page_title: Witch trials in the early modern period
section_title: Regional differences
hierarchical_section_title: Witch trials in the early modern period / Causes and interpretations / Regional differences
caption_attribution_description: Außenansicht mit Grundrissen des Bamberger Malefizhauses/Drudenhaus, in dem die der Hexerei Angeklagten gefangengehalten und peinlich verhört wurden. Kupferstich, 1627 (Staatsbibliothek Bamberg, V B 211-m)
context_page_description: Prosecutions for the crime of witchcraft reached a highpoint from 1580 to 1630 during the Counter-Reformation and the European wars of religion, when an estimated 50,000 people were burned at the stake, of which roughly 80% were women, and most often over the age of 40.
context_section_description: There were many regional differences in the manner in which the witch trials occurred. The trials themselves emerged sporadically, flaring up in some areas but neighbouring areas remaining largely unaffected. In general, there seems to have been less witch-phobia in the papal lands of Italy and Spain in comparison to France and the Holy Roman Empire.
  There was much regional variation within the British Isles. In Ireland, for example, there were few trials.
  There are particularly important differences between the English and continental witch-hunting traditions. In England the use of torture was rare and the methods far more restrained. The country formally permitted it only when authorized by the monarch, and no more than 81 torture warrants were issued (for all offenses) throughout English history. The death toll in Scotland dwarfed that of England. It is also apparent from an episode of English history, that during the civil war in the early 1640s, witch-hunters emerged, the most notorious of whom was Matthew Hopkins from East Anglia and proclaimed himself the "Witchfinder General".
  Italy saw much fewer witchcraft accusations, and even fewer cases where witch trials ended in execution. In 1542, the establishment of the Roman Catholic Inquisition effectively restrained secular courts under its influence from liberal application of torture and execution. The methodological Instructio, which served as an "appropriate" manual for witch hunting, cautioned against hasty convictions and careless executions of the accused. In contrast with other parts of Europe, trials by the Venetian Holy Office never saw conviction for the crime of malevolent witchcraft, or "maleficio". Because the notion of diabolical cults was not credible to either popular culture or Catholic inquisitorial theology, mass accusations and belief in Witches' Sabbath never took root in areas under such inquisitorial influence.
caption: The malefizhaus of Bamberg, Germany, where suspected witches were held and interrogated: 1627 engraving
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