This is a brief history of Witchcraft- and Wicca-related events - it is by no means all-encompassing, but it's a good general timeline.
~ B.C.E.: Before Current Era (B.C.) ~ ~ C.E. - Current Era (A.D.) ~
Before recorded history -
People honoured the spirit of every thing - plants, animals, winds, the Sun, the
Moon, etc.
c. 350 B.C.E. -
Shamans and Druids are active.
c. 120 C.E. -
Christianity begins.
c. 371 C.E. -
The Roman Empire adopts Christianity as the official state religion. Roman
officers spread this new state religion (or their interpretation of it)
everywhere they go - this usually means killing priests of different religions,
including the aforementioned Druids.
590-604 C.E. -
Pope Gregory I 'Christianises' Europe - he has 10 000 people baptised in England
alone. He has churches built on the sites of pagan temples, but instead of
worshipping the new God, locals develop a hybrid religion - outwardly Christian,
inwardly pagan. The names of many of the churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary
include "Our Lady", and old name for the Goddess.
1227 C.E. -
Pope Gregory IX establishes the Inquisitional Courts to arrest, try, convict and
execute heretics.
1258 C.E. -
Pope Alexander IV instructs the Inquisition to confine their investigations to
cases of heresy. They were not to investigate charges of divination or sorcery
unless heresy was also involved.
1300s C.E. -
Stregheria is first known at about this time.
1326 C.E. -
The Church authorises the Inquisition to investigate Witchcraft and to develop
'demonology' - the theory of the Satanic origin of Witchcraft.
1330 C. E. -
The popular concept of Witches as evil sorcerers is expanded to include the
belief they swore allegiance to and had sexual relations with Satan, kidnapped
and ate children, etc.
1430s C.E. -
Christian theologians start to write articles and books which 'prove' the
existence of Witches.
1450 C.E. -
'The Burning Times' begin. The phrase is first used by Gerald Gardner in the
1950s to describe the European Witch hunts of 1450-1750.
Johann Gutenberg invents moveable type (about 400 years after the Chinese did),
which makes mass printing possible - this enables the widespread distribution of
papal bulls and books on Witch hunting, and marks the beginning of Church
censorship of 'heretical' literature.
1484 C.E. -
December 5. Pope Innocent VIII issues a papal bull, Summis desiderantes
affectibus (read it
here), condemning Witchcraft and heresy. Due to the recent advent of the
moveable type printing press, this was the first widely circulated papal bull.
The bull insisted everyone help the Pope's inquisitors in the identification of
Witches and led to the first hysterical Witch hunts in Europe and North America.
1486 C.E. -
The inquisitors Heinrich Kramer and Jakob Sprenger publish the Malleus
Malleficarum (the "Witches' Hammer"), a guide for Witch hunting using
Summis desiderantes as the introduction. It contains three parts - the
danger of Witches; the types of Witches and counters against their 'evil
doings'; and the process of trying and convicting a Witch - and is credited with
starting the Witchcraft hysteria in Europe.
1550-1650 C.E. -
The majority of the people killed in 'The Burning Times' die.
1563 C.E. -
Johann Weyer publishes a book critical of the Witch trials. Called De
Praestigiis Daemonum et Incantationibus ac Venifiis ("On the Illusions of
the Demons and on Spells and Poisons"), it argued that Witches did not really
exist but that Satan promoted the belief that they did. He rejected confessions
obtained through torture as worthless and recommended medical treatment instead
of torture and execution. He only escaped being burned at the stake by
publishing the book anonymously.
1603-1606 C.E. -
William Shakespeare writes his tragedy Macbeth, in which he was said to
have used the incantations of real Witches. The story goes that these Witches
cursed the play, giving rise to the 'bad luck' and mysterious accidents that
befell various members of cast and crew over time (and thus the many
superstitions that now surround 'The Scottish Play'). The three Witches
portrayed in the play are now three of the most famous Witches in fiction (read
the most famous of the Witches' scenes
here).
1604 C.E. -
King James I passes the 'Witchcraft Act'. Under this Act, the punishment for
practicing Witchcraft increased from one year in jail to hanging and any act of
consorting with the Devil was made punishable by death. The English Witch trials
from 1612-1649 and the Salem Witch Trials were all prosecuted under this Act,
before it was repealed in 1763. Incidentally, James I is also said to have
changed the Bible - where it once allegedly read "Thou shalt not suffer a
poisoner to live", it now says "Thou shalt not suffer a Witch to live".
1684 C.E. -
The last English Witch execution.
1692 C.E. -
The Salem Witch Trials begin - at least 24 people die (read about them
here).
1745 C.E. -
France stops the execution of Witches.
1775 C.E. -
Germany stops the execution of Witches.
1782 C.E. -
Switzerland stops the execution of Witches.
1792 C.E. -
Poland executes the last person in Europe to be tried and convicted of
Witchcraft (isolated extra-legal lynching of Witches continued in Europe and
North America into the 20th century).
1921 C.E. -
Dianic Wicca is first identified.
1830s C.E. -
The Church stops the execution of Witches in South America.
1940s C.E. -
Gerald Gardner begins the Gardnerian tradition (we think).
1951 C.E. -
English Parliament repeals all laws pertaining to Witchcraft.
1953 C.E. -
Arthur Miller's The Crucible is a hit on Broadway.
1954 C.E. -
Gerald Gardner publishes Witchcraft Today, describing the existence of
the Craft in the 20th century.
1960s C.E. -
Alexander and Maxine Sanders start the Alexandrian tradition.
1973 C.E. -
Raymond Buckland founds the Seax-Wica tradition.
1979 C.E. -
Margot Adler publishes Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids,
Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America Today.
Starhawk publishes The Spiral Dance.
1986 C.E. -
Wicca is determined to be a bona-fide religion in the U.S.A. and given First
Amendment protection.
