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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
During the Reformation era, persecution of women whom the Catholic Church perceived to be 'witches' was at an all-time high. This 12 page paper examines sociopolitical issues from that time as well as specific theological views on witchery and witchcraft. It is argued that fear and ignorance towards women (i.e., 'the transformation of the witch from wanton woman to bad wife') led to much of the scare and confusion. A final section also compares the persecution of women as witches during the Reformation with that of Jewish people during the same period. Bibliography lists 7 sources.
Page Count:
12 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_Witchcra.doc
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
to sway others to share similar beliefs. Centuries ago, the Christians pursued this goal by any means necessary; violent or otherwise. Because of the seriousness of such adamant
doctrine, Christian followers rather quickly became untrusting towards others. During the Reformation, such a deficit of trust took the form of superstition and instigated witch hunts within European societies.
Certain individuals were singled out for practices believed to have been acts of evil or of "devils" magic. For the most part, those accused of witchery and the
practice of witchcraft during this era were divided into two groups whom the Christians feared: (1) women and (2) the Jews. In this report, I shall explore the causal
factors and issues concerning the persecutions of these two groups for crimes of witchcraft during the Reformation. Witchcraft itself is believed to have been part of a
much older religion, or even mystery cult that pre-dates Christianity. Theoretically, it is a religion that still survives to some degree today in the form of various cults.
Back during the Reformation, in their attempt to maintain religious exclusivity, the attitude of the church began to stiffen as it grew strong enough to fight openly against the
already disintegrating old faith. Growing social unrest during that particular era had found expression in witchcraft as well as in heresy and secularism. Because those tendencies threatened to undermine
ecclesiastical authority, church authorities treated secularism as heresy, identified heresy with witchcraft, and attempted to destroy all three. The most influential papal bull against witchcraft was the "Summis Desiderantes" promulgated
by Pope Innocent VIII in 1484 (Brauner 12). To implement this bull, he appointed regional inquisitors. II. Reformation Witch hunting: Man vs. Woman There are
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