Deaths from the European Witch Craze
I include this because wildly exagerated claims about the number of women killed
in the witch crazes are often mixed in with other complaints 'against
patriarchy'. -DRT
From: rparson@spot.Colorado.EDU ( Robert Parson)
Subject: The Witch Craze
Date: 2 Oct 1995 23:30:43 GMT
Deaths from the European Witch Craze
In repsonse to the claim:
Nevertheless, the number of people executed in Mediaeval Europe for
"witchcraft" was very large ...the estimate is 9 million died.
Actually, the Witch Craze was a phenomenon of the Renaissance - the Malleus
Maleficarum was written in the late 15th century. There were relatively few
executions for witchcraft (as opposed to heresy) during Medieval times -
Barstow, ref. below, estimates ~500 for all of western Europe before 1500.
9 million sounds like a huge exagerration. I don't have a bibliography, but I
do have some data from one recent book:
Witchcraze: A New History of the European Witch Hunts, Anne Llewellyn Barstow,
Pandora 1995. A good read, though pretty gruesome in places. (16th century
executions were nasty affairs.)
Adapted from Appendix B: See the book for a much more complete breakdown,
together with references to primary sources. The period considered is roughly
1500-1650 (the Witch Craze hit different parts of Europe at different times
during this interval). There were few (~500) executions for witchcraft before
1500 - it was a phenomenon of the Renaissance rather than of the Middle Ages.
Accused Executed
Holy Roman Empire ~100,000+ ~50,000+
Poland ? ~15,000+
France 10,000+ 5,000+
British Isles
England 2,000 ~1,000
Scotland 3,069 1,337+
Ireland 0 0
New England 334 35
Scandinavia ~5,000 1,500-1,800
Hungary ~1,600 472
Spain 3,687 100+
Italy ~2,200+ 0?
The Holy Roman Empire figure includes the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg,
Switzerland, and parts of modern France, as well as Germany and Austria.
Remember that Poland was a huge country back then as well. Both Catholic and
Protestant states persecuted witches - this was one issue on which they were in
agreement. The low number of executions in Italy and Spain is interesting - the
Spanish Inquisition was more interested in heretics and in relapsed converts
from Judaism, Islam, etc. than in accusations of witchcraft.
In most areas most of the victims (roughly 3/4) were female. Notable exceptions
include Finland, Estonia and Russia, but the total numbers from these
countries are not large.
Obviously the quality of the primary data varies considerably; in some areas
detailed court records survive, in others very little.
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We have another (unconfirmed) claim:
"Gerald Gardner, the founder of Modern Witchcraft, estimated nine million
victims of the witch hunts off the top of his head when planning his Witchcraft
museum. He justified this by saying that if it were done today, there would be
about nine million victims of a witch craze."
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Ravinessa23 Community Member 
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