THE CHURCH AND THE WITCH‑HUNTING:

 

 

The Hunting of the witches from the 13th until the 17th century, is one of the most displaced Chapters in the church history. lt is estimated, that million women were burned as witches and their remains were thrown away.

lf you put the murdered women in relation to Hitler's million Jews, then you will realise, that the murdering of the women was much heavier, than the murdering of the Jews, because the population under Hitler was higher then in the Middle age.

 

The things, which Hitler did because of rasisstic intention, the popes and the inquisitors did because of religious intention!

 

The development of the Believing in Witches:

 

The imagination of witches was found in the Mesopotamian‑, the Greek‑, and the Roman‑ and the German culture. Aspects were taken from all the cultures and were joined to the pictures, they mainly had in the middle age.

But only through four points the witch‑hunting could rise to such a murder‑machinery: (The first two points were handled in other places of the book.)

 

1. The inquisition

 

2. The discrimination of the women

 

3. The Believe in the Devil and the Evil:

 

It was not always like that, that the church hunted Wizards and Witches. Before the ninth century the existence of witches was denied. After that, women were banned out of the community, lf they were charged to witch. But by the time, the teachings of Thomas of Aquinas and August, who both believed in the existence of the evil, got more powerful. But the thing started through the papal witch‑bull of Pope Innocence VIII. (1484‑1492). The two inquisitors Jacob Sprenger and Heinrich Institoris (=Craemer) complained to the pope, about the fact, that they got problems in doing their job, because laymen and religious were not co­operating with them. So the pope gave the order for the inquisition against "wizardry persons". He made it, that the inquisitors could work now freely on the charged ones.

 

4. The book: "The witch‑hammer":

 

In the Witch‑hammer you can find the following:

"So bad is the women, because she has easily religious doubts. And she denies the religion faster, which is the basic for witching." At least 47 papal edicts appeared against witches between 1258 and 1526. Broad sheets were made, in order to get a mental preparation for the murdering. There were also bounties for witches. One witch‑formula of that time was:" You should be tortured that thin, that the sun is able to shine Through you." Because of this preparation, it is no wonder, that

In the year 1678 in archbishop of Salzburg burned 97 women because of a cattle‑pest.

In the year 1.630 the Bamberglan Bishop burnmed nearly 600 people and his Brother, the Bishop of Würzburg murdered 1.200 persons.

In the 17th century three year old children were burned through the pressure of the Colonna Bishop.

Next to Wolfenbüttel there were so many burnings, that the pile on which the women died, looked like a burned forest.

even in the late 18th century a Protestant bishop was unhappy, because people did not burned charged witches in this new 'Free‑thinking time".