The Witchcraft Craze

Chapter 7 of Kors and Peters was definitely a breath of fresh air compared to the previous chapters about eating babies. By the end of the sixteenth century, there were many more skeptics of witches, and many more people were openly saying their view on witchcraft.

Desiderius Erasmus: A Terrible Case of Sorcerer in Orléans is a great way to start off the chapter because it introduces a different outlook on to the hype of witchcraft. Like Jennifer, I appreciate the story because Erramus is just tired of the witchcraft accusations and the drama involved. He blames witchcraft on the people: “we are guilty of crimes that far outdo either the giants, whom the thunderbolt confounded, or Lycaon’s cruelty, for which the great flood itself hardly atoned?” Then goes on to say “when each day, by fresh wickedness, we provoke the Lord out God…” We, the people, are wicked on our own, especially when greed comes into play. This brought a whole new way of looking at things before the reformation later in the sixteenth century. There were people during this time who were over the witchcraft craze, and Eramus backed them up so they were not alone in a world of witches.

Strix was interesting to me because it was written in a dialogue. Personally I think dialogues are more fun to read because it is easier to picture two people having a conversation in your head, therefore making the concepts easier to understand. Gianfrancesco Pico della Mirandola has Apistuis, Phronimus, Strega, and Dicaste explain the skepticism of witchcraft but how it does exist: Phronimus says “You have shown that the circles, ointments, magical words, travel through the air, sexua relations with demons all occur as often in our own time as in the remote past.” Apistuis is now convinced witchcraft is real, which many people this time did believe, so this excerpt shows a valid reason as to why the witchcraft craze went on for so long.