\u201cRoughly speaking, across Europe in the early modern period, around 20 per cent of those prosecuted were men,\u201d continues Davies, \u201cand several thousand men were executed. In the Nordic countries, Sa\u0301mi shamans (traditional healers) were among those persecuted under witchcraft laws, while in Normandy, France, in this period, the archetypical witch was not only a haggard old woman, but a shepherd.\u201d<\/p>\n

How many people were executed for witchcraft?<\/h2>\n
The witch hunts of the early modern period were undeniably brutal and horrific, and many innocent men and women were condemned to death as a result. But how many people were actually executed for witchcraft?<\/p>\n
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\u201cA perpetuating myth is that hundreds of thousands, and even millions, of people were executed as witches during the main era of witchcraft persecutions,\u201d says Davies. \u201cThe exact figure,\nof course, will never be known, but it\u2019s thought that around 30,000\u201360,000 people were executed across Europe between 1427 (the start of a series of witch trials in the Duchy of Savoy) and 1782 (the execution Anna Go\u0308ldi in Glarus, Switzerland \u2013 Europe\u2019s last execution for witchcraft).\u201d<\/p>\n

Interested in witches?<\/h4>\n
Don\u2019t miss our virtual masterclass series<\/h6>\n
Join renowned historian Malcolm Gaskill for a five-part masterclass exploring the fear of witchcraft that gripped societies in the 16th and 17th century.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Find out more<\/a><\/p>\n
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Read more | Witchfinding: what drove the hunters\u2019 cruel crusade and what methods did they use?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Was everyone found guilty of witchcraft burned at the stake?<\/h2>\n
The punishment for those convicted of witchcraft<\/a> varied from country to country, and in England, that punishment was hanging.<\/p>\n
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\u201cOnly one person convicted of witchcraft in England was ever burned, and that was Mother Lakeland in Ipswich, in 1645,\u201d confirms Davies. \u201cShe was found guilty of using witchcraft for petty treason (murdering her husband) for which she was burned to death.<\/p>\n
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How many people were executed for witchcraft?<\/h2>\nThe witch hunts of the early modern period were undeniably brutal and horrific, and many innocent men and women were condemned to death as a result. But how many people were actually executed for witchcraft?<\/p>\n

Interested in witches?<\/h4>\n

Don\u2019t miss our virtual masterclass series<\/h6>\nJoin renowned historian Malcolm Gaskill for a five-part masterclass exploring the fear of witchcraft that gripped societies in the 16th and 17th century.\u00a0<\/p>\nFind out more<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/div><\/div> <\/div> <\/section>