The
Catholic Church's mandated hunting of those practicing
witchcraft during the
Middle Ages. Practicing the so-called "
Dark Arts"--
black magic,
sorcery,
herb collecting--all constituted potential witchery. These acts apparently flew in the face of
Christian beliefs at the time, and hence, were deemed criminal. Punishments differed throughout Europe, and many of the facts of what actually happened in this era are still in question.
Still, there is no doubt. Christians throughout Europe during the Middle Ages overwhelmingly believed witches existed and most believed extermination was in order. Thousands of those merely suspected of practicing witchcraft were killed. While the name "Burning Times" may give the appearance of death at the stake, few were actually executed with the method. Most died by hanging. Although the Catholic Church now admits that religious persecutions did occur, the extent to which they happened have been exaggerated. However, the Church was directly responsible for the hysteria. Pope Clement IV decreed torture usage as fair and just in 1265. In 1474, Pope Innocent VIII issued a Papal bull condemning witches.
The witch hunts themselves probably began as a way to maintain retention rates for the Catholic Church. With the Protestant/Catholic Church split, the Church needed a way to encourage its members to not depart. To create a sense of devotion to Catholicism, churches rallied their congregations to fight the "scourge" of witchery. Feeling as if they were part of a cause, church-goers were less likely to switch faiths on a whim.
Witch hunts really started to pick up in Europe in the fifteenth century. Based on the most circumstantial of evidence, thousands were sentenced to death for their ways. Various published books stated that witchcraft, did indeed, exist and that it posed a very real threat to the people. With the passing of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, witch tracking slowed down. However, the Catholic Church did not officially decree witch executions to stop until the 1830’s.
Amazingly, forms of anti-Wiccan sentiment still exist in the worst kinds of ways. In 1999, one Reverend Jack Harvey, pastor of Tabernacle Independent Baptist Church in Killeen, TX warned his congregation that witches still exist that "drink blood, eat babies". They have fires, they probably cook them..." Furthermore, he called for all witches on the nearby U.S. Army post to be napalmed.
Barry Shlachter, "Bothered and bewildered; Wiccans at Hood shrug off media hubbub," Fort Worth Star Telegram, August 7, 1999.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_burn.htm
http://www.rowensgrimoire.com/appendixes/history.html
Saved by the The Old Node Revival Squad.