7 ms·

The idea in medieval Germany is that when farm yields were low, they were looking to reduce the number of mouths to feed and post-childbearing women were deemed

The idea in medieval Germany is that when farm yields were low, they were looking to reduce the number of mouths to feed and post-childbearing women were deemed sufficiently 'worthless'. It also could be that during these times they were eating moldy grain they otherwise wouldn't, and the mold may have been ergot, with potent psychedelic/hallucinogenic properties (it's LSD, basically).

SenAnder 3y ago
At the height of the witch panic, in the years 1450-1750, 0.19 witches were executed per year, per 100k people. The homicide rate in Norway, today, is 0.5 per 100k people, 1.1 in Sweden, 3.0 in Europe overall, and 22.4 in Brazil: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intention... With the aid of modern medicine, the rate of cancer deaths is 158.3 per 100k per year: https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/statistics https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/statistics Compared to that, witchcraft executions had a negligible impact on number of mouths to feed. Sources: European population in year 1500: 90M - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_demography#Demographic_tables_of_Europe%E2%80%99s_population https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_demography#Demographi... Executed for witchcraft in 1450-1750: 50k (upper estimate) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch-hunt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch-hunt
- mickdeek86 3y ago
  If you're suggesting that medieval witch-hunters may have been acting irrationally, I won't argue. Anyway, this isn't my hypothesis, it travelled around for awhile talking about supposed discoveries of ergot in soil samples. The Salem witch museum has come out against it[0]. A quote: "When considering the question “What caused the Salem witch trials,” it is important to remember there is a danger in seeking the elusive, singular, all-encompassing explanation." IMO a big part of it is likely the desire to 'explain'/'rationalize' misfortunes in some way, that suggests a 'solution'. [0]: https://salemwitchmuseum.com/2023/05/17/debunking-the-moldy-bread-theory/ https://salemwitchmuseum.com/2023/05/17/debunking-the-moldy-...
Obscurity4340 3y ago
This theory is appealing to me but in some sense seems contrived to attribute to drugs the evil which already exists in people's hearts. There are plenty of "sober" societies easily capable of such madness and cruellty absent any pharmacological agents.
soligern 3y ago
[flagged]

SenAnder 3y ago

At the height of the witch panic, in the years 1450-1750, 0.19 witches were executed per year, per 100k people. The homicide rate in Norway, today, is 0.5 per 100k people, 1.1 in Sweden, 3.0 in Europe overall, and 22.4 in Brazil: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intention... With the aid of modern medicine, the rate of cancer deaths is 158.3 per 100k per year: https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/statistics https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/statistics Compared to that, witchcraft executions had a negligible impact on number of mouths to feed. Sources: European population in year 1500: 90M - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_demography#Demographic_tables_of_Europe%E2%80%99s_population https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_demography#Demographi... Executed for witchcraft in 1450-1750: 50k (upper estimate) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch-hunt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch-hunt

mickdeek86 3y ago
If you're suggesting that medieval witch-hunters may have been acting irrationally, I won't argue. Anyway, this isn't my hypothesis, it travelled around for awhile talking about supposed discoveries of ergot in soil samples. The Salem witch museum has come out against it[0]. A quote: "When considering the question “What caused the Salem witch trials,” it is important to remember there is a danger in seeking the elusive, singular, all-encompassing explanation." IMO a big part of it is likely the desire to 'explain'/'rationalize' misfortunes in some way, that suggests a 'solution'. [0]: https://salemwitchmuseum.com/2023/05/17/debunking-the-moldy-bread-theory/ https://salemwitchmuseum.com/2023/05/17/debunking-the-moldy-...

Obscurity4340 3y ago

This theory is appealing to me but in some sense seems contrived to attribute to drugs the evil which already exists in people's hearts. There are plenty of "sober" societies easily capable of such madness and cruellty absent any pharmacological agents.

soligern 3y ago

[flagged]