"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." Exodus 22:18. These words written in the Holy Bible were not taken lightly in the Fourteenth through seventeenth centureis. Witchery, in Old England, was a crime punishable by death. And throughout the world witch hunts spread. The belief of witchcraft originally came from Christianity and Old English beliefs. Christians lived by the Bible daily and followed its written words. When an accusation of witchery appeared many would take it upon themselves to tare down the threat that plagues them. Once an accuasation was made however, evidence was still needed before a persecution was made. Evidence was often found in the Malleus Maleficarum, or the Hammer of Witches, published in 1487 by Heinrich Kramer. Before the Salem Witch Trials began, sixteen people had been hung for witchery. And the New England settlers, brought with them the belief of witches, to the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
In Old England those who were seen as a witch would be burned on the stake. Their feet and hands binding them to the stake making it impossible for the victum to escape. Hay and wood would be placed around the witches feet and set ablaze. The fire representing the fire in Hell, which was thought were the 'witch' would decend to after death. Unlike in Old England, no person was burned during the Salem Witch Trials.
In Old England those who were seen as a witch would be burned on the stake. Their feet and hands binding them to the stake making it impossible for the victum to escape. Hay and wood would be placed around the witches feet and set ablaze. The fire representing the fire in Hell, which was thought were the 'witch' would decend to after death. Unlike in Old England, no person was burned during the Salem Witch Trials.