Witchcraft And Demonology In Europe

enamourcraft And Demonology In atomic number 63The witch-hunts were adept of the well-nigh important events in the history of former(a) modern Europe, taking place from the mid-15th century and ending in the mid-18th century. The resume of witchcraft evolved throughout the period, with the Canon Episcopi c entirelying the belief in witches a heresy, to Pope Innocent VIII issuing a bull in 1484 to denounce the practice of witchcraft as a heresy all in a span of about 500 years. On the root word of witchcraft, it is unavoidable that the issue of gender would be discussed. The central question of this cover up would be how historians account for the persecution of to a greater extent women than men in the witch-hunts in first modern Europe. The report will first outline the emboss of a witch and discuss how this stereotype was promulgated. It will be concerned with devil possible explanations that attempt to account for the persecution of more women than men firstly, how the persecutions may be a endings of a misogynistic and patriarchal tillage, and secondly, how the hunts may be been a result of the privation of tolerance for social deviance of women.The Stereotype Of A WitchA collection of statistics indicate that a majority of accuse witches were women, with most estimates pointing to about 80% of all victims being women (Ross, 1995 334). Levack (1987 142) provides a list of statistics indicating that in most regions in Europe, about three-quarters of the criminate were women, with the figures being 90% in regions in Poland and England. Very evidently, the predominant nonion of a witch is that it is beginning(a) a char muliebrity.In discussing the stereotype of a witch it is difficult non to make reference to the cumulative concept of witchcraft (Levack, 1987 32-51), which points to certain pointors that would befriend in the identification of a witch. These include a witchs association with the Devil, the conformity with the Devil, the S abbath, nightflying and metamorphosis. Reginald Scot in 1584 described witches as women who were comm completely antiquated, lame, blearie-eied, pale, fowle, and full of wrinkles, poore, sullen, and superstitious. This stereotype was promulgated by both genders. Women in early modern Europe were take uped as the weaker gender that was dependant on men in numerous ways, including for livelihood (Larner, 198486). Since the club was heavily patriarchal, women who did not satisfactory in to the draw of a ruler woman threatened the desire of fe phallics behaving in a contingent manner. These women were nonconformists, and in that respectfore put the livelihoods of other women at risk. Hence, they were ostracised by normal women. In behaving in a manner that was different, these women also threatened priapic domination and therefore had to be condemned by men. Both genders fed the idea that a woman who looked and behaved in a certain manner was a witch, hence allowing the ste reotype to persist and spread.In addition, the stereotype of a domestic witch could have been said to be rein squeeze by a vicious cycle. This is evident in some cases, such as in that of Anna Schwayhofer, who confessed to stealing the Consecrated Host entirely still bothered to chimneysweeper up the crumbs after she had done so (Barry, Hester and Roberts, 1996 230). The association of witches and broomsticks or distaffs used for spinning also fed the stereotype. Women were mostly restricted to the confines of their dole out spaces, and those practicing poisonous magic would most likely be found in those spaces (Blcourt, 2000 303). Hence, it was not surprising that witchcraft was associated with the women and their domestic activities. sexed witchcraft And MisogynyThe elite group perception of women pointed to how they tended to be intellectually weaker than men, but have more unsatisfiable sexual appetites and a higher tendency to pursue the occult, a view propounded by sixt eenth century friar Martin de Castaega and in the malleus itself by Kramer and Sprenger. Hence, historical literature tended to point towards how women were the more inferior of the two genders, and therefore had the larger propensity to be driven towards becoming a witch. Without a doubt, the society in Europe at that point of time was one that was highly patriarchal in nature (Hufton, 1983, 125-141). While the society was basically patriarchal in nature, there argon arguments as to whether this ignore be extended to be characterised as being misogynistic. Anderson and Gordon (1978) point to the innate low quality that women possessed in the eyes of the roman print Catholic church building, the dominant religious authority in that time, saying that the Church saw women as more amenable to the allures of Satan (Anderson and Gordon, 1978 174). The paper also highlights the role of the Malleus Maleficarum (1486), that was anti-feminist and very popular, reprinting fourteen editi ons. The Malleus essentially highlights women as creatures possessing insatiable lust, til now not having the strength of mind to counter the temptations of the Devil.However, statistics also show that women were not the and ones who were victims of the witch-hunts. In several regions, men were the ones who were heavily persecuted instead. Regions such as Finland show a relatively even number of male and materialization-bearing(prenominal) persecutions, part in areas such as nonemandy and Iceland, the number of accused male witches far exceeded the number of female ones. This clearly shows that if there had been a subtlety of misogyny, it was not uniformed throughout Europe. Monter (1964 563) points out that the stereotypical witch in the French province of nary(prenominal)mandy was not a poor, old woman, but a shepherd who may be a youth or an old man. Similarly, in Iceland, only 8% of all the accused witches were women (Levack, 1987 142). The analysis and treatment of the se statistics seem to point to the fact that there were differences in societal perspectives towards women and the differences in questioning techniques (Monter, 1964 588). Monter (1964 589) suggests that women were treated with leniency during the trial, and some were kept in prison house alive for interrogation, even while the men were being executed. The reasons can why men were more persecuted in some societies and women in others are unclear, but most historians point to the fact that it was impossible to pinpoint a particular reason in every society why this was so. Much of the reasons behind the gender imbalances must be attributed to the culture and views of the society itself, but what can be certain is that the witch-hunt was not strictly gender-specific. Without a doubt, a society that places emphasis on patriarchal values cannot be dismissed as misogynistic simply based on statistics alone.At this point it is relevant to circular that there were differences between the elite and peasant conceptions of witchcraft, and this extended to the persecution of women. For the peasantry, the persecution of witches was less of the cartel with the Devil and more of practical concerns such as the failure of crops or the death of livestock (Laurence, 1995 216-218). Similarly, with the persecution of women, the concerns circled around the fact that babies and young children were being victims of maleficia, alternatively than the witch being a Devil-worshipper per se. Unsurprisingly, therefore, a large number of women who were accused of being witches were the lying-in maids for more privileged families, who looked after the newborns and had direct see with them, as in the case of Anna Ebeler of Augsburg (Roper, 1991 19). Roper (1991 23) also points to how this may be a result of the association of femineity and maternity. Normal women were able to have children, yet witches were unable to, leading to a sense of envy that bred the feeling of aversion towards mothers and their babies.Strands Of DevianceOne of the central themes occurring in the witch-hunts would have to be the fact that the society in early modern Europe had very subatomic tolerance for those who were different from them. Jews and homosexuals were persecuted, and the society was predominantly peasant, poor and part of the Roman Catholic Church. Those who were different were frowned upon. Women generally married and had children at a young age, were uneducated and viewed as weak. Their primary purpose was to be subservient to their husbands and litigate their families, keeping the household. This view of women can be contrasted to the stereotype of a witch, as mentioned above. Being old and unmarried, as well as being socially isolated, these alleged witches were evidently different from the general conception of a woman in society.Larner (198192) puts forward the idea that witches were persecuted not because they were women, but because they were non-women who did not fit into the societal view of a woman. While a typical woman was maternal, witches were unable to have children where typical women stayed home at nights, witches flew to remote locations to uniting Sabbaths. This fit in with the elite conceptions that the reality in which witches lived in was essentially one that was an anti-society. Blcourt (2000 300) explains that God was a guardian of social norms, while the Devil was just the very opposite. These non-women were persecuted for disobeying the social norms, and some historians even conclude that women accused other women of being witches because they felt threatened by an single who did not conform to the male image of them (Larner, 1981 102). The role of the Roman Church was also not to be ignored in the reinforcement of this stereotype. Women had an increase likelihood to practice love magic as compared to men (Blcourt, 2000 303), and since only priests of the Church could legally practice magic, they were more likely to be persecuted as a result.Remote PossibilitiesWhile the possible presence of a repressing patriarchy or a societal aversion to deviant conduct have often been cited as the reasons behind the gender imbalance during the witch-hunts, there are a few other remote possibilities that will be mentioned in the passing. Scully (1995 857-858) points to how Venetian witches could choose witchcraft as a move option as opposed to being married or forced into prostitution, and this could be an escape from a possibly malevolent life, thereby proving to be a popular alternative for women in the region at that time. In his paper, Goodare (1991 291-292) get bys that economic factors could have been one of the reasons for the witch-hunts. Since the people had fallen upon hard times, those dependent upon charity handouts were hostile to others who were their competition and these were mainly women. Another article by Ross (Ross, 1995 333-337) draws an interesting correlation between the outbreak of lues in the 16th century and the persecution of more women than men. He posits that women, being the symbols of fertility, could be shunned due to syphilis as they would be spreading the venereal disease. Further, much of the witchs behaviour, he says, could be attributed to the madness that is a symptom of the disease.While fascinating, these observations by historians seem to be unique suggestions that do not appear in the literature as main causes for the increased persecution of women.ConclusionTo conclude, this report has outlined the stereotype of a witch and what perpetrated this stereotype throughout early modern Europe. It seems persuasive to argue that although there was a strong patriarchal society in those days, this culture did not amount to being misogynistic in nature. The stereotype of the witch that put out during this period and that was adopted by most modern historians emphasise a few features of witches that generally seem to be a result of the lack of toleranc e for social deviant behaviour, and simply reinforced time and again in a vicious cycle. The trend points to the fact that there are a variety of factors that resulted in more women being persecuted than men. Often, this phenomenon can only be attributed to the differences in the various societies in Europe, and the culture of the region or country. Ultimately, it can be concluded that a combination of factors led to more women being persecuted than men.ReferencesAnderson, Alan and Gordan, Raymond. 1978. Witchcraft and the Status of Women The Case of England. The British Journal of Sociology, Vol. 29, No. 2 171-184.Barry, Jonathan, Hester, Marianne and Roberts, Gareth. 1999. Witchcraft in Early recent Europe Studies in Culture and Belief (Past and Present Publications). Melbourne Cambridge University Press.de Blcourt, Willem. 2000. The Making of a Female Witch. Gender and History, Vol. 12, No. 2 125-141.Goodare, Julian. 1998. Women and the Witch-Hunt in Scotland. Social History, Vol. 23, No. 3 288-308.Hufton, Olwen. 1983. Women in History. Early Modern Europe. 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