Hunting for Witches

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Hunting for Witches
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Medieval women and men

• Reality is always more complex than texts
• Many examples of male-female friendships
• Esp. confessor/spiritual director and holy woman
• Men defended their female friends, supported
  cause for canonization, etc.
• Yet, lots of misogyny in the air
• Theory projection, fear of sexuality
• Aristotle the female is a defective male
• Bible women cannot teach men, women brought sin
  in to world

3
Woman considered in theology

• Could Christ have been born as a woman?
• Yes, but
• Bad idea I biology (Aristotle)
• Bad idea II teaching and authority (Bible)
• Why did God create woman?
• Male is best at friendship
• Therefore, not for companionship (vs. Genesis)
• Therefore, for babies

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Theology, cont.

• Yet, Christianity has always had a liberating and
  empowering side, too
• Promotes male-female communities
• Baptism in Christ there is neither male nor
  female
• Human dignity is grounded in being created in
  image of God
• Applies to both men and women (Gen 127)
• Women have been received as teachers and
  spiritual leaders
• Like Catherine of Siena and Julian of Norwich

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Witch hunts

• Roughly 13th century to 18th century
• Highpoint late 1400s to mid 1600s
• Concentrated esp. in Germany
• Est. 50,000 people executed over 500 yrs, in
  Europe and N. America
• Ratio of women to men ranged from 21 to 1001
• Why?
• Power of fear, directed against the other
• Not unlike suspicions of Jews for deaths, the
  Great Plague
• Fueled by printing press (1450) books and
  pamphlets against witches had wide distribution
• Most charges baseless
• Suspicion of folk (gynecological) medicine
• Usually practiced by older women
• Suspected of making a pact with devil

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Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer of evil-doing
women)

• Written by two Dominican priests (inquisitors)
• Pope had urged people to wipe out perceived
  witchcraft
• Very popular second to Bible until 1678 (John
  Bunyans Pilgrims Progress)
• Not unique other books like it existed
• Yet, the most misogynistic thing I have read in
  the history of Christianity
• Do we really take it seriously?
• As image of the worst, most exaggerated
  perceptions of women (and men)

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Perceptions

• Weak intellect (like children) and memories
• Resist discipline
• Carnal and lustful (?)
• Witches have sex with devil
• Defectively created
• Weak in faith
• Make marriage unhappy (cf. purgatorial
  marriages)
• Vengeful
• Dangerous
• More powerful than male wizards

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Response Christine de Pizan

• Elite, well-educated
• A widow, had to earn a living by writing
• The complete opposite of what those men claim
  seems to be the case
• Scripture disproves it
• Courageous, chaste, faithful women like Susanna
• Jesus welcomes women, does not speak against them
• History disproves it
• Saints include virtuous women
• Apostles worked with women
• Mary is queen of the city of ladies defender,
  protector, and guard of it
• She is the teacher
• Head of female sex symbol of female virtue
• Not at all anti-male just anti-misogyny claimed
  by some men