How far do these sources support the idea that witchcraft was an essentially female crime?

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How far do these sources support the idea that witchcraft was an essentially female crime?

All the sources support the idea that witchcraft was essentially a female crime but some to a lesser extent. However there is one exception, source 10, which states that in some countries for example Russia, Estonia and Scandanavian countries, the prosecution of men was nearly on par with women.

        Source 1 strongly agrees with the question ‘that witchcraft was an essentially female crime’. The source is an extract from the malleus maleficarum, which was written by two monks in 1486. The malleus maleficarum was a very influential piece of literature in much of Europe. It spread the message throughout much of Europe to be wary of witchcraft and warned people that witches lived amongst them in their very villages. The malleus maleficarum was very mysogenistic, for example, “But the natural reason is that she is more carnal than man”. This quote showed that them monks believed that women tended to have more sexual partners than men.  The source also claims women have “slippery tongues” implying that they tend to expose themselves easily by simple gossiping. The source cleary agrees with the idea that witchcraft was a female crime as it also says, “a greater number of witches is found in the fragile feminine sex than among men”. This source is also intersting as it is written by two monk, who ofcourse are members of the church. The source therfore shows the view of the church and how christian writings were very mysogenistic.

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        Source 2 strongly agrees with the question that witchcraft was a female crime. The source is taken from an extract of a sermon made by Martin Luther. Martin Luther was a pioneer and founder of the protestant faith. Although he is a protestant and not a catholic like the monks in source 1, their views are very similar both believing women to be weak creatures. For instance it states that women are “timid and afraid of everything”, this is a vast generalisation but agrees with source 1 which states that women are “fragile”. Luther then goes onto imply that because ...

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