History of witchcraft in the Middle Ages

The witchcraft in the Middle Ages It was a kind of religion that had many adherents, witches, devils and sorcerers, often encouraged against the Christian faith and to combat them there was no other way than to end their existence. Next, in this lesson from a TEACHER we will try to make a little summary on the history of witchcraft in the Middle Ages where, without a doubt, many of the mysterious beliefs about mystical beings, as well as a good part of the superstitions that we have today, come from medieval obscurantism.

Index

1. Witchcraft in the Middle Ages
2. Main characteristics of witchcraft
3. On the hunt for witches

We will begin our summary on the history of witchcraft in the Middle Ages by discovering the meaning of this word. You have to know that "witchcraft" is the name given to the set of beliefs, practical studies of supernatural powers and activities performed by certain people we call witches. The belief in them was common in many cultures, but the interpretations varied depending on the culture where it occurred.

In the Middle Ages, witchcraft was based on certain prejudices or presuppositions in which they believed that not only the witches, but the devil, the demon, the succubi, were real and had powers over the world. For example it was said that they could cure, produce and pass on diseases, cause heavy torrential rains damaging all crops or just the opposite, cause drought, make women and animals sterile, awaken love through potions, destroy it through spells... ultimately they could even cause death with just one look.

As for how to organize and perform spell practices, they were by means of ensembles or covens consisting of 12 members, in which all were women, except one leader, who was male, considered the one sent by the demon.

This as they appear in some famous pictorial representations such as Goya's Coven, He used to appear dressed in black or in a billy goat costume or any other animal bearing horns. They used to meet at least twice a week to carry out the cult rites, as well as information on the activities they could do and prepare for the next few weeks.

In this other lesson we will discover the importance of church in the Middle Ages.

According to those documented on the subject of witchcraft, some of the main characteristics were the following:

The flight with sticks, animals, or with the help of ointments

People say that witches used to fly to covens and that the most frequent medium as it has come to us today it was the broom.

The symbolism of this has been interpreted in different ways, for some it is a phallic symbol related to the alleged promiscuity of witches. Others, that the broom was the place to store the ointments.

To those who defend that those flights were physical and other products of a dream related to drug use, among which the belladonna and henbane stand out.

Encounters and pacts with the devil at night: Coven or Sabbath

Anyone who was accused of witchcraft was related to him. having made a pact with the devilFor this, the witches' meetings were held, that is, the covens or sabats. In them, the devil was in charge of pointing out the witch, who she promised to renounce the Christian faith, to worship him and in return she would receive some supernatural powers.

Metamorphosis and black magic

There was something common in all cultures linked to the theme of witchcraft and it is transformation into animals, but as we have said at the beginning of the topic, the interpretations vary in different cultures, for example, in the culture of the north of Europe, the animal in which it was transformed used to be a black cat, and in the case of South American cultures in birds, among which we highlight the chonchón.

With respect to black magic, was performed through spells, and its aims were totally evil, among which we highlight the fact of making a person die with the transfer of some mortal disease.

And we finish this summary on the history of witchcraft in the Middle Ages to talk about the witch hunt. So many were affected as time passed in the Medieval Age that, especially in those small towns where there was no type of authority, the same inhabitants were in charge of killing those they suspected of some kind of sacrilege.

In those territories where an authority did exist, this was in charge of judging the witch or the witch and, Depending on what it had done, either they imposed the payment of compensation or directly the they killed. Although there were laws that prohibited people from killing others simply because they were suspects, they disobeyed, and above all it was women who killed.

Current studies have shown that throughout the Middle Ages more than 100,000 were convicted and around 50,000 executed.

If you want to read more articles similar to History of Witchcraft in the Middle Ages - Summary, we recommend that you enter our category of Story.