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annatheorc t1_j1itf4f wrote

Reply to comment by en43rs in Simple/Short/Silly History Questions Saturday! by AutoModerator

Thank you for explaining! That's terrible. Do you know what the marginalized group called witches was? Where they people the group decided to hate or were they their own distinct group with their own culture? We're witches a gendered group like they're mostly seen as today?

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en43rs t1_j1j804t wrote

Contrary to the Jewish people (who are, you know, actually a thing) there is no single definition of who is a witch. There is not a parallel community that was tolerated and then marginalized. Who was targeted vary from time to time and place to place. In some places mostly men, in other mostly women. Sometimes the witches are lone actors, for the 17th century puritans there was a global conspiracy against Christendom (akin to contemporary global conspiracies). But usually it’s the people who are different or not liked. Foreigners, unmarried adults, those who live alone or are not as pious as others… and women who do not fit the mold. Widows, those who know “secrets” (traditional midwives and healers),… it varies a lot but it’s those who are already “suspects”.

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