I have been learning about the lives of everyday people from the past. In trying to find out more, I wanted to explore more about the fears and beliefs that shaped their everyday lives. I became fascinated by how people once feared witchcraft. This is long before the great witch hunts began. It is easy to think of witch trials as sudden eruptions of panic, but the truth is that fear of magic had been affecting behaviour, relationships, and even communities for centuries.
In the early medieval era, belief in magic was part of the fabric of daily life. Most people lived close to the land and were dependent on good harvests, healthy animals, and the weather, but they had very little understanding of why things sometimes went wrong. When someone became ill suddenly, when milk went off, or when storms destroyed all of their crops, it was natural for them to search for a cause. Without scientific explanations, many people believed that unseen forces must be at work. Magic was not always seen as evil, their were charms, prayers, and protective rituals were common and usually accepted. But alongside this existed a fear that some individuals might use supernatural powers to hurt others.
By around the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, these anxieties around witchcraft became even more defined. The Church increasingly taught people about harmful magic, they claimed it came from the devil, reinforcing the idea that witchcraft was not just dangerous but also sinful. Ordinary people lived in tightly knit communities where everyone depended on one another, but this closeness could also cause suspicion. A neighbour who was argumentative, isolated, or simply different might become the subject of gossip. For many people the fear of witchcraft was not dramatic but also personal, it was tied to worries about their family’s safety and even survival. People may have felt a mixture of anxiety and fear, unsure who they could trust.
During the fifteenth century, social and economic pressures intensified these fears.
Europe was experiencing poor harvests, diseases, and periods of instability. People needed someone to blame. Everyday tensions could easily turn into suspicion, especially towards those on the edges of society such as widows, the elderly, or the very poor. Many communities believed certain people
possessed the “evil eye,” which was capable of causing harm with a glance or they could place a curse. Even if accusations were unfounded, the consequences could be awful. They could be avoided or feared by neighbours, it must have been so isolating.
By the early sixteenth century, long before the height of the witch hunts, belief in witchcraft was already beginning to influence behaviour in very subtle ways. People kept protective charms, said prayers, and followed rituals that were meant to protect their homes and families. Communities sometimes tried to hunt out “cunning folk,” individuals that they believed to have special knowledge that who could counteract the spells or even identify suspects. This shows that fear was not only about punishment but also about protection and even reassurance. People were trying to make sense of a world that often felt unpredictable and frightening.
What stands out most is how ordinary these fears were. For many, belief in witchcraft offered an explanation in a world where so much felt out of control. It also reveals how people just longed for safety, certainty, and understanding, even if their explanations seem outrageous to us.
Looking back at this time, it is hard not to feel sympathy for those who lived with so much uncertainty, trying to protect their families with the limited knowledge that they had.
Do you think the fear of the unknown still shapes how societies react to crises today, even if the explanations are different?
Image info:
The Devil giving wax dolls to witches.
The History of Witches and Wizards
Date: 1720
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