History of Witchcraft in Europe

Witchcraft is generally -- if circularly -- defined as the exercise of supernatural powers by people who call themselves witches. This paper examines something of the history of witchcraft in Europe, looking particularly at how ideas about witchcraft were connected at different times with ideas about Christian orthodoxy and particularly about gender.

Before beginning a discussion of European witchcraft, it should be noted that witchcraft is most certainly not simply a European phenomenon but is worldwide in scope, being as common in Africa and Polynesia as it is in France. Modern scholars (particularly anthropologists and folklorists, the two groups of scholars most likely to study witchcraft) distinguish between simple sorcery, the alleged cults of diabolical witches of the Middle Ages, and the modern neo-pagan movement.

The concept of witchcraft in Europe in the Middle Ages depended on certain presuppositions. These included the beliefs that the devil and his subordinates, such as demons, imps, incubi, and succubae, were real and had power in the world; that people could have physical relations with them; and that contracts between people and demons could be enforced.

In slightly simpler terms, within the philosophical system of the diabolical witchcraft of the Middle Ages, witches were thought to be servants of the devil. In return for serving the devil according to contract, witches allegedly received certain powers, notably the ability to cause or cure illness or t

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rought to bear against witchcraft in the papal bull Summis Desiderantes, promulgated by Pope Innocent VIII in 1484. To implement this bull, he appointed regional inquisitors, an act that began 600 years of witchhunts. The witch-hunting mania obsessed Europe from about 1050 to the end of the 17th century; it subsided occasionally but then attained greater fury. Children were encouraged to inform against parents, husbands against wives, relatives and neighbors against one another. Witnesses were paid to testify. Inhuman tortures were inflicted to force confessions. The inquisitors did not hesitate to betray promises of pardon to those acknowledging guilt. A class of professional witch finders arose who collected charges and then tested the accused for evidences of witchcraft. They were paid a fee for each conviction. The most common test was pricking. All witches were supposed to have somewhere on their bodies a mark, made by the devil, that was insensitive to pain. If such a spot was found, it was regarded as proof of witchcraft. Among other proofs were additional breasts, supposedly used to suckle familiars, inability to weep, and failure in the water test. In this last-named test, if a woman sank when thrown into a bod

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