The subject of witchcraft erupted in Europe around the mid 1400s. With the start of the reformation years(which is around when Wolves Among Us takes place) the outbreak of witchcraft hysteria with mass executions began to appear and the killing rate for witches increased considerably. Authorities in Geneva, Switzerland burned 500 accused witches at the stake in 1515. In Italy nine years later, a vast number of witchcraft charges led to as many as 1,000 executions.
The story of Scotland's witch-hunting was rather interesting, I thought. It began after the marriage of King James to Princess Anne of Denmark. Her ship that was carrying her to Scotland for the wedding got caught in a bad storm and she ended up having to take refuge in Norway. James traveled to her and the wedding ended up taking place in Denmark. After the royal newlyweds ended their honeymoon, they encountered another terrible storm and rough seas on their return home. The ship's captain blamed the storms on witches. When six Danish women confessed to "bedeviling" King James, he began to take witchcraft seriously. Back in Scotland the paranoid king authorized torture of suspected witches. Dozens of condemned witches in the North Berwick area were burned at the stake in what would be the largest witch-hunt in British history.
2 comments:
I am very interested in the history of witch hunts. I visited Salem, Massachuettes. They have huge information center there with lots of books about the witchcraft trials and witchhunts. So if you are ever in the vacinity of Salem, be sure to go there. We also saw a play about one of the trials there.
CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com
Carol - Really? That would be something to visit Salem, Massachuettes! The witch hunts interest me as well. Such a crazy time in history!
Watching a play of a trail would be really neat!!
~ Katy
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