The Accused
Literature
Malleus Maleficarum (1486)
'slippery tongues' and feeble minds
Women are more impressionable & gullible
The Bible
Adam & Eve shows women to be weaker
Prone to infidelity & carnality
Depictions
Witch riding backwards on a goat
Hans Baldung Grien depicted witches as the embodiment of female sexual power
may have influenced the elite
A Discourse of the Damned Art of Witchcraft, William Perkins (1610)
Women are the weaker sex
Age
most of the accused were over 50
Marital status
There was a higher % of unmarried women accused
Gender
In most places, over 75% of the accused were female
There were more unmarried women
Nunneries were in decline by 1600
As a result of warfare & plagues
Social & Economic Status
Most accused displayed anti-social or immoral behavior
Healers (wise/cunning folk)
Male witches
Estonia 60%
Finland 50%
Iceland 90%