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The term is usually used more metaphorically to refer to a search for a perceived enemy, with the implication of the hysteria, prejudice and injustice that was often seen in the great early modern witchhunts.
For several centuries, dominantly Christian societies believed that Satan was acting through human and animal servants. These beliefs can be seen as a reaction to emerging alternatives to the Christian hierarchial order, such as the worldly knowledge and cultural practices brought into a relatively backward Europe from the Middle East by those returning from the Crusades. Also targeted were surviving rites of Europe's indigenous pagan faiths, many of which still persisted among folk in the countryside, despite centuries of official Christianity. Over the centuries, there were extensive efforts to root out the supposed influence of Satan by various measures aimed at the people that were accused of being servants of Satan. People suspected of being " possessedPossession is having some degree of control over something else. A person may be in possession of some property (although possession does not always imply ownership); a spirit may be in possession of a person. Like ownership, the possession of things is c" by Satan were put on trial.
Many of the suspects were women who lived in towns, villages or rural areas and who may have been practitioners of herbalism, natural healing or midwifery; but often it was simply poor, uneducated women who did not have influential friends. Early Modern Christian authorities in Europe (both Catholic and Protestant) regarded any such expression of non-Christian, natural spirituality with intense paranoia and hatred. This was in accord with literal readings of the Old TestamentThe Old Testament or the Hebrew Scriptures constitutes the first major part of the Christian Bible, usually divided into the categories law, history, poetry (or wisdom books) and prophecy. All of those books were written before the birth of Jesus. Canon o, which contains fierce attacks against the polytheismPolytheism is belief in, or worship of, multiple and equal gods or divinities. The word comes from the Greek words poly+theoi literally "many gods. Most ancient religions were polytheistic, holding to pantheons of traditional deities, often accumulated ov of non- HebrewThe word Hebrew can variously mean: The Hebrew language or Hebrew languages The Hebrew alphabet The Hebrew calendar Pertaining to Jews or Judaism The ancient Hebrew people An Israelite, Jew, Pashtun, Bnai Israel The term Hebrew is sometimes used by certai peoples.
This "Just so story" view of the history of European witch hunts has long dominated the popular imagination. It is also quite likely to be false. Recent research on the matter calls into question the very existence of alleged "pagan survivals" and "backlash against herbalists".
The most important form of evidence in many of the witch trials was attained by " ordealTrial by ordeal is a quasi-judicial practice by which the guilt or innocence of the accused is determined by subjecting them to a painful task. The determination of innocence coming from either completing the task uninjured or by the quick healing of the". These efforts included torture of the most horrific nature including hot pincers, the thumbscrewThe thumbscrew is an instrument of torture which was used in medieval Europe, notably by the Inquisition. It is a simple vise, sometimes with protruding studs on the interior surfaces. The torture victim's thumbs or fingers were placed in the vise and slo, the iron maidenFor information about the heavy metal band, see Iron Maiden (band An iron maiden is a medieval torture device. The following short quote from describes the 'Iron Maiden of Nuremberg', which was an example of such a device used in Germany in the 16th Centu, and many other such methods. Torture methods varied by region and the person carrying out the ordeal.
England at one point had a self-proclaimed "Witchfinder General", one Matthew Hopkins, who led searches, and who claimed to be able to identify a witch using techniques such as witches' marks. Much of the public believed the victims were really witches, but today it is not believed that most of them even regarded themselves as witches.
Research into the laws and records of the time show that the witchfinders often used peine forte et dure and other torture to extract confessions and condemnations of friends, relatives and neighbors. Virtually everyone today looks on this period of history as a very dark time.
And more research into the records of the time reveals events like this:
"At the height of the Great Hunt (1567–1640) one half of all witchcraft cases brought before church courts were dismissed for lack of evidence. No torture was used, and the accused could clear himself by providing four to eight "compurgators", people who were willing to swear that he wasn't a witch. Only 21% of the cases ended with convictions, and the Church did not impose any kind of corporal or capital punishment." [1]
However, most witch trials were held before secular courts, not church courts, and the secular courts were decidedly less scrupulous in their methods.
The measures employed against alleged witches were some of the worst ever practiced in the Western world. In A History of Torture , George Ryley Scott says:
Part of a larger culture which was very religiously and socially intolerant, the witch-hunts resulted in the loss of much traditional knowledge and folklore (or so it is alleged, without the least bit of solid evidence) among Europeans when the practitioners were "lawfully" killed.
See also: Inquisition