Witch trials

By Alix Wood

Subjects: Juvenile literature, Witchcraft, juvenile literature, Trials (Witchcraft), Witchcraft

Description: From a modern perspective, it seems incredible that people were once executed for practicing witchcraft. Yet, in medieval Europe and colonial America, more than 12,000 lost their lives this way. The proof of witchery was often as scanty as a physical deformity or as outrageous as the water test: If the tied-up suspect floated in water, they were guilty; if they sunk, they were innocent!