Witch-Hunting Mania

Malleus Maleficarum or The Hammer of Witches is the most destructive and vicious book ever published in history. It caused the slaughter of million innocent people in the whole Europe. According to historians, this was used as a police force to oppress “wickedness and abominations of witches” as they claimed it. The book was produced by two Dominican Inquisitors, Jakob Sprenger and Heinrich Kramer. The book contained the details about witches and how to identify or destroy them. Although the said guidelines were all based from folklore and legends, many people were convinced in the existence of them. The witch-hunting mania began when again, Pope Innocent VIII issued a papal bull on December 5, 1484 in which he condemned the practice of witchcraft. Through Inquisition, the accused were forced to confess without any evidence of guilt. The authorities that time often used torture against the accused to produce a confession even if it was a false accusation. Both Catholics and Protestants promoted witch-hunting for they believed that it is a way to eliminate evil not considering that what they were doing was undeniably evil itself. As a result of abusive interpretation of texts in the bible, families in various places were swept away in an instant. If plaques or disease came upon the land, ordinarily witches were blamed.

No one was really safe. Either young or old, men or women. Even defenseless children were murdered. Commonly, women were the subject of torture wherein 70% of them was wiped out clean in the state. The trials were common in 1300’s until 1600’s. The proceedings were done in public. They shaved women in public, searching for what they called “the Devil’s Mark” as a common sign of Satan to the witches. Some were weighed because of their belief that witches have no weight at all. Those guilty were actually burned alive in public! This grim deeds of religious liars became worst. Some people used this only for vengeance or to suppress their enemies. One would think, “Christians to the lions” had come back to life. There also came a time when they do it for mere amusement.  The witch-hunting mania was widespread even to America. Like a disease that ended so many innocent lives. In 17^th century, the trials gradually decreased when physicist began to explain the existence of science over the plaques and the things which were believed by the people as demonic possession or works of witches. And by the end of that century, they had all but ended.