The Witch-Hunting In Germany During The Reformation

The 15th-18th century is an important period of transformation of European civilization.During this period,European society completed a radical transformation,which changed the whole process of human history.However,the process of history does not show a single linear development,it is extremely complex.During the period of transformation of European civilization,a great with-hunting campaign swept across Europe.A large number of wizards and witches were tried and executed,and even ignorant children were among the targets of the hunt.During the period of Reformation,the movement of with-hunting reached an unprecedented climax.During the Reformation,both Lutheran and Catholic Church rendered wizards as followers and believers of Satan,thus intensifying the attack on witchcraft belief.At the same time,the witchcraft theory advocated by theologians integrated with popular culture by means of printing technology and word-of-mouth transmission,and completed the social popularization of witchcraft concept.The demonization of witches and wizards in the Christian theological system was in conflict with the Reformation movement which emphasized absolute devotion,during which the witch-hunting movement reached its peak.The struggle between various sects and secular powers was launched through witch-hunting.With the help of Gramsci's hegemony theory and The eye of Power of Foucault,this paper aims to perspective the knowledge power system behind the witch-hunting movement and hopes to reflect on the complexity of European modernization.The full text is divided into three parts:introduction,body and conclusion.In the introduction part,the concept of witchcraft and witch-hunting will be elaborated in order to expand the discussion in the following part.And in the introduction part,the research status of witch-hunting at China and abroad will be sorted out.The author believes that the cultural concept of witchcraft presents different characteristics in different periods.Following the discussion of witchcraft by theologians,the theory of witchcraft during the witch-hunting movement was basically finalized in the 15th century.There were a large number of theological works,especially represented by The Malleus Maleficrum.Witchcraft theory during the witch-hunting period emphasized the dualistic opposition between God and Satan.Witches attended gatherings at midnight and deviated from God's beliefs.Satan used witchcraft to destroy God's world and to attract followers to fight against God.Foreign scholars have written numerous works on witch-hunting movement which represents different historical characteristics of the times and is the epitome of the development of modern history.Domestic scholars have investigated witch-hunting from the economic,legal,psychological and meteorological perspectives,and even attempted to sort out and criticize the historical paradigm of witch-hunting from the perspective of historical epistemology.The body of the paper consists of three chapters.In the first chapter,the witch-hunting movement in Germany is sorted out and investigated from the perspectives of time and region.The author believes that Germany is the worst-hit area of witch-hunting,which lasts a long time,extends a wide range and a large number of people persecuted,and finally reaches its peak in the 16th and 17th centuries.The climax of witch-hunting coincided with the period of Reformation.In the second chapter,the interaction between the Reformation and witch-hunting is discussed.Even though there are contradictions and conflicts between Catholicism and Protestantism,their attitudes towards witchcraft and wizards are close to the same.Although there are also theologians who have doubts about the witch-hunting movement,they have also strengthened the concept of witch-devil antagonism invisibly.With the development of printing technology and word-of-mouth transmission,the idea of witches and demons of cultural elites has been integrated with the culture of the masses,making the concept of witches and demons popular among the people.In addition,the Reformation is not a social movement to pursue rationalism.In a sense,it is a strengthening of the people's religious piety in the Christian theological system,while witch-hunting has become a social movement to eradicate the Christian religious piety.In the third chapter,we will examine the social power relations behind the witch-hunting movement from the perspective of power concepts in different dimensions.On the one hand,witch-hunting is the result of power struggle among different sects,princes and sects.Each party uses witch-hunting to strengthen its own power boundaries and expand its power boundaries.On the other hand,in the theories of Gramsci and Foucault,witch-hunting reflects the social violence brought about by the knowledge power system.In this process,people indulged in the knowledge hegemony system which internalized in people's beliefs and values,and then became an important part of the witch-hunting movement.In the conclusion,witch-hunting will be used to reflect on the modernization and rationalism of modern Europe.At the same time,I hope that by investigating the knowledge power system behind the witch-hunting movement we can be alert to the witch-hunting movement in various new forms.