LIFE IN EARLY MODERN EUROPE, 1500-1650

1
LIFE IN EARLY MODERN EUROPE, 1500-1650
NAISBITT/FREILER
2
INTRO SETTING THE SCENE

• The scene of communal farming is repeated with
  little variation throughout Europe in the early
  modern era
• With one bed per household, the family was
  obviously close-knit
• There was no running water, no central heat, no
  bathrooms, and no electricity
• A 16th century prince endured greater material
  hardship than a 20th century welfare recipient
• The whole family performed physical labor
  reminding us that the life of the ordinary people
  of the early modern era was not romantic

3
EUROPEANS SHARED EXPERIENCES

• While there was no typical 16th century European,
  there were shared experiences
• Agriculture increased as more land was cleared
  and more crops were grown
• The century-long population explosion and
  increase in commodity prices fundamentally
  altered lives

4
RURAL LIFE THE NORM

• In the early modern era, as much as 90 of the
  European population lived on farms or in small
  towns where farming was the principal occupation
• Villages were small and isolated
• They ranged in size from 20-100 families
• The village was the bedrock of the 16th century
  state
• The manor, the parish and the rural
  administrative district were the institutional
  frameworks

5
PEASANT BUDGET

• Manorial rents supported the lifestyle of the
  nobility parish tithes supported the Church
  local taxes supported the power of the state
• Rents, tithes, and taxes absorbed more than half
  of the wealth produced by the peasant
• From the remaining half, the peasant had to make
  provisions for the present and future

Tithes
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SURVIVAL

• To survive, the village had to be self-sufficient
• Hard times meant hunger and starvation both of
  which were accepted as part of the natural order
• One in three harvests was bad one in five was
  disastrous
• Depending on the soil and crop, between one-fifth
  and one-half of the grain harvested had to
  saved as seed for the next year

7
HOUSING

• Hunger and cold were constant companions of the
  average European
• Especially in Scandinavia and Muscovy,
  winter posed as great a threat as
  starvation
• Most homes were made of wood and
  roofed in thatch
• Walls were patched with dry mud and the
  ground was leaves or straw
• The typical home was one large room with a hearth
  at one end

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Thatched homes
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HOME FURNISHINGS

• People had few household possessions
• The essential piece of furniture was the wooden
  chest, which was used for storage
• A typical family could keep all their possessions
  in the chest, which could then be buried or
  carried away in times of danger
• The chest could also be used as a table or bench

10
THE KITCHEN

• Most domestic activities, including cooking,
  eating and sleeping, took place close to the
  ground, thus sitting, squatting, and kneeling
  were the usual positions
• Most family possessions related to food
  production
• Iron spits and pots were treasured possessions
• Most kitchen items were made of wood, including
  long-handled spoons, trenchers (boards for
  cutting and eating), cups and bowls
• Knives were essential but forks were still a
  curiosity

?
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ISOLATION

• Up at dawn, asleep at dusk long working hours in
  summer, short ones in winter
• For most, the world was bounded by the distance
  that could be traveled only by foot
• Most died never seeing more than a hundred other
  people or hearing anything louder than a human
  voice or thunder
• Their wisdom was based solely on experience

For many Europeans, the village was where they
were born, lived, and died
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AGRICULTURE THE PLAINS

• Peasant life centered on agriculture
• While technology and technique varied little
  across the continent, there were significant
  differences depending on climate, soil and the
  animals they raised
• Across the great plain (Low Countries to Poland)
  the three-crop rotation was the norm
• Grain composed 75 of the calories of a typical
  diet
• 1) Winter- wheat
• 2) Spring barley, peas, beans
• 3) Fallow (idle)

More than 80 of crops grown were consumed on the
farm
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AGRICULTURE THE MED

• The warm and dry climate of the Mediterranean
  favored a two-crop rotation
• With less water and stronger sunlight, half the
  land had to be left fallow each year to restore
  the nutrients
• Grapes and olives were staple crops as meat was
  less plentiful

Olive trees are everywhere in the Mediterranean
14
AGRICULTURE THE MOUNTAINS

• The mountainous and hilly regions of Europe
  depended on animal husbandry for subsistence
• Sheep were
  
• the most
• common
• animal raised
• by
• Europeans
• Sheep provided
• the raw material
• for most clothing,
• their skin was used for parchment and window
  covers and they were an inexpensive source of
  meat
• Pigs were domesticated in the woodland regions
• Cattle were largely farm animals utilized most
  extensively in Hungary and Bohemia

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LAND KEY RESOURCE

• Because agriculture was the principal occupation
  of Europeans, land was the principal resource
• Most land was owned by lords who rented it out in
  various ways
• The land was divided into manors, and the manor
  lord, or seigneur, was responsible for
  maintaining order, justice, and arbitrating
  disputes

16
THE MANOR

• On a manor there was a village, church, lord's
  house or castle, and the farmland upon which the
  people worked
• The peasants had requirements they had to fulfill
  in order to live there which involved farming the
  lord's land and paying rents with food

17
PEASANTS AND THE LAND

• In western Europe,
• peasants generally
• owned between one-third
• and one-half of the land
• they worked
• In eastern Europe peasants
• owned little if any land
• In return for rent, peasants
• used the land as they saw fit
• and could hand it down to their children
• While rent payment in the form of coin occurred,
  most often the lord received a fixed amount of
  the crop yield or labor (labor service called the
  robot in eastern Europe and the corvee in France)
• German and Hungarian peasants owed 2-3 days per
  week, while Polish peasants owed as much as 4
  days of labor

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FARM WORK

• Farm work was ceaseless toil
• The draught animals were critical elements of any
  farm and the birth of foals and calves were
  celebrated more than the birth of a child and the
  death of an ox or horse was a catastrophe

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THE RHYTHM OF THE DAY

• Men and women worked to the natural rhythm of the
  day
• Up at dawn, at work in the cooler hours, at rest
  in the hotter hours
• Rain kept them idle, sun busy
• In the summer the laborers met at 4 a.m. and in
  the winter 7a.m.
• Wages were paid by the hours worked 7 in winter
  and as many as 16 in the summer

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GUILDS ORGANIZE LABOR

• In all towns there was an official guild
  structure that organized and regulated labor
• Rules laid down the requirements for training,
  standards for quality, and the conditions for
  exchange
• Only those officially sanctioned could work in
  trades, and each trade could perform only
  specific tasks

21
ACUTE POVERTY

• Urban poverty was endemic and grew worse as the
  century wore on
• In most towns, as much as a quarter of the entire
  population might by destitute, living on day
  labor, charity, or crime
• In the countryside conditions could be worse as
  no formal agencies for relief existed
• The urban poor more often suffered from disease
  than starvation

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LARGE TOWN VS. SMALL TOWN

• In larger towns a greater variety of occupations
  and a greater reliance of wage earnings set it
  apart from smaller towns
• Occupations were usually organized
  geographically, with metal or glass working in
  one quarter of town, brewing or baking in another
• There was a strong family and kin network to the
  occupations, which were handed down from parents
  to children

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WOMENS OCCUPATIONS

• Women in larger towns had more job options than
  their country counterparts
• Being mid-wives or nurses were two options
  available to women in larger towns
• Prostitution was officially sanctioned in most
  large towns in the modern era
• Brothels were subject to taxation and
  governmental control

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MAJORITY UNSKILLED LABORERS

• Most town dwellers were unskilled laborers
• Day laborers, hauling or lifting goods on carts
  or boats, stacking materials at building sites,
  or delivering food or water were the main
  day-laboring jobs
• As the century progressed the number of laborers
  exceeded the number of jobs and many sought
  servant jobs

25
DOMESTIC LABOR

• Domestic labor was a critical source of household
  labor
• Even those families of marginal means employed
  servants to help in the numerous household tasks
• Commonly, household servants did not advance in
  status and frequently changed employers in hope
  of better conditions

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IMPORTING GRAIN

• Towns often survived by importing grain from
  rural communities
• All towns had municipal storehouses of grain to
  preserve their inhabitants in time of famine
• Grain prices were strictly regulated and
  subsidized
• The average laborers diet consisted of meat,
  soup, vegetables, wine and beer

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16th CENTURY POPULATION INCREASE

• During the 16th century, the European population
  increased by about a third (from 80 million to
  105 million)
• Western European growth was especially
  significant in the first half of the century
  while eastern European growth was steady
  throughout the century
• Europe had finally recovered from the plague and
  by 1600 its population was at a high point
• Fifteen cities more than doubled their
  populations, with London increasing 400

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EFFECT OF POPULATION GROWTH - POSITIVE

• Early in the century, the growth brought
  prosperity as the land was not farmed to
  capacity, and the extra hands increased
  production
• As the rural areas filed the spillover went to
  small towns and cities

Initially, land was available in the early 16th
century
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EFFECT OF POPULATION GROWTH - NEGATIVE

• There is a natural limit to the number of people
  that could profit from a given industry, and by
  mid-century Europeans were experiencing
  saturation in many industries
• Most apprenticeships were limited and guilds
  enforced restrictions on new entrants
• By mid-century a glut in the workforce forced
  real wages (purchasing power) to fall

30
PRICE REVOLUTION

• The fall of real wages took place during a period
  of inflation known as the Price Revolution
• For example, between 1500-1650 cereal prices
  increased 5 times and manufactured goods doubled
  in price
• Most of the increase took place in the second
  half of the 16th century as a result of
  population increase and the import of gold and
  silver from the New World
• The Price Revolution impacted government finances
  and trade throughout the continent

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IMPACT OF PRICE REVOLUTION

• As a result of the steep rise in prices, some
  people became destitute others became rich
• Towns were especially hard hit due to the
  enormous increase in grain
• Those who grew their own food were more insulated
  from the effects, while those who counted on
  their subsistence from labor were in greater peril

32
CYCLE NOW TURNS VICIOUS

• Those who had sold and left their land to seek
  prosperity in towns were forced to return to the
  land as agrarian laborers
• In western Europe, they became landless poor,
  seasonal migrants without the safety net of
  communal living by 1600 many were starving
• In eastern Europe, the landed nobility solidified
  their position

33
SOCIAL LIFE

• In the early modern era, the group rather than
  the individual was the predominant unit in
  society
• The first level of the social order was the
  family and the household
• Next, was the village or town community
• Finally, the gradations of ranks in society at
  large each group had its own place and performed
  its own functions

34
HIERARCHY

• Hierarchy was the dominant principle of social
  organization in the early modern era
• Hierarchy at every level existed lords
  commoners, master apprentice, government
  official citizen, landholder landless,
  husband wife, parent child

35
SOCIAL STATUS

• Status, not wealth, determined hierarchy in
  society
• Status was apparent everywhere
• It involved bowing and hat doffing, clothing, and
  food
• Status was significant in titles including
  nobles, goodmen and goodwives, squires, and
  ladies
• The acceptance of status was an uncomplicated,
  unreflective act, similar to stopping at a red
  light
• Inequality was a fact of European social life
  that was unquestioned

36
GREAT CHAIN OF BEING

• To reinforce the social hierarchy, images such as
  The Great Chain of Being were perpetuated
• The Great Chain of Being was a description of the
  universe in which everything had a place, from
  God to rocks

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THE BODY POLITIC

• Another metaphor used to reinforce societal
  hierarchy was the idea of the Body Politic
• In this body the head ruled, the arms
  protected, the stomach nourished, and the feet
  labored
• The image depicted a small community as well as a
  large state
• The king was the head, the Church the soul, the
  nobles the arms, the artisans the hands, and the
  peasants the feet
• Each performed its own vital function
• Both the Great Chain and the Body Politic were
  conservative concepts of social organization
  designed to maintain the status quo

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NOBLES

• Nobility was a legal status that conferred
  certain privileges to its holders
• Rank and title provided a well-defined place at
  the top of the social order that was passed from
  generation to generation
• The escutcheon coat of arms was a universally
  recognized symbol of rank and family connection
  whether you were a prince, duke, earl, count, or
  baron

Arms of Hughes of Tipperary
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POLITICAL CLOUT

• Among the most important privileges held by
  nobles involved political influence
• In most countries the highest offices of the
  state and military were reserved for members of
  the nobility
• In Europe, various diets and political bodies
  were often composed strictly of nobles

40
ECONOMIC CLOUT

• Additionally, nobles enjoyed economic privileges
  as a result of their rank and role as lords of
  their land
• In almost every nation, nobles were exempt from
  taxation
• The nobles of eastern and central Europe
  benefited greatly from these exemptions

41
MILITARY OBLIGATIONS

• Initially, nobles were considered a warrior class
  that was expected to raise, equip, and lead
  troops into battle
• By the 16th century, military needs of the state
  surpassed the nobles ability to provide it
• Warfare had become a national enterprise that
  required central coordination
• Nobles had become administrators as a new
  service nobility emerged

42
GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS

• Nobles also had the obligation of governing at
  both the local and national level
• At the discretion of the ruler, a noble could be
  called upon to engage in any governmental
  occupation
• Additionally, they
  expected to provide
  for the needy and
  maintain good
  relationships with
  the peasants that
  worked their land

43
THE TOWN ELITE

• Over the course of the 16th century, a new urban
  elite emerged
• They enjoyed many of the same political and
  economic privileges of the rural nobles
• However, many members of this new social class
  were caught between the nobles and the commoners
  despised from above and envied from below

The urban elite was largely a western European
phenomenon
44
THE GENTRY

• As the century progressed the accumulation of
  large estates by non-nobles increased
• They received rents and dues, administered their
  estates, and provided for their peasants all
  without the traditional rank
• In England, the group came to be known as the
  gentry, and there were parallel groups in Spain,
  France and the Empire

In England, the gentry had the right to a coat of
arms and could be knighted, but the position was
not hereditary and the gentry could not belong to
the House of Lords
45
CITIZENS VS. NON-CITIZENS

• The order of rank below the town elite, pertained
  to the type of work that one performed
• Citizenship was restricted to membership in
  certain occupations and guilds
• While it could be purchased, most citizenship
  status was earned through mastering a profession
  after a period of apprenticeship
• Only males could become citizens

46
TRANSFORMATION OF THE TRADITIONAL SOCIAL HIERARCHY

• The New Rich
• During the early modern period, traditional
  social hierarchy changed
• Why? Population increase meant more governors to
  perform military, political and social functions
  of the state
• Second, opportunities to accumulate wealth
  increased dramatically during the Price
  Revolution individuals could rapidly increase
  their economic position via gold, silver, or
  selling commodities
• Profits from state service (tax collection,
  officeholding, law) proved lucrative, too

47
TRANSFORMATION OF THE TRADITIONAL SOCIAL HIERARCHY

• The New Poor
• Social change was equally apparent at the bottom
  of the social scale
• Population increase created a group of landless
  poor who squatted in villages and clogged the
  streets of towns and cities
• As many as one in four Europeans were destitute
• Traditionally, local communities (especially the
  Church) cared for the poor
• As the century progressed, local efforts at poor
  relief were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of
  needy
• Crime increased throughout the modern era as well

Beggars soon became separated into the deserving
poor and the so-called sturdy beggars
48
PEASANT REVOLT

• One consequence of the economic and social
  changes of the 16th century was an increase in
  violent confrontations between peasants and their
  lords
• Most revolts involved peasant leaders, petitions,
  and an organized rank and file with moderate
  political demands
• Peasant revolts were viewed as such a threat to
  social order that they were put down with the
  severest repression and brutally

Peasant revolts were usually organized and
well-planned, but always met with disaster
49
GERMAN PEASANTS WAR

• By far the most widespread peasant revolt of the
  16th century, the German Peasants War involved
  tens of thousands of peasants and combined a
  series of agrarian grievances with an awareness
  of Luthers new religious spirit
• Although he had a large following among peasants,
  Luther advised them to passively accept their
  fate
• The peasants disregarded his advice and organized
  large armies led by experienced soldiers

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AGRARIAN CHANGES

• Peasant frustration was not typically aimed at
  their lords, rather their anger was a product of
  agrarian changes brought on by population
  increase and market production
• Many of the traditional rights and obligations of
  the lords and peasants gave way to the need for
  more land and crops
• One important example was forest rights
• As land became more scarce, lords and peasants
  battled over common forest land and wild game

Nobles wanted the forest for their wild game,
while the peasants objected to the game eating
their crops
51
ENCLOSURES THREATEN TRADITION

• Another conflict arose over the enclosure of
  crops
• Enclosure meant a fence or hedge that separated
  one parcel of land from another
• The enclosure movement destroyed the tradition of
  communal farming
• It was yet another aspect of tradition losing out
  to economic progress (in this case private
  enclosed estate farming)
• Enclosures were a source of resentment for the
  poorer peasants

52
GERMAN PEASANTS CRUSHED

• Some of the demands of the peasants included a
  share of the woodlands, more freedom for the
  peasant (serf in some cases), stable rents fixed
  at fair rates,
  and a return to the ancient
  customs that had long
  governed
  lords and
  peasants
• The demands of the
  peasants reflected a
  traditional
  order that no
  longer existed
• They were caught between
  the jaws of an expanding
  state and a changing economy
• More than 100,000 peasants were slaughtered
  during and after the war the jaws had snapped
  shut

53
PRIVATE AND COMMUNITY LIFE

• The great events of the 16th century (New World
  discovery, consolidation of states, increased
  ferocity of wars, religious reform) did impact
  the lives of the common European
• However, the lives of most Europeans centered on
  births and deaths, the harvest, festivals, and
  social relations in the family and community
• Their strongest loyalties were to family and
  community rather than church or state

While the great events of the 16th century
dominate the headlines, perhaps the key to
understanding Europeans is to look at their
family and community life
54
THE FAMILY

• Sixteen-century life
  centered on the
  
  family
• European families
  were primarily
  
  nuclear, especially in western Europe
• In Hungary and Muscovy, for example, taxation was
  based on households and thus encouraged extended
  families
• The concept of family and family lineage created
  a sense of stability and longevity in a world in
  which individual life was short

55
FAMILY AS ECONOMIC UNIT

• The family was also an economic unit the basic
  unit for production, accumulation, and
  transmission of wealth
• Every member of the family had his or her own
  functions that were essential
• Tasks were divided by gender and age, but there
  was far more intermixture than is traditionally
  assumed

Van Goghs take on a peasant couple going to work
the field, 1890
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FAMILY AS SOCIAL UNIT

• The family was also the primary unit of social
  organization
• In the family, children were educated and the
  social values of hierarchy and discipline were
  taught
• At the top of the family was the father the
  head of household who ruled his wife, children
  and servants
• Next, the mother who ruled the children who
  owed obedience to both parents
• The wife also had authority over male apprentices

57
FAMILY SIZE AND MARRIAGE AGE

• Though the population was increasing, the typical
  family size remained at 3-4 children
• Late marriages and breast-feeding helped control
  family size
• Women married around age 25 men slightly later
• A woman could expect about 15 fertile years and
  7-8 pregnancies with 3-4 children surviving
  beyond age 10

Peasant Mother and Childby Mary Cassatt
58
WOMEN IN THE ERA

• Constant pregnancy and child care help explain
  some of the narrow gender roles of the era
• Biblical injunctions and traditional stereotypes
  help explain others
• The womans sphere was the household
• On the farm she was in charge of food, domestic
  animals, childrens care and education, clothes
• In towns, women supervised the shop that was part
  of the household, sold goods, kept accounts, and
  directed the work of apprentices

Breton Peasant Women by Paul Gauguin
59
MEN IN THE ERA

• The mans sphere was the public the fields in
  rural areas, the streets in towns
• Men plowed, planted, and did the heavy farming
• They made and maintained the farm equipment, took
  charge of the large farm animals, and made farm
  purchases
• Men attended court proceedings and other affairs
  of the village
• Only men could be citizens of the towns, full
  members of most guilds, and participate in civic
  governments

Man Smoking, Room XIII by Van Gogh 1888, oil on
canvas
60
Pieter Brueghel - Peasant (aka Village) Wedding
Feast
COMMUNITY

• On the farm, the community was the village in
  the town, it was the ward, quarter, or parish
• The community was not a idyllic haven of love and
  charity violence and feuds were common on the
  farm or in the town
• The community provided the culture and identity
  for the European

61
LORDS ROLE

• The two basic forces in the rural community were
  the lord and the priest
• The lord set the conditions for work and property
  arrangements
• However, use of
  common lands,
  rotation of labor service,
  and the form in which
  rents were paid were
  all collective decisions
  made by village
  headmen and elders
  in conjunction with a lords agent

62
PRIESTS ROLE

• The parish priest or minister attended all the
  important events of life birth, marriage, and
  death
• The church was the only common building of the
  community it was the only space not owned by the
  lord or an individual family
• In rural communities the church was the only
  organization to which people belonged

The priests served as a conduit for all the news
of the community and the focal point for the
village festive life
63
CELEBRATIONS

• Social ceremonies bound the community together
• For example, the annual perambulation involved a
  walk around the village fields before planting
  began
• The priest would lead the walk and then bless the
  fields
• Individuals reaffirmed their shared identity
  through ceremonies like the perambulation

64
WEDDINGS

• The most common
  ceremony was
  the
  wedding
• The wedding was a
  combination of a
  religious event
  
  and a community
  procession with
  
  feasting
  and festivity
• The wedding was
  celebrated as the
  moment when
  the
  couple entered fully
  into the
  community
• Parents were a central feature of the event as
  they approved the union and planned the dowry and
  inheritance

65
PROPERTY AND WEDDINGS

• Traditional weddings involved the formal transfer
  of property
• The bridal dowry and the grooms inheritance were
  formally exchanged during the wedding
• The public procession the marriage in the
  streets was as important as the religious
  service
• It was followed by a feast as abundant as the
  bride and groom could afford

66
SEXUAL LEGITIMACY

• Weddings also
  legitimated sexual
  relations
• Many of the dances and ceremonies that followed
  the feast symbolized the sexual congress
• Bridal beds were often passed from mothers to
  daughters
• Consummation was a vital part of the wedding, for
  without it the union could be annulled
• Finally, the wedding served to elevate the couple
  to full status as adults in the community

67
SEASONAL FESTIVALS

• In town and country, the year was
  divided by a number of festivals that defined the
  rhythm of toil and rest
• They coincided with both agricultural life and
  the Christian calendar
• Christmas and Easter were the two most widely
  observed Christian holidays
• Carnival, which preceded Lent, was a rowdy series
  of feasts and parties
• Others included, The Rites of May and All Hallows
  Eve

68
Battle of Carnival and Lent, Brueghel, Pieter the
Elder
69
PURPOSE OF FESTIVALS

• Festivals helped maintain the sense of community
  that might have been weakened during the long
  months of work
• They were first and foremost celebrations in
  which feasting, dancing and play were central
• But they also served as safety valves for the
  pressure and conflicts built up over the year
• They served to reinforce social hierarchy and
  deference and community mores

The stress of a bad harvest, famine or any number
of other maladies, was released during the
various festivals
70
PUNISHMENT AND FESTIVALS

• Festivals also served to publicly punish various
  offenders
• For example, a promiscuous men or women by
  placing horns on their head
• Or a man who had failed to control his wife might
  be force to ride backwards on a horse to
  symbolize the backwardness in the family
• Such forms of community shaming rituals worked
  not only to punish offenders but also to
  reinforce the social and sexual values of a
  village as a whole

71
MAGICAL BELIEFS

• In this preliterate society, the peoples beliefs
  blended Christian teaching and folk wisdom with a
  strong strain of magic
• Popular belief in magic was prevalent all over
  Europe and operated in much the same way as
  science does today
• Only skilled practitioners could perform magic
  and they had their own language
• Some focused on herbs and plants, others on
  diseases of the body

Alchemists (above), worked with rocks and
minerals, astrologers with the movement of stars
72
PURPOSE OF MAGIC

• The wealthy favored astrology and paid for advice
  on the best day to marry or invest
• Poorer villagers sought the help of herbalists to
  help control the aches and pains of daily life
• Sorcerers and wizards were called upon in more
  extreme situations such as bad harvest or matters
  of life and death

73
VILLAGE MAGICIANS

• Most village magicians were women because it was
  believed that women had the unique knowledge and
  understanding of the body and magical herbs
• Magicians also advised the lovesick on potions
  and spells that would gain them the object of
  their desires
• Magic was believed to have the power to alter
  nature, and it could be used for good or evil

74
THE WITCH CRAZE

• Magic for evil was black magic, or witchcraft
• Witches were believed to possess special powers
  that put them in contact with the devil and the
  forces of evil
• This belief in the presence of good and evil was
  Christian as well as magical
• Beginning in the late 15th century, Church
  authorities began to prosecute large numbers of
  suspected witches
• By the end of the 16th century
  there was a continentwide witchcraze

75
WOMEN PERSECUTED

• Unmarried or widowed women were usually targeted
  for persecution as witches (80)
• A fear of those not under male control was
  evident from the above figures
• The sexual element of union between a women and a
  devil serves as one possible explanation
• More likely, womens unequal status in society
  played a larger role they were an easy target
• Misfortunes that occurred were blamed on the
  activities of witches

Womens role as healers led in part to their
persecution
76
WESTERN EUROPE HOTBED FOR PERSECUTION

• Because there was such widespread belief in the
  presence of diabolical spirits and in the
  capabilities of witches to control them,
  Protestant and Catholic church courts easily
  found witnesses to testify against suspected
  witches
• Interestingly, Calvinist Scotland had more trials
  for witchcraft than Spain and France combined