Lara Sheehan
Cork, Ireland

Oppressionist behavior towards women was seen during the witch trials of the 16th and 17th centuries, where the illogical execution of thousands of innocent women occurred.¹ Midwives were among these executed women for the role they played in being with and caring for women.

In the 16th and 17th centuries the subjugation of women took many forms, and women’s ailments were sorely misunderstood. Women-specific illnesses such as endometriosis and gynecologic disorders that caused intense pain were thought to be instances of demonic possession. Women having extreme pain from endometriotic cysts were described as suffering from “hysteria,” convicted to be burned at the stake as “witches.” Another form of punishment was death by hanging.² Midwives were hung for sedating and treating women with flowers and other folk healing remedies. The foxglove flower, along with belladonna and the common nettle were commonly used as evidence in the allegations of the midwife-witch.³ Having these in your possession was enough to warrant an accusation of witchcraft.

Treatments performed by women were regarded as sorcery while treatments of the same nature conducted by men were seen as the expert use of “Galenic theory.”⁴ The double standard which allowed men to practice medicine based on Galenic theory while women were prosecuted for using folk healing methods illustrates the unjust attitudes prevailing at the time. Women were seen as witches based on no more than hearsay and the writings of one text, the Malleus Maleficarum. This juxtaposition of midwives being trusted for their knowledge as character witnesses in legal court yet also executed for the same reason is another peculiar aspect of the thought pattern behind the witch trials. Midwives were able to testify in a legal court against crimes such as rape, infanticide, abortion, and witchcraft. It was therefore, believed that because these women were knowledgeable on so many fronts to allow them to testify on such serious topics that they themselves must be in conference with the devil.⁵ This behavior illustrates the senselessness of the accusations and further supports the conclusion that the real attack of the witch trials and the era of witchcraft persecution was on the female gender in its entirety rather than on the eradication of witchcraft.

The persecution of women is prevalent throughout history. Since ancient times right through to today women have been subjected to disdain and death at the hands of various persecutors for simply existing. In the 16th and 17th centuries this persecution took the form of sorcery and witchcraft accusations, while in today’s world it takes the form of policed reproductive rights in North America and a culture of accepted sexual violence permeating through Europe. Argued above was the link between witchcraft accusations and the mournful role midwives played in their attempt to provide holistic, women-centered care during the trials. The witch trials claimed the lives of thousands of innocent women and created a damning reputation for the entire female gender that followed them in subsequent centuries.

References

1. Nezhat et al. “Endometriosis,” p 16.
2. Mackay, “The Hammer of Witches,” p289.
3. Ring et al. “Healers and midwives accused of witchcraft,” p5.
4. Kuffner, “Bawds, Midwifery, and the Evil Eye in Golden Age Spanish Literature and Medicine,” p2.
5. Harley, “Historians as Demonologists,” p4.

Bibliography

• Harley, D. “Historians as Demonologists: The Myth of the Midwife Witch”. Social history of medicine: The journal of the society for the social history of medicine, No.3 (1990): 1-26. Available at: https://go.exlibris.link/41gCnwK0.
• Kuffner, E. “Bawds, Midwifery, and the Evil Eye in Golden Age Spanish Literature and Medicine”. Humanities. No.12 (2023): 1-21. Available at: https://go.exlibris.link/551381pd.
• Mackay, C. “The Hammer of Witches: A Complete translation of the Malleus Maleficarum”. Criminal procedure (canon law), No. 1 (2009): 1-311. Available at: https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ucc.idm.oclc.org/lib/uccie-ebooks/reader.action?docID=442875&ppg=1.
• Nezhat, C. Nezhat, F. Nezhat, C. “Endometriosis: ancient disease, ancient treatments”. Fertility and sterility, No. 98 (2012): 1-62. Available at: https://go.exlibris.link/Llt4R5QB.
• Ring, N. McHugh, N. Reed, B. Davidson-Welch, R. Dodd, L. “Healers and midwives accused of witchcraft (1563–1736) – What secondary analysis of the Scottish survey of witchcraft can contribute to the teaching of nursing and midwifery history”. Nurse education today, No. 133 (2024): 1-8. Available at: https://go.exlibris.link/qQxNcrJJ.