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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This well written 16 page paper, including 1 page synopsis, considers how historians of Europe can look at criminal justice or inquisitorial records in order to investigate what beliefs in witchcraft and magic existed during in the Middle Ages. The paper examines what these records show what the beliefs were along with how and why they may have developed. The paper includes geographical differences in the manifestation of the beliefs between mainland Europe and England, the motivations of accusers and how the stereotypes where able to gain afoot hold that would later developing into what is known as “the burning times”. The bibliography cites 15 sources.
Page Count:
16 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TS14_TEwitchM.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
been this clear. The development of beliefs in witchcraft, when evidenced through the remaining artefacts, such as documents, appears to have been one that evolved from folklore and myth as
well as being aided by embellishments of clerics and judges. This created a stereotype which, appears to have originated only at the beginning of the fourteenth century, encouraged with the
use of Papal Bulls and the advent of the Inquisition. It is also unlikely to be a coincidence that accusations of this nature were also useful political tools to rid
those in power of enemies, or for the church to increase its wealth and power. It is also unlikely to be a coincidence that the further away from the
immediate influence of Rome the less the influence exerted and the greater the overall levels of tolerance that is seen and evidenced through court records. Text
For many centuries, those who were interpreted by the general populace to have undertaken magic or witchcraft were punished for doing evil. The height of these punishments in Europe was
immediately following the Middle Ages, when the Christian church had spread fear and loathing for many aspects of life that were not understood. Externalisation of problems was far simpler than
to look to rational explanations when science was only in its infancy. Therefore, witchcraft was seen as a crime. However, the foundations for this were laid gradually during the Middle
Ages. The basis of this argument was that good and evil could exist separately to man, but man also had the choice on what actions they would undertake, and
as such could undertake actions which were evil or good. The general basis of the law was to punish wrong doers and prevent the evil reoccurring1. The hash treatment given
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