Medieval witchcraft

Discover the crude concoctions, love potions and aphrodisiacs cooked up by Medieval witches and court physicians

Personal effects of a "mad genius" by Craig Conley

The ornamentation of medieval churches is often associated with the elite, but carved right into the structure of the building are less visible traces of the lower and middle class: graffiti.

The most popular crimes committed by higher class like nobility and courtiers would be sedition, rebelling, high treason, blasphemy and witchcraft. Witchcraft had a big impact on the Elizabethan era since people would blame all explainable things on witches. People believed that if you’re animal was sick that it had a curse. People even believed if there was a bad harvest had it was the supernatural. People believed that they got their “powers” by making a deal with the devil.

If the theory of epigenetic inheritance happens to humans over several generations, it means that we hold the memories and stresses of our ancestors, including religious persecution.

Witches' Sabbath. From: Ulrich Molitor. De Lamiis et Phitonicis Mulieribus, 1493. http://www.wikihow.com/Practice-Witchcraft

witches with animal heads flying. in another medieval woodcut

The first time a witch rode a broom in popular culture could have been in the illustrations of a book published in 1451. French poet Martin Le Franc’s Le Champion des Dames (The Defender of Ladies) shows two women flying with sticks between their legs, although only one is clearly a broom. At least, that is the oldest evidence we have of the legend of witches flying on brooms.According to Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700: A Documentary History, edited by University of Pennsylvania history…

“dream bedroom decor”