9 Witch Hunt Myths You Believe Because of Movies and TV Shows

Myth 1. Witch Hunts in Medieval Europe

When we hear the words "witches" and "hunting", we imagine dirty, uneducated medieval Europe. These times, it would seem, are best suited for burning girls who look a little like witches. But in fact, the persecution began later.

Until the 14th century, witchcraft was treated rather indifferently. It was considered a secular crime, writesA. Obermeier. Witches and the Myth of the Medieval Burning Time / Misconceptions About the Middle Ages historian from the University of Bristol Anita Obermeyer.

Until the 15th century, the church did not even want to recognize the existence of witches and did not judge people for magic. And Pope Alexander IV in 1258 officially bannedM. D. Bailey. Battling Demons: Witchcraft, Heresy, and Reform in the Late Middle Ages

judge them by the ecclesiastical court. He declared that the servants of the Lord should destroy heretics, and let the local authorities deal with all sorts of witches and fortune-tellers.

It is logical, because heretics are a real threat, threatening a split in the flock. And some herbalists with conspiracies on male impotence and theft of milk are such a trifle that it is simply inconvenient to waste the time of the venerable holy fathers.

The opinion of the government and the public about witches and sorcerers was not constant and changed depending on the time and place of the incident. So, in medieval England, they could applyA. Obermeier. Witches and the Myth of the Medieval Burning Time / Misconceptions About the Middle Ages for small services - for example, to find a lost item, help with childbirth or assist in love affairs.

Many priests and theologians in general claimedN. Cohn. Europe's Inner Demons: An Enquiry Inspired by the Great Witch-hunt preaching that there are no witches. And that the very belief in witchcraft is a dangerous superstition that is unacceptable for decent Christians.

Hunting for witches began after the Renaissance and the discovery of the New World. Most of the executions of sorcerers and sorceresses took place already in modern times, from the 16th century, and they continued until the 18th century, writesH. R. Trevor Roper. The European Witch-craze of the 16th and 17th Centuries British historian Hugh Trevor-Roper.

And the myth of the hunt for sorceresses in the Middle Ages appeared because of documents allegedly of those times, describing mass trials of witchcraft cases in Toulouse (France) from 1335 to 1350. The historian Joseph Hansen relied on them, who wroteJ. Hansen. Quellen und untersuchungen zur geschichte des hexenwahns und der hexenverfolgung im mittelalter. Mit einer untersuchung der geschichte des wortes hexe / WorldCat in 1901, a large-scale work on witch-hunts.

But in 1975, Sussex University scientist Norman Cohn refutedN. Cohn. Europe's Inner Demons: An Enquiry Inspired by the Great Witch-hunt Hansen's research. He discovered that the sources he referred to were later forgeries. Most likely, it was at the suggestion of Joseph Hansen that it became a tradition to erroneously link medieval Europe and the fight against witchcraft.

Myth 2. Nine million people died during the witch hunt

Another misconception about witch hunts has to do with the number of victims. On the Internet, you can find different numbers: allegedly on suspicion of witchcraft, 9 or even 10 million women were burned alive. But these data are not true.

Of course, religious hysteria in the 16th-17th centuries and the destruction of innocent people is terrible, but there can be no talk of any millions of victims. Historian William Monter claimsE. W. Monter. Witchcraft and Magic in Europe, Volume 4: The Period of the Witch Trialsthat about 35 thousand people were killed, and Malcolm Gaskill, Richard Golden and Michael Wolfe they sayM. wolfe. Changing Identities in Early Modern France about 40-50 thousand.

Witch-hunting is considered to be the apotheosis of savagery and barbarism, but war, epidemics, religious persecution and the struggle against the heretics of the Renaissance and the New Age claimed much more lives.

The myth of nine million witches burned appearedE. W. Monter. Witchcraft and Magic in Europe, Volume 4: The Period of the Witch Trials because of a 1791 pamphlet belonging to the German scientist Gottfried Christian Voigt. Describing the atrocities of the Catholic Church, he got a little carried away.

Myth 3. Only women were accused of witchcraft

The word "witch" is feminine, and in popular culture it is generally accepted that in the past only ladies were sent to the stake for sorcery.

This is explained by the fact that the church led the fight against witches. And Catholic priests were forced to observe a vow of celibacy and therefore indiscriminately showed misogynistic moods. However, there is nuancesJ. b. Russell. Witchcraft in the Middle Ages, and in the XVI-XVII centuries, male sorcerers were also out of favor with the population.

As historian Geoffrey Russell has calculated, men made up a quarter of those accused of witchcraft.

In countries such as Estonia, Norway and Iceland, more persecutedJ. Goodare. The European Witch Hunt precisely them, because it was believed that stronger and more dangerous sorcerers were obtained from them. In Iceland 92% of the defendants were men, in Estonia 60%. And in Normandy, for example, archetypeW. Monter. Toads and Eucharists: The Male Witches of Normandy, 1564-1660 / French Historical Studies a shepherd sorcerer who sends misfortunes to his competitors is much more popular than the image of an old witch.

Myth 4. The legal way to figure out a witch is to drown her

Many people who are interested in history have heard about such a barbaric custom of witch hunters as testing by water. We take the suspect and send her to the icy river.

If the sorceress is really in collusion with the devil, then water, as one of the sacred elements, will push her to the surface, refusing to accept the damned soul. And if the victim drowned, it means that he is innocent. We forgive and bury like a good Christian.

Horrific tales of testing by water can be found in many writings about witchcraft, but the prevalence of this method is somewhat exaggerated.

First, in most places in Europe, the water test was simply illegalThe Swimming Test. Secondly, even where the drowning of suspects as a "God's judgment" was allowed, the judges of this action not authorizedA. Garland. The Great Witch Hunt: The Persecution of Witches in England / Auckland University Law Review. Apparently, they understood that a test that kills the defendant anyway looks a little silly.

Third, even if drowning was allowed, the subject who demonstrated low buoyancy is alive dragged outThe truth about witches and witch-hunters / The Guardian for prudently tied to the belt ropes and found not guilty.

Victim perishedSwimming a Witch: Evidence in 17th-century English Witchcraft Trials / Law Librarians of Congress during the test with water only when strangers decided to administer "justice" over her with their own hands. For example, in 1751 in Hertford (England), a certain Thomas Colley drowned 71-year-old Ruth Osborne, trying to prove her guilt in sorcery before the crowd. When the authorities found out about this, the jury sentenced Colley to hang for murder.

Myth 5. Witches have always been burned at the stake

Traditionally, the most appropriate execution for a witch is considered to be burning alive. However, in reality it was far from necessary.

The most common execution of sorcerers and witches was hangingJ. b. Russell. A History of Witchcraft: Sorcerers, Heretics and Pagans. With the same Salem witches America in the 17th century dealt withE. Reis. Damned Women: Sinners and Witches in Puritan New England exactly. In Europe, beheading (for especially honorary gentlemen), drowning and occasionally wheeling were added to this.

It was burning alive that was practiced least of all of the above. As in the case of the water test, the witches' pyre sentJ. b. Russell. A History of Witchcraft: Sorcerers, Heretics and Pagans, only when the crowd, and not official bodies, were taken to judge them. And in English law, this type of execution was generally reservedCommon Errors about Witch Hunts/Kings College Press exclusively for heretics and traitors to the state, and not for sorceresses.

But the bodies of people executed for witchcraft were already burned, fearing that they would rise from the grave to take revenge on the executioners. From this custom, a stereotype arose.

Besides witches and witchers subjectedJ. b. Russell. A History of Witchcraft: Sorcerers, Heretics and Pagans and other punishments such as mutilation, branding, flogging, dipping in ice water, being stocked, imprisoned, fined, exiled, or sold into slavery.

Myth 6. Suspected witches were killed for their beauty

On the Internet, you can find many statements that "in Europe in the Middle Ages, all the most beautiful women were burned as witches." Those who say this are trying to confirm the opinion that Slavic women are much prettier than Westerners.

Who is the cutest in the world is a debatable question, but the fact that witch hunters specially burned beauties is a delusion.

Most of the women tried for witchcraft were widows or loners over 50 years of age.

University of Auckland historian Anna Garland explainsG. Garland. The Great Witch Hunt: The Persecution of Witches in England / Auckland University Law Review this is for a number of reasons.

First, it is wrong to assume that witch hunters grabbed victims at the first denunciation. They blamed those against whom certain suspicions had already accumulated. And an old woman living far away from everyone would definitely be looked at more cautiously than a young beauty.

Secondly, such older people were more likely to show signs of antisocial or eccentric behavior, because lonely old age is not conducive to health. psyche.

Thirdly, people then consideredG. Garland. The Great Witch Hunt: The Persecution of Witches in England / Auckland University Law Reviewthat old people are more inclined to witchcraft as a means of revenge or revenge, because they are no longer able to resort to physical force.

Historians Geoffrey Scarre and John Callow claimG. Scarre, J. Call. Witchcraft and Magic in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Europethat a typical portrait of a witch is an elderly wife or widow of an agricultural worker or small tenant farmer, known among the locals for her quarrelsome character and aggressiveness.

Of course, this does not mean that all beautiful women could relax. Victims of accusations of witchcraft becameA. Rowlands. Witchcraft Narratives in Germany: Rothenburg, 1561-1652 everyone: rich and poor, old people and children, women and men - who will fall under the hot hand.

But to say that witch hunters purposefully exterminated beauties is wrong.

Myth 7. There were no witch hunts in Russia

Many believe that sorceresses were persecuted only in medieval Europe. This is not true. In Western countries, the persecution of witches began only with the Renaissance. Before that, magic was looked at rather indifferently.

In Russia, for witchcraft, they were executed not with such enthusiasm and scale, but they did it long time agoR. Zguta. Witchcraft Trials in Seventeenth-Century Russia / The American Historical Review, because witches and witchers were considered pests that undermine the economy and agriculture.

For example, in 1024, several people in Suzdal were killed for allegedly causing a drought. In Kiev in 1153, according to the Arab merchant Abu Hamid al-Garnati, who came there, a group of elderly women were thrown into the water, and when they surfaced, they were burned for witchcraft. In 1227, four men were executed for witchcraft in Novgorod - they also staged a drought. In 1411, 11 women were burned at once in Pskov on the same charge.

In Russia, however, witch hunted less than warlocks. How calculatedJ. b. Russell. Witchcraft in the Middle Ages historian Geoffrey Russell, up to 75% of the defendants were men. Their persecution continued on the territory of Russia and the Russian Empire and in modern times.

Peter the Great, for example, not only opened a window to Europe, but also legally approved the execution for witchcraft in 1716.

Empress Anna Ioannovna in 1731 declared that sorcerers were charlatans, but left the death penalty for them in her decreeComplete collection of laws of the Russian Empire since 1649 "On the punishment for calling magicians and on the execution of such deceivers." Witches and witchers were to be burned, and their clients were to be whipped.

And only Empress Catherine the Great canceledR. Zguta. Witchcraft Trials in Seventeenth-Century Russia / The American Historical Review the death penalty for witchcraft in 1775, calling it a minor crime and superstition.

Myth 8. Accused of witchcraft were obviously doomed

Many believe that if a person is already reported as a sorceress or a witcher, then he is finished. A confession will be forced out of the victim, and then, without leaving the cash register, they will be sent to execution. However, this is not quite true.

In the Middle Ages, when the attitude towards magic was more bearableJ. b. Russell. A History of Witchcraft: Sorcerers, Heretics and Pagansthan in the New Age, they were in no hurry to drag the captured sorcerers and witches to the fire. Though there were times when they were sued by clients who demanded reimbursement when, surprisingly, the magic didn't work.

The Church limited itself to a few warnings and imposed penance. The witch apologized and was forgotten.

And even after the Renaissance, in the midst of the fight against witchcraft, the accused could well be acquitted. Like how writesG. Henningsen. The Witches' Advocate: Basque Witchcraft and the Spanish Inquisition, 1609-1614 historian Gustav Henningsen, in 1609 in Spain, the Basque people, seized by religious hysteria, staged a massive witch hunt.

But the defendant stood up for the one from whom this was least expected - inquisitor Alonso de Salazar Frias. He reviewed the evidence presented in the local secular courts, declared that there was and could not be any witchcraft, and ordered the release of all the accused.

Historian Beng Ancarloo of Oxford describesb. ankarloo. Early Modern European Witchcraft: Centers and Peripheries, how, in the period from 1668 to 1676, the persecution of sorcerers flared up in Sweden, called the "Great Noise". The Royal Witchcraft Commission, formed in Stockholm by Charles XI, reviewed the cases and ordered all secular and ecclesiastical courts to cease persecution and drop any charges.

True, His Majesty was eight years late with the creation of the commission, and local authorities throughout the country managed to kill about three hundred imaginary sorcerers and witches in a religious frenzy during this time. But in the end, justice prevailed, and the surviving suspects were forgiven. Better late than never, right?

Myth 9. All those accused of witchcraft worshiped a certain "horned god"

In 1921, anthropologist and expert on Ancient Egypt Margaret Murray wroteK. L. Sheppard. The Life of Margaret Alice Murray: A Woman's Work in Archeology Witch Cult in Western Europe. In it, she outlined a rather coherent-sounding theory that all sorceresses and sorcerers whom were executed during persecution in the 16th-17th centuries, were in fact members of some secret pagan cult.

Murray suggested that all witches performed sexual games and strange rites in honor of the pre-Christian Dianus, or Janus, a god with two faces and horns, having Roman roots. It was a kind of fertility ritual, with which members of the so-called covens tried to attract good luck in business and wealth.

These witch organizations were allegedly so secretive, disciplined and well organized that the Catholic Church was unaware of their existence until the beginning of the Reformation.

Murray very vividly depicted the sexual pleasures of witches, their worship of goats, curses and covens. But in her work, she did not refer to any significant historical sources, but increasingly resorted to her own fantasies.

Even contemporary historians caught Margaret on contradictions in her book, and even later ones criticsJ. Simpson. Margaret Murray: Who Believed Her, and Why? /Folklore and did not leave stone unturned on theories about the "horned god".

Nevertheless, it was thanks to the work of Margaret Murray that a modern neo-pagan religious movement called WiccaJ. farrar. The Witches' God: Lord of the Dance. Its admirers worship the Mother Earth Goddess and her husband, the Horned God Pan, and consider themselves "continuers of the traditions" of witches and sorcerers of the 16th-17th centuries.

Although it is natural that the unfortunate, executed in that era on far-fetched accusations by obscurantist contemporaries, did not even know that they were apologists for "an ancient religion that anticipated Christianity."