Preview

Witch Hunts During the Protestant Reformation

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1350 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Witch Hunts During the Protestant Reformation
DBQ 2: Witch Hunts during the Protestant Reformation
!

The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century did something revolutionary

to religion; it brought people back to the scriptures, teaching them to read the Bible for themselves instead of simply accepting the Church’s interpretation. Martin Luther, John
Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli and other Protestant Reformers denounced certain Church doctrines and practices because they were not found in scripture; the selling of indulgences, certain sacraments, and even the existence of the Pope were called into question. This return to scripture had an unintended consequence, however: people began to pick out certain passages in the Bible and interpret them literally, at times applying them to everyday life in violent ways. One vivid example of this phenomena is the explosion of witch hunting in the late fifteenth through seventeenth centuries. The inflamed religious population created by the Reformation and the discovery of evidence in Scripture to support the existence of witches fueled a hysteria surrounding witch hunting that couldn’t be stopped.
!

During the Reformation, Luther and other reformers stripped religion of its rituals

and brought passion into it, making it a personal journey and relationship rather than a cycle of mass, traditions and ceremonies. Every person had the ability to be in touch with God, and to feel God, and to understand God, which brought religion into people’s lives in a whole new way. In the fashion of the Age of Faith, people began to use superstitions and religious ideas to explain natural events, such as disease, death and illness. They cited scripture; the Devil was in everything evil, they would reason, and death is evil, so the Devil must be involved. An example of such behavior is the case of

Walpurga Hausmannin, a widow who worked for a man in the community named Hans
Schlumperger after the death of her husband. She was accused of young infant’s

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Salem Witch Trials begin in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. It was a series of chazak using men and women practicing witchcraft with led to a lot of conflict among the people in the Village of Salem. Many people were scared because they did not want to be accused of practicing witchcraft. This event led to many Family Feud's and religious Fanatics and people constantly living in fear. Although there are many women who are on trial for practicing witchcraft are also men who were accused of witchcraft. Over 200 people were accused of Witchcraft and about 140 to 150 people were arrested. There are 19 people who are hanged and one was tortured to death. If someone is that they would have to go in front of a judge and also tried in court and it…

    • 267 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Act Three Questions Directions On a separate sheet of paper, please answer each part of each question asked below. Please use complete sentences and please answer the question as asked. 1. As the act opens, who is being interrogated and on what charge Martha Corey is being interrogated by Judge Hathorne on the charge of telling fortunes (witchery). 2. What is interesting about the dialogue at the beginning of this act What was Miller trying to suggest about the tone of the legal proceedings to follow This indirect dialogue (off stage / only heard, not seen) suggests that although people will talk / be heard, the truth will not be seen / acknowledged. 3. What is Mary Warren now prepared to tell the court Mary Warren is prepared to the court that the girls have only been sporting, or pretending. They honestly have never seen or known a witch and theyve only lied to protect themselves by throwing suspicion on others. 4. What two facts about John Proctor does Ezekiel Cheever feel compelled to reveal to Danforth Ezekiel Cheever feels compelled to tell Deputy Governor Danforth that John tore up the arrest warrant for Elizabeth when Cheever served it and that Proctor sometimes plows on Sunday. 5. What compromise, or deal, does Danforth offer to Proctor What is Proctors response Why does he respond this way Because Elizabeth claims that she is pregnant, Danforth offers to not try her until after shes delivered her child if Proctor will drop the charge against the court that the proceedings have been unjust. Proctor said that he could not accept that plea because his friends wives, who are also innocent, have been charged and they need to be freed. He feels that the truth needs to come out to protect all of the innocent people. 6. How do Hathorne and Parris persuade Danforth to respond to the deposition that lists ninety-one supporters of Rebecca, Elizabeth, and Martha Corey Hathorne and Parris persuade Danforth that all of the ninety-one supporters must be…

    • 1850 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Salem Witch Trials are known as a series of people being accused and prosecuted of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts beginning in February 1692 until May 1693. The trials began after a group of girls claimed that they were possessed by the devil. Several local women were accused of witchcraft and this began the wave of hysteria that would forever haunt Salem and leave a painful legacy for a long time to come. Nearly every major school of historians has attempted to explain the answer to the mystery of the trials, trying to understand why they occurred. From Marxists who blame class conflict, to Freudians who believe in mass hysteria, the more ecologically based historians who put the blame on hallucinogenic ergot fungus, and now more…

    • 322 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The people of Salem were being killed in a whole different manner. Why was this happening, and what was the cause?In Salem, 1692, people were being accused for being witches and for practicing witchcraft. In Salem, at this time people were being hanged for something that didn’t exist. Back then, they didn’t know about fairy tales so when ever they did something wrong they would blame the devil that had entered their body. the Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692 were caused by jealousy,paranormia, and, the teenagers.…

    • 436 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The belief in witchcraft, or supernatural actions and the devil’s ability to give certain humans the power to harm others, in return for their loyalty, had been a part of traditional village culture in Europe since the 14th century. (history.com) The Salem witch trials took place between 1692 and 1693 in colonial Massachusetts. Two hundred people were accused of witchcraft and twenty people were executed. (smithsonianmag.com)…

    • 74 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Witches are known to be very dangerous, evil, and made deals with the devil. They were even killed, tortured and jailed, but nowadays we treat them completely differently. We invite them into our house, give them candy, and strike conversations with them, that is at least on halloween. In the late 1600s many older men and women were being caught as being “witches” in Salem, Massachusetts.These witch trials were being caused by young girls who were pretending just to get ergotism, attention, and eventually after one lie they got out control really quickly.…

    • 635 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    POV people: Other religions, such as Catholicism, Judaism, and Puritanism, were suppressed and people were complacent and spiritually “dry”. Religion became something of a pastime in which people would “go through the motions” during religious services without deeply-felt convictions of the heart and soul.…

    • 667 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The witch trials supply Reverend Parris in numerous key ways. Initially he was frightened that any indication of witchcraft be established in his home; he has been the Reverend after all, has not been establishing in effectively with the community. If it was established that it was his home that was the origin of witchcraft, he would end up being unemployed. However, it eventually ends up in his favor. As soon as witchcraft is found in his home, and his niece, daughter as well as his servant admit, out of blue they are all viewed as angels and saviors, come to save the city from the devil. Therefore, people actually began liking Parris and his family.…

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Witch Trials in Germany

    • 1475 Words
    • 6 Pages

    To what extent can the high concentration of witch trials in the German states be explained by political and religious tension?…

    • 1475 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Premodern Religion

    • 1547 Words
    • 7 Pages

    During the pre-modern age there was perhaps no larger an aspect of everyday life than religion. Today’s day and age is a stark contrast, as religion has for the most part taken a backseat in importance. From the pre-modern age to now, religion has changed completely. Pre-modern religion held political power locally, and all across Europe. Today religion holds a mostly spiritual power for the truly devout. This essay will discover the role and importance that religion played in the pre-modern age, and how it permeated the lives of those living in it.…

    • 1547 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Dbq Witch Hunt

    • 1683 Words
    • 7 Pages

    As you have heard, witch legends credited the accused of some pretty extravagant and crazy things. Witchcraft and Sorcery were serious crimes and as such, had both serious trial procedures and very grave consequences. The people persecuting them, Inquisitors and lead hunters were well respected and thought be to doing good work. All of Europe had Witch trials and witch hunts. (And very famously, so did Salem Massachusetts.) I am going to talk to you a little bit about how two specific countries hunted and tried those accused of maleficium.…

    • 1683 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The early modern European period saw the phenomenon of the witch-hunt manifest. The rationale behind this was to stop the perceived threat from those who would not conform and accept subordination. Essentially the witch-hunt served as a repressive form against individuals that threatened the patriarchal balance of hegemony. It was a social wielding of power to oppress those who did not feed tradition and those who were not circled by the restraint of society. Women fell disproportionately in the category of those accused of witchcraft, and it follows that the tropes attached to a witch largely surround female sexuality but extend to individuals who usurped social norms. The witch-hunt is enshrined in misogynistic connotations and is a seemingly…

    • 181 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Should witches be able to torment and anathematize English colonists without being punished? A Defense of the Salem Witch Trials provides reasons why eliminating witches out of the English colonists’ land was not only acceptable but also required to rid the area of the devil. On the other hand, An Attack on the Salem Witch Trials discussed the terrors in ridding the land of devilish spirits. The author of A Defense of the Salem Witch Trials, Cotton Mather, was a leading minister in Boston at the time of the trials (Dudley 26). Thomas Brattle, author of An Attack on the Salem Witch Trials, was an eye-catching merchant also from Boston (Dudley 29). By providing information from confessions as well as specific evidence from the trials themselves, Cotton Mather made a strong argument in supporting the Salem Witch Trials.…

    • 584 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The environment which in persecution takes place is this era of witchcraft equals death. It seems if just one accuser is calming you are a witch, rather the accusation is right or wrong; the accused is damned without any means of retreat. Currently, witchcraft does not have that type of concrete structure with charges, and it’s merely just gossip. Modern times compared to the world in the source is focused on liberal justice factual claims, and evidence is required to support a criminal accusation. A person will not receive any criminal charges, or a death penalty if they are accused of being a witch. The ordinary people of this era would not have appreciated the context of this book because the majority believed in blaming witchcraft without a justified cause. Comparing the circumstance with the sources reveals several common denominators expressed in the Europe-Atlantic world. One of the primary objectives with this era connected to the source is to gain peace. Excerpts from Perspectives from the past describe the chaos circumstances producing the need for peace with the report about the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in 1572, and the Peace Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. Including the essay Of Cannibals by Michele Eyquem De Montaigne, the writings of…

    • 966 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Religious Reflection Paper

    • 1040 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In terms of academic study, what did you learn about the Bible that was new to you?…

    • 1040 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays