5 Horrifying Facts About Witch Hysteria In Europe

The European witch trials lasted for centuries. Here are five horrifying facts about the persecution of witches.

1. It Started With a Book

By wellcomeimages.org wellcomeimages.org CC BY 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org / Via law2.umkc.edu

The Bible was the first publication to condemn witches. Later Pope Innocent VIII crafted the Malleus Malificarum that denounced the previously held belief that witches were powerless in God's presence. Instead, the text claimed that witches had made a pact with the Devil and should be hunted down and killed.

2. Witch Hunts Have Lasted For Centuries

The Newcastle Witch Hunt, from Ralph Gardiner’s account (1655) / Via law2.umkc.edu

From 1500-1660 it is estimated that somewhere between 50,000 and 80,000 witches were killed. There is some dispute over this estimate as accurate jailing and execution records are not always readily available. Many historians of this period say that an estimate of 100,000 people is more accurate. That's just the peak years, witches were persecuted as early as the 12th century and most sources agree that in under-developed areas of Africa and Asia, people are still jailed or killed for sorcery.

3. The Last Person to be Condemned Wasn’t Executed Until 1782

Illustration by Unknown Author, on display at the Anna Goeldi Museum in Mollis, Switzerland / Via telegraph.co.uk

Witch hunts may have become popular in Europe during the16th century, but they didn't stop there. Anna Goeldi, a woman from the alpine region of Switzerland was the last person to be executed for witchcraft in Europe. She confessed under torture to poisoning a young girl, and was beheaded in 1782. Her accuser later admitted to indicting Anna for witchcraft because the two had had an affair.

4. Sleep Deprivation Was a Legal Form of Torture

Wellcome Library, London / Via Witches: A Century of Murder (documentary)

Especially in Britain, Scotland and Ireland, forms of legal torture were limited. Sleep deprivation was a loop hole. Though it's considered a form of torture now, for most of Europe's history it wasn't. Accused witches could be forced to stay awake for days until they confessed. Matthew Hopkins, the most famous of the English witch hunters was notorious for using this tactic.

5. Children Were Tried as Witches Too

By Sweet Chily - Own work, Public Domain, commons.wikimedia.org / Via en.wikipedia.org witchcraftandwitches.com

By most accounts, the youngest person to be tried and executed as a witch was a young girl less than 9 years old. The girl, whose name is not known was burned at the stake during the Wurzberg trials in Germany. Based on historical accounts of the trials, she was just one of at least 9 other children 15 years of age or younger to be burned. In total over 900 people, women, children and the elderly were killed at the Wurzberg Trials. Included is an image of Marienkapelle church where victims of the trials are believed to have been executed.