Witchcraft Persecution In 17th Century Europe

Witch persecution was rife throughout seventeenth century Europe. It stemmed from earlier centuries and carried the belief that witches were associated with evil and had made a pact with the devil and agreed to worship him. They were thought to have the power to harm humans, plants, crops, and animals. However, to offer misogyny as a leading explanation for witchcraft accusations would not be completely accurate. Although misogyny was affiliated with a minority of witchcraft accusations against women, that is not to say that males were excluded from such claims nor does it exclude the fact that many of the claims against the accused came from other females. For many, the idea of witchcraft was a means of explaining the unexpected nature of disease, death and it slowly trickled into being associated with common happenings such as crop failure and economic difficulties and personal grievances.
These women were stereotyped as a typical witch, the ignorance in the accusation itself, more often than not going unnoticed. A fitting description noted by Lyndal Roper 'The witch-hunt as it operated in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries had offered a clear way of dealing with evil, by locating the source of evil in an old woman”. They were perceived as being more susceptible to the devil’s trickery, due to their “sex inconstant, lack of faith and by their age not sufficiently settle in their minds” which led them to confess willingly to authorities. (Rowling) It is also important to note that for those who asked help of their neighbours were subjected to a guilt complex which led to further accusations of being associated with witchcraft. Neighbours who were unable to lend money or further material necessities to their elderly widowed neighbours frequently accused them of witchcraft in order not to feel guilty for their inability to provide