Could Early Modern English Witch-hunting be described as one aspect of the 'Battle of the Sexes'?
By Natasha Hollins, Third Year History Student
The Battle of the Sexes is the conflict between male and female gender roles that was present during the early modern era. During the witch hunt around 40,000 people are believed to have been executed, yet the percentage of female witches exceeded 75% in most of Europe, thus the witch trials are often considered ‘sex related but not sex specific’ according to Larner. Instead of being purely an aspect of the ‘Battle of the Sexes’ they were a combination of this and religious turmoil that occurred in the period which I will establish in this essay. I will also address the limited influence by unexplainable events that served to create resentment towards witches such as changes in climate, that affected the witch hunt.
The early modern witch hunts were an aspect of the ‘Battle of the Sexes’ but were not solely attributed to this. Despite this, the conflict between gender roles during the early modern period remained one of the leading causes, as influenced by literature from the Renaissance and demonological treatise that all presented women as the weaker sex, in addition to female gender roles and patriarchal oppression. Levack argues that demonological treatise such as Malleus Maleficarum were ‘blatantly hostile to women, as they described them as ‘morally weaker’, which enabled them to succumb to a pact with the Devil more easily than men. The Renaissance had a similar effect, as ancient literature that gained popularity featured only female forms of witchcraft, such as mythological female figures including Hecate and Medea. As these gender roles were perpetuated through the dissemination of this literature, female gender roles became attributed to witches, establishing the image of the witch as inherently female. Sharpe argues that this argument is limited as there was a ‘distinctive female contribution to the prosecution of witches’ however this fails to consider the oppression of women under the patriarchy, as Larner suggests that women who were subservient under the gender roles forced upon them were threatened by those who weren’t. Thus, as Rowlands argues, the patriarchy divides women, and female accusations were a result of the ‘Battle of the Sexes’, not in spite of it. Additionally, the gender roles attributed to women increased their likelihood of being accused of witchcraft due to their association with the domestic sphere, which women were confined to. For example, accusations involved acts such as poisoning food, which women who were responsible for. This is furthered by the increased focus on the ‘diabolic pact’ aspect of witchcraft, that ‘extended witchcraft from a domestic to public environment’, subsequently increasing then number of accused males. This proved the influence of gender roles on witch trials. Men accused were ‘implicitly feminized’, by being given traditionally female attributes of spite and weakness, as well as often being related to a female witch. Therefore, although male accused witches existed, they were often dependent on female accusations and gender roles, indicating the witch trials were one aspect of the Battle of the Sexes. This is limited by the fact that local traditions of witchcraft influenced the sex of those accused, as seen in Iceland and the Baltic states where more men were accused due to longstanding traditions of witchcraft being inherently male. While remaining an aspect of the Battle of the Sexes, the witch hunts were too strongly influenced by other factors such as religious turmoil to be monocausal.
The early modern witch hunt can be described to a similar extent as an aspect as a result of religious turmoil during the early modern era. The threat of Islam, in combination with the desire to seek out and destroy hidden groups in society and the religious fragmentation of Christianity indicates that witch hunts were not solely an aspect of the Battle of the Sexes, but more evidently a combination between this and religious turmoil. The loss of the crusading lands and the holy land of Jerusalem in combination with the Islamic acquisition of the Turkish Empire, meant that Islam threatened European Christianity. The contraction of the Christianity led to the increased desire to complete actions deemed to be godly to purify Christianity and regain lost territory. The witch trials were part of a movement of purification, furthered by the fact that the trials declined after the defeat of the Turks in 1693, thus after the removal of the threat, the trials subside, establishing direct correlation. However, this was a result of a combination of several events that occurred such as changes in climate that I will address later in this essay. The witch trials also stemmed from a new desire to exterminate potential enemies of Christianity. This affected witch hunting as it presented it as an opportunity to protect the dominance of Christianity, through the extermination of witches, an enemy to the religion. The witch trials were strongest in regions affected by the fragmentation of Christianity after the reformation. For example, in the area of Trier, the Protestants and Jewish people were executed, followed by the alleged witches. Thus, the witch hunts were part of the reforming religious social agenda that emerged in the wake of the reformation as part of the counter reformation. This movement of increased godly actions occurred to cleanse everyday life, such as the forced closure of pubs and introduction of compulsory church attendance. This contrasted countries such as Greece and Russia where the dominant Orthodox churches did not experience a reformation, thus experienced far fewer witch trials. This fragmentation led to growth in the fear of the devil, as seen in Lutheran and Calvinist fear of demonic power, vilifying witchcraft for its heresy. This had a widespread influence due to the active preaching ministry thus influencing the witch hunt. Thus, religious turmoil had an extended effect on the witch hunt as part of the religious social agenda and growth in fear of the devil which worked in combination with the ‘Battle of the Sexes’ to influence accusations of witchcraft in the Early modern era.
To a lesser extent, it is evident that the early modern witch hunts were a response to natural events that could not be explained, instead of being an aspect the ‘Battle of the Sexes’. One of these natural events was changes in climate that affected crop yield and livelihood. As the climate was warmer and drier before 1300, the sudden change due to the miniature Ice Age caused climate to worsen until the 1650s. The reduction of the farming period and forced abandonment of farmland led to growing resentment and a belief in the religious punishment from God created resentment and the need for a scapegoat. This was found in witches, which stemmed from the belief that witches were purposely sabotaging harvests and livelihoods. In this respect, the witch trials were to a larger extent a result of unexplainable occurrences that cultivated resentment. This resentment was subsequently aimed towards witches. Therefore, to a lesser extent unexplainable events influenced the witch trials, as witches were used as a scapegoat for these events.
On balance it is apparent that a combination of religious turmoil and the Battle of the Sexes heavily influenced the Early Modern witch hunt, as they were responsible for creating the image of the witch that became so prominent during the hunt. They established the partnership with the devil as one of the main attributes of a witch, alongside gender roles that were customary to women such as being responsible for the domestic sphere. Religious fragmentation heavily influenced the witch hunt as it was responsible for the accusation of witches based upon religious belief, and the growing fear of the devil that was central to the figure of the witch. Changes in climate had a limited effect on the witch hunt yet was significant as the resentment it created towards witches had a heavy influence. Overall, it is apparent that the early modern witch hunt was not monocausal, instead it was a combination of religious turmoil and the Battle of the Sexes and to a lesser extent the changes in climate that occurred.
Bibliography
J. Sharpe, Witchcraft in Early Modern England, (New York: Routledge, 2013)
W. de Blecourt, ‘The Making of the Female Witch’, Gender and History, 12 (2000)
B. Levack, The Witch Hunt in Early Modern Europe, (New York: Routledge, 2013)
A. Rowlands, Witchcraft and Masculinities in Early Modern Europe, (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009)
R. Hutton, The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2017)
Cover Image Credit: Togethoff on Unsplash