|
Protests Against Early Modern Witch Trials
Throughout the era of the European witch trials in the Early Modern period, from the 15th to the 18th century, there were protests against both the belief in witches and the trials. Even those protestors who believed in witchcraft were typically sceptical about its actual occurrence. Forms of protest Legal Various objections to the witch hunts were raised on the basis of their abuses of the law. Andrea Alciato (1515) and Johann Weyer (1563) both objected that torture could lead to false confessions. Johann Georg Gödelmann (1591) objected to legal abuses and improper methods of trial, while Friedrich Spee (1631) argued that there was no empirical evidence for allegations of witchcraft, even self-confessed. In 1635 Roman Inquisition acknowledged that "the Inquisition has found scarcely one trial conducted legally". In the middle of the 17th century, the difficulty in proving witchcraft according to legal process contributed to the councilors of Rothenburg ob der Tauber (German), fol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Witch Trials In The Early Modern Period
Witch trials in the early modern period saw that between 1400 to 1782, around 40,000 to 60,000 were killed due to suspicion that they were practicing witchcraft. Some sources estimate that a total of 100,000 trials occurred at its maximum for a similar period. Groundwork on the concept of witchcraft (a person's collaboration with the devil through the use of magic) was developed by Christian theologians as early as the 13th century. However, prosecutions for the practice of witchcraft would only reach a highpoint from 1560 to 1630 during the Counter-Reformation and the European wars of religion, with some regions burning those who were convicted at the stake, of whom roughly 80% were women,, mostly over the age of 40. Medieval background Christian doctrine Throughout the medieval era, mainstream Christian doctrine had denied the belief in the existence of witches and witchcraft, condemning it as a pagan superstition. Some have argued that the work of the Dominican Thomas Aquin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gianfrancesco Ponzinibio
Gianfrancesco Ponzinibio () was a European jurist who criticized the relatively new change in Christian doctrine that had become popular in the 15th century especially among Dominican Order, Dominican inquisitors and that espoused a belief in the real supernatural power of witchcraft. Ponzinibio argued in favor of maintaining the ancient Christian theology as stated in the Canon Episcopi, canon ''Episcopi''. Ponzinibio's views soon came under attack by witch-phobic theologians like the Dominican Sylvester Mazzolini, Silvestro Mozzolino of Prierio (later Dominican General) who in 1521 published a work that did not attempt to defy the canon ''Episcopi'' but stating his opinion that to deny the real power of witchcraft would be "to discredit the infinite number of cases tried by the Inquisition, and consequently to discredit the laws themselves." Other critics of Ponzinibio soon followed including Bartolomeo de Spina, who devoted three tracts to refuting Ponzinibio's arguments and cal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Witchcraft
Belief in witchcraft in Europe can be traced to classical antiquity and has continuous history during the Middle Ages, culminating in the Early Modern witch trials and giving rise to the fairy tale and popular culture "witch" stock character of modern times, as well as to the concept of the "modern witch" in Wicca and related movements of contemporary witchcraft. In medieval and early modern Europe, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have used magic to cause harm and misfortune to members of their own community. Witchcraft was seen as immoral and often thought to involve communion with evil beings, such as a "Deal with the Devil". It was believed witchcraft could be thwarted by protective magic or counter-magic, which could be provided by the cunning folk. Suspected witches were also intimidated, banished, attacked or lynched. Often they would be formally prosecuted and punished if found guilty. European witch-hunts and witch trials in the early modern peri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skepticism
Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the person doubts that these claims are accurate. In such cases, skeptics normally recommend not disbelief but suspension of belief, i.e. maintaining a neutral attitude that neither affirms nor denies the claim. This attitude is often motivated by the impression that the available evidence is insufficient to support the claim. Formally, skepticism is a topic of interest in philosophy, particularly epistemology. More informally, skepticism as an expression of questioning or doubt can be applied to any topic, such as politics, religion, or pseudoscience. It is often applied within restricted domains, such as morality ( moral skepticism), atheism (skepticism about the existence of God), or the supernatural. Some theorists distinguish "good" or moder ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christina Rauscher
Christina Rauscher (1570-1618) was a German official and critic of witchcraft persecutions. Life Christina Rauscher was the daughter of the rich textile merchant and brewer Martin Gerber of Horb and Anna Kurner, and the rich hotelier Horber Johann Rauscher of Innsbruck. In 1604, she was arrested and accused of witchcraft following political conflicts between the political elite families of the city. She was subjected to torture which caused her to have a miscarriage and held for about a year, but resisted torture and did not confess to anything. Her spouse and family protested against her arrest, and eventually managed to secure her release. She sued the city government for her arrest. She was given the support of Archduke Maximilian Ernest of Austria, who in 1609 appointed her special independent government commissionaire ('Regierungskommissarin') with the authority to intervene in any legal crime made during the witchcraft persecutions. While there was no formal law against the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michel De Montaigne
Michel Eyquem, Sieur de Montaigne ( ; ; 28 February 1533 – 13 September 1592), also known as the Lord of Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularizing the essay as a literary genre. His work is noted for its merging of casual anecdotes and autobiography with intellectual insight. Montaigne had a direct influence on numerous Western writers; his massive volume ''Essais'' contains some of the most influential essays ever written. During his lifetime, Montaigne was admired more as a statesman than as an author. The tendency in his essays to digress into anecdotes and personal ruminations was seen as detrimental to proper style rather than as an innovation, and his declaration that "I am myself the matter of my book" was viewed by his contemporaries as self-indulgent. In time, however, Montaigne came to be recognized as embodying, perhaps better than any other author of his time, the spirit of freely entertain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Humorism
Humorism, the humoral theory, or humoralism, was a system of medicine detailing a supposed makeup and workings of the human body, adopted by Ancient Greek and Roman physicians and philosophers. Humorism began to fall out of favor in the 1850s with the advent of germ theory, which was able to show that many diseases previously thought to be humoral were in fact caused by microbes. Origin The concept of "humors" (chemical systems regulating human behaviour) became more prominent from the writing of medical theorist Alcmaeon of Croton (c. 540–500 BC). His list of humors was longer and included fundamental elements described by Empedocles, such as water, air, earth, fire, etc.. The concept of "humors" may have origins in Ancient Egyptian medicine, or Mesopotamia, though it was not systemized until ancient Greek thinkers. The word ''humor'' is a translation of Greek χυμός, ''chymos'' (literally juice or sap, metaphorically flavor). Ancient Indian Ayurveda medicine had deve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pierre Pigray
Pierre Pigray was a French surgeon born in Paris in 1531. He was a student of the famous surgeon, Ambroise Paré before qualifying as a master surgeon in 1564. In addition to his service to the wounded in the Battle of Dreux (1562), Pigray was best known for being the surgeon-in-ordinary to King Charles IX, King Henri III, and King Henri IV Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch .... He died 16 October 1613. References * Francis R. Packard, Life and Times of Ambroise Pare (New York: Paul B. Hoeber, 1921) 253. {{Authority control 16th-century French physicians ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cornelius Loos
Cornelius Loos (1546 – February 3, 1595), also known as Cornelius Losaeus Callidius, was a Roman Catholic priest, theologian, and professor of theology. He was the first Catholic official to write publicly against the witch trials raging throughout Europe from the 1580s to the 1590s. For this, he was imprisoned and forced to recant; his work was confiscated and suppressed by church officials. His manuscript was lost for almost 300 years. It was discovered in the Jesuit Library of Trier in 1886 by an American historian, George Lincoln Burr. Life Cornelius Loos was born in 1546 in Gouda. He was from a patrician family and studied Philosophy and Theology at what is today known as the Catholic University of Leuven. In 1574, Loos and his family were forced to leave for political reasons (primarily the capture of the city by Protestant/nationalist rebels during the Dutch Revolt). After he was ordained as a priest, he was awarded a Doctor of Theology degree in 1578 at the University o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Calvin
John Calvin (; frm, Jehan Cauvin; french: link=no, Jean Calvin ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism, including its doctrines of predestination and of God's absolute sovereignty in the salvation of the human soul from death and eternal damnation. Calvinist doctrines were influenced by and elaborated upon the Augustinian and other Christian traditions. Various Congregational, Reformed and Presbyterian churches, which look to Calvin as the chief expositor of their beliefs, have spread throughout the world. Calvin was a tireless polemicist and apologetic writer who generated much controversy. He also exchanged cordial and supportive letters with many reformers, including Philipp Melanchthon and Heinrich Bullinger. In addition to his seminal ''Institutes of the Christian Religion'', Calvin wro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canon Episcopi
The title canon ''Episcopi'' (or ''capitulum Episcopi'') is conventionally given to a certain passage found in medieval canon law. The text possibly originates in an early 10th-century penitential, recorded by Regino of Prüm; it was included in Gratian's authoritative Corpus juris canonici of c. 1140 (''Decretum Gratiani'', causa 26, quaestio 5, canon 12) and as such became part of canon law during the High Middle Ages. It is an important source on folk belief and surviving pagan customs in Francia on the eve of the formation of the Holy Roman Empire. The folk beliefs described in the text reflect the residue of pre-Christian beliefs about one century after the Carolingian Empire had been Christianized. It does not believe witchcraft to be a real physical manifestation; this was an important argument used by the opponents of the witch trials during the 16th century, such as Johann Weyer. The conventional title "canon ''Episcopi''" is based on the text's incipit, and was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Witchcraft
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have used malevolent magic against their own community, and often to have communed with evil beings. It was thought witchcraft could be thwarted by protective magic or counter-magic, which could be provided by cunning folk or folk healers. Suspected witches were also intimidated, banished, attacked or killed. Often they would be formally prosecuted and punished, if found guilty or simply believed to be guilty. European witch-hunts and witch trials in the early modern period led to tens of thousands of executions. In some regions, many of those accused of witchcraft were folk healers or midwives. European belief in witchcraft gradually dwindled during and after the Age of Enlightenment. Contemporary cultures that believe in magic and the superna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
