Witchcraft In Premodern Literature

Premodern authors such as Richard Kieckhefer and Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger produced pieces of literature depicting how the premodern witch was perceived during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. During the time period, there was a large emphasis on the church and since witchcraft went against the ideals of the church the premodern witch was considered an “evil” doer of magic. Modern authors such as Ronald Hutton and Meagan Bolds have formed pieces of literature giving definitions of a witch in the twenty-first century. Over time the ideals for a witch have shifted from a more evil nature to a more natural disposition. As of twenty-sixteen, the definition of a witch has altered to: a person, male or female, that practices magic …show more content…
In treatise Malleus Maleficarum , Kramer and Sprenger show insight on women and how they connect to witchcraft. During medieval times the women were the main group of people being accused for witchcraft, and one way they show a separation between gender is the women's “impurity”. When a woman is on her monthly period her spirit is “Inflamed with malice and rage” (Kramer/ Sprenger 17). By giving an example of something that only happens to a woman they are able to completely cancel out the male population but, by only giving a female example we don't have enough evidence to make a claim that male witches do not exist. Just because a woman has her period or is in a rage does not make her a witch and just because a man doesn’t have a period does not mean that he cannot be a witch. The two do not have a correlation. And although this stereotype has slowly faded, there is still an association of witches and women. Richard Hutton helps support the argument of male witches with his evidence from areas such as Finland, Iceland, and Normandy (Hutton 123). In these areas the main group of people accused were male and these societies had the same social structures as the ones where women were the main gender being accused (Hutton 123). Hutton helps to expose how men are apart of witch culture even when it was overshadowed by the woman stereotype so because of this my definition does not discriminate …show more content…
I believe that a witch can be both just like mortals. A human can be both good and evil and so can a witch. A witch should not have a reputation of being evil because each witches character should be based on them as a person. As Bolds points out, witches are “normal people just like you or me”, so witches should have the ability to show whether they are good or evil (paragraph2). Premodern witches were known for using their magic to cause harm out of pure evil while the modern witches magic is to help influence not control. Magic is so significant in contrasting the two time periods of witches because, it shows distinction in how there is a shift from evil to natural. As the shift continues to grow the outlook on witches becomes more natural but, when it comes down to it, a witch ultimately makes the decision to use its power for good or evil no matter what the stigma