Historical Persons related to Witchcraft- Page 2

Innocent VIII, Pope (1432–1492; r. 1484–1492) Giovanni Batista Cibo, elected pope in 1484, issued what has been termed one of the most important documents in the history of the Church’s fight against

Increase Mather (1639–1723) Illustrious Puritan minister and intellectual who viewed witchcraft and supernatural happenings as evidence of God’s growing displeasure with New England. While his son, Cotton Mather, became a strident witch-hunter,

Pierre deLancre (1550?–1631?) Infamous French witch-trial judge who terrorized the Basque region, sent an estimated 600 persons to their deaths at the stake and compiled detailed accounts of alleged infernal activities at

Hopkins, Matthew (?–1647?) England’s most notorious professional witch-hunter, who brought about the condemnations and executions of at least 230 alleged witches, more than all other witch-hunters combined during the 160-year peak of

Peter of Abano (1250–1316) was an Italian physician condemned by the Inquisition for his alleged infernal knowledge and magical practices. Peter of Abano wrote on Astrology and Geomancy but was not likely

Weyer, Johann (1515–1588) was a Dutch physician who argued against the witch hysteria and the alleged workings of the Devil through people and Pacts. Johann Weyer accepted the existence of Demons and