Salem
They tortured them by crushing them (with bricks) or beheading them etc.
They were burned at the stake, drowned etc. It depends on which country it was, for instance Spain had a vast array of torture devices for witches.
Yes. A lot of witches live in America.
to see if the female would use sorcery to escape
witches are people who chase scared children for aids.
The swimming test (in which ropes were used to prevent drowning, a little known fact) pricking them with a needle to see if any spots did not bleed (the witches mark) searching for witches teats ("nipples" found on various parts of the body supposedly to feed evil spirits) and forms of soft torture (physical hard torture was illegal in England) to get them to confess.
Witches were forbidden in Medieval times, especially in England. Sorcery however was very popular and something had to be done about it. It made Medieval people feel uneasy especially since England and Europe were considered a Christian nation. Witches were seen as devilish. most natural disasters were blamed on them because people believed through "magic" potions and spells the witches triggered the disaster. The most common torture for a witch/Sorcerer was been burnt at the stake. Some other forms of torture included been left naked, legs and arms spread out, under the sun. This resulted in extremely bad sun burns. Another form of torture for witches was been hanged.
Matthew Hopkins held the record for the most witches caught and found guilty, although he made them confess by means of torture
Different world views, "wrong" religion, witches - mostly everything that didn't fit the current worldview
Physical torture was illegal in England. However their definition of torture was rather loose. Suspects could be forced to stay awake for as many as 5 days. They were forced to run around the room until they collapsed from exhaustion. The swimming test was not torture, it tested if they were a witch or not and was NOT designed to make them confess.
The Malleus Maleficarum ("The Witches' Hammer" or "The Hammer of Heresy") was a book claiming to detail the deeds and beliefs of witches and Witchcraft. Much of its information was speculation, things said or confessed to under torture, or simply made up. It caused a lot of grief for many innocent people, and continues to be the source of "information" about Witchcraft and Satanism in stories... and in Fundamentalist propaganda.
One way a witchcrafter was tortured into confessing was by putting their head in water for a long time. If they lived they were witches, if not when to bad..:) One way a witchcrafter was tortured into confessing was by putting their head in water for a long time. If they lived they were witches, if not when to bad..:)