OCR A-Level History A H505
Y101: Alfred and the Making of England 871–1016Unit group 1
Y102: Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest 1035–1107Unit group 1
Y103: England 1199–1272Unit group 1
Y104: England 1377–1455Unit group 1
Y105: England 1445–1509: Lancastrians, Yorkists and Henry VIIUnit group 1
Y106: England 1485–1558: The Early TudorsUnit group 1
Y107: England 1547–1603: The Later TudorsUnit group 1
Y108: The Early Stuarts and the Origins of the Civil War 1603–1660Unit group 1
Y109: The Making of Georgian Britain 1678–c.1760Unit group 1
Y110: From Pitt to Peel 1783–1853Unit group 1
Y111: Liberals, Conservatives and the Rise of Labour 1846–1918Unit group 1
Y112: Britain 1900–1951Unit group 1
Y113: Britain 1930–1997Unit group 1
Y201: The Rise of Islam c.550–750Unit group 2
Y202: Charlemagne 768–814Unit group 2
Y203: The Crusades and the Crusader States 1095–1192Unit group 2
Y204: Genghis Khan and the Explosion From the Steppes c.1167–1405Unit group 2
Y205: Exploration, Encounters and Empire 1445–1570Unit group 2
Y206: Spain 1469–1556Unit group 2
Y207: The German Reformation and the Rule of Charles v 1500–1559Unit group 2
Y208: Philip II 1556–1598Unit group 2
Y209: African Kingdoms c.1400–c.1800: Four Case StudiesUnit group 2
Y210: Russia 1645–1741Unit group 2
Y211: The Rise and Decline of the Mughal Empire in India 1526–1739Unit group 2
Y212: The American Revolution 1740–1796Unit group 2
Y213: The French Revolution and the Rule of Napoleon 1774–1815Unit group 2
Y214: France 1814–1870Unit group 2
Y215: Italy and Unification 1789–1896Unit group 2
Y216: The USA in the 19th Century: Westward Expansion and Civil War 1803–c.1890Unit group 2
Y217: Japan 1853–1937Unit group 2
Y218: International Relations 1890–1941Unit group 2
Y219: Russia 1894–1941Unit group 2
Y220: Italy 1896–1943Unit group 2
Y221: Democracy and Dictatorships in Germany 1919–1963Unit group 2
Y222: The Cold War in Asia 1945–1993Unit group 2
Y223: The Cold War in Europe 1941–1995Unit group 2
Y224: Apartheid and Reconciliation: South African Politics 1948–1999Unit group 2
Y301: The Early Anglo-Saxons c.400–800Unit group 3
Y302: The Viking Age c.790–1066Unit group 3
Y303: English Government and the Church 1066–1216Unit group 3
Y304: The Church and Medieval Heresy c.1100–1437Unit group 3
Y305: The Renaissance c.1400–c.1600Unit group 3
Y306: Rebellion and Disorder Under the Tudors 1485–1603Unit group 3
Y307: Tudor Foreign Policy 1485–1603Unit group 3
Y308: The Catholic Reformation 1492–1610Unit group 3
Y309: The Ascendancy of the Ottoman Empire 1453–1606Unit group 3
Y310: The Development of the Nation State: France 1498–1610Unit group 3
Y311: The Origins and Growth of the British Empire 1558–1783Unit group 3
Y312: Popular Culture and the Witchcraze of the 16th and 17th CenturiesUnit group 3
Y313: The Ascendancy of France 1610–1715Unit group 3
Y314: The Challenge of German Nationalism 1789–1919Unit group 3
Y315: The Changing Nature of Warfare 1792–1945Unit group 3
Y316: Britain and Ireland 1791–1921Unit group 3
Y317: China and Its Rulers 1839–1989Unit group 3
Y318: Russia and Its Rulers 1855–1964Unit group 3
Y319: Civil Rights in the USA 1865–1992Unit group 3
Y320: From Colonialism to Independence: The British Empire 1857–1965Unit group 3
Y321: The Middle East 1908–2011: Ottomans to Arab SpringUnit group 3
Y312: Popular Culture and the Witchcraze of the 16th and 17th Centuries
The main reasons for the growth and decline in the persecution of witches: war, plague, scepticism and decline
- 3 things to know
- Unit group 3
Overview
Recall questions on midwives, war and plague, persecution from above or below, Salazar’s findings, sceptical writers, new ideas of nature and medicine, the English statutes and the numbers tried and executed.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Was persecution driven from above or from below?
Name three sceptical works that undermined the case for prosecution.
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
Were midwives especially likely to be accused of witchcraft?
Model answer
No, the idea of the midwife-witch comes from demonological literature rather than the trial records, and research has shown midwives were no more likely to be accused than other women.
- 2
What effect did war have on witch persecution?
Model answer
Warfare brought plundering armies, taxation, refugees and dearth that intensified fear and blame, but it could also disrupt courts and halt trials outright, as the Swedish invasion did in Franconia.
- 3
How did plague contribute to the search for hidden enemies?
Model answer
Recurrent epidemics with no medical explanation encouraged the belief that the disease was deliberately spread, as in the hunt for plague-smearers at Milan in 1630, and the same reasoning was applied to witches.
- 4
Was persecution driven from above or from below?
Model answer
Both, and the distinction matters: villagers usually supplied the original accusations of harm, while learned judges and rulers supplied the demonological framework and the torture that turned single cases into mass panics.
- 5
State the conclusion of Salazar's investigation.
Model answer
After examining the Basque panic he reported that he had found no proof whatever of real witchcraft and that the confessions were produced by the questioning itself, and the Spanish Inquisition adopted cautious rules in 1614.
- 6
Name three sceptical works that undermined the case for prosecution.
Model answer
Weyer's attack on the credulity of judges in 1563, Reginald Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft of 1584, and Spee's Cautio Criminalis of 1631 exposing what torture actually produced.
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