From the fifteenth to the eighteenth the centuries, many Europeans developed a heightened concern with the phenomenon of witchcraft, seeing a new sect hostile to humanity. Thus, governments and society organized "hunts" for these alleged witches: accusing, torturing, and executing thousands of people. The intensity and viciousness of these hunts varied from place to place, as did their focus on particular targets, such as women. Finally, a changed world-view, informed by the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment,brought an end to these hunts for threats that did not empirically exist.

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Explore the history of the witch hunts,

link to Ugly History: Witch Hunts link to Ugly History: Witch Hunts

Here is a Ted-Ed video specifically on the Salem Witch Hunt also available on Youtube (with over 5,000,000 views).

pic of salem hunt link to video

And for the guy allegedly behind it all, here's a video about changing perceptions about the Devil, also available on Youtube with over 1,000,000 views.

face of video on teded link to video of 3 faces of devil

Prof. Pavlac is available to give public lectures on the witch hunts, such as described here.

The syllabus for his college course on the Witch Hunts is available here.

A page for his course taught for the Institut of Learning in Retirement, Fall 2022 is here.

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Ten Theories about the Causes of the Witch Hunts:
ideas by historians about the origins of the Witch Hunts
Ten Common Errors and Myths about the Witch Hunts:
corrections to mistaken ideas people frequently have about the Witch Hunts
Timeline of the Hunts to 1800:
chronology of key events, sources and people involved in the witch hunts
Annotated Bibliography:
brief evaluations of some books examining the Witch Hunts
The SALEM WITCH HUNT
TedED video
Online Sources
Timeline
Pictures
Annotated Books & Articles
Annotated Links: brief evaluations of other websites which provide information about the Witch Hunts
Primary Source: Letters from the Witch Trial of Rebecca Lemp:
a family deals with accusations.
Torture:
a review of torture in the witch hunts and today.
Suffer your own persecution!
Try a witch hunt simulation
:
make choices to survive or not.
link to index