Source: H.C. Erik Midelfort, Witch Hunting in Southwestern Germany, 1562-1684: The Social and Intellectual Foundations (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1972), 199-230.
Trends in Witch Prosecution
Source: H.C. Erik Midelfort, Witch Hunting in Southwestern
Germany, 1562-1684: The Social and Intellectual Foundations (Stanford: Stanford
University Press, 1972), 199-230.
Source: Richard van Dülmen, Theater des Schreckens: Gerichtspraxis
und Strafrituale in der frühen Neuzeit (Munich: Beck, 1988).
Source: Wolfgang Behringer, Witchcraft Persecutions in Bavaria:
Popular Magic, Religious Zealotry, and Reason of State in Early Modern Europe
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 53.
Execution Rates in Witchcraft Trials
| Region | Years | Persons
tried |
Executions |
Execution
rate |
| Fribourg | 1607-1683 | 162 |
53 |
33% |
| Geneva | 1537-1662 | 318 |
68 |
21% |
| Neuchâtel | 1568-1677 | 341 |
214 |
63% |
| Pays de Vaud | 1537-1630 | 102 |
90 |
90% |
| Luxembourg | 1509-1687 | 547 |
358 |
69% |
| County of Namur | 1509-1646 | 270 |
144 |
54% |
| Isle of Guernsey | 1563-1646 | 78 |
33 |
46% |
| Nord (France) | 1542-1679 | 187 |
90 |
48% |
| Norway | 1551-1760 | 730 |
280 |
38% |
| Finland | 1520-1699 | 710 |
115 |
16% |
| County of Essex | 1560-1672 | 291 |
74 |
24% |
| Scotland | 1563-1727 | 402 |
216 |
54% |
| Hungary | 1520-1777 | 932 |
449 |
48% |
| Iceland | 1604-1720 | 120 |
22 |
18% |
Source: Brian Levack, The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe, 2d ed. (London: Longman, 1995), 23.
Source: Wolfgang Behringer, Witchcraft Persecutions in Bavaria:
Popular Magic, Religious Zealotry, and Reason of State in Early Modern Europe
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 53.
| Region | Years | Male |
Female |
%
Female |
| Southwestern Germany | 1562-1684 | 238 |
1050 |
82% |
| Bishopric of Basel | 1571-1670 | 9 |
181 |
95% |
| Franche-Comté | 1559-1667 | 49 |
153 |
76% |
| Geneva | 1537-1662 | 74 |
240 |
76% |
| Pays de Vaud | 1581-1620 | 325 |
624 |
66% |
| Luxembourg | 1519-1623 | 13 |
53 |
79% |
| Nord (France) | 1542-1679 | 54 |
232 |
81% |
| Parlement of Provence | 1580-1628 | 30 |
73 |
71% |
| Parlement of Burgundy | 1580-1642 | 83 |
76 |
48% |
| Essex | 1560-1672 | 23 |
290 |
93% |
| Scotland | 1563-1727 | 402 |
216 |
54% |
| Castile | 1540-1685 | 143 |
324 |
71% |
| Finland | 1520-1699 | 316 |
325 |
51% |
| Russia | 1622-1700 | 93 |
43 |
32% |
| Iceland | 1604-1720 | 22 |
2 |
9% |
For the sake of comparison:
| New England | 1620-1725 | 75 |
267 |
78% |
Source: Brian Levack, The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe, 2d ed. (London: Longman, 1995), 143.
Male Witches in Normandy: Cases at the Rouen Parlement, 1580-1630:
| Years | Men tried |
Women tried |
% Female |
| 1564-1578 | 15 |
10 |
40% |
| 1581-1594 | 45 |
21 |
31% |
| 1595-1614 | 137 |
56 |
29% |
| 1615-1635 | 60 |
14 |
19% |
| 1646-1659 | 21 |
2 |
9% |
Source: E. William Monter, "Toads and Eucharists: The Male Witches of Normandy, 1564-1660," French Historical Studies 20 (1997): 563-595.
Source: Wolfgang Behringer, Witchcraft
Persecutions in Bavaria: Popular Magic, Religious Zealotry, and Reason of State
in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 54.