Diabolical Witchcraft The church was relatively accepting of magical practices in the early Christian centuries. If you were proved to be a witch you were only required to do penance. Animosity towards witchcraft grew worse in the late Middle Ages (13th century to 14th century) because of the increasing belief that all magic was the work of the Devil and was consequently sign of evil. Those who practiced simple sorcery, such as village wise women, were regarded more and more as practitioners of diabolical witchcraft; people began to believe that they were affiliated with Satan. Almost all of those who were suspected of witchcraft were women, thought of by witch-hunters as particularly vulnerable to the Devil’s charms. A lurid portrayal of the witches’ activities spread in people’s minds. They believed that covens were gatherings lead by Satan; the witches could fly on broomsticks; and animal accomplices, or familiars assisted them. The general image of witchcraft, perhaps inspired by occultism or ceremonial magic as well as by beliefs about the Devil and his works of evil, formed by the ardent imagination of investigators and was proved by statements given during torture. This portrayal of diabolical witchcraft can be attributed to several causes. First of all, the church’s experience with heretic religious movements like the Albigenses and Cathari led to the belief that certain people had banded with Satan. Consequently, the Inquisition was established. Pope Innocent IV sanctioned the use of torture in 1252, and Pope Alexander IV gave the Inquisition power over all cases of sorcery involving heresy. There were also other factors that contributed to this widespread view of witches. Theologians increasingly contravened that “natural” miracles could occur and thus declared that anything paranormal which was not the work of God must be because of Satan or his followers. The Reformation ensued, creating apprehension in conventional society, and thus began the “witch craze” that captivated Europe from about 1450 to 1700. During this period, thousands upon thousands of mostly innocent women were massacred due to obtained through cruel tortures. A vital catalyst for the hysteria was Summis Desiderantes issued by Pope Innocent VIII in 1484. Included as a preface in the book Malleus Maleficarum published in 1486, it is distinctly anti-feminine and graphically describes the alleged satanic and sexual practices of witches. The book was translated into numerous languages and outsold all other books with the exception of the Bible. During these years, people were encouraged to testify against each other. Professional witch hunters identified and analyzed suspected witches and were paid for each inquisition. By far the most common test was pricking: All witches were supposed to have somewhere on their bodies a spot that was insensitive to pain; if found it was considered proof of witchcraft. Other proofs included another breast (seemingly used to nurse familiars), the inability to cry, and failure in the “water test” (the woman was thrown into a river or lake; if she sank and drowned she was deemed innocent, but if she stayed afloat, she was found guilty and put to death. Unfortunately, she died either way). The persecution of witches began to decline by about 1700, due to the Age of Enlightenment, which was very skeptical of such beliefs. The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 was one of the last witch-hunting epidemics to take place. Twenty people were put to death after a group of young girls went crazy after playing at magic and it was thought that they were spellbound or possessed. Salem was a small, isolated community in with strong traditional religious beliefs and the matter escalated into a hysterical witch-hunt.