Witch-hunt
A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. Practicing evil spells or incantations was proscribed and punishable in early human civilizations in the Middle East. In medieval Europe, witch-hunts often arose in connection to charges of heresy from Christianity. An intensive period of witch-hunts occurring in Early Modern Europe and to a smaller extent Colonial America, took place from about 1450 to 1750, spanning the upheavals of the Counter Reformation and the Thirty Years' War, resulting in an estimated 35,000 to 50,000 executions.[a][1] The last executions of people convicted as witches in Europe took place in the 18th century. In other regions, like Africa and Asia, contemporary witch-hunts have been reported from sub-Saharan Africa and Papua New Guinea, and official legislation against witchcraft is still found in Saudi Arabia and Cameroon today.
"Witch hunt" and "Witch trial" redirect here. For other uses, see Witch hunt (disambiguation) and Witch trial (disambiguation).In current language, "witch-hunt" metaphorically means an investigation that is usually conducted with much publicity, supposedly to uncover subversive activity, disloyalty, and so on, but with the real purpose of harming opponents.[2] It can also involve elements of moral panic,[3] as well as mass hysteria.[4]
Amersfoort and Utrecht witch trials
Asten witch trial (in Dutch)
Basque witch trials
Bideford witch trial
Bredevoort witch trials
Derenburg witch trials
Islandmagee witch trial
Liechtenstein witch trials
North Berwick witch trials
Northern Moravia witch trials
Orkney witch trials
Pendle witches
Ramsele witch trial
Roermond witch trial
Salem witch trials
Spa witch trial
St Osyth Witches
Torsåker witch trials
Trier witch trials
Wiesensteig witch trial
Witches of Warboys
Würzburg witch trial
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Federici, Silvia
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Thurston, Robert. The Witch Hunts: A History of the Witch Persecutions in Europe and North America. Pearson/Longman, 2007.
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Douglas Linder (2005),