Western Civilization Essay Example for Free

Western Civilization EssayBetween the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, early modern European society began to fear the opening night that mesmerizees existed in their midst. The resultant panic led to massive persecution in the form of the trial and torture and subsequent execution of a 40,000 to 50,000 suspected witches, about 75% of which were women, over a period of 100,000 trials between 1450 and 1750. While estimates written in the mid-1970s place the figures at about 9 million women, this is an exaggerated estimate derived from ultra or polemical feminist accounts which seek to create a proto-feminist depiction of this period. Still, it is difficult to cite any other period in which women were persecuted and subject to atrocities of a similar or larger scale. In any case, it was rapid social, economic and religious transformation in Europe during this time that helped set the stage for these witch hunts. Gibbons (1998) notes that the spread of Christianity led to a re ligious homogeneity that gave way to a declining tolerance towards pagan religions and witchcraft. Additionally, Europe in the early 14th deoxycytidine monophosphate was game by rumors of a malign conspiracy to bring down Christianized nations.In essence, the decline of religious smorgasbord that comes with the hegemonic presence of Christianity as spiritual way of living of the common European meant that acceptance of other religions was rapidly diminished. The Black Death or bubonic plague which struck Europe during the mid 14th century intensified the rumors of the aforementioned conspiracy under the allegation that the plague was the creation of witches and other pagans who ostensibly sought to destabilize Christian rule.The implicit impact of the reclamation upon European Christendom also supports this view. During this period, the number of witch trials actually dropped, notes Gibbons (1998). As such, the conflict between the entrenched Catholicism and the emerging Protest ant movement resulted in the break through of Christian orthodoxy. Also, it is interesting to note that only the nations in which rapid development was occurring that the witch hunt panic was at its strongest.Spain, Italy and Portugal did not experience as some(prenominal) panic as the nations of Germany and Switzerland. In any case, the prevailing instability of Europe during this time exacerbated the witch panic. Because European civilization depended heavily on a homogeneous grain-based agriculture but without many of the industrial (albeit environmentally unsustainable) advances and insurances that it enjoys today it was much more susceptible to the dangers of crop failure.Sociologists have noted that such crop failures atomic number 18 correlated with the occurrence of witch hunts, with the translation being that there is a tendency within humans to blame inexplicable disaster on a much more known variable (albeit one that is not well understood). Communities which exper ienced the crop failure would take their anxieties out on the community members who were considered aberrant and therefore concluded to be responsible for such crop failures.Such a sociological explanation is not far removed from the same conditions which gave deepen to the anti-Semitic sentiment that gave rise to Nazism, which blamed the Jewish people for economic problems. By the 18th century, the witch hunts began to subside. Perhaps the most significant macro explanation for this decline was the restoration of stability to Europe, which Hannam (2007) describes as creating an absence of the reasons that started them in the first place. For example, the height of the Salem witch trials occurred when theocratic authority was in question.Greater protections were addicted to impoverished women when England implemented the Poor Law. Also, radical new works in social thought led to greater acceptance of cultural and religious diversity and pluralism.REFERENCESKagan, D. , Ozment, S. , Turner, F. (2007) The Western Heritage. 9th Edition. Pearson Prentice Hall. Gibson, J. (1998) Recent Developments In The Study of the Great European Witch Hunt. Pomegranate, Issue 5 Hannam, J. (2007) The Decline of Witch Trials in Europe. Medieval wisdom and Philosophy. Retrieved May 23, 2008 from http//jameshannam. com/witchtrial. htm