centuries of early modern European history, many societies were consumed by a trepidation over alleged theories of witchcraft and sorcery in their communities. “Witch-hunts”, especially in Central Europe, resulted in the trial, torture, and execution of tens of thousands of victims, a large proportion of whom were women . In England alone, more than 90 percent of those convicted of witchcraft were women, and the few men who were accused were generally married to a woman who had already been deemed guilty
This study of medieval witchcraft will define the early use of Christian “folk magic” in the 14th centuries and the devolution of these practice in favor of heretical condemnation of witches by the Roman Catholic Church in 15th century Europe. In the early Middle Ages, the use of “folk magic” defined a tolerance of “witchcraft”, which involved magical spells as a form of herbal medicinal healing by clerics in the Roman Catholic Church: Chronicled extensively by Catholic historians under the heading