''The Burning Times'' is a 1990

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

documentary, presenting a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

account of the Early Modern European witchcraft trials.''Toronto Globe and Mail'', June 12, 1991 ''"Religion"'' by Jack Kapica, "Review of The Burning Times" transcribed at http://www.debunker.com/texts/burning_times.html retrieved on August 24, 2006 It was directed by Donna Read and written by Erna Buffie, and features interviews with

and

Neopagan Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, is a term for a religion or family of religions influenced by the various historical pre-Christian beliefs of pre-modern peoples in Europe and adjacent areas of North Afric ...

notables, such as

Starhawk Starhawk (born Miriam Simos on June 17, 1951) is an American feminist and author. She is known as a theorist of feminist Neopaganism and ecofeminism. In 2013, she was listed in Watkins' ''Mind Body Spirit'' magazine as one of the 100 Most Spir ...

Margot Adler Margot Susanna Adler (April 16, 1946 – July 28, 2014) was an American author, journalist, lecturer, Wiccan priestess, and New York correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR). Early life Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Adler grew up mostly ...

, and

Matthew Fox Matthew Chandler Fox (born July 14, 1966) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Charlie Salinger on ''Party of Five'' (1994–2000) and Jack Shephard on the drama series ''Lost'' (2004–2010), the latter of which earned him ...

. ''The Burning Times'' is the second film in the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

's ''Women and Spirituality'' series, following '' Goddess Remembered'' (1989) and preceding '' Full Circle'' (1993). The opening and closing theme music, composed by

Loreena McKennitt Loreena Isobel Irene McKennitt, (born February 17, 1957) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer who writes, records, and performs world music with Celtic and Middle Eastern influences. McKennitt is known for her ...

, was released as the track titled "Tango to Evora" on her 1991 album '' The Visit''.

Criticism

Numbers of women killed

In the film, Thea Jensen calls this period in history a "Women's Holocaust". She notes that a total number of victims is unknown but that the high number often given is nine million deaths, over a period of 300 or more years. Otherwise, scholarly "high" estimates range around 100,000, with estimates around 60,000 more common. The nine million figure, according to modern scholarship, originates with a 1784 article by

Gottfried Christian Voigt Gottfried Christian Voigt (1740–1791, pronunciation ) was an 18th-century German law clerk of Quedlinburg, scholar and antiquarian, author of a 1791 "History of Quedlinburg Abbey" (''Geschichte des Stifts Quedlinburg''). He is known as the sou ...

, in which he estimates the figure of 9,442,994 executions between AD 600 and 1700 - a period of 1,100 years - unsupported by any evidence.Adler has since claimed that the figure is untenable: "We now know that most persecutions of witches occurred during a 100-year period, between 1550 and 1650, and the total number hanged or burned probably did not exceed 40,000.

he continues "...it serves no end to perpetuate the miscalculation; it's time to put away the exaggerated numbers forever.

Criticisms of the Catholic Church

According to

William Donohue William Anthony Donohue (born July 18, 1947) is an American Roman Catholic who has been president of the Catholic League (U.S.), Catholic League in the United States since 1993. Life and career Donohue was born in the borough of Manhattan in ...

and

Robert Eady The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

of the

Catholic Civil Rights League The Catholic Civil Rights League is a Canadian lay Catholic organization which makes statements in the media about Catholicism and which lobbies the government and takes part in court cases to advocate policies in line with its interpretation of ...

, the movie is inaccurate in other respects, ''e.g.'', placing

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

instead of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and dating a stone cross there that is recorded to have been erected in 958 AD to 1132 AD without further explanation. The cross is shown as a "symbol of a new religious cult that was sweeping across Europe," despite Christian presence since 286. Eady, a member of the League in Canada, has cited the film in a complaint to broadcast regulators, in particular mentioning offense at the movie's quote: "it took the Church two hundred years of terror and death to transform the image of paganism into devil worship, and folk culture into heresy." Eady describes the documentary as propaganda intended to represent the Christian Church as "a wicked, patriarchal,

misogynist Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...

institution". Jack Kapica adds "Women have genuine grievances with the Church. ''The Burning Times'', however, is not going to help their cause."

References

External links

''The Burning Times''
at the

(requires

Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia Computing platform, software platform used for production of Flash animation, animations, rich web applications, application software, desktop applications, mobile apps, mo ...

) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burning Times, The 1990 films National Film Board of Canada documentaries Early Modern witch hunts 1990s feminist films Documentary films about violence against women Films about Wicca 1990 documentary films 1990s supernatural films 1990s in modern paganism 1990s English-language films 1990s Canadian films