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How far was the witch-hunt in Early Modern England caused by popular fear and superstition?
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How far was the witch-hunt in Early Modern England caused by popular fear and superstition? There has been long established belief about witchcraft, which has never been disputed. The belief in maleficium, which is the practice of harmful magic, has been entrenched in popular belief since before the Middle Ages. However, the idea of diabolism didn't really arise in English popular fear, because there was no specific torture involved in the prosecution of witches in England. With European elements, such as diabolism and Sabbath missing, it can be assumed by the process of elimination that the English public themselves were at the heart of the witch-hunts and this was down to superstition mainly, although the witch-hunt was multi-causal. The first piece of literature that provided information on the witchcraft on a large scale on witchcraft was the Malleus Maleficarum. It was first published in 1486 and was written by two Dominican monks,...
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