You're exactly right. This particular moral panic, however, was a big one, because the morality being panicked about was the Reformation (and Counter-Reformation). Most witchcraft executions happened in the late 16th early 17th centuries in areas contested between Catholicism and Protestantism.
Comment on It used to be the easy solution to get rid of any woman that you didn't like
Hegar@fedia.io 4 days ago
A lot of people tend to imagine that witch accusations were a constant thing, but my understanding is they follow the pattern of moral panics.
Many here may remember the satanic panic that came and went in the 80s. There was a similar panic about mods vs rockers in the uk. The red scare of mccarthyism was another. A friend of mine analyzed a 2002 flare up of anti-romany sentiment and violence in italy (maybe just rome?) which also fit. Probably pogroms against jews fit the pattern too.
Moral panics are volatile - they bloom for a time and then wither. So probably there were short term bouts where anyone percieved as deviant or unwelcome was at risk of being swept up in this panic and becoming a target for hostility because a percentage of people falsely believed they posed some kind of threat.
NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 4 days ago
OriginEnergySux@lemmy.world 4 days ago
I agree. In the history of the French town i was born in, rumours that someone poisoned the drinking well starting going around. Enough people staeted saying it was jews and that led to the town burning thousands of jews in and around the town. Turned out the water was fine, but the rumours were enough to freak everyone out and stir them up
Hegar@fedia.io 4 days ago
Oh yeah, that sounds like a classic moral panic. Instigating incidents are often fictional.