Letters to the Editor
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Witch hunts not medieval
Witch hunts were not a medieval ("Dark Ages") phenomenon; they became prevalent in Renaissance (post-1400) Europe. As the religiosity of Europe slowly ebbed, there was left a certain "explanatory" vacuum. Renaissance ecletecism meant that a multitude of explanatory paradigms (science, magic, religion, alchemy, etc. etc.) were advanced as potential successors to Christianity. Given the number of options, there was understandably a certain general anxiety about why things happened. Events which might before have been ascribed to "the will of God" might be seen, at least sometimes, as the result of some mysterious human agency. Whence, witch hunts.