Why did the Government regard witchcraft as such a problem ?

The reasons for the monarch’s sudden changes about the seriousness of the crime were due to religious upheavals through out Europe in the 16th century. The Reformation put Catholics against Protestants and both accused the other of heresy. Witchcraft was drawn into this conflict and became the target of Catholics and Protestants alike that saw it as their religious duty to tackle the growing problem of the practice of witchcraft.

Ordinary people became worried about the problem when it started to turn there lives into turmoil and uncertainty. The widespread poverty caused by rising prices and changes in the pattern of land use made life very difficult and people became more and more superstitious. People either turned to magic to bring them good fortune or accused others of using magic to bring them bad luck.  People in all cultures believed that witches knew how to concoct potions that could cure people and using these powers they knew how to cast spells to harm or spells to protect.  

The Government started to become increasingly worried about witches because there was widespread poverty cause by high prices and changes in land use. This made people more superstitious, the tried to use magic to help themselves. People became envious when others had a good harvest or had some sort of success that they couldn’t get for themselves. Many of the people who were accused were women, the evidence that they used to convict them were marks on the body caused by animals feeding on there blood, naming others as part of a confession, making pacts with the Devil  or been deprived of sleep and food which induced a confession.

I feel that the government thought getting rid of witches would mean that everyone would return to how it was before the poverty struck. Also I think they were worried about how apart from the rest of society they were. They seemed to separate off from everyone else and not really have much contact with other people. But when the laws came in that witches would be hung then people who were jealous of what others have got would use it as a chance to get them hung, which would mean they were out of the way. I believe the Government took a to strict approach to witches, because most of the people accused didn’t hurt anyone they just wanted to be able to have a good crop and earn some money.