REASONS WOMEN WERE ACCUSED OF BEING WITCHES THAN THE MEN
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To begin with, from fifteenth to eighteenth era in Europe, numerous individuals were suspected of and tried for the act of witchcraft. Moreover, in early contemporary Europe, there was an extensive panic that vindictive satanic witches operated as a planned menace to Christianity. Therefore, those individuals who were suspected of witchcraft were regarded as being devil worshippers. In the medieval Europe, Black Death was a change in individuals’ perception towards witchcraft. This notion means that the death of numerous Christians in Europe at this period was believed to have been conducted by the enemies. The ultimate of the witch pursuit was through the European conflicts on religion, climaxing amid 1580 and 1630. Throughout this period, which lasted for three centuries, approximately 40,000 to 100,000 individuals were killed. And, women were most accused as compared to men in witchcraft than men. Therefore, about 75 percent to 85 percent of the suspected cases were females, and this is due to a number of reasons, as stated by various old literatures for instance, Malleus Maleficarum by Kramer and James and The Discovery of witches, by Matthew Hopkins, among other sources, that the devil used women more since they are attracted to carnal pleasures.
Witchcraft and Women
In part one, specifically question six of the Malleus Maleficarum, there are various illustrations as to why women are most prevalent to witchcraft instances that men. The authors maintain that the inherent individualities of the female sex are substandard to those of the male equivalents, giving them additional reasons to acquire diabolical magical to enhance their power. This purpose begins in the intrinsic carnality of females which, additionally to their gullibility, enables them to more vulnerable to malicious witchcraft. Moreover, female sin can also be linked to their inability to resist various temptations, thus staining females with filth. For instance, the authors maintain that, “she is more carnal than a man, as is clear in connection with many filthy canal actions.” The concurrent suggestions of woman’s immature with her animalistic conducts operate in tandem to minimize them to lack effective intellectual thoughts. This usual weakness of intellect will spearhead to deficiency of self-restraint in her activities, which when mixed with dishonesty, allows her to guide man, as well as by extension, mankind to precarious culminations. Additionally, women are fuller of jealously. Malleus Maleficarum gives instances of wicked women from the Bible, for instance, Delilah and Queen Jezebel. This source also names women in the bible who were wronged by other females, for instance, “Rachael against Leah.” And their jealously led them to use sorcery as a retaliation means.
Additionally, Matthew Hopkins was one of the busiest tradesmen, and he identified himself as Witch finder General. Hopkins had almost 300 women accused of witchcraft killed in East Angila between 1645 and 1646, making it the largest in history. Based on his book, The Discovery of Witches, the author started his witch hunting role in 1644 after he heard a discussion among women and the devil near his house. Moreover, every monarch was staining to make sure that every individual adhered to the religious regulations. Therefore, witchcraft became a concern among the Catholics as well as the Protestants. It is approximated that in 200 years, more than 10000 individuals were slayed, and most of this population were women. Women were insecure, most so powerless in religious Puritan society. The Puritan understood that women were to have babies, and rise them. They also had the role of managing their households and modeling Christian subservience to husbands. By referencing Eve from the bible, Puritans also had a belief that women had a weak stand, and therefore prone to be tempted by the Devil.
What is more, women had a weak perception in the sixteenth and seventeenth century and this can be depicted in various famous people. Example is Aristotle, who viewed women as lesser, while other writers even doubted even if women were human beings. Also, Luther, nonetheless, supported women, but his comparison stated otherwise. His statement compared women to men, specifically, men as the sun while women as the moon. Malleus Maleficarum depicted women as, “more credulous,” Thus, the devil had a higher probability of corrupting their wellbeing. This report also states that, women are beings that are more vulnerable, as well as more prepared to accept the impact of a ghostly spirits. This is since it was supposed that the witch usually made a deal with the evil spirits due to sexual lure, then involved with immoral sexual actions at Sabbath.
These particular views on women are being applied by certain historians to perceive England as a society that applied witchcraft accusation on women to control them. There were many forms of witchcraft. For instance, some were based on societal values that were expected from women. Specifically, women were expected to heavily respect their husbands. Moreover, the author Alexander Roberts in his book, A Treatise of Witchcraft, originally published in 1616 entails opinions why women were mostly accused of witchcraft. Specifically, in this text, the author re-assures the readers that not every witch was a woman, nonetheless, he continues to explain why majority were women. Therefore, he states that women have the feeling towards the passionate, and this makes them vulnerable to Satan. Also, Thomas Potts, in his book, Discovery of Witches The Wonderful Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaste also states that women are more accountable to Satan’s snares than men. This notion seems similar to the previous authors who have asserted the weakness of women resist Devil’s temptations.
Conclusion
The issue of witchcraft existed in Europe from the sixteenth century. And, both Christians and Protestants believed that causes of death were related to the witches. This has therefore sparked lots of interest to deal with this issue. Therefore, Matthew Hopkins in 1644 claimed that he heard the devil striking a deal with women, and this is where he began his role as a witch hunter. Several books, for instance, Malleus Maleficarum, The Discovery of Witches, A Treatise of Witchcraft, and The Discoverie of Witchcraft gave reasons why women were mostly associated with witchcraft. Generally, these sources affirm that due to the weak nature of the female gender, they were more likely to be influenced by the devil than the males. And, since witchcraft was linked to women, majority of the men who were accused of being witches had some relations with women, for instance being husbands.
Bibliography
Federici, Silvia. Witches, Witch-Hunting, and Women. Oakland, Ca: Pm Press, 2018.
Hopkins, Matthew. The Discovery of Witches. 1647. Reprint, Good Press, 2020.
Kramer, Heinrich, and James Sprenger. “Malleus Maleficarum. 1486.” Montague Summers, trans. NY: Dover Publications, 1971.
Potts, Thomas. “Discovery of Witches in the County of Lancaster. 1613.” Repr. by J. Crossley. Manchester, 1845.
Roberts, Alexander. A Treatise of Witchcraft. 1616. Reprint, Good Press, 2019.