Witches in Europe 
Power and Belief, 1300-1750

Chronology


ca. 960            Regino of Prüm's Of Synodical Cases and Ecclesiastical Discipline.
ca. 1008          Burchard of Worm's Decretum, including the Corrector et medicus.
1022               Burnings of heretics at Orleans.
1048-1049      Pope Leo IX
1073-1085      Pope Gregory VII
1050-75          Patarene Movement (Milan).
1144               Earliest instance of 'blood libel,' i.e., accusations of ritual murder and cannibalism against Jews (Norwich).
1140               Gratian's Decretum, including Canon episcopi.
1148               Council of Vienne: ends inhibition against invoking secular power against heresy.
1163                Trials of Cathars in Cologne
1176-1180      The Incident at Rheims
1179                Third Lateran Council
1184                Formal condemnation of Waldensians as heretics; excommunication of all heretics (Ad abolendam).
1198-1216      Pope Innocent III
1199                Redefinition of heresy as treason (Vergentis in senium)
1208-1229      Albigensian Crusade
1215                Fourth Lateran Council
1232                Gregory IX (1227-1241), Vox in Rama.
1233                Languedocian Inquisition

Early Trials: 1300-1500
 
Phase 1: 1300-1330
A low rate of prosecution for witchcraft; slightly more than half of all prosecutions are in France, the rest in England and the Empire; allegations are generally mild; most are political in nature; sorcery is the prominent charge.

1315-1317       The Great Famine
1322-1323       Expulsions of Jews from southern France
1324                Trial of Alice Kyteler (Kilkenny, Ireland)
 
Phase 2: 1330-1375
The rate of prosecution falls slightly; most prosecutions are in France; political trials all but vanish. As in phase one, few accusations of diabolism.

1348-1349       The Black Death
1368                Nicolas Eymeric, Directorium Inquisitorum.
1380                Trials of Waldensians in the western Alps
1384                Trials of 'Luciferans' in Brandenburg.
 
Phase 3: 1375-1435
Two shifts: (a) Steady increase in the number of trials; (b) greater concern with diabolism  steadily increases; spread of inquisitorial procedure; decline of talion (i.e., harsh penalties for false accusation); decline in number of men accused of sorcery.

ca. 1400            Witch trials in Lausanne under Peter von Greyerz (Switzerland)
1428                 Witch-trials in the Valais (Switzerland)
1430-1431        Trial of Joan of Arc
 
Phase 4: 1435-1500
Sharp increase in the number of trials, especially in Switzerland, but also in France and the Empire generally; trials in Italy; full formation of the learned stereotype of the witch; women a majority among people accused of witchcraft; especially intense prosecution in 1455-1460 and 1480-1485.

1437                Johannes Nider, Formicarius (recounts the trials at Lausanne)
1484                Innocent IV, Summis desiderantis.
1486                Jakob Sprenger and Heinrich Kramer, Malleus Maleficarum.
1499                Royal suspension of Waldensian persecution in France.
1490                King Charles VIII of issues an edict against fortunetellers, enchanters, necromancers and others engaging in any sort of witchcraft.

Reform-Era Interlude, 1500-1550

1529                Inquisitorial witchcraft trials take place at Luxeuil.
1532                The Constitutio Criminalis Carolina imposes the penalties of torture and death for witchcraft.
1539                The Statute of Villers-Coterets authorizes the use of judicial torture in France.
1542                Henry VIII issues a statute against witchcraft.
1547                Repeal of statute of 1542 in reign of Edward VI.

The High Point of Witchcraft-Prosecution, 1550-1650

1563                Queen Elizabeth issues a statute against witchcraft.
1563                Johann Weyer, De praestigiis daemonum.
1565-1566       Possession of Nicole Obry, Vervins (Picardy)
1566                The first Chelmsford witch trials, the first to appear in a secular court in England; execution of Agnes Waterhouse.
1579                The Windsor witch trials; also the second Chelmsford trials.
1580                Jean Bodin, Daemonomanie des sorciers.
1581-1593      Witch prosecutions in the Archbishopric of Trier
1584                Reginald Scot, The Discoverie of Witchcraft.
1589                Third Chelmsford witch trials.
1589                Fourteen convicted witches at Tours appeal to King Henry III, who is in turn accused of protecting witches.
1590                Witch trials in Bavaria under Duke Wilhelm V the Pious
1590-1591       The North Berwick witch trials in Scotland.
1593                Warboys witches of Huntingdon put on trial.
1594                Conviction of Senelle Petter in Lorraine.
1595                Nicolas Rémy, Demonolatry.
1597                Publication of Daemonologie by James VI of Scotland (later James I of England).
1597                Bewitchment of Thomas Darling and trial of Alice Gooderidge.
1604                Witch Statute of James I.
1605                Abingdon witches and Anne Gunter.
1609-1611       Convent possession in Aix-en-Provence
1611-1613       Mass witch trials in the Imperial Provostry of Ellwangen.
1612                Lancashire witch trials.
1616                Case of the Leicester Boy (John Smith).
1625                Start of general decline of witch trials in France.
1628                Trial of Johannes Junius, mayor of Bamberg, for witchcraft.
1629                Witch trials in the Bishopric of Würzburg.
1631              Cautio criminalis published anonymously by Friedrich von Spee.
1632                Death of the Prince-Bishop of Bamberg marks the end of the terrible persecutions in this large principality (1609-1632).
1632-1640       The convent possession at Loudun.
1643-1647       Convent possession in Louviers.
1645                Case of the Faversham witches, Kent Witchfinder-General Matthew Hopkins and the Chelmsford (or Manningtree) witch trials.
1647                Publication of Discovery of Witches by Matthew Hopkins.
1649                Case of the St. Albans witches, Hertfordshire.

Decline, Transformation, and Disappearance, 1650-1750

1652                Trial of Suzanne Gaudry
1652                "Dr. Lamb's Darling": the trial of Anne Bodenham rial of the Wapping Witch (Joan Peterson) near London.
1655                Last execution for witchcraft in Cologne (where persecution less severe).
1662                The Bury St. Edmunds witch trials.
1670                Rouen witch trials.
1674                Trial of Anne Foster in Northampton.
1679-1682      The Chambre d'ardente affair: investigation of poison plots and witchcraft leads to 300 arrests and 36 executions; ends with royal edict denying the reality of witchcraft and sorcery.
1736                Repeal of Statute of James I (1604).
1787                All witchcraft laws in Austria are repealed.
 
Country or Region Last Execution Last Trial
Parlement of Paris (northern-central France) 1625 1693
Alsace (borderland with the Empire) 1683 1683
Franche-Comté (eastern France) 1661 1667
Cambrésis (northern France) 1679 1783
Dutch Republic 1609 1659
Luxembourg 1685 1685
Switzerland 1782 1782
England 1684 1717
Scotland 1706 1727
Ireland 1711 1711
New England 1692 1697
Denmark 1693 1762
Sweden 1710 1779
Finland 1691 1699
Württemberg (southwestern Empire) 1749 1805
Westphalia (northwestern Empire) 1728 1732
Würzburg (central Empire) 1749 1749
Bavaria (southern Empire) 1756 1792
Augsburg 1728 1738
Nuremberg 1660 1725
Prussia 1714 1728
Austria 1750 1775
Hungary 1756 1777
Poland 1775 1776
Spain 1781 1820
Portugal 1626 1802

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