The Role Of Witchcraft In Medieval Times
The attitude towards witchcraft had changed dramatically throughout the course of the medieval times. At first, in the fifth century it was considered that people cannot practice magic. However, in the ninth and tenth centuries the church started considering witchcraft a serious threat and ordered to kill people who were suspected of doing so. It was considered that people who practice witchcraft support Satan and are very dangerous for Christian society.
The majority of people who were considered witches were those women who used unorthodox healing practices, the majority of which left from the times before Christian doctrine became the major one. It means that the fight against witchcraft was also the struggle against the previous knowledge
and semi-pagan healing practices, which from that time were considered really dangerous (Linder). In this way, it is possible to say that Christian church led a campaign to erase all the memory of the previous beliefs in any variants, even those which were useful for society.
In the thirteenth century it was considered that witches are those women which lead people into temptation. Thus, the association of Satanic practices and natural beauty was established. From that time beautiful women could be easily accused of witchcraft without sold grounds at all. This added up to the development of the process of finding witches and the number of possible witches dramatically increased.
It is quite interesting fact that even though the Inquisition was started in 1230, witch hunt became extremely popular especially during the fifteenth century. The majority of people were killed in the time frame between fifteenth and the end of seventeenth century. That is why witch hunt is a part of not only medieval tradition, but it was also rather popular during the latter times which are nowadays considered more reasonable. The whole process ended at the end of the seventeenth century.
The majority of people who were considered witches were those women who used unorthodox healing practices, the majority of which left from the times before Christian doctrine became the major one. It means that the fight against witchcraft was also the struggle against the previous knowledge
and semi-pagan healing practices, which from that time were considered really dangerous (Linder). In this way, it is possible to say that Christian church led a campaign to erase all the memory of the previous beliefs in any variants, even those which were useful for society.
In the thirteenth century it was considered that witches are those women which lead people into temptation. Thus, the association of Satanic practices and natural beauty was established. From that time beautiful women could be easily accused of witchcraft without sold grounds at all. This added up to the development of the process of finding witches and the number of possible witches dramatically increased.
It is quite interesting fact that even though the Inquisition was started in 1230, witch hunt became extremely popular especially during the fifteenth century. The majority of people were killed in the time frame between fifteenth and the end of seventeenth century. That is why witch hunt is a part of not only medieval tradition, but it was also rather popular during the latter times which are nowadays considered more reasonable. The whole process ended at the end of the seventeenth century.