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The End of the European Witch Hunt

 Section I. Essay: The End of the European Witch-Hunt (100 points).

In his book The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe, Brian Levack writes:"If the adoption of legal procedures proved to be of crucial importance in the origin of the great witch- hunt, their elimination was of no less importance in its decline. As we have seen in the previous chapter, the real turning point in the great hunt occurred when magistrates and judges came to the conclusion that the judicial process had resulted in the execution of innocent human beings, and therefore took steps to prevent such miscarriages of justice from ever happening again. At the same time, a more fundamental philosophical and religious scepticism challenged the very system of belief upon which the great witch-hunt was based, but it worth noting in conclusion that the decline of the European witch-hunt was much more the work of lawyers, judges and magistrates than of theologians or philosophers. And after the prosecution of witches had dwindled to an occasional prosecution for maleficium, it was a series of legislative acts and decrees that brought the European witch-hunt to an end, thus concluding one of the saddest chapters in the legal history of the West."In this quotation Levack addresses the central question of the European Witch-Hunt:How and why did the "legal" witch-hunts of early modern Europe end by the mid-eighteenth century?o answer this central question of the course thus far, write a concise essay (i.e., written in complete sentences and paragraphs-not merely an outline with bullet points) in response to the question posed above. Your essay must consider the following contributing factors to the end of the legal judicial prosecution of witchcraft in early modern Europe:Changes in Judicial Procedure: Explain how and why the repeal of three major components of judicial procedure (i.e., centralized judicial control, prohibition of torture, and new standards of evidence) contributed to the demise of the witch-hunts. In addition, explain how and why the de jure and de facto decriminalization of witchcraft as a secular crime also decreased the number of prosecutions (and thus executions) for witchcraft."The Disenchantment of the World:" Important "changes in mentality" led to the questioning of the "cumulative concept of witchcraft," which was one of the preconditions of the emergence of the witch- hunts. Explain how and why the cumulative concept of witchcraft was undermined by the increased philosophical and religious scepticism of thinkers, such as Christian Thomasius.Religious Changes: Explain how and why the decline in religious zeal, reaffirmation of the sovereignty of God, and biblical scholarship (as exemplified by the work of Balthasar Bekker) contributed to the end of the witch-hunts.Socio-Economic Conditions of Early Modern Europe: Explain how and why socio-economic changes after ca. 1660, such as the decline of famine, inflation, wars, population increases, etc., contributed to the end of witch hunts.1 Brian Levack, The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe, 4th ed. (London: Routledge, 2016), 276.

Expert Solution

The criminal witch-hunts that plagued early contemporary Europe observed their dying by way of the mid-eighteenth century through a convergence of things ranging from adjustments in judicial techniques to shifts in religious, philosophical, and socio-monetary conditions. The aid of a reevaluation of criminal methods marked the essential turning point in the decline of the witch hunts. Brian Levack, in his book "The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe," asserts that the adoption and subsequent elimination of positive legal techniques performed a pivotal function. Magistrates and judges, identifying the grave miscarriages of justice resulting from the execution of harmless people, initiated a shift. As the judiciary stated the failings within the judicial procedure, steps were taken to prevent such tragedies. The repeal of essential components of judicial methods, mixed with the de jure and de facto decriminalization of witchcraft as a secular crime, significantly decreased the wide variety of prosecutions and, therefore, executions associated with witchcraft.

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