Beliefs and Superstitions why did people believe in Witchcraft?

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Beliefs and Superstitionswhy did people believe
in Witchcraft?
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Supernatural Ideas

• People did not know much about Science.
• They had not the knowledge of research and
  technology we have today so they did not know why
  natural things happened.
• Often, when something unexplained happened it was
  assumed that this was the work of the Devil.

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Witches

• People believed that a witch was someone that had
  entered, into a pact with the Devil.
• It was not a Sin to be possessed as this was
  the work of the Devil. A person found guilty of
  being a witch could be sentenced to death.

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The Law

• The Witchcraft Act was introduced in 1563 and was
  punishable by execution.
• When people sought the help of a Witch they too
  were considered to have committed a sin and a
  crime.

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The King

• King James VI also strongly believed in
• witches.
• He described the signs to look out for to spot a
  witch.

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King James - Signs of a Witch

• They are almost always women
• They are often old
• They have a familiar (an animal that follows
  them around

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King James Signs of a Witch

• They have a mark of the Devil (a birthmark or
  mole)
• They make models of their victims and cast spells
  on them
• They hold strange ceremonies
• They live alone

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Why did King James believe in Witches?

• Scotland's witch-hunting had its origins in the
  marriage of King James to Princess Anne of
  Denmark. 
• Anne's voyage to Scotland for the wedding  met
  with a bad storm, and she ended up taking refuge
  in Norway. 
• James traveled to Scandinavia and the wedding
  took place in at Kronborg Castle in Denmark. 
• After a long honeymoon in Denmark, the royal
  newlyweds encountered terrible seas on the return
  voyage, which the ship's captain blamed on
  witches. 
• When six Danish women confessed to having caused
  the storms that bedeviled King James, he began to
  take witchcraft seriously.