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Large scale trials and persecutions characterised the response of the…
Large scale trials and persecutions characterised the response of the authorities to witchcraft in the 16th and 17th centuries
Largescale trials
YES:
- South Germany – due to the decentralised government there was free rain for the Prince-Bishoprics (who were the authorities in the smaller ecclesiastical territories) to enact their wills, eg. 25k people were prosecuted and half of those were executed, setting the example for those who ran territories like Bamberg that whatever they decided would be the inacte will
- East Anglia – during the period of the civil war 1642-1651 the persecutions enacted by figures such as Hopkins and Stearne set off chain reactions which allowed for the continued exponential growth of the problem until 1647 when the two men's activities halted // can Hopkins and Stearne be considered authorities, as they were supposedly enacting the will of the parliament who had sent a letter to the two men
NO:
- South Germnay – witht he lack fo centralisation come the issue of proper trials, especially in these smaller areas the amount of trial whcih took place, especially trials, whcih were following the legal guidelines, were few and far between. Due to this, the isolation of cases whcih actually included trial and not just a mania whcih would be balnketed by the idea of following the law is more likely
- ""trials"" that took place in smaller local courts, or village commitees, were more likely to result in prosecutions, as countries like France and England had stable legal systems that required the law to be followed, so large scale persecution was actually characterised by the lacking of trials, eg. the Duke of Warwick was called to preside over a trial yet was not a man of the law and likely had no real legal knowledge
-
Confesssions:
- one those who were accused knew that it was hopeless then they would be mroe liekly to confess, so in terms of the authorities those who did not ban torture were able to use the fear of it to get mroe confessions
- Confessions were a sure-fire was to get hgiher persecutons numbers, and those just seeking religious retribution would allow for confession under torture to withstand in court (Bamberg)
How important was the use of torture in the development of witch-hunts in the 16th and 17th centuries
Torture
- 16th century : Torture allows for convictions to reach 95%
- 17th : the papacy puts a limit on torture and requires more evidence (1623)
- Europe : highly influencial, though rules came in to restrict who could be torutred and how that torture would lead to a confession, it was still widely used and the lack of awareness at tortures unreliabiloty was overshadowed by it's seemingly perfect trackrecord of catching witches
NO:
- England : Torutre was not used on the isles, at least not legally, as it was seen to be an impure way to get confessions // Hopkins did use torture and spoke of it in his book, eg. the Floating of a prominent parishman John Lowes
The definition of Torture must be called into question as sleep deprivation at the time of Matthew Hopkins was not considered to be a form of torture, yet now we know it to obviously be one – so the the British public of the time the use of sleeplessness was not seen as using torture to obtain confessions
- religious growth and tension throughout the periods was more important : post-the reformation (1517) and the counter-reformation (1545-1563)
How similar were the responses of different European states to witchcraft in the 16th and 17th centuries
- England – though there were times of hysteria and mass witchhunts (East Anglia, 1645-47), the difference in the legal system results in a clear difference in the response of the country – the inquisitorial system
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Catholic and protestant writers // torture // dununciations and confessions // burning at the stake // torture not always used // legal systems // centralisation