Chapter 14.5 The Witchcraft Craze I. II.

Prevalent in England, Scotland, Switzerland, Germany, France, and the Low Countries Victims A. Women: old, widowed, lower classes Cause A. Scapegoats to explain for the disaster of the Black Death B. Religious uncertainties - Took place in areas where the Protestants had recently been victorious C. Social conditions - Each person should look out for themselves Result A. Tortured and burned at stake or hung - Confessed extracted by torture: swearing allegiance to the devil; attending sabbats or nocturnal gatherings; using evil incantations, ointments, and powders; killing livestock, injuring children, or raising storms to destroy crops B. Pope Innocent VIII sent two Dominican friars: Jacob Sprenger and Heinrich Krmer to Germany to investigate and root out witches - 1486 they wrote Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of the Witches): one of the standard books on witchcraft; women were inferior to men mentally and morally so they were vulnerable against Satan

III.

Prevalent: Plausible: Divisive: Pernicious: Injunction: