Where were witch hunts increased during the Reformation?

Answer 1

Witch hunts increased dramatically after the Middle Ages ended, and a large part of the increase was in the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. The places where they took place most commonly were Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, England, and Scotland.

Witches were prosecuted when they were accused in some places in the Middle Ages. They were not prosecuted everywhere, as some of the more important medieval legal codes made it clear that belief in witchcraft was superstition.

With the passing of time, more and more actions were taken against accused witches. Inquisitions were started during the 14th century after the Black Death, though still on the basis of individual accusations and prosecution. The first text to systematize the prosecution of witches, Malleus Maleficarum,appeared in 1487.

The first major persecution of people for witchcraft took place in Wiesensteig, Germany, in 1562, and 67 people were executed as a result. The person behind this was a local lord, Ulrich von Helfenstein, who had been raised as a Catholic, converted to Lutheranism, was Lutheran at the time of the witch trials, and converted back to Catholicism later.

The witch hunts happened in both in Catholic and Protestant parts of Europe. They were probably worse in Protestant areas, but that may be due to the fact that two important Protestant kings, James I of England and Christian IV of Denmark, were personally involved in witch hunts.

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