What Are The Causes Of Witch Craze?

Witchcraft, a perceived facility to summon evil spirits and demons to do harm to others . The years from 1603 to 1712 cover the height and decline of witch-hunting, with 1603 marking the debut of the reign of King James I. 1712 marks the last recorded case where a woman was accused of witch-craft, Jane Wenham. During this period thousands of people fell victim to the so called ‘witch craze’ and many historians have attempted to identify a singular theory for why witch hunting became so wide spread across Europe and North America. The feminist historian Anne Barstow claims that witch hunts were “an attack on women…” whilst T. Fudge claims that there is no singular theory that explains why the witch craze happened, he asserts that “…a single pattern, procedure, definition, or explanation for witch-hunting has yet to emerge. A unified theory
Craig Cabell, a journalist who carried out extensive research into the life of Hopkins, states without reserve that Hopkins was most likely a religious man, or, at the very least was influenced by religion whilst growing up. It is known that his father was a clergyman from this Cabell makes the assumption that Hopkins received a religious upbringing. It is also known that his companion, John Stearn, was a very religious man therefore we can confidently assume that Hopkins was influenced by religion to some extent. It should also be considered that he would have studied or been aware of the King James I Bible in which it clearly states that “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” .This is an important quote as it encompasses the convictions of James I and shows how anti-witch sentiments were conveyed to the