with the Protestants
• Reconciliation was impossible b/c of the insistence of Lutheran & Protestant
representatives that the Scriptures be sole basis for discussion
– Political objectives of Charles V & France worked against reconciliation
• Decrees
– Reaffirm the 7 sacraments & teachings on transubstantiation
– Equal validity to the Scriptures & to tradition as sources of religious truth
& authority
– Tackled disciplinary matters like pluralism, simony, & indulgences
– Every diocese to est. a seminary to educate & train clergy emphasizing
preaching & instructing the laity, especially the uneducated
– Marriage vows had to be made publicly before a priest & witness in
order for marriage to be valid
• Doctrinal & disciplinary legislation of Trent served as basis for Roman
Catholic faith, organization, & practice through mid 20th C
IV. The Catholic Reformation
B. New and Reformed Religious Orders
• Focused on education, & the monasteries & converts of many existing
religious orders were reformed so that they followed more rigorous standards
• Treaty of Teresa of Avila (1515- 1582; Spain) – inspired by mystical visions,
founded new convents & reformed her Carmelite order to revive stricter
standards of asceticism & poverty
1. Ursuline Order of Nuns
• Founded by Angela Merici (1474 – 1540) – concentrated exclusively on
teaching young girls with the goal of re-Christianizing society by training
future wives & mothers.
2. The Jesuits
• Founded by Ignatius Loyola (1491 – 1556)
• Strengthened Catholicism in Europe & spread the faith around the world
• Loyola wrote Spiritual Exercises (1548) – training program of structured
meditation designed to allow one to meld one’s will with God’s.
• Loyola gathered 6 companions & in 1540 secured papal approval of the new
Society of Jesus, whose goal was to “help souls,” (spread RC faith)
• Society of Jesus
– Vowed special obedience to the pope
– Took Christianity to India, & Japan before 1550 & to Brazil, North
America, & the Congo in 17th C
• Brought southern Germany & much of E. Europe back to Catholicism
• Adopted humanist curricula & methods, educating the sons of nobility & poor,
while exerting great political influence in their role as confessors & spiritual
directors to kings.
V. Religious Violence
A.
French Religious Wars
• 1559 – France & Spain sign Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis – ended HapsburgValois Wars
• True peace was elusive
• Religious differences lead to riots, civil wars, & international conflicts
1. The Concordat of Bologna (1516)
• King Francis I secured for the French crown the right to appoint all French bishops &
abbots, ensuring a rich supplement of money & offices
• French rulers now have no need to revolt against Rome
2. Huguenots (French Calvinists)
• Make up 1/10 of the French pop after death of Henry II (1547-1559)
• French nobility took advantage of monarchial weakness of Henry’s sons &
adopted Protestantism as a religious cloak for their independence
• Religious clashes began between Catholic royalist lords & Calvinist
antimonarchical lords – led often by preachers or triggered by religious
ceremonies.
• Calvinist teachings called the power of sacred images into question causing
iconoclasm by smashing statues, stained – glass windows, & paintings in
order to purify the church
3. The Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre
• Marriage ceremony of the king’s sister Margaret of Valois to the Protestant
Henry of Navarre is intended to help reconcile Catholics & Huguenots
• Aug 24, 1572 – Huguenot wedding guests & other Protestants are killed
• Religious violence spread to the provinces leading to a civil war lasting 15 yrs.
– Destroyed Ag
– Commercial life declined severely
– Starvation & death haunted the land
4. Politiques
• Small group of moderates of both faiths, believed that only the restoration of
strong monarchy could reverse the trend toward collapse & favored
accepting Huguenots as an officially recognized group
• Henry of Navarre (Henry IV) converts to Catholicism
5. Edict of Nantes
– Henry IV Issues Edict of Nantes – grants liberty of conscience & public worship to Huguenots
– Prepared the war for French absolutism by helping to restore internal peace in France
V. Religious Violence
B. The Netherlands Under Charles V
1. Background
• began as a movement for the reformation of the church & turned into a
struggle for Dutch independence
• Present day countries of Belgium & the Netherlands unite politically in
recognition of the emperor
– Each province is self governing & enjoyed the right to make it own laws & collect taxes
• Low Countries – corruption of the Roman Church & the critical spirit of the
Renaissance provoked pressure for reform, & Protestant ideas spread
2. The Spread of Calvinism
• Calvinism’s intellectual seriousness, moral gravity, & emphasis on any form
of labor well done appealed to urban merchants, financiers, & artisians
• Calvinism also encouraged opposition to political authorities that were judged
to be ungodly
• Spanish authorities attempted to suppress Calvinist worship & raised taxescaused rioting & destruction of 30 Catholic Churches in Antwerp
• Council of Blood – executed 1500 men in 1568
– Philip II sends 20,000 Spanish troops under the duke of Alva to create support this tribunal
3. Civil War (1568–1578)
• 1568-1578 – Civil War in Netherlands : Catholics vs. Protestants & between
17 provinces of Spain
• 10 Southern provinces, Spanish Netherlands (Belgium) came under control
of Spanish Habsburg forces
4. Union of Utrecht – 7 northern provinces led by Holland (1581)
• Declare their independence from Spain
• North is Protestant & south remained Catholic
• Hostilities end when Spain agreed to a truce recognizing the independence
of the United Provinces
V. Religious Violence
C. The Great European-Witch Hunt
1. Reasons for the Witch-Hunts
• Religious reformers’ extreme notions of the Devil’s powers & the insecurity
created by the religious wars contributed to the hunts
• Protestants & Catholics tried & executed witches – church & secular
authorities act together
• Witches were seen as those being used by the Devil to do what he wanted.
• Believed witches were organized in an international conspiracy to overthrow
Christianity
2. Gender and Witchcraft Trials
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Began in Switzerland & Germany in late 15th C
Witchcraft is spiritualized & they became ultimate heretics & enemies of God
16th – 17th C: 100,000 to 200,000 tried for witchcraft
40,000-60,000 executed
75% - 85% were women
Ideals about women that shaped witchhunts:
– Misogyny & beliefs that women were weak & possessed a powerful
sexual drive led many to believe that women would more likely give in to
the Devil
– Women associated with nature, disorder, & the body, all of which were
linked with the demonic
3. Legal Procedure
• Change from an accusatorial legal procedure to an inquisitorial procedure in which
legal authorities rather than individuals actually brought the charges made people
more willing to accuse others.
• Inquisitional procedure involved intense questioning of the suspect, often with torture
– Didn’t always lead to witch hunts
– Spain, Portugal, & Italy, inquisitors viewed those accused of witchcraft as
superstitious & ignorant peasants in need of education & usually gave them a
warning & a penance
• Usually began in a village/town when someone is accused of using magic to spoil food,
make children ill, kill animals, or do other kinds of harm
• Accussers, witnesses, & the accussed are usually women
– A woman who confronted other women who deviated from social norms secured
her good standing.
• Once a charge is made, the suspect is brought in for questioning & confession
generally followed by execution
• Records can’t officially prove if the accused actually practiced witchcraft or whether
they believed they were witches
• Larger witch hunts (witch panics) occurred after some type of climatic disaster & are
most common in HRE, Switzerland, & parts of France
– Small political units jealous of each other & divided by religion were governed by
rulers who saw the persecution of witches as a way to demonstrate piety &
concern for order
• New ideas about science & reason brought doubt about if witches could
make pacts with the devil
• Doubts spread about whether secret denunciations were valid or torture
would every yield truthful confessions
• Thus… prosecutions for witchcraft became less common and were gradually
outlawed.