1. Witchcraft, Literature, Art

2. Witchcraft

3. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the fear of witchcraft started to spread amongst the population.
Science had not really started spreading yet, so anything out of the ordinary that could not be explained was viewed with superstition, suspicion, and fear.

4. Both Catholics and Protestants believed in the existence of witches.
A witch could by anyone, (usually a woman) who had knowledge of spells or had powers, that could be used for good or evil.
In 1563, England made Witchcraft illegal.

5. Charges of “witchcraft”
Very often, “witches” were: -a lower class than the accuser -bad reputation -just been in an argument with the accuser.
Over a thousand were killed in England, numbers varied all over Europe.

6. Salem Witch Trials
In the 1680s and 1690s, there were a series of investigations and trials for dozens of men and women who had been accused of witchcraft.
Started when a couple of white girls became sick and witnesses said they saw their non-white servant doing “magic” on them.

8. A lot of the time, these convictions of guilt were coerced, and even then, they were likely to be overturned by higher courts for lack of evidence.
Thousands of women were killed because of this.
Salem Witch Trials

9. Literature and Art
There are dozens of names of significance from this time.
The constant fighting and destruction motivated a lot of people to challenge the beliefs of the time.
Michel de Montaigne was a French writer who wrote a lot of essays about tolerance. He asked “what do I know?” Why is this phrase important for discussion?

10. Another extremely important name, is William Shakespeare
Another extremely important name, is William Shakespeare. He wrote dozens of plays, and they usually focused on parts of the human character. He wrote about love, greed, the quest for power, ambition, and others.
A lot of his plays were written for the entertainment of Elizabeth I.
He added hundreds of words to the English language and is still studied. He is a huge influence.

12. Art: Mannerism and Baroque
Mannerism is a style of painting and sculpture that ran from about 1520 to the end of the 1500s.
It replaced the “calmness” that the Renaissance saw in its art and used a lot of exaggeration. A lot of colour was used.

13. Baroque
Baroque touched on paintings, sculpture, and interestingly, music.
Movement, and a powerful