A few hundred people were accused of practicing the Devil's magic. It began with Bridget Bishop who was in her third marriage by the time her witch craze developed. Being well-known in the community, she owned a reputation of mystique and secrecy. With society and evidence consuming her, Bridget Bishop's fleeing hit a dead end.
Most know about the infamous trials that occurred several centuries ago in Massachusetts. Although, witchcraft craze that rippled through souls in Europe is unheard of. Perhaps, 100,000 people had been executed by the cause of false beliefs.
Normally, individuals accused were women being perceived as "cunning folk." At the time, the Catholic church declared that it was only priests who clenched such magic, while anyone outside of the church was believed to have obtained power from Satan himself, in which the witch term was derived. From this point on, all unfathomable catastrophes were indicted upon witches.
Victims could not avoid accusations by surviving ordeals, instead, they sought evidence and implicated crimes on other folks. Reality reveals that few women actually attempted witchcraft, so most losses were tried for the rampant hysteria or judicial fantasies.
As fast as the witch craze erupted, it dwindled away. Tensions between society began to recede as Europe was introduced with greater prosperity and wars of religion dissolved. The Devil was no longer perceived as an imminent threat in the religious sphere. So began a new era of new habits, rational thinking and advocacy for women.
