----------- EARLY WITCHCRAFT

In the 15th and 16th centuries the practise of witchcraft was thought of as a very strange and deviant affair.

It was the general opinion at the time, that mainly women and some male witches would wait until their wives or husbands were asleep, then they would sneak out of bed and fly away on broomsticks to their witches’ meeting or Sabbat. This would either be in a cave or some desolate place in a forest and about twenty would be present. If a neophyte, or novice was to be initiated, they were required to swear a secret oath and promise to kill a young Christian baby before the next meeting, whereupon they would be expected to bring its body. They would further have to swear to uphold all the coven’s objectives and publicly renounce Christianity by stamping and urinating on a crucifix. Then they would have sexual intercourse with the Devil, or his representative, and kiss him on the buttocks. It isn’t clear what the male witch did, we can only guess. After this initiation they feasted on the bodies and drank the blood of dead children that others had brought with them.

After this the witches' orgy would take place, whereupon intercourse would be performed by all, irrespective of gender, age or relationship. Some would even mate with animals and whilst this was going on others would dance backward. They would then secretly return to their own bed, not waking their spouse.

As Christianity spread, so did the number of people executed for heresy or witchcraft. One of the earliest records goes back to 1022 when King Robert of France presided over an execution of burning. In the 12th century Pope Innocent III started what was to become an evil even greater than witchcraft was supposed to be - The Inquisition. Certainly the social anxieties of the 13th and 14th centuries brought about by plagues, famines and war, helped spread the fear of witchcraft but it was in the early 15th century, with the arrival of printing and so the common Bible, that the witch persecutions greatly increased.

It was probably a culmination of many motives as to why the persecutions began and continued, but it is evident that midwives were more subjected to it more than anyone else. The role of the midwife was to relieve the pain of childbirth and sometimes administer some form of contraception and abortion. Apart from anything else, this made sex that much more acceptable for women. Church doctrine at the time said that a woman’s place was to suffer and have children. To enjoy themselves, especially through sex, was sinful and execrable. The fact that midwives prevented childbirth was immoral and unnatural (especially as boys had to be born to fight for the Church).

Who was the person responsable for witchcraft?

Back to home page--------