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When Christianity came to be, every thing changed but not for the good.
Witchcraft was driven underground.
The Roman Catholic Church wanted to stamp out heresy in Christian parts of the world
It began early in the thirteenth century, when the Inquisition was set up and though out history it got the reputation for great cruelty and torture that lasted till 1745 when the last person was beheaded for witchcraft.
It was said that witches could fly though the air, change shape, raise storms, had a pack with the devil and sexual intercourse
with demons and that the devil tempt people.
The anti-witchcraft activities were given a tremendous boost in 1484 by Pope Innocent VIII when he issued a papal bill, giving
the Inquisition more powers though out Germany, France, Italy, and Switzerland.
Now they could deal with witchcraft the same way they did with heretics.
Two years later a guidebook was written called Malleus Maleficarum all so Known as the Hammer of the Witches.
Which was to have a powerful influence on identifying, prosecuting and sentencing witches.
Thus began the witchcraft trials.
Witchcraft hysteria was at its peak between 1560 and 1660. At the height of the Inquisition witchcraft trials, the worst persecutions took place in France and Germany.
In England witchcraft hysteria didn’t come in till much later, when King Henry VIII in 1542 passed an act that allowed accused
witches to be tried and punished by the state.
But this was not for heresy but for conflicting harm on others,
King Edward VI repealed the act in 1547.
In 1563, however Queen Elizabeth passed another witchcraft act that was to mark the beginning of witchcraft hysteria in England.
In England execution was by hanging not burning.
Another act was passed in 1581, but nothing as bad as the witchcraft act passed by King James I (and VI of Scotland) in 1604.
This is when many of the important English witchcraft trials were conducted.
The worst of the English hysteria occurred in 1640s, when the country was in unrest, at this time the notorious witch-finder
Matthew Hopkins operated The 1640 act remained in force till 1736, when the last person in England was executed in 1684 for witchcraft.
Witchcraft hysteria took longer to get to Scotland but when it did it was a lot stronger.
Witches were treated much more brutally than in England, there treatment was much as it was in European countries, Because of their links with Europe.
Mary Queen of Scots in 1563 made things tougher for witchcraft, but it wasn’t till James VI came to the throne (King James I of England) that witchcraft came into its own.
Witchcraft trials in Scotland were notorious for the use of barbaric forms of torture that were banned in England.
These included the use of thumb screws (known in Scotland as pilliwinks) and the boots as well as sleep deprivation, Scotland
was more like Europe in it manner of execution and convicted witches were burnt.
After 1700 the number of witchcraft trials slowed down, the last one took place in 1727, and the manner of her death was very
brutal she was placed in a burning barrel of pitch.
Witchcraft in American colonies never reaches the same level as Europe or England.
Witchcraft trials didn’t begin till 1640’s at the time they were at the peak in England. Apart from the Salem trials, there were only about twelve executions on charges of witchcraft in New England.
In them times people had to pay for there own trials, to be prosecuted and sentenced even their torture.
The rich had their lands taken from them, but if you were poor it went to your family to pay.
Any person that had a cat or dog was proposed a witch.
Many of the charges were made up to get the land of the rich.
Under the very brutal torture a lot of others were named as being witches.
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