Witchcraft: Crash Course European History #10

Summary

In this episode of Crash Course European History, John Green explores the impact of witchcraft beliefs on European society from the 15th to the 18th century. He discusses the persecution of women accused of witchcraft, the influence of Heinrich Kramer's 'Witches' Hammer,' and the societal and religious turmoil that fueled witch hunts. The episode highlights how fear and superstition shaped history and how scientific and philosophical advancements eventually led to a decline in witch trials. The narrative also touches on the role of sexism and the misuse of power in these dark chapters of history.

Takeaways

• 🔍 Joan of Arc was burned for heresy and witchcraft in 1431, which reflected the bewilderment and fear of a teenage peasant girl leading an army.
• ⚔️ The century after Joan's death saw significant upheavals: the Reformation, Commercial and Agricultural Revolutions, and Counter-Reformation.
• 🌟 Belief in unseen powers was common, with shamans and wise people using potions and charms for healing and protection.
• 📚 Stories of witches and supernatural events were popularized by books and the printing press, blending high-minded political theory with everyday beliefs in witchcraft.
• 🖼️ Art of the time, such as Rubens' paintings, frequently depicted witches, devils, and other signs of evil.
• 📖 The Malleus Malificarum, published in 1487, was a hugely influential book that detailed the supposed evils of witchcraft and advocated for its eradication.
• ⚖️ Between 1560 and 1800, up to 100,000 people were tried for witchcraft in Europe, with the majority being women.
• 💉 Common targets for witchcraft accusations were healers and midwives, who dealt with vulnerable people like mothers and infants.
• 🔥 Torture was commonly used to extract confessions from accused witches, leading to widespread executions.
• 📉 By the 18th century, witch persecutions declined as scientific understanding increased and the view of the Devil's influence in daily life diminished.

Q & A

Who was Joan of Arc and why was she executed in 1431?

Joan of Arc was a teenage peasant girl who led the French army to victory, which bewildered the English, leading them to execute her for heresy and witchcraft.

How did people's belief in unseen powers influence their lives in European history?

People believed objects from nature could be healing or poisonous, and they often sought help from shamans, wizards, or wise people for aid and comfort.

What role did Heinrich Kramer's 'Witches’ Hammer' play in the witch hunts?

Kramer's 'Witches’ Hammer' argued that Satan caused a heresy of sorceresses, advocating an all-out war against mostly female practitioners of witchcraft, and was very influential for over a century.

Why were women predominantly accused of witchcraft during the 16th and 17th centuries?

Women, especially older or marginalized ones, were seen as vulnerable and impure. Religious scripture and societal views contributed to them being viewed as likely agents of the devil.

What factors contributed to the decline of witch hunts between 1700 and 1750?

The decline was due to a more positive view of the divine, understanding of scientific laws, and decreased political and religious turmoil.

How did artworks and literature depict witchcraft during this period?

Artworks and literature, such as those by Rubens and stories in books and broadsheets, depicted witches, devils, and demons, reflecting widespread belief in their existence.

What was the significance of Queen Elizabeth receiving a ring to protect her from the plague?

It illustrates the belief in the mystical powers of objects and the reliance on such beliefs for protection and healing during that time.

What was Jean Bodin's contribution to the discourse on witchcraft?

Jean Bodin, a jurist, wrote about witches and demonology in the vernacular, making these ideas accessible to a large audience, and showing the coexistence of political theory and belief in witchcraft.

How did witch trials typically proceed, and what was the role of torture?

Accused witches were often tortured into confessing. Torture was directed by councils and carried out by hangmen, who used it to extract confessions and evidence of supposed witchcraft.

What is the relevance of the story of Paula de Eguiluz in the context of witch trials?

Paula de Eguiluz's trials in Spanish Cuba illustrate the blending of African healing practices with Christian beliefs and how accusations of witchcraft could intertwine with colonial and racial dynamics.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Introduction and Joan of Arc

John Green introduces Crash Course European History, recounting the significance of 1431, the year Joan of Arc was executed. He explains how Joan, a peasant girl, became a significant military leader, bewildering the English who accused her of witchcraft. The episode contextualizes her life within the broader upheavals of the Reformation, Commercial and Agricultural Revolutions, and Counter-Reformation.

05:02

🔮 Belief in Unseen Powers

Green explores the historical belief in unseen powers, from healing nature objects to Queen Elizabeth’s plague-protecting ring. He discusses the role of shamans, wizards, and other mystical figures in society, emphasizing how such beliefs shaped perceptions and responses to natural and supernatural events. He notes the public fascination with witches, often depicted in literature and art.

10:03

📜 Witchcraft and Literature

Jean Bodin's works on sovereignty and witchcraft illustrate the coexistence of political theory and belief in witches during the 16th and 17th centuries. Green reflects on the human tendency to create narratives that make sense of the world, including attributing events to witches. He highlights the prevalence of witchcraft themes in art, particularly in the works of Rubens.

15:03

📖 Origins of Witchcraft Beliefs

The origins of witchcraft beliefs are traced from Biblical references and pagan mythology to the influential 1487 book 'Witches’ Hammer' by Heinrich Kramer. This book propagated the idea that women were particularly susceptible to witchcraft, contributing to the widespread persecution of alleged witches. Green notes the book’s misogynistic content and its impact on European society.

🧙‍♀️ Witch Hunts in Europe

Green describes the witch hunts that began around 1560, resulting in tens of thousands of trials and executions, primarily targeting women. He explains the torture methods used to extract confessions and the role of local authorities in these persecutions. The episode highlights specific cases and the socio-political dynamics that fueled the witch hunts.

🔎 Examination and Torture of Suspects

Suspected witches were often older, marginalized women subjected to torture to extract confessions. Green details the methods and rationale behind these tortures, including the examination for diabolical signs. He explains how societal fears and the quest for control contributed to the widespread persecution and execution of these women.

⚖️ Decline of Witch Persecutions

By the late 17th century, witch persecutions began to decline as societal views shifted. French courts and royal decrees started treating witchcraft as fraud, influenced by thinkers like Michel de Montaigne. Green discusses how improved understanding of science and a more positive view of the divine contributed to this change, marking the end of an era of intense witch hunts.

📚 Conclusion and Future Episodes

Green concludes the episode by hinting at future discussions on the new understandings that emerged in European society. He thanks viewers and signs off, setting the stage for the next episodes in the Crash Course European History series.

Keywords

💡Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc was a teenage peasant girl who led the French army to victory during the Hundred Years' War. Her success bewildered the English, leading to her execution for heresy and witchcraft in 1431. Joan's story highlights the fear and superstition surrounding women in power during this period.

💡Witchcraft

Witchcraft refers to the practice of magical skills, spells, and abilities. In the video, it is discussed as a significant fear in European history, leading to widespread persecution, especially of women. The belief in witchcraft was fueled by societal, religious, and economic upheavals.

💡Malleus Maleficarum

The Malleus Maleficarum, or Witches' Hammer, is a book written by Heinrich Kramer in 1487. It argued for the existence of witchcraft and advocated for the persecution of witches, particularly women. The book was influential in the witch hunts of the 16th and 17th centuries.

💡Superstition

Superstition involves beliefs in supernatural causality, where one event leads to another without any natural process linking the two. The video discusses how superstitions about witches and magical powers were common in Europe and how they influenced social and political actions.

💡Heinrich Kramer

Heinrich Kramer was a Dominican monk and the author of Malleus Maleficarum. His work significantly impacted the witch hunts, promoting the idea that women were particularly susceptible to witchcraft. His book provided a framework for identifying and persecuting witches.

💡Reformation

The Reformation was a religious movement in the 16th century that led to the creation of Protestantism and significant changes in the Catholic Church. The video mentions it as part of the upheaval that contributed to the fear and persecution of witches.

💡Counter-Reformation

The Counter-Reformation was the Catholic Church's response to the Protestant Reformation, aiming to reform the church and reaffirm its doctrines. This period of religious conflict contributed to the fear and persecution of those seen as threats to religious orthodoxy, including alleged witches.

💡Jean Bodin

Jean Bodin was a French jurist and political philosopher who wrote about sovereignty and demonology. His works illustrate the coexistence of high-minded political theory and belief in witchcraft in the 16th and 17th centuries. Bodin's writings on witches were influential in shaping contemporary beliefs.

💡Salem Witch Trials

The Salem Witch Trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in 1692 in colonial Massachusetts. The video references this event to show how the fear of witchcraft also existed in the American colonies, leading to executions based on accusations and hysteria.

💡Baroque Art

Baroque art is a style of art that emerged in the 17th century characterized by dramatic expression and grandeur. The video discusses how Baroque paintings, like those by Rubens, depicted witches and devils, reflecting societal fears and the fascination with the supernatural.

Highlights

Introduction of Joan of Arc and her significance in the 15th century.

Joan of Arc's execution for heresy and witchcraft.

Impact of superstitions and prophecies on Joan of Arc's rise and fall.

Belief in unseen powers throughout European and world history.

Common role of shamans, wizards, and sorcerers in European towns.

Historical significance of Queen Elizabeth's protective ring.

Bishop's 1552 quote on seeking aid from witches and sorcerers.

Jean Bodin's writings on sovereignty and witchcraft.

Role of art in depicting witchcraft and evil, with examples from Rubens.

Origins of witchcraft ideas in popular culture and mythology.

Influence of Heinrich Kramer's Witches’ Hammer on witch trials.

Description of Kramer’s misogynistic views on women and witchcraft.

Role of torture in extracting confessions during witch trials.

Thought Bubble segment on Paula de Eguiluz's trial and African healing knowledge.

Common targets for witchcraft accusations, such as lying-in-nurses.

The process of torture and execution for accused witches.

Involvement of notable men in witch trial councils.

Impact of religious and social beliefs on witchcraft accusations.

Reduction in witch persecution between 1700 and 1750.

French royal decree in 1682 treating witchcraft as a fraud.

Shift in understanding towards scientific laws behind natural phenomena.

Transcripts

Hi I’m John Green and this is Crash Course European History.

So, in the first episode of this series, we talked about the significance of the year

1431.

Remember, that was the year Joan of Arc was burned to death for heresy and witchcraft

because the English were so bewildered that a teenage peasant girl could lead the French

army to victory that they decided she had to be a witch and a heretic.

And, you know, it was pretty bewildering that a random peasant girl somehow basically became

for a time the most important general in the most important war of the fifteenth century.

That said, just to state the obvious: Joan of Arc was not a witch.

But just as she benefited from superstitions and prophecies about mystically powerful women,

she was ultimately destroyed by fears of witchcraft and dark magic.

For the past four episodes, the world has been turned upside down in the century after

Joan’s trial and execution.

The Reformation, Commercial and Agricultural Revolutions, and Counter-Reformation were

each in their own way shaking social, and economic, and political, and religious structures.

Perhaps some witches could explain that turmoil.

INTRO So, for most of European history, and indeed

for most of world history, people believed in unseen powers that operated across their

world and in their individual lives.

Objects from nature could be healing or poisonous, working in unknown ways.

Like, Queen Elizabeth once received a ring that was supposed to protect her from the

plague.

Most towns had shamans, a “wise” man or woman, a wizard, a sorcerer, or another resident

who knew about potions, and poultices, and charms.

And look, Queen Elizabeth never got the plague, so it was easy to conclude that sometimes,

at least, this stuff worked!

As one bishop wrote in 1552, “When we be in trouble, or sickness, or lose anything,

we run hither and thither to witches or sorcerers, whom we call wise men, . . . seeking aid and

comfort at their hands.”

Other wise men could use eclipses, or sunspots, or comets and various natural phenomena to

predict momentous future events.

Like, earthquake tremors in Istanbul in 1648 for instance, were said to foretell the murder

of the sultan two months later, All these shamans, and fortune tellers, and

special healers were widely depicted in the many books now streaming from the printing

press—with stories that often strayed from reality.

The reading public seemed to revel in tales of witches: their special witches’ rites,

their antics and adventures, their sexual perversions, and their attacks on (and corruption

of) the innocent.

Jean Bodin was a famed and influential jurist who wrote about sovereignty—that is, the

nature of state power and authority—in this age of new monarchy and governmental consolidation.

He also famously wrote about witches and demonology in the vernacular so that a large group would

have access to his pieces.

And I think it’s important to note Bodin because his work underscores that in the sixteenth

and seventeenth centuries high-minded political theory of government and the everyday world

of witches co-existed.

I think this can be one of the great empathy barriers in history--it can be hard for some

of us to imagine a world where it was almost universally assumed that the hand of God and

the hand of the Devil were constantly shaping events both large and small.

But one of the discomforting things about humanity is the role luck or fate or however

you consider it plays in our lives, and we all have a desire for life to be a story that

makes sense.

Saying “Everything happens for a reason” is one way of doing that; saying, “Witches

did it” is another.

In some ways, history itself is an attempt to tell a story that makes sense--we’re

trying to find narratives amid an endlessly complicated web of forces and choices and

luck.

So I hope thinking about that can help you empathize a bit.

But back to witches: Art is another place we see a lot of witchcraft.

In grand baroque paintings, you can find devils, serpents, old hags, and other signs of evil

filtering across society.

Like, in Rubens' massive painting "Madonna on the Crescent Moon," featured at the altar

of the Cathedral of Freising, the entire left third displays devils, and demons, and the

serpent of sin for parishioners.

And "Council of the Gods," one of Rubens’ celebratory works on the life of Marie de

Medici, depicts a witch-like figure at the extreme right.

And it’s important to note that Rubens was working from images that had already been

around for a long time, in the form of black and white engravings of the devil and witches

in broadsheets and books.

So we know ideas about witches were plentiful.

But where did they actually originate?

The Bible doesn’t say much about them, though there is this prominent statement in Exodus

22:18: “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”

Popular culture, however, drew on pagan mythology, full of wily sorceresses and enchantresses

using love potions and charms to work their magic.

And people saw woodcuts of witches in flight or they heard about magicians on flying coats

or carpets or they went to healers and unexpectedly died.

But again, we look for stories that make sense, and it makes sense that a healer with their

medicinal potions, might also have access to poisonous or other dangerous potions.

So there were a few lines from the Bible, a growing collection of scary stories through

the Middle Ages, and then came Heinrich Kramer’s Witches’ Hammer (Malleus Malificarum) in

1487.

Kramer was a Dominican monk whose book was amazingly popular--for over a century, it

was the second bestselling book in Europe behind only the Bible, and the book argues

that Satan, due to the fact the Apocalypse is coming, has “caused a certain unusual

heretical perversity to grow up in the land of the Lord--a heresy, I say, of Sorceresses,

since it is to be designated by the particular gender of which he [Satan] is known to have

power.”

The book goes on to describe in detail the many evils of these mostly female practitioners

of witchcraft, and to advocate all-out war against them.

These days, Kramer’s book reads like aggressively misogynistic fantasy fiction--he writes that

women are “defective in all the powers of both soul and body” and claims that witches

were, among many other things, practicing cannibalism and causing male impotence.

Because of course if you have magical powers, that’s how you’re going to use them.

But at the time, Witches’ Hammer was tremendously influential.

The book was first approved, then disapproved by religious authorities.

But as Europeans engaged with pagan practices, Kramer’s witchcraft manifesto gave them

a new context.

Amid the religious, economic, and social challenges of these stressful centuries, the hunt for

witches accelerated and became lethal.

It’s really important to understand that the idea of witchcraft felt to many Christians

in the sixteenth century like a real threat.

Did the center of the world just open?

Is there a black cat in there?

Oh, it must be time for a PSA.

Hi!

I’m John Green.

This is not an evil cat!

It’s just a regular nice cat that happens to have one color of fur.

Don’t be mean to these cats.

These are great cats!

This one happens to be fake because Stan said I couldn’t put a real cat inside the globe.

Stan!

But that’s not the point.

The point is that this cat is not bad luck.

It is not involved in witchcraft.

It is a great cat.

Or, it would have been a great cat if Stan had let me use a real cat.

So, beginning in 1560 in villages and cities across Europe, a stream of supposedly demonic

incidents took place and a raft of persecutions followed.

Between 1560 and 1800, between 50,000 to 100,000 people were tried for witchcraft in the European

world.

Unlike Joan of Arc, most purported witches had little to do with the grand and tumultuous

events of those years.

Like Joan, the vast majority—approximately 80 percent--were women.

And like Joan, many were executed.

Almost all major works of demonology during these years were published in German or in

Latin with a German publisher—the Holy Roman Empire therefore was one major center of the

hunt for witches.

In 1564, judges for the town council of Augsberg, a city in the south of the German empire,

questioned the healer Anna Megerler when a boy she had cared for died of a wound.

While being intensely grilled, Megerler said that she had taught secret knowledge to the

mighty Anton Fugger, who was headquartered in Augsberg.

Fugger was financier to the Habsburgs and others.

Megerler said her supernatural knowledge had helped him prosper in finance, and that he

in turn had taught her about crystal ball-gazing.

The judges determined that it would create “complications” should they proceed further

with the inquiry, and her life was spared.

But many women were executed after being tortured into confessing--and Witches’ Hammer strenuously

argued that torture was an appropriate interrogation technique for potential witches.

Let’s go to the Thought Bubble.

1.

In around 1624, for instance, the slave and healer Paula de Eguiluz was tried in Spanish

Cuba for witchcraft.

2.

It was reported that she had killed a child by sucking on her navel;

3. she had also used other skills to devise a potion to help cure her master’s illness.

4.

Simultaneously Paula de Eguiluz knew the Lord’s Prayer and Ten Commandments,

5. went regularly to Sunday mass,

6. and faithfully made her confession even as she gained popularity for her shamanistic

healing of people.

7.

The lines between Christianity and paganism have never been bright or clear.

8.

The inquisitors in her first hearing condemned her to 200 lashes and ordered her to perform

charitable work.

9.

In her third hearing, she fully confessed to being in league with the devil and a witch

even as she continued to frame the use of her African healing knowledge as a Christian

act.

10.

By that time she had been convicted and ordered to be sent to government officials for execution

in a move that was cancelled only because she had popular support.

11.

But most women accused of witchcraft didn’t have the public on their side.

12.

Famously, nineteen convicted witches were hanged in the English colony of Salem, Massachusetts,

having initially been accused by young girls of causing their “fits.”

13.

Others died of torture and imprisonment in the Americas,

14.

but the majority of trials and executions took place in Europe,

15. where, historians believe, tens of thousands of women were executed for witchcraft in the

16th and 17th centuries.

Thanks, Thought Bubble.

[[TV: Midwife]] So, A lying-in-nurse--who took care of mothers and children in the post-pardum

period--was a common target for the accusation, because she dealt with especially vulnerable

people: a mother who had just given birth and her newborn infant.

Both had high mortality rates.

And the accused were often older women, those who had gone through menopause and who were

sometimes marginalized because they could no longer give birth to new community members.

Many were also widowed, perhaps isolated and without a strong network of support.

Once a person was seen as a viable suspect, she was turned over for torture, which was

usually carried out by the local hangman, who would also hang the suspect if she were

ultimately found guilty.

The suspect was stripped of clothing, shaved of bodily hair, so that the torturer could

minutely examine the body for all the diabolical signs that had come down in lore and then

been codified in various manuals and books of demonology.

Warts, moles, skin tags, hardened nipples, sagging breasts, and any purportedly diabolical

deformations were seen as important evidence.

And I just want to note that these are all things that happen to human bodies naturally

over time, so everyone who was older and female could be construed as a witch.

The hangman then applied torture at the direction of a council of examiners.

Knowing the accused person’s body intimately, he came to know it better by observing and

noting the kinds of torture and the victim’s reaction to each type.

Then as now, many tortured people would make false confessions, which in turn often led

to execution.

The widespread torture and execution are horrifying, and they speak to how profoundly afraid people

were of the devil and his influence.

In 1587, the story of Faust, a scholar who sells his soul to the devil, was first published.

And its themes were relevant to popular and high culture.

Because if a /scholar/ would sell his soul to the devil, who could be immune?

It was common knowledge that the devil was a trickster and a supreme illusionist, cloaked

in all kinds of magic that was difficult to detect or to separate from the normal, good

magic of the unseen world.

So in towns and cities, councils examined suspects often over a period of years, with

interrogations interspersed with torture and deliberations.

They would examine a suspect’s words, the stories she told, and the contradictions within

those stories.

They tried to discern who was in league with the devil and who was simply mentally disturbed

or a helpful healer or, you know, a victim of torture.

And these councils of notable men always had the last word, leading some historians to

believe that in times of difficulty and disorder, like the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,

men asserted control.

Other historians point to the concentrated focus on women and conclude that the accused

were the most vulnerable and often the most disrespected in society.

Moreover, women such as lying-in-nurses dealt with the most intimate matters of human existence,

especially new life, which was then fraught with danger--around half of all infants born

died before their fifth birthday, many in the first few days of life, and childbirth

was among the greatest threats to women’s lives.

Finally, others point out that women were the main victims because religious scripture

referred to the female body as the most impure and most vulnerable to evil.

Being seen as the most unclean, they were also seen as the most like the devil--tricksters

and agents of disorder.

The Witches’ Hammer makes this comparison explicit many, many times.

But no matter what conclusions you draw, it’s important to understand that sexism isn’t

just, like, bad in the abstract.

It is a system of power that oppresses people, and in these cases, many times kills them.

Between 1700 and 1750, the persecution of witches diminished, as the tide started to

turn against the practice.

French courts ordered the arrest of witch-hunters and the release of suspected witches.

In 1682, a French royal decree treated witchcraft as a fraud.

Perhaps the state had taken seriously Michel de Montaigne’s pronouncement from a century

earlier—almost unique at the time, by the way: “it is taking one’s conjectures rather

seriously to roast someone alive for them.”

By 1700, people had a more positive view of the divine and had relaxed their view that

the Devil’s hand was at work in everyday life or in natural disasters.

Although some religious authorities might still see misfortune as the work of the Devil,

others had a better understanding that there were scientific laws behind the operations

of nature.

More than that, the worst of the multifaceted religious and political turmoil was over and

questions of political order seemed less menacing.

We’ll discuss how these new understandings came about in the next few episodes.

Thanks for watching.

I’ll see you then.