10:41:00 3/21/2007 PM Lecture 17: The European Witch Persecution Medieval theory Concept of witchcraft that led to the state, executing people. Idea that if you sunk, you were not a witch At certain moments, huge amounts of women were put to death. o As soon as the they started executing men, they stopped it The theoretical legal grounds was prepared earlier than the witch persecution itself. o 100 years that encompasses largely the 17 th century o one of the greatest last ones were the Salem witch trials. One of the important things about the whole persecution of witches had to do with torture...clearly led to all kinds of confessions. Torture always led to some kind of confession and if it didn't lead to confession, the torture could be physically destructive. Torture wasn't always physical Experts on pain, People were usually not on the first instance tortured. They were first told that they were going to be tortured...a psychological game until they are confronted with the torture instruments Only then will they be tortured...it goes in stages Torture had many levels, the idea of light torture is a contradiction in terms...because it's always with a threat of a heavier torture. Whole culture of torture cannot be understood except as in a sense conceptually the whole thing Canons were lists of legal constructs published in grand compilation by a famous legal scholar called Gratians, one of the most important people in the revival of Roman law. List of canons of legal principle. Wicked women whose mind had been perverted Getting people to believe in some non Christian reality....it was a form of heresy False people and convincing other people of a false belief Power could come from God alone
"such phantasms are imposed on the minds of infidels and not by the divine but by the malignant spirit" Satan essentially deludes the mind. Finally, whoever believes such things loses the faith. Canon condemns people who believe in any kind of real transformation of a witch's Sabbath and dance and so forth... This was the dominant position of the church, lawyers Witchcraft was a delusion of the mind. This was believed in the 12 th century. St. Tomas Aquinas: Suma contra Gentiles and Summer Theologica Philosophers are not necessarily non delusional How demons could influence human actions How did they work? He attacked the Canon Episcopi- he's saying people know the difference b/n reality and dreaming...built on knowledge on Aristotalian ideas on how we make distinctions in our minds through our senses Magic actually existed...but how does it work? Words, weren't essentially communicative Words, signs addressed to natural things, but only to some intelligence Any kind of magical activity is directed to bad ends... such as adultery, or theft, or murder. Magic and witchcraft always involved communication with evil spirits and the devil....that all attempts to use words, to carry out magic was communicative and directed to evil spirits o To cause sexual A imputence. great deal on the early discussion had precisely to do with sexual activity and sexual fantasy. Impotence, inability to carry out the sexual act Sexuality always plays a very important role in witchcraft The legal formulations...into the crime of heresy The move here is a under-swelling of sexuality & and direct understanding that the witch is a heretic. Written by two Dominicans book that gave all answers to witches
dominant mindset of theologians, priests, legal scholars, professors of law and theology...throughout Europe. Published in latin, in an English translation Witchcraft was understood as high treason against God's majesty. o Because of the heinousness of the crime, witches could be tortured o One of the most fundamental aspects of law, was that you had to have a witness of a confession to a crime. You could not be tortured without either of these two things We are at a particular crisis and multiples heresies Because we are at a massive struggle Massive conspiracy that is shaking the foundations of the world as they lived it. o Grand understanding of the history of the world: because of that, we can take exceptional means. o Witchcraft was seen as the vilest, the most evil, the worst o Theologians and the lawyers viewed witchcraft as the "exceptional crime" Circular kind of argument If you're accused of being a witch, then you must have made this compact...how do we find out about it? o Movement of many crimes in the 16th century joust b/n accuser and the accused Early medieval times, you slug it out It was settled by somebody killing the other person. Now you can accuse somebody by having people go do the investigations: you accuse someone, and if they deny it. State takes it over Prosecutor became a non interested person Various famines, diseases, came to be seen as punishment from God Idea of the pact, involved an idea of personal responsibility for the bad things that happened to the community.
One of the great legal thinkers was Jean Bodin (1580)- most widely read legal scholar Were all the learned men of the day For example, wrote a book, directed to those who casted out the existence of witches He stressed the knowledge had been gained by very patient empirical work Witchcraft was a crime against God o God would only respond with wrath o Duty of the state was to appease God's wrath. o Implication of everyone and the sins of individuals was essential to his way of thinking. o Esp. if the crime is against the majesty of God (get quote from the outlilne) Popular and learned culture o Witchcraft and magic were alternative forms of power When expected, that a village leader, or king had powers. People could affect others unwillingly...the idea of the evil eye...is an everyday activity.
You didn't name a child until he/she was baptized. During the 16th century, learned forms of witchcraft drove out all competing notions. Understood that you would be called out to fight witches.