Between the 16th and 18th centuries, tens of thousands of people were executed for witchcraft in Europe. Then as now, witches were typically thought of as
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10 Bizarre Stories From European Witch Trials
For hundreds of years, witch hunters operated throughout Europe. Their motivations ranged from superstitions and paranoia to an incomprehensible religious zeal. Sometimes, it was just politics.
Nevertheless, it’s estimated that tens of thousands of people were executed for witchcraft in Europe. The witch hunters mostly framed terrified old women. But every so often, a witch trial turned up something much weirder.
10 Thiess, Good Werewolf Of The North
Thiess was an old man from 17th-century Latvia who informed a startled judge that he was part of a local troop of werewolves. He added that werewolves were not servants of evil and actually couldn’t “tolerate the Devil.” Instead, they were the “hounds of God.”