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Difference between revisions of "Witch"
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Throughout history there has not been a consistent definition of the term witch. Johannes Nider and other 15th century writers used the Latin term ''maleficus'' to mean witch—a person who performed ''maleficium'', harmful acts of sorcery, against others. The [[witch-hunt]]s of medieval Europe differed from pre-[[Christianity|Christian]] practices in condemning the witch as a moral corruption, rather than focusing on whether the act of sorcery was harmful, expanding the customary understanding of the ''maleficium'' concept. | Throughout history there has not been a consistent definition of the term witch. Johannes Nider and other 15th century writers used the Latin term ''maleficus'' to mean witch—a person who performed ''maleficium'', harmful acts of sorcery, against others. The [[witch-hunt]]s of medieval Europe differed from pre-[[Christianity|Christian]] practices in condemning the witch as a moral corruption, rather than focusing on whether the act of sorcery was harmful, expanding the customary understanding of the ''maleficium'' concept. | ||
Perhaps the earliest definition of a witch comes from [[Jean Bodin]] | Perhaps the earliest definition of a witch comes from [[Jean Bodin|Jean Bodin's]] 1580 book ''[[De la démonomanie des sorciers]]'' (''Of the Demon-mania of the Sorcerers''): "A witch is a person, who, though cognizant of the laws of god, endeavors to act through the medium of a pact with the devil." The introduction of the idea of [[demon|demonic]] forces empowering the acts of ''maleficium'' gave the term witch new connotations of idolatry and apostasy that were adopted in the ''[[Malleus maleficarum]]'', but these remained disputed despite papal injunctions to take action against witches. | ||
==History== | ==History== | ||