However, trial records often represent the distorted beliefs of the judges rather than reality. The widespread use of torture, particularly in Roman Catholic countries, made testimony totally unreliable.
as Witches or Satanists. They consider these two terms to be essentially synonyms. In many ways, these Fundamentalists continue many of the beliefs of the Roman Catholic church from the 15th century. Some go further and regard other world religions, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism as forms of Satanism. To them, two out of every three humans in the world are, by definition, Satanists, because they are not Christians. A few go further and regard many Roman Catholics, Anglicans and non-Conservative Protestants to be Satanists as well.
There is an extreme potential for misunderstanding when diverse groups use different definitions for term such as "Witch" and "Satanist."
The large-scale European extermination of individuals charged with Witchcraft or other heresies reached its peak between 1550 and 1650
based on the examination of court documents and estimates of the number of lost records, is probably in the range of 50,000 to 100,000.
The courts did not specifically target only women. The gender balance varied with location. In Iceland, over 90% of the accused Witches were men; in some countries in central Europe, over 80% were women; overall it was probably about 75% women.
Most of the death sentences were passed by civil courts, not by the Catholic Church. However, the church was indirectly involved, as it provided the theological foundation for the persecution of heretics in civil courts.
The Inquisition did not concentrate its activity against Witches. It was primarily interested in exterminating religious heretics.
Although the church was not directly responsible for the executions ordered by civil courts, it was responsible for the beliefs which justified the arrest, torture and execution of religious minorities by those courts. One belief was that individuals whose beliefs deviated from those of the Catholic Church must be denied religious freedom. Another was the false and unsupported belief that large numbers of worshipers had sold their soul to Satan and were committing evil and homicidal acts.
Being accused by the courts of Witchcraft was not an automatic death sentence. Overall, about 48% of all trials ended in an execution. It was the local, community courts which had the highest rate of executions, often reaching 90% of the cases. The Inquisition usually pardoned any witch who confessed and repented.
Belief in Witches gradually dissipated during the Age of Enlightenment, as people began to question many long-held religious beliefs. This forced an end to the execution of Witches in Europe (by 1792) and the Americas (by the 1830's).
http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_burn1.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malleus_Maleficarum states:
the "Inquisitor's Handbook", the Malleus Maleficarum, Latin for Witches Hammer, was written by Heinrich Kramer (Latinized Heinrich Institoris) and Jacob Sprenger in 1486 both members of the Dominican Order and were Inquisitors for the Catholic Church’s inquisition against heretics.
http://upalumni.org/medschool/appendices/appendix-64.html states:
The Malleus was the authority on mass terror and persecution for 300 years. It all started in 1484 with a declaration from Pope Innocent VIII. One medieval scholar estimates that more than one million midwives and healers were executed.
The Burning Times lasted well into the "Age of Reason." From a book published by Feminist Press: "While Michelangelo was sculpting and Shakespeare writing, witches were burning.... Renaissance men were celebrating naked female beauty in their art, while women's bodies were being tortured and burned by the hundreds of thousands all around them."The derogatory use of "faggot" stems from this time when homosexual men were, "bound and placed at the foot of witch pyres, their bodies used to kindle the flames."
If a woman dare to cure... she is a witch and must die - Malleus Maleficarium
From the Malleus:
Let her be often and frequently exposed to torture... If after being fittingly tortured [with everything from priest blessed eye gougers to 'the pear,' a metal scissor-like device inserted red hot into body orifices and spread open] she refused to confess the truth, he should have other engines of torture brought before her and tell her she will have to endure these if she does not confess.
Midwives cause the greatest damage, either killing children or sacreligiously offering them to devils.... The greatest injury to the Faith are done by midwives, and this is made clearer than daylight itself by the confessions of some who were afterwards burned....
On December 5, 1484 Pope Innocent VIII had issued the Summis desiderantes affectibus, or the famous "witch-bull", to Institoris and Sprenger in response to their asking for explicit authority to prosecute witchcraft. This papal bull would be used as the preface for the Malleus Maleficarum. The Summis desiderantes affectibus recognized the existence of witches and gave full papal approval for the Inquisition against witches and gave permission to do whatever necessary to get rid of them, thus opening the door for the bloody witch hunts that ensued for centuries
Misogyny runs rampant in the Malleus Maleficarum. The treatise singled out women as specifically inclined for witchcraft, because they were susceptible to demonic temptations through their manifold weaknesses. It was believed that they were weaker in faith and were more carnal than men . Most of the women accused as witches had strong personalities and were known to defy convention by overstepping the lines of proper female decorum . After the publication of the Malleus, most of those who were prosecuted as witches were women. Indeed, the very title of the Malleus Maleficarum is feminine, which alludes to the fact that it was women who were the evil-doers. Otherwise, it would be the Malleus Maleficorum, the masculine form of the Latin noun maleficium (Witch). That would mean The Hammer of the Male Witches.
The Catholic Church banned the book in 1490, placing it on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum. Despite this, the Malleus Maleficarum became the de-facto handbook for witch-hunters and Inquisitors throughout Late Medieval Europe. Between the years 1487 and 1520, it was published thirteen times, and between 1574 to 1669 it was again published sixteen times. The papal bull and endorsements which appear at the beginning of the book contributed to its popularity by giving the illusion that it had been granted approval by Pope Innocent VIII.
Millions of innocent people were tortured and murdered during the inquisition. The inquisitors followed procedures set forth by the dominican monks of pope innocent v111. At first the poor accused were told to confess. They were then stripped naked, shaved, pricked with needles for insensitive spots and then examined for marks of the devil.
Before the torture started, the victim was told what was about to happen and in many cases this forced the accused to commit to whatever the inquisitors wanted.
It was noted that a person who refused to talk even under torture was being aided by the devil. While the poor victim was being tortured a clerk recorded what was said. In many cases the clerk recorded things that were not even said.
Each subsequent round of torture was much worse than the one before. The torturer was paid out of seized funds belonging to the victim. If the victim had no money then the relatives were made to pay.
While the poor victims screamed with pain the childish tortures carried on like sadistic maniacs. They sprayed there instruments with so called holy water, wore amulets, herbs and crossed themselves. The exact method of torture varied from place to place. The rack was well used in France during the inquisition.
Some victims were horsewhipped. A sharp iron fork was used to mangle breasts. Red hot pincers were used to tear off flesh. Red hot irons were inserted up vaginas and rectums. A device named the turcas was used to tear out fingernails.
After the nails were ripped out needles were shoved into the quicks. Boots called bootikens were used to lacerate flesh and crush bone. Thumbscrews were used to crush the fingers and toes. Acid was poured on victims and hands were immersed into pots of boiling oil and water.
Eyes were gouged out by irons. Alcohol was poured on the head of the poor victim and set alight. Water was poured down the victims throat with a notted cloth. The cloth was then jerked out tearing up the victims bowels.
There was no limit to the types and cruelty of the tortures. The inquisition meant anything was allowed. The inquisitors were sadistic and mentally disturbered.
Even after the poor victims confessed to things they never did more torture was to follow. On the way to the stake or gallows victims were flogged, burned, branded and had their hands and tongues hacked off.
Some have theorized that as King James 1 of England 1566-1625 was having the Bible translated from 1604-1611 into the King's English he learned of threats against him by a group of so called Witches for Scotland the famous and oft touted scripture: "Exodus 22:18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" was translated that way purposely to call on the aid of the church to protect him against his assassins claiming they were witches and evil. Basing his claim that being appointed by "God Almighty" to be King of England.
In 1597�?, James wrote two works, The Trew Law of Free Monarchies and Basilikon Doron (Royal Gift), in which he established an ideological base for monarchy. In the Trew Law, he sets out the divine right of kings, explaining that for Biblical reasons kings are higher beings than other men, though "the highest bench is the sliddriest to sit upon". The document proposes an absolutist theory of monarchy, by which a king may impose new laws by royal prerogative but must also pay heed to tradition and to God, who would "stirre up such scourges as pleaseth him, for punishment of wicked kings".
So he was not above using the church to promote his own agenda.
During early 18th century, the practice subsided. The last execution for witchcraft in England took place in 1716, when Mary Hicks and her daughter Elizabeth were hanged. Jane Wenham was among the last subjects of a typical witch trial in England in 1712, but was pardoned after her conviction and set free. The Witchcraft Act of 1734 saw the end of the traditional form of witchcraft as a legal offence in Britain, those accused under the new act were restricted to people who falsely pretended to be able to procure spirits, generally being the most dubious professional fortune tellers and mediums, and punishment was light.
Helena Curtens and Agnes Olmanns were the last women to be executed as witches in Germany, in 1738. In Austria, Maria Theresa outlawed witch-burning and torture in the late 18th century; the last capital trial took place in Salzburg in 1750. The last execution in Switzerland was that of Anna Göldi in 1782, whose execution was at the time widely denounced throughout Switzerland and Germany as state-sponsored murder. (Göldi's trial was not technically a "witch trial" since explicit allegations of witchcraft were avoided in the official trial.)
In some parts of the world, including South Africa and India, witch-hunts still occur to this day.
Witch-hunts against children were reported by the BBC in 1999 in the Congo and in Tanzania older women are killed as witches if they have red eyes. A lawsuit was launched in 2001 in Ghana, where witch-hunts are also common, by a woman accused of being a witch. Witch-hunts in Africa are often led by relatives seeking the property of the accused victim.
In December 1999 a student in Oklahoma, USA was suspended from school for 15 days for allegedly casting spells.
Christian pastors occasionally call for a renewal of the so-called "burning times", to exterminate Wiccans and other Neopagans.
In 1999-AUG, Rev. Jack Harvey, pastor of Tabernacle Independent Baptist Church in Killeen, TX allegedly arranged for at least one member of his church to carry a handgun during religious services, "in case a warlock tries to grab one of our kids...I've heard they drink blood, eat babies. They have fires, they probably cook them..." During speeches which preceded his church's demonstration against Wiccans, Rev. Harvey allegedly stated that the U.S. Army should napalm Witches. One of the Christian's signs read "Witchcraft is an abomination" on one side and "Burn the witches off Ft. Hood" on the other. Ft. Hood is a large army base near Killeen TX.
The term "the burning times" was a term used by Gerald Gardner in 1954 as a reference to the European and North American witch trials.
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