The topic that I choose to write my final response about importance of all the different forms of persecution that took place during the Reformation and Counter Reformation. When it comes to people being persecuted in history, a lot of people face imprisonment, and death during the time of the Reformations, because it was a way for the churches to establish control over the people. The Protestant Church persecuted people who they thought were witches or were against the church, while the Catholic Church persecuted people who they believed were Protestant or they thought who had ideas that went against what the church was against. All of the persecution that took place during this time proves that Europe was divided in what they believed and what they wanted others to believe, but it also shows how important this was for the progression of the church's agenda. Lindberg writes about this in chapter 14 when he talks about the Counter Reformation that the Catholic Church set forward, which at first was designed to help with the Index of Prohibited Books (Lindberg 329). However that ended up leading into the prosecution of members of the Protestant church and others whose ideas didn’t agree withe church. Other instances, of persecution was when members of the Protestant Church were hunting people because they thought they were witches.
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There were plenty of moments in the history of the Reformation and Counter Reformation where people were wrongly persecuted because of false accusations or because they had ideas that went against the church, and it is for that reason that I believe that persecution was the most important aspect of this time period.
First and foremost, I want to talk about the Trial of Suzanne Gaudry which took place in 1652 which is one of the instances of the church persecuting an innocent life. According to the source material that was presented to us in class it says that, “The trial of Suzanne Gaudry, preserved in oddly meticulous court records, offers a view of a case close to the traditional stereotype of witchcraft persecutions: the pathetic and illiterate old woman, the sabbath, the nocturnal flights, the carnal love of the devil, the effective use of terror and torture to obtain a confession, the recantation and burning at the stake, all brought together in a judicial atmosphere composed half of orderly interrogation and half of frightful insinuation and contradiction (Trial of Suzanne Gaudry, 1652).” This excerpt from the trial introduces the reader to the topic and what how the court looked at most of the trials they handled. The thing to note in the excerpt is when it says that terror and torture were effective means of getting the confessions that they wanted. When thinking about that it isn’t hard to imagine how many people were basically forced to confess that he or she was a witch, just because they were falsely accused. During the interrogations that were taking place there are moments when Suzanne Gaudry admits to the crimes that she was accused of, but latter in the interrogations she would recant the confessions that she had given early in the trial. For instance, during one of the interrogations Suzanne Gaudry says, “she is not a witch, that she has nothing to do with the devil, thus that she did not want to renounce the devil, saying that he has not misled her, and upon inquisition of having confessed to being present at the carol, she insisted that although she had said that, it is not true and that she is not a witch.”. However when she starts to get tortured she says “that it was twenty years ago that the devil appeared to her, being in her …show more content…
The persecution of many people during this time was used to install fear and stop the progression of both the Protestant and Catholic Churches. The use of torture and fear was something that went a long way during this period of time and many innocent people died and also converted in fear of their lives. So, in conclusion I believe persecution of the people during that time period is the most important thing that happened during the Reformations, because when the church persecuted someone they were able to instill fear into the citizens so they could control
There were plenty of moments in the history of the Reformation and Counter Reformation where people were wrongly persecuted because of false accusations or because they had ideas that went against the church, and it is for that reason that I believe that persecution was the most important aspect of this time period.
First and foremost, I want to talk about the Trial of Suzanne Gaudry which took place in 1652 which is one of the instances of the church persecuting an innocent life. According to the source material that was presented to us in class it says that, “The trial of Suzanne Gaudry, preserved in oddly meticulous court records, offers a view of a case close to the traditional stereotype of witchcraft persecutions: the pathetic and illiterate old woman, the sabbath, the nocturnal flights, the carnal love of the devil, the effective use of terror and torture to obtain a confession, the recantation and burning at the stake, all brought together in a judicial atmosphere composed half of orderly interrogation and half of frightful insinuation and contradiction (Trial of Suzanne Gaudry, 1652).” This excerpt from the trial introduces the reader to the topic and what how the court looked at most of the trials they handled. The thing to note in the excerpt is when it says that terror and torture were effective means of getting the confessions that they wanted. When thinking about that it isn’t hard to imagine how many people were basically forced to confess that he or she was a witch, just because they were falsely accused. During the interrogations that were taking place there are moments when Suzanne Gaudry admits to the crimes that she was accused of, but latter in the interrogations she would recant the confessions that she had given early in the trial. For instance, during one of the interrogations Suzanne Gaudry says, “she is not a witch, that she has nothing to do with the devil, thus that she did not want to renounce the devil, saying that he has not misled her, and upon inquisition of having confessed to being present at the carol, she insisted that although she had said that, it is not true and that she is not a witch.”. However when she starts to get tortured she says “that it was twenty years ago that the devil appeared to her, being in her …show more content…
The persecution of many people during this time was used to install fear and stop the progression of both the Protestant and Catholic Churches. The use of torture and fear was something that went a long way during this period of time and many innocent people died and also converted in fear of their lives. So, in conclusion I believe persecution of the people during that time period is the most important thing that happened during the Reformations, because when the church persecuted someone they were able to instill fear into the citizens so they could control