The Witch Trials in Salem
the witches of history attribute to them elements of the folklore witch, the charmer, the cunning man
or wise woman, the diviner and the astrologer.
Powers typically attributed to European witches include turning food poisonous or inedible,
flying on broomsticks or pitchforks, casting spells, cursing people, making livestock ill and crops fail,
and creating fear and local chaos.
Witch-hunts
Among the Catholics, Protestants, and secularleadership of the European Late Medieval/Early
Modern period (in the 14th and 18th century), fears about witchcraft rose to fever pitch, and
sometimes led to large-scale witch-hunts, especially in Germanic Europe. Throughout this time, it was
increasingly believed that Christianity was engaged in an apocalyptic battle against the Devil and his
secret army of witches, who had entered into a diabolical pact.
The Malleus Maleficarum, an infamous witch-hunting manual used by both Catholics and
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