POPE JOHN XXII~~~Known to be one of the most superstitious popes, he was teh first pope to promote the theory of witchcraft. In 1317 he tortured those he claimed were witches to obtain confessions to confirm his stance on witchcraft.
POPE INNOCENT VIII~~~ When he issued his papal bull, it was prefixed to the Malleus Maleficarum. Since it was attached to that horror of writing, it was the most widely seen papal to that date. AND get this---Pope "Innocent" was kept alive the last month of his life by sucking milk from a woman's breast and given blood transfusions that left 3 little boys dead. WHO is the bad guy here?? The witch--I think not.
JAKOB SPRENGER & HEINRICH KRAMER~~~These 2 evil men wrote the most influential book on "witches" and developed the theory of the heresy of witchcraft into a rigid code which was used for over 300 years. The Hammer of Witches was used as a guide to torture and "detect" witches.
POPE ALEXANDER VI~~~This Pope wrote "Cum acceperimus" in 1501. One excerpt-"Inasmuch as we have learned that in the province of Lombardy men and women have abandoned themselves to divers incantations and devilish superstitions, commiting infamous crimes by means of poisons and divers...we command you, as well as your successors in Lombardy..to seek out diligently either alone or in the company of such honest colleagues as you will select, men and women, and punish and chastise them according to law."
Benedict Carpzov~~~Lived from 1595-1666. He was a German lawgiver and has been reported to have signed the death warrents for over 20,000 people, which made him the biggest influence over witch hunts in Germany than anyone else. (what is it with that first name?)
FRANZ BUIRMANN~~~Known as one of the most degenerate of all the witch trial judges. In 1631 and 1636 he came to small villages of Flerzheim, Rheinback and Meckenheim and burned 150 people alive out of 300 households. He then had his own executioner torched after accusing him of even being a witch. A real sicko!!
SIR MATTHEW HALE~~~One of England's judges who singlehandedly encouraged--more than any other judge- persecution of witches and allowed openly false testimony to prevail. He "blessed" this planet from 1609-1676.
SOME FROM THE PRESENT
LOGOS COMMUNICATION CONSORTIUM~~~One of the wildest sites I have come across. Not only does teh dear Rev. Brown denounce witches as evil...blah blah....but so is meditating, yoga, pokemon and anyone who practices the martial arts. Unbelievable!!
MY VERY OWN TOWN WHERE I LIVE~~~When my kids were little, they were not allowed to "dress up" for halloween. It was changed to fall festival and they could only dress as farm boys or girls. Wow, really a lot to choose from there. If anything else was worn--a small group of parents claimed--would be like devil worship and they wanted all teh evil out of Halloween. Come on folks--you wouldn't even have halloween if it wasn't for our ancestors celebrating Samhein.
SOME BRAVE SOULS FROM THE PAST:
SIR JOHN HOLT~~~A very important judge in England(1642-1710)who directed most juries to render acquittals and he did this while most other judges were still condemning others to death.
THE QUAKERS~~~Yeah!! A whole group of another religion has an almost perfect written record of going against the delusion of the hysteria. But they new what it was like because they even got accused of witchcraft at times by German and English writers.
REGINALD SCOT~~~He wrote a book called"Scot's Disvovery of Witchcraft" in 1593 denouncing the whole delusion and King James is believed to have had every book burnt, since not even one first edition can be found today.
SOME BRAVE SOULS FROM THE PRESENT(My opinions by reading their works)
SCOTT CUNNINGHAM~~~Very influential in helping the modern witch in studying as a solitary or coven. Also a whole book full of great potions and mixes.