The Witch Trials of Midwives
How the ‘Curse of Eve’ warranted the execution of women healers
Source: Wikimedia
Witch-hunting became a popular pastime in Europe from the 14th to the 17th centuries. Torture, execution, and burning of tens of thousands of victims took place in Germany, Italy, and spreading across to France and England; three-quarters of them were women.
Among the most shocking revelations is ‘the persecution of midwives as witches’ that became widespread in the Middle Ages and has been heavily criticized by the 20th-century historians.
The European witch trials were well-ordered legal procedures conducted by the Vicar or judge of the county. The sadistic book ‘Malleus Maleficarum or Hammer of Witches’ written in 1484 by the Reverends Kramer and Sprenger became the blueprint for every judge to trace the witch-hunter, execute or burn them.
Midwives defied the ‘Curse of Eve’
Bible Verses about the Curse of Eve
Genesis 3:16
To the woman He said:
“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth children;
Your desire shall be for your husband,
And he shall rule over you.”
