We continue to acquaint readers with interesting facts about how magic and witchcraft went side by side with medieval society. How witches were persecuted and magic used to advance science.
Witches and civil courts
Most people believe that the judgments and sentences of witches were handed down by harsh inquisitors, who themselves initiated them. But in fact, the Inquisition was involved in the process only in exceptional cases, when the issue concerned a noble person or as part of a crime, there were controversial points. Most of the witch trials were organized by local officials and witches were tried by ordinary judges.
Therefore, the prevailing stereotype that witches were tortured and interrogated in the basements of monasteries by inquisitors in black hoods is rather an exception to the rule. Usually denunciation was enough so that the local nobleman could organize a trial over the unfortunate woman, and often the nobleman himself acted as a judge.
The last witchcraft law
The massive witch hunt began in the 15th century and continued for several centuries. Naturally, states issued a lot of laws that were supposed to eradicate such phenomena as witchcraft and magic, and these laws were also supposed to serve for the legal destruction of those who were engaged in this, and such laws worked against both female witches and male sorcerers.
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For example, the last law on the persecution of witches in England was repealed only in 1735. But this did not mean that gypsies and mediums stopped being persecuted. Just after the repeal of the law, such people were not accused of magic, but of fraud. The final year when England completely abandoned the persecution of witches was 1951. But the last execution of the witch took place in Switzerland in 1782.
It seems incredible, but during the period when the law of universal gravitation was discovered and scientific discoveries were mushrooming throughout Europe, at the same time, city authorities continued to burn women with fury throughout Europe.
Witches today
In the modern world, the attitude towards magicians and sorcerers is divided strictly diametrically. For example, in Europe and the USA, witches and sorcerers feel great, open expensive salons, shovel money and even star in special television shows. On the other hand, in Africa and the Middle East, witches and sorcerers are persecuted to this day. In Africa, thousands of people are killed every year who are accused of witchcraft. In Saudi Arabia, it is perfectly legal to go to jail for a long time if proven guilty of engaging in witchcraft. And the scary thing is that all this is happening in our high-tech age.
BUKHRANSKY SERGEY
