Five witchcraft myths debunked by an expert

In some places, like Russia, it was men who formed the majority of witch suspects. This was primarily because Russians conceptualised gender very differently to people in western Europe.

About 400 years ago, the European witch hunts were at their peak. Between the 15th and 18th centuries, an estimated 50,000 people, mostly women, were executed for witchcraft across Europe. They were accused of devil-worship, heresy, and harming their neighbours by using witchcraft. The 1620s was the most intense phase of persecution in places like Eichstätt in Germany, where almost 300 witches were executed between 1617 and 1631.

The witchcraft trials have endured as a matter of curiosity, entertainment, and debate. But despite this interest, popular understandings of the European witch-hunts are riddled with error and misconceptions. So, given it’s the season of the witch, it’s time to dispel some myths.