During the thirteenth and the
eighteenth centuries, The Little Ice Age ran a course that saw a number of
witches hunted with an approximately tens of thousands being burnt on stake
accused of causing crop failure and famine. They were believed to cause these
phenomena by inviting unseasonal storms from hell. The causes of these problems
were mainly pointed in the direction of hapless women who could not adequately
defend themselves before the authorities at the time. They were also believed
to possess powers that would influence the weather conditions the society
experienced at any given time (Fagan, 2000).
For a long period of time, the
witches had claimed the ability of causing certain weather conditions. For
instance, they claimed ability to create hailstorms at will. During the
planting season, farmers sought the help of the witches because of their
claimed abilities. Farmers were therefore forced to approach them in their
rundown houses so as to request them to prevent any hailstorms from destroying
their crops. Residents complained when the witches’ prowess did not yield
fruits. The farmers’ complaints are among the key things that led to the
persecution of the old women practicing witchcraft. Persecution was mainly done
by burning the houses of the hapless women.
When it came to the warm
period, vine yards throughout England boosted the agriculture economy. However,
during the Little Ice Age, there was a major decrease in the advanced
agricultural productions and the blooming vine yards soon stopped yielding
grapes.
During the thirteenth century,
there were a number of meteorological changes occurring with increased
frequency which also marked the repeated occurrence of hailstorms. For example,
a major hailstorm hit almost the entire central Europe in August, 1562. This
storm, accompanied with darkness, destroyed crops, houses, cattle farms of
thousands of square kilometers and vineyards that killed birds too.
Consequently, famine set in, resulting in mass poverty that forced a great
population to migrate within and across the continent.
These incidences looked so
unnatural at the time that people turned to the two prime authorities of the
land, the State and the church, for answers. The churches put the blame on the
witches for these ‘unnatural’ happenings. These accusations led to the very
first witch hunts in Europe (Midelfort, 1972).
The church was quick to
perceive that weather was indeed being controlled by the witches. These
allegations were later to be confirmed by the then Pope Innocence VIII in 1484.
1563 saw the largest massacre in the territory of Wiesensteig of Helfenstein
with sixty three women being burnt on the account of practicing witchcraft.
Temperatures also greatly
reduced and the weather was also set to change and drift for the worse. The
Little Ice Age otherwise also known as ‘Maunder Minimum’ reigned in Europe
between 1645 and 1715. The changes in weather were further worsened with
volcanic eruptions in the 1960s. Witchcraft trials constantly rose and fell as
the temperatures fell and rose alternately (Behringer, 1999).
Behringer,
W. (1999). “Climatic Change and Witch-Hunting,” Climatic Change.
Fagan, B. (2000). The Little Ice
Age, New York, NY: Basic Books.
Midelfort,
E. (1972). Witch Hunting in Southwestern Germany, Stanford,
California: Stanford University Press.
