The book is called Napoleon's Buttons. The chapter of the book that I will be covering of this book is chapter 12 called Molecules of Witchcraft. This section talks about how and why people start doing witchcraft. People began with using witchcraft as something to help protect crops and people from harm. They were casting spells, using charms, and invoking spirits. In Europe it was not considered a crime, as long as people were not being harmed.It was accepted as a part of life. Everybody was okay with people practicing witchcraft until the middle of the fourteenth century, when Christianity began to play a role in the practice of witchcraft. There was a new attitude towards witchcraft. Christian was not opposed to any sort of magic, but churches began saying that magic could be known and called a miracle. Magic ( or witchcraft) was not allowed to be practiced outside of church because it was considered the work of the devil. People who were in league with the devil were called witches. The Inquisition, a court made up of the Roman Catholic Church, originally established around 1233. The Inquisition was made so that people who were doing witchcraft were being dealt with. There was a large number of witches throughout Europe. Soon witches were being convicted of not necessarily performing rituals for the devil, but for supposedly making a pact with the devil. This crime was so terrible that, by the mid fifteenth century, ordinary laws did not apply to the trials of witches. An accusation was all the evidence that was needed. Torture was not allowed, but it was used routinely. A confession without torture was not seen as a reliable source of information. Deeds that attributed to witches include: Flying on broomsticks, sex with demons, child murdering, baby eating, and orgiastic rituals. These deeds were beyond rationality, but they were still believed. About 90 percent of accused witches were women, and their accusers were just as likely to be women as well as men.
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