Swiss American Historical Society Review
Keywords
witch-hunts, witch-panics, witch-hysteria, witch-craze
Abstract
Among the most remarkable and puzzling social, religious and legal movements of the late Middle Ages and Early Modern periods of European history were the witch-hunts. Historians have often disagreed on the exact time frame of the witch-craze, but these actions largely spanned three centuries roughly from 1450 to 1750, most of which took place from 1500 to 1650. Some estimates on the number of people accused of witchcraft and those executed for the supposed crime reach into the hundreds of thousands. Professor Nachman Ben-Yahuda has stated, “From the early decades of the fourteenth century until 1650, continental Europeans executed between 200,000 and 500,000 witches, 85% or more of whom were women.” These numbers clearly represent the high end of estimates, yet as disturbing as they are, they may not be easily dismissed. Even though the surviving records of the trials are incomplete, Brian P. Levack has suggested that roughly 110,000 people were tried as witches in Europe of which 60,000 were executed, many by one of the most painful of all deaths, being burned alive. Yet these remarkable numbers still fail to express the entire situation, because hundreds of thousands if not millions of people, over many generations, were intimidated, threatened and forced to live in fear much of their lives due to possible accusations, arrest, torture and execution.
Recommended Citation
Winkler, Albert
(2023)
"Judicial Murder: The Witch-Craze in Germany and Switzerland,"
Swiss American Historical Society Review: Vol. 59:
No.
1, Article 2.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sahs_review/vol59/iss1/2