The concepts of witches, warlocks, and wizards often conjure up images of the Salem witch hunts and the European inquisitions and witch burnings. As with many things in history there are a lot of misconceptions surrounding these ideas. For our first debunking on Mythverse we are going to look briefly at that topic.
The myth: Most people tried for witchcraft were burnt to death at the stake
If a man seduce a virgin not yet espoused, and lie with her: he shall endow her, and have her to wife. If the maid’s father will not give her to him, he shall give money according to the dowry, which virgins are wont to receive. Wizards thou shalt not suffer to live. Whosoever copulateth with a beast shall be put to death. He that sacrificeth to gods, shall be put to death, save only to the Lord. — Exodus 22:16-20
We all think of the middle ages as a time of darkness lit only by the dim light of glowing embers – the consequence of yet another witch burning. But the reality really is far from that. While there are thousands of myths surrounding the so-called “dark ages” we will focus here on the witch hunts.
First of all, contrary to the alleged hundreds-of-thousands of witches killed, during the highest point (which spanned three centuries) of witch hunts, only 40,000 were executed around the world. Of those, a mere handful were put to death by burning. In fact, in Britain from 1440-1650, only three women were burnt at the stake and only two of them were burnt alive.
The most common form of execution for the crime of witchcraft, in Europe and the United States, was hanging – the same punishment that remains to this day the most widespread method of execution. Another interesting misconception is that only women were killed. In fact, at least one quarter of accused and executed witches were men – warlocks in other words.
What is most surprising is that it was actually very difficult to have a person found guilty of witchcraft. The alleged-victim had to prove that he had been bewitched and juries were very reluctant to convict. Over 75% of witch trials resulted in acquittal. The whole concept of witch hunts and the use of the death penalty for the crime was largely abhorred by the general populace (judges included) and it was the zealousness of a few that enabled it to remain unabated for so long.
Interesting Fact: The Witchcraft Act of the United Kingdom was not repealed until 1951. The last witch to be jailed in England for the crime of witchcraft was Jane Rebecca Yorke in 1944. The Witchcraft act remains in force in Israel which has a legal system based on the UK system.
Related Video
Related Books
 A Delusion of Satan  |
 The Salem Witch Trials  |
 The Witch Hunt in Early Modern Europe  |
 A History of the Witch Persecutions  |
Further Reading
Listverse: Top 10 Common Historical Myths
Listverse: Top 10 Shameful Events in American History
Google WDYL: Salem Witch Trials
Wikipedia: Witchcraft Acts
Wikipedia: Salem Witch Trials
Wikipedia: Witch Hunt
National Geographic: Salem: Witchcraft Hysteria
43 Comments
The man in that video is wearing quite a unique outfit.
I think he looks very dapper.
Yeah – rather appropriate for the topic I guess
Related books and videos on here are nice additions. I spent some time on youtube watching other related topics and forgot I had my coffee sitting on the kitchen counter. I’m off to reheat it in the microwave now. Love this and look forward to the next myth!
cindy glad it was riveting enough to make you forget your coffee
Great Jamie – be a great compliment to Listverse, really enjoyed the links and further reading. The lack of format constraints will be excellent. Wonderful.
Thanks Judy
I am feeling quite positive about the site! I am about to publish the second article and will make the whole site public not too long after.
I agree with the comment about the related books! That is a great idea. As an avid reader and a constant desire to know more about what I read, this is a huge plus for me. Can’t wait to head to amazon to check out some of the books.:) This site will be a new daily site for me also. Love it!
The books was a feature I have always wanted to add to Listverse too – maybe it will appear there one day
this site looks promising. I SOOO love listverse and now I have mythverse. More of the weird and creepy please.
Definitely! I want to add a bizarre section here though to be honest it is a little harder to find bizarre misconceptions as they often tend to be so weird no one believes them anyway
Wow I am writing a comment on the first post of this website!!!:) I can’t believe im going to be part of this!! Hope it goes for a long time and can be very successful as listenerse! Great post by the way!!!!
Thanks Jesus
I hope so too!
*listverse
…love the website! I like that you posted a list that added to one on listverse (the senses one)…I like the related books & videos…maybe you could also link to related listverse lists?
You just thanked JESUS Jamie..hahaha..i don’t know but that just sounded really funny.hahahaha
It did to me too – but I thought “hay-soos” in my head when I did it
Brilliant companion site, listverse has filled many a dull hour and I look forward to fillin a few more. Thanks
*filling!
Thanks Kelly
I am looking forward to growing the site like Listverse and having the two work together in the future 
A little bit of topic: the term ‘warlock’ means “oathbreaker” or “traitor” and is not the proper word for male witches. Male witches are called witches, just like their female counterparts. It is only in recent popular culture that the distinction between men and women were made. In the days of witch hunts the victims were mostly female, and that is why the stereotype stuck.
Etienne – while I appreciate your point I am not sure that any person speaking English who says warlock means “oathbreaker” – the term has become known almost exclusively in English as a male practitioner of witchcraft.
Also, the phrase in the vulgate is “maleficos non patieris vivere” where the word translated to warlock is “meleficos” which essentially means “evil-doer” or “enchanter”
Good luck with the new site. I was needing some new reading material. I’ve read every list from listverse!
Thanks rod
I am also planning to resurrect cogitz.com – check that out too.
First visit to the site and really enjoyed it
Thanks tripsyman – glad you like it
Lots more to come!
Love it Jamie!
I enjoy reading the debunking of myths, more so than the myth itself – i’m eagerly awaiting your next articles!
Like like like!
Best of luck, Marcus
Oh! And LOVE the recommended reading (related books) idea! Should come in handy for future lists of interest
I agree – and may appear on Listverse sometime in the future too
I love it! You guys rocked my world with Listverse and now did it again with Mythverse
I find your articles way more interesting then the Kardashians or ‘who slept with who in Hollywood’-crap that the world is trying to feed me just cause I’m a young girl. So keep up the good the work and greets from Belgium
I am very glad to hear that Lola
Thanks for commenting and enjoy all the future posts!
I think the following needs to be changed since it doesn’t make sense.
“Another interesting misconception is that the majority of those killed were women. In fact, at least one quarter of accused and executed witches were men – warlocks in other words.”
In the first sentence, you mention the misconception that a majority of people killed were woman, but then change nothing with the second sentence since only one quarter were men. Anything over 50% being women is still a majority.
Maybe you meant?
“Another interesting misconception is that only those killed were women. In fact, at least one quarter of accused and executed witches were men – warlocks in other words.”
That is a good point – thanks. I will correct it.
Another interesting point is that the ratio of male to female trials & executions varied from region to region: in France more than half executed were male, in Finland almost half, & in Iceland 90%.
Could you cite your source for there only being 3 women burned during the witchunts? I’m writing something about this at present & that would be a useful addition.
Witchfinders by Malcolm Gaskill (2005): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674025423/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&tag=jamifrat-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=0674025423
thanks, i’ll check it out
Wasn’t there a myth (or maybe a fact?) that one of the ways they would “test” someone as being a witch was to try and drown them in a river. If they lived they were a witch and then killed and if they died they were not a witch but dead. Lose/lose situation!
I have definitely heard of that but I am not sure if it is true or not – I will have to do some research
Thank you for the response. The best part of this new site is that we get more individual responses from you! Love it, love your sites, love you!
Yes, that was used.
In the Stamford Connecticut 1692 witch trials (Not Salem!) “dunking” was given at the request of the accused. Both failed the test. But it wouldn’t have resulted in their death had they succeeded. There was something to make sure that didn’t happen (otherwise, why ask for it?).
It was far from conclusive as far as the judges were concerned though… But it had been a popular thought for some time.
I suggest: “Escaping Salem: the other witch hunt of 1692″ By Richard Godbeer. I won’t spoil the ending (yes, it is non-fiction, but reads nicely).
Jamie i have been following you through listverse for over a year now and im so excited at your new sites !!!!
both of them seem fantastic keep up the good work.
This new site looks awesome! You post the most interesting things in all of the interwebs IMO.
Some notes on Witchhunts I received from a class I took suggested this:
Around the 16th‐17th centuries about… 110,000 put on trial, and about half convicted and executed. Though there were unclear execution rates (90% in some of France, 16% in Finland). Sounds like a bit more than 40 000 but not by too much (55 000?).
Ironically? The Spanish Inquisition execution rate was near 2% (Didn’t expect that from the Spanish Inquisition!)
The majority of cases were in Germany.
Women would be 90% of the accused in some regions, so it varied…
In Edinburgh witches were dunked in the Nor Loch (basically a very polluted marsh between the Royal Mile and Princes Street). When I visited I was told women suspected of witchcraft used to ask their relatives to sew pockets to their dresses in order to fill them with rocks. They preferred to be drowned and die “innocent” rather than face the angry mobs and be executed as a witch in a more gruesome way.
Anyway, is this site still active? I am a huge fan of Listverse but only found out about Mythverse recently. Unfortunately, all the articles seem to have been posted last year.