A witch hunter is someone who specializes in tracking down, capturing, and often executing individuals believed to be witches. This practice dates back centuries and has been prevalent in various cultures and societies around the world. The concept of witch hunting gained significant traction during the early modern period, particularly in Europe. It was fueled by the belief in the existence of witches, who were thought to possess supernatural powers and use them to cause harm and misfortune. These witches were often accused of practicing dark magic, entering into pacts with the devil, and committing various crimes against society. Witch hunters emerged as prominent figures during this time, guided by their unwavering belief in the existence of witches and their determination to rid communities of this perceived evil.
In 1484, Dominican Inquisitor Heinrich Kramer attempted to start witchcraft trials in the Tyrol. But he was accused of illegal methods and expelled from Innsbruck. Kramer obtained from Pope Innocent VIII on 5 december 1584 a papal bull Summis Desiderantes Affectibus giving Kramer authority to persecute heretics and witches in the dioceses of Mainz, Trier, Cologne, Salsburg, and Bremen. And Kramer began writing a book on how to prosecute witches.
Jacob Sprenger s name was added as an author beginning in 1519, 33 years after the book s first publication and 24 years after Sprenger s death; but the veracity of this late addition has been questioned by many historians for various reasons. From the 16th century, England was in the grips of hysteria over witchcraft, caused in part by King James VI, who was obsessed with the dark arts and wrote a dissertation entitled Daemonologie in 1599.
Witch hunters emerged as prominent figures during this time, guided by their unwavering belief in the existence of witches and their determination to rid communities of this perceived evil. They would often be commissioned by local authorities or even the church to investigate allegations of witchcraft, gather evidence, and carry out trials. The methods employed by witch hunters varied.
The Last Witch Hunter: why modern visions of witches don’t conjure up reality
Claire Nally does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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Northumbria University, Newcastle provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK.
The Newcastle Witch Hunt (1650), from Ralph Gardiner’s account (1655).Witches have long been an international obsession. From King James I’s book [Demonologie](http://arcticbeacon.com/books/King_James_VI-DAEMONOLOGIE(1597) (1597) and the famous Pendle witch trials in Lancaster (1612), to Shakespeare’s Macbeth (first performed 1611) and Matthew Hopkins’ The Discovery of Witches (1647), there are countless factual and fictional tales of witchcraft. The recent release of the film, The Last Witch Hunter, is yet another example of this cultural fascination.
But the colourful, fictional yarns often are far removed from the reality of witchfinders and the trials that the accused – mostly women – faced. And, in some cases, are much more a reflection of contemporary anxieties.
The 17th century witch trials staged in Newcastle upon Tyne, for example, offer a stark glimpse of the reality, complicating our received understanding of history as represented in film and fiction. The simple paradigm of the self-interested mercenary (witchfinder) in pursuit of the disenfranchised victim (witch) is rendered more complex by the social, political, gender, and economic contexts of the age.
In 1650, towards the end of the English Civil War and within memory of a 1636 outbreak of plague, Newcastle upon Tyne’s Puritan magistrates invited in an unnamed Scottish witchfinder. Known as the “bell-man”, he asked “all people that would bring in any complaint against any woman for a witch, they should be sent for and tried by the person appointed”.
There was also an implicit financial motive in his endeavours – for each successful prosecution, the Scottish witchfinder would receive 30 shillings, about ten times the average daily wage.
They often relied on interrogations, physical examinations, and the use of torture to extract confessions from individuals accused of being witches. These confessions, often coerced, would then be used as evidence in trials. Punishments for convicted witches ranged from exile and imprisonment to public execution, such as burning at the stake. While witch hunting was predominantly associated with the persecution of women, men were also targeted, albeit to a lesser extent. Accusations of witchcraft were often used as a means to control marginalized individuals, particularly those who deviated from societal norms. This included unmarried women, widows, healers, midwives, and those who practiced alternative forms of spirituality. The witch-hunting phenomenon began to decline with the advent of the Enlightenment and the subsequent decline in superstition. As more rational and scientific explanations were sought for natural phenomena, the belief in witchcraft began to wane. Witch hunting was eventually condemned by the Catholic Church in the 18th century, further leading to a decline in its practice. Today, the term "witch hunter" is often used metaphorically to describe individuals who actively seek out and target individuals or groups they perceive as threats. It can refer to those who engage in witch hunts for political reasons or in an effort to enforce conformity and control..
Reviews for "The Role of Witch Hunters in Establishing and Maintaining Social Order"
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