European witchcraft can be traced back to

classical antiquity Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural History of Europe, European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the inter ...

, when magic and religion were closely entwined. During the

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

era of

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

, there were laws against harmful magic. After

Christianization Christianization (or Christianisation) is a term for the specific type of change that occurs when someone or something has been or is being converted to Christianity. Christianization has, for the most part, spread through missions by individu ...

, the medieval Catholic Church began to see witchcraft (''maleficium'') as a blend of

black magic Black magic (Middle English: ''nigromancy''), sometimes dark magic, traditionally refers to the use of Magic (paranormal), magic or supernatural powers for evil and selfish purposes. The links and interaction between black magic and religi ...

and

apostasy Apostasy (; ) is the formal religious disaffiliation, disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that is contrary to one's previous re ...

involving a pact with the Devil. During the

early modern period The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

, witch hunts became widespread in Europe, partly fueled by religious tensions, societal anxieties, and economic upheaval. European belief in witchcraft gradually dwindled during and after the

Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment (also the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment) was a Europe, European Intellect, intellectual and Philosophy, philosophical movement active from the late 17th to early 19th century. Chiefly valuing knowledge gained th ...

. One text that shaped the witch-hunts was the ''

Malleus Maleficarum The ''Malleus Maleficarum'', usually translated as the ''Hammer of Witches'', is the best known treatise about witchcraft. It was written by the German Catholic Church, Catholic clergyman Heinrich Kramer (under his Latinisation of names, Latini ...

'', a 1486 treatise that provided a framework for identifying, prosecuting, and punishing witches. During the 16th and 17th centuries, there was a wave of witch trials across Europe, resulting in tens of thousands of executions and many more prosecutions. Usually, accusations of witchcraft were made by neighbours and followed from social tensions. Accusations were most often made against women, the elderly, and marginalized individuals. Women made accusations as often as men. The common people believed that magical healers (called ' cunning folk' or 'wise people') could undo bewitchment. These magical healers were sometimes denounced as harmful witches themselves, but seem to have made up a minority of the accused. This dark period of history reflects the confluence of

superstition A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic (supernatural), magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly app ...

, fear, and authority, as well as the societal tendency of

scapegoating Scapegoating is the practice of singling out a person or group for unmerited blame and consequent negative treatment. Scapegoating may be conducted by individuals against individuals (e.g., "he did it, not me!"), individuals against groups (e.g ...

. A feminist interpretation of the witch trials is that

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against Woman, women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than Man, men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been wide ...

led to the association of women and malevolent witchcraft.

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

also had witchcraft trials during the 17th century. Witches were often accused of sorcery and engaging in supernatural activities, leading to their

excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in Koinonia, communion with other members o ...

and execution. The blending of

ecclesiastical {{Short pages monitor * {{cite book , last=Waite , first=Gary K. , title=Heresy, Magic and Witchcraft in early modern Europe , publisher=Palgrave Macmillan , year=2003{{ISBN? * {{cite journal , last=Worobec , first=Christine D. , title=Witchcraft Beliefs and Practices in Prerevolutionary Russian and Ukrainian Villages , journal=The Russian Review , volume=54 , year=1995 , issue=2 , pages=165–187, doi=10.2307/130913 , jstor=130913 {{refend

External links

* {{In Our Time, Witchcraft, p004y2b0, Witchcraft
Wicca, Witchcraft or Paganism?
at ''Learnreligions.com''
Witchcraft and Wicca
at the '' CUNY Academic Commons''
University of Edinburgh's Scottish witchcraft database
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326033737/http://www.shc.ed.ac.uk/Research/witches/ , date=2023-03-26 {{Witchcraft

Witchcraft Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meanin ...

Religious controversies Sociology of religion Superstitions of Europe