Witch+Trials

// Malleus Maleficarum // By Alaina Perkins   Just a little video/song to get one into the witchy mood

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**__Topic: __** The topic I picked was witch trials. The only thing I really know about the witch trials is what I was taught in 11th grade English class, which was about the Salem Witch Trials. However, the one thing that I have learned throughout many of my History classes is that everything has a trail to follow. Well my goal is to follow the trail that leads me back to the beginning, to the start of the witch trials. I will probably base my findings in England, unless I can find more evidence to the witch trials in Ireland. __**Argument:**__ Around 560 B.C., Douglas Linder, claims that the account of witches first appeared in the Old Testament, in the books of Exodus and Leviticus. Over the years, the account of witches continued to grow through different cultures and religions. However, it was not until Heinrich Kramer’s publication of //Malleus Maleficarum// that the witch hunts erupted in Christian society in Europe into a mass hunting and killing binge. With the support of higher churches, Kramer and his publication received the full support he needed to carry out his genocidal spree. One can argue that Heinrich Kramer initiated the witch hunts that occurred during the late 14th hundreds into the 16th hundreds with the publication of the //Malleus Maleficarum//. __**Sources **__: Ben-Yehuda, N. (1980). The European Witch Craze of the 14th to 17th Centuries: A Sociologist's Perspective. The American Journal of Sociology, 86(1), 1-31. Retrieved from []

Broedel, H. P. (2003). The Malleus Maleficarum and the construction of witchcraft theology and popular belief. Manchester ; New York : Manchester University Press ; New York : Palgrave.

Jones, W. R.(1971). Abracadabra-Sorcery and Witchcraft in European History. The History Teacher, 5(1), 26-36. Retrieved from []

Linder, D. (2005). A Brief History of Witchcraft Persecutions before Salem. Retrieved September 20, 2010 from University of Missouri-Kansas City, Web site:http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/witchhistory.html

Pavlac, B. A. (2001, October 31). Ten General Historical Theories about the Origins and Causes of the Witch Hunts.Retrieved September 9, 2010 from Kings College, Department of History Web site: [| http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/witch/worigin.html]

Mair, L. (1980). Witchcraft, Spirit Possession and Heresy. Folklore, 91(2), 228-238. Retrieved from []

Sommers, Stephens (Producer) & (Director). (May 7, 1999). The Mummy. United States: Universal Studios.

Nelson, Julie. & Victoria Kirk. (Producer). (2010). Mysteries of the Bible: Witch Hunter’s Bible. United States: National Geographic.

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