Fugger News-Letter

Accusations of witchcraft were deadly serious during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance because a conviction could lead to torture and even death. Hundreds of thousands of women were executed as witches during this time. The reasons for the rise of witchhunts during the otherwise enlightened Renaissance era are numerous. In part, there was a backlash against women making advances in education. In addition, religious leaders feared that the new scientific discoveries, especially the conclusion that the Earth was not the center of the universe, would result in people defying religion. Many people were convinced that the rise of religious and civil wars after 1500 foreshadowed a growing chaos that threatened to destroy society. Out of that fear came the rise of trials for witchcraft.

The following description of one such trial in 1587 was carried in the Fugger News-Letter, one of...