witch trials
Accused of dark magic
Witch trials were judicial proceedings, most notoriously in early modern Europe and colonial America, where people—overwhelmingly women—were accused of practicing witchcraft.
The accused faced torture, forced confessions, and execution by burning or hanging.
The Salem witch trials of 1692 remain the most famous American example.
Figuratively, a witch trial or witch hunt describes any persecution driven by hysteria rather than evidence: The investigation turned into a political witch hunt.
- SalemCity or name
- BambergHistoric Bavarian episcopal seat
- TrierHistoric Moselle River city
- persecutionSystematic mistreatment of groups
- spectral evidenceTestimony from supernatural visions
familiars · black cat · gender bias · good versus evil · dark ages · Malleus Maleficarum · moral panic · ducking stool · swimming test · scapegoating · hexes · pointed hat · burning at stake · confession · Tituba · demonology · inquisitor · torture
- Early ModernRenaissance, 1500s, 1600s, Reformation, sixteenth century
- punishment historycapital punishment, death penalty, execution, beheading, hanging
- SalemNathaniel Hawthorne, ghost tours, haunted tours, Halloween, historic homes
- witch huntsSalem trials, accusations, burning at stake, Tituba, inquisition
- historical justicetruth commissions, reparations, redress, tribunals, inquisition
- folklorefairy tales, fairytales, folktales, folk tales, folk tale
witch trialsfair trial
Impartial judicial proceeding
due process · fair hearing · habeas corpus · rule of law · presumption of innocence
witch trialsscientific inquiry
Systematic investigation of phenomena
evidence-based reasoning · Enlightenment · Age of Reason · forensic analysis · skeptical inquiry
witch trialsamnesty
Group pardon from authorities
sanctuary · tolerance · religious freedom · bill of rights · human rights