Which Nation Had The Largest Number Of Executions For Witchcraft?

The Statista Archive infographic provides a detailed analysis of the witch-hunts that occurred in Europe and the American colonies between 1450 and 1750. It estimates that tens of thousands of people were executed for witchcraft over several hundred years, with Germany having the highest number of executions. The Auto da Fe of 1610 saw six witches executed and another five burned in effigy after being tortured to death. Between 1400 and 1782, Switzerland tried and executed Europe’s last supposed witch, with between 40,000 and 60,000 people put to death for witchcraft.

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, prosecutions and executions for the crime of witchcraft declined in number and eventually came to an end. Sweden, which had a religious point to witchcraft, saw 71 witch trials. Over the 160 years from 1500 to 1660, Europe saw between 50,000 and 80,000 suspected witches executed, with about 80 of those killed being women. Execution rates varied greatly by country, with Germany having the highest at 26,000, followed by France, Scotland, and England.

Witch hunts were seen across all of Early Modern Europe, but the most significant area of witch hunting was considered to be southwestern Germany. In Scotland, around 4,6,000 were tried, and it is reckoned that 1,500 were executed. In England, only 500-1,000 were executed. This explains why Germany, ground zero for the Reformation, laid claim to nearly 40 of all witchcraft prosecutions in Europe.

Modern research points to roughly 40,000 to 50,000 witch executions in Europe between 1450 and 1750, with an estimated 75-80 of those executed being women.

Who was the youngest witch executed?

Dorcas Good, born around 1687/1688, was the daughter of William Good and Sarah Good. She and her mother were accused of practicing witchcraft in Salem during the Salem witch trials in 1692. At just four years old, she was interrogated by local magistrates and confessed to being a witch. She claimed to have seen her mother consorting with the devil. Mary Walcott and Ann Putnam Jr. claimed she was deranged and bit them as if she were an animal. Dorcas, written as “Dorcas” on the warrant for her arrest, received a brief hearing and was sent to jail, becoming the youngest person to be jailed during the trials.

Two days later, she claimed to own a snake given to her by her mother that talked to her and sucked blood from her finger. Officials took this to mean it was her “familiar”, a witch’s spiritual servant in animal form.

What was the largest witch hunt in history?

The Witch Trials of Trier, which occurred between 1581 and 1593 in the independent Catholic diocese of Trier, Germany, were one of the largest documented witch trials in history. They formed one of the four largest witch trials in Germany, alongside the Fulda, Würzburg, and Bamberg trials. The persecutions began in Trier in 1581 and reached the city in 1587, resulting in the death of around 368 people, possibly the largest mass execution in Europe during peacetime.

The exact number of executions has never been established, with a total of 1000 suggested but not confirmed. Johann von Schönenberg, appointed archbishop of Trier in 1581, greatly admired the order of the Jesuits and ordered the purging of three groups in society: Protestants, Jews, and witches. His initiative, support, and patronage made the massacres of Trier unique in the history of witchcraft.

How many witches were executed in Germany?

The objective of this chapter is to provide an explanation for why approximately 50 witchcraft executions occurred in Germany, despite the fact that only about 20 individuals of the total population of early modern Europe were residing in that country.

Which European country burned the most witches?

Witch hunting in Early Modern Europe was a frenzy that occurred in two waves: the first in the 15th and early 16th centuries and the second in the 17th century. The most significant area of witch hunting was southwestern Germany, where the highest concentration of trials occurred between 1561 and 1670. The 1692-1693 Salem Witch Trials were a brief outburst of witch hysteria in the New World, occurring when the practice was already waning in Europe.

In February 1692, a girl became ill and her playmates exhibited unusual behavior. A supernatural cause was suggested, leading to suspicions of witchcraft. Three townswomen were accused of witchcraft: Tituba, a slave, Sarah Good, a poor beggar, and Sarah Osborne, a quarrelsome woman. During the trial, Tituba declared herself a witch and flew through the air on poles, silenced skeptics, and witch hunting began in earnest.

How many witches were killed in Italy?

Witch trials in present-day Italy are a complex issue, with multiple secular courts and the Roman Inquisition managing them. Documentation on witch trials is only partially preserved, and Italy was politically divided between different states during the time. This has led to varying estimates of the intensity and number of executions.

Northern Italy experienced its first wave of witch trials earlier than most of Europe, peaking during the Italian Renaissance. Mass witch trials with many executions took place in various Italian states, including Cuneo, Pavia, Valtellina, Canavese, Peveragno, and Carignano. The Italian witch trials reached their peak during the Italian Wars.

After the 1530s, witchcraft executions in Italy decreased, and lesser punishments became common. A second wave of witchcraft executions occurred during the Counter-Reformation, reaching their peak between circa 1580 and 1660 before decreasing. These issues complicate the research of witch trials in present-day Italy, with estimates ranging from hundreds to thousands of victims.

What country had the worst witch trials?

The Würzburg witch trials of 1625-1631 were one of the largest mass trials and executions in Europe, and one of the largest witch trials in history. The trials took place in the self-governing Catholic Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg, present-day Germany, during the Thirty Years War between Protestants and Catholics. The trials resulted in the execution of hundreds of people, including women, children, and men, who were burned at the stake, sometimes after being beheaded or alive.

The trials were conducted by a Catholic Prince Bishop who aimed to introduce the Counter-Reformation in his territory. The trials were one of the four largest witch trials in Germany, along with the Trier witch trials, Fulda witch trials, and Bamberg witch trials.

How many witches were killed in Scotland?

A total of 3, 837 cases of witchcraft accusations were documented in Scotland, resulting in 205 executions across 305 trials. In the 1560s, authorities commenced a campaign of seeking out and accusing individuals of engaging in witchcraft and worshipping the Devil. Approximately 2, 500 individuals, predominantly women, were executed as witches, primarily due to a woodcut from 1600 depicting a gathering of male and female witches in the company of devils.

Where was witch hunting most popular?

Witch hunting in Early Modern Europe was a frenzy that occurred in two waves: the first in the 15th and early 16th centuries and the second in the 17th century. The most significant area of witch hunting was southwestern Germany, where the highest concentration of trials occurred between 1561 and 1670. The 1692-1693 Salem Witch Trials were a brief outburst of witch hysteria in the New World, occurring when the practice was already waning in Europe.

In February 1692, a girl became ill and her playmates exhibited unusual behavior. A supernatural cause was suggested, leading to suspicions of witchcraft. Three townswomen were accused of witchcraft: Tituba, a slave, Sarah Good, a poor beggar, and Sarah Osborne, a quarrelsome woman. During the trial, Tituba declared herself a witch and flew through the air on poles, silenced skeptics, and witch hunting began in earnest.

Which country executed the most witches?

Witch-hunts are a search for individuals labeled as witches or seeking evidence of witchcraft. They have been practiced and punished in early human civilizations in the Middle East, medieval Europe, and Early Modern Europe, resulting in an estimated 35, 000 to 60, 000 executions. The last executions in Europe took place in the 18th century. Contemporary witch-hunts have been reported in sub-Saharan Africa and Papua New Guinea, and official legislation against witchcraft is still found in Saudi Arabia and Cameroon today.

In modern language, “witch-hunt” metaphorically means an investigation conducted with much publicity, supposedly to uncover subversive activity or disloyalty, but with the real purpose of harming opponents. The wide distribution of witch-hunts in geographically and culturally separated societies since the 1960s has triggered interest in the anthropological background of this behavior. The belief in magic and divination, and attempts to use magic to influence personal well-being, are universal across human cultures.

Who was the most famous witch hunter in history?

Matthew Hopkins, an English witch-hunter, was active during the English Civil War and claimed to hold the title of Witchfinder General. Born in 1620, he began his career as a witch-finder in March 1644 and lasted until his retirement in 1647. He and his colleague John Stearne sent more accused people to be hanged for witchcraft than all other witch-hunters in England of the previous 160 years, and were solely responsible for the increase in witch trials during those years.

Little is known about Matthew Hopkins before 1644, and there are no surviving contemporary documents concerning him or his family. Born in Great Wenham, Suffolk, he was the fourth son of six children, and his father, James Hopkins, was a Puritan clergyman and vicar of St John’s of Great Wenham. The family held title to lands and tenements in Framlingham, Suffolk, and his father was popular with his parishioners. In 1619, one of his children left money to purchase Bibles for his children.

How many witches were killed in Russia?

In 1906, Nikolai Iakovlevich Novombergski published a collection of 17th-century protocols from the Moscow witchcraft trials, which remains the most comprehensive source of knowledge about Russian witchcraft. The true scale of Russian witch trials is unknown due to little other documentation. Some scholars speak of 99 cases between 1622 and 1700, while others of 136. The majority of cases were small trials with only one accused sorcerer, but there were bigger trials, such as three with over one hundred witnesses.

Russia, along with Scandinavian countries, is an exception, with 68 of those accused between 1622 and 1700 being men. One theory suggests that the predominance of men among the accused relates to the specific nature of the legal system in Russia, which introduced a new legal definition of magic in 1716 in the military code. After this legislation, the number of accusations of witchcraft increased significantly among soldiers and government officials.

Witch-hunts in Russia can be interpreted as a political rather than a religious phenomenon. Tsar Peter the Great kept the death penalty for sorcery in the law of 1716. In 1731, Empress Anna of Russia legally redefined sorcery as a form of fraud, but did not remove the death penalty as punishment for this type of fraud. Empress Catherine the Great later made it clear that the death penalty should no longer be used against people convicted of the fraud of sorcery and transferred the crime to be handled only by a so-called trial of conscience, sovestnye sudy, which dealt with insignificant crimes such as superstition.