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Season of the Witch

Season of the Witch. Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion. Witchcraft in Preliterate Societies. Functions as a common and socially accepted way of managing tension resolving social conflict leveling disparities in wealth and status explaining the otherwise unexplainable.

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Season of the Witch

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  1. Season of the Witch Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion

  2. Witchcraft in Preliterate Societies Functions as a common and socially accepted way of • managing tension • resolving social conflict • leveling disparities in wealth and status • explaining the otherwise unexplainable

  3. Witchcraft in European History was part of the Church’s efforts to stamp out heterodoxy and heresy • witchcraft was a response to social upheavals related to both religious and political changes • witchcraft was dealt with in a similar manner to the ways that the Church dealt with other non-sanctioned beliefs

  4. Rome Becomes Catholic • 313 – Constantine issues Edict of Toleration Christians no longer persecuted • 346 – Christianity becomes official religion of Rome • 379 –Emperor Theodosius accedes to the throne

  5. Catholicism Made Exclusive 380 – general decree against heretics It is our will that all the peoples who are ruled by the administration of Our Clemency shall practice that religion which the divine Peter the Apostle transmitted to the Romans… Theodosian Code, XVI, 1, 2

  6. Catholicism Made Exclusive We command that those persons who follow this rule shall embrace the name of Catholic Christians. The rest, however, whom We adjudge demented and insane, shall sustain the infamy of heretical dogmas, their meeting places shall not receive the name of churches, and they shall be smitten first by divine vengeance and secondly by the retribution of Our own initiative, which We shall assume in accordance with the divine judgment. Theodosian Code, XVI, 1, 2

  7. Other Beliefs Restricted • 388 – Intermarriage between Jews and Christians prohibited • 392 – traditional pagan religion prohibited • 429-439 – app. 150 laws issued defending and defining the Catholic faith • 438 – gladiatorial combat prohibited

  8. Arian controversy • Since the Son and the Holy Spirit were created by God the Father, they must be subordinate to him • Visigoths converted from paganism to Arianism because of first contact Arius (250 or 256 – 336)

  9. Arian controversy • Roman acceptance of Catholicism thus linked to rejection of Barbarians • Not resolved until ca. 500, when the Franks converted from paganism to Catholicism

  10. Albigensian Heresy • Followed Manichean ideas • the world as a place of constant struggle between a God of good and a God of evil • God of good = God of New Testament • God of evil = God of Old Testament • 1207 – Pope Innocent proclaims a Crusade against them

  11. The Inquisition • Permanent tribunal established in 1231 by Pope Gregory IX to combat heresy • Removed pursuit of heretics from bishops and entrusted this to the Dominicans and Franciscans

  12. Excommunicamus(February 1231) • Life imprisonment as a salutary penance for repentant heretics • Capital punishment for unrepentant heretics • Right of appeal to Pope denied (there were other informal possibilities)

  13. Tribunals • Headed by two judges (Inquisitors) • Initially a circuit court • Later acquired the power to summon accused persons to them

  14. Tribunal Procedures • A judge could bring charges against anyone, based on mere rumor • Accused was obliged to take an oath to tell the truth

  15. Tribunal Procedures • Accused did not know who the witnesses for the prosecution were and no opportunity to challenge or confront them • Defendant’s sole tactic was to reveal the names of his or her enemies

  16. Tribunal Procedures • Testimony for the prosecution was accepted from criminals, excommunicated persons, and other heretics • Lawyers and clerks were not allowed to defend an accused person, lest they be regarded as accomplices

  17. Tribunal Procedures • Individuals were summoned at home by the parish priest, who repeated the summons at High Mass the following Sunday • Accused questioned by the court with two witnesses present

  18. Tribunal Procedures • Accused was given a summary of charges against him/her • Refusal to take an oath to tell the truth was taken as a presumption of guilt • Testimony of two witnesses (who must agree) was sufficient proof

  19. Minor Infringements • Scourging, which included an obligation to appear in church, rod in hand, for public scourging • Pilgrimages • Wearing the “cross of infamy” (of yellow cloth) on the front and back of outer clothes

  20. Major Infringements • Life imprisonment – often commuted for lack of funds or enthusiasm • Capital punishment – public burning, carried out by secular authorities

  21. Famous Victims • Giordano Bruno – executed 16 Feb., 1600 • for teaching Copernicus’ ideas (and other crimes) • Galileo Galilei – condemned in 1632 for teaching Copernicus’ ideas, placed under house arrest for the remainder of his life (died 1642)

  22. The “Great Witch Craze” • 15th – 17th centuries • Widely varying estimates of numbers of victims • fewer than 100,000 to more than 500,000 • Associated with Black Death and with Reformation and other similar movements, i.e., times of social stress and crisis

  23. “Witches” • Usually elderly women, often widowed • Typically of poor and low status • Quarrelsome, assertive, argumentative, willing to verbally defend herself • Midwives and similar occupations

  24. “Witches” • Most were marginal and/or ambiguous figures • Woman as “temptress” • Men rarely accused • Relatives of female suspects • Criminals

  25. Salem Witchcraft Craze (1692-3)

  26. Spanish Inquisition • Established in 1478 by Pope Sixtus IV • Replaced earlier Inquisition • Was an instrument to aid in the Reconquista

  27. Spanish Inquisition • Non-Christians were given the choice of • Expulsion • Conversion (anusim, “forced converts”; Hebrew) • Gained in influence when the Reconquista achieved its goal of reconquering Moslem-held territories • Spain 1492 • Portugal 1497

  28. Three Principle Targets • Moriscos – Moslems • Conversos, aka marranos, “pigs” – Jews who had converted to Christianity • Alumbrados – mystics from all 3 religions

  29. Spanish Inquisition • Exported to the Americas, where it was especially focused on indigenous peoples • Franciscan strategy in California known as reducción • Missions secularized by Mexico in 1827 • Permanently suppressed on 15 July, 1834

  30. Who are the “Witches” of Today? • People of different cultures & religions • Members of non-mainstream religions • Groups and individuals who do not conform to majority views • “Trumpites”, “Libtards”, “non-Patriots” • And?

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