Witchcraft+and+Demonology

= Isabel Galang  =

**Elizabethan Witchcraft and Demonology **


**Witches**   

Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1456. This invention is now known as one of the greatest tools used to help the increase of knowledge and learning of e  veryone else. Well no one else knows that this invention helped lead to the demise of the witches of the Elizabethan period. The first printed books were the Bible and other religious themed books. The publishing of these books gave people ideas about witches and witchcraft that were not good so they started witch hunts which lasted through the 15th and 16th centuries. These hunts intensified after the publishing of books about magic and alchemy. There are many unexplained things that happen each and everyday. Why did my lunch suddenly disappear when I had my back turned? Why did I get an F when I studied a lot? Now there are a lot of answers to why such things would happen but back in the Elizabethan period, many people blamed th e work of witches as the reason for the unexplained events. For example, the Bubonic Plague, or the Black Death, had a deadly outbreak where there was no cure. Everyone blamed t he witches. If a family member died, it was a witch’s fault, if the crops were bad that year; it was the witch’s fault. Whenever anything bad happened or any anything unexplained, such as a person’s death, happened, witches were always to blame. ** Who was accused of being a witch? **    Women were more often accused of being a witch than men but that doesn’t mean men weren’t accused. In the 270 Elizabethan witch trials, 247 were women and only 23 were men. But many were that were accused were also: · Old · Poor · Unprotected · Single women or widows (women who kept pets for company like cats) Many reasons that mostly women were accused as witches more than men were that men were powerful during this time period. Many women had few rights and were expected to obey men. They relied on men for their daily needs. Old, poor, and unprotected women had to be supported as they should be and Elizabethans didn’t like this. Women were also expected to be like doctors of their house since doctors were minimal. They used herbs for medical purposes but as more and more people become afraid of witches and witchcraft, the Catholic Church said that these ‘wise women’ were also considered witches because they had a knowledge of herbs. ** Witch Trials **  This is an example of the witch trials that took place in Essex, a county in Elizabethan England. In the 1580s, 64 were accused and 53 were found guilty. Some were accused of: · Maleficium (doing evil deeds) · Use of diabolical powers to cause harm, not heresy Many of the accused confessed to their crimes although they were not allowed to be tortured as part of the punishment procedure during that time. Many of the women accused were either put in prison, hung, or burned to the stake. Examples include Elizabeth Frances; a girl who was accused twice of being a witch but was finally executed the second time and Joan Waterhouse who was lucky enough not to be found guilty. [|elizabethan-era.org.uk]  ** Demonology **  If anyone were to look up the definition of Demonology it would say: the study of Demons or the belief or worship of Demons.

In Elizabethan England, //Demonology// was a book written by King James I of England in 1597. The book's actual title was "Da emonologie" which meant Demonology. It talked about his beliefs in witchcraft since he was very interested in the supernatural, especially witches. This was one of the reasons why William Shakespeare added witches into the play, //Macbeth//.

-The book //Demonology// was written during the period after he attended the North Berwick Witch Trial.

[|answers.com] [|william-shakespeare.info] [|www.newworldencyclopedia.org]