Why are modern people so harsh on the Middle Ages for the witch

>>1859113
Jews

the middles ages weren't when witch hunts took place.

the majority of the witch hunts were in the 17th Century, 200-250 years after the end of the middle ages.

>>1859113

>He thinks Wiccans won't put us in the pot as soon as they remember where they put the recipe.

>>1859149
This actually goes way beyond witch hunting. Everything "paranormal" was confidential if at all there in the Middle Ages. Except some superstitions about relics but even then it's far overblown in people's mind. You need to wait a long time to see an interest in stuff like demonology, ...
The worst that medieval people did in this direction were some of the bizarre kinds of alchemy. Michael Scott was able to fortune tell his way to relevancy with astrology but the fact we remember him is due to the rarity of this event.

Overall the idea of linking "magic" with the middle ages may be a good idea for a RPG setting but has very little ground in history.

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>Why are modern people so harsh on the Middle Ages for the witch hunts?
In reality most took place after the middle ages and in Germany and were linked to the religious upheavals after the reformation.

>I don't see any witches around anymore. Do you?
Ironically witch hunts gave notoriety to witches in popular consciousness and as a result there are now witch themed subcultures like wiccans and arguably more witches than ever.

>>1859162
actually, you could argue pretty easily that "magic", as such was considered an entirely normal part of medieval christian society - much of the body of medicine, for instance, was intrinsically linked to what would be best considered "magic".
the problem with the word magic is, it means to us, something entirely different to what they thought - and that raises problems, in that we dont adequately have language which describes their thought process, without it being coloured by our own modern perception of those words.

there's a *lot* of stuff that could be considered ritual, could be called gnostic, even supernatural, which would be considered absolutely normal to the medieval person - from the ability of prayer or alter the world around, to certain actions - a physician placing a root of verbena in the patient's hand, which would make the person speak of their "true fate" which would lead to diagnosis. the idea of four humours which determined if a person was in health or not, all those sort of things are, at their core, supernatural, or mystical elements, which were considered absolutely normal. Leaving a pan of milk out for fairies, goblins, or whatever else they might be described as was absolutely normal, unquestioning for people.

the distinction in magic was not its use, but its intent - the use of a magical, supernatural element in healing was considered utterly normal. the use in causing harm was what cause for investigation/persecution by those in power.