In the Middle Ages in Europe, many women were accused of being witches and severely punished. They were often single, independent women with knowledge of herbal medicine. When bad things happened, they would be blamed. Common punishments for witches included being placed in the stocks for public humiliation, being pulled apart by horses, dunked in water using a ducking stool, stoned to death by crowds, and hanged or burned at the stake. These punishments were cruel and reflected the misunderstandings and oppression of women at that time in history.

1. Poor
witches!!!

2. Did you know…?
• In the Middle Ages it was
thought that
punishment was the only
way to keep order.
• Some women were
accused of being witches.
• Supposedly, they meet at
night to worship the
devil

3. Why???
• They were single, independent and with
knowledge about plants, so they made home
remedies.
• People said that they were married to the devil
(everybody should be married to someone…)
• Science didn’t accept their home remedies, so
everytime something bad happened, people
blamed these women. They were punished for
that.

4. Punishments
•Stocks
•Pulled Apart
•Ducking stool
•Stoning
•Hanging and the Stake

5. Stocks
It was a wooden block with a hole for the headand the hands.
They were used for smaller crimes, like stealing.
They were shown in publicto humiliate the criminal.
Sometimes an enemy of the criminal cut one of his hands (he
couldn’t move) and he died of loss of blood.

6. Pulled apart
It wasusedfor murderes and and large crimes.
The criminal was strapped to horses, each armand leg to a different
horse. Then , on command, the horses wouldstart running and the
arms and legs of the criminals woul be ripped.
The person diedquickly but painfully because of blood and limb loss.

7. Ducking stool
It was used only for women.
It was a chair at the end of a free-moving armplaced next to a river.
The womanwas tiedin the chair and thanks to the free-moving armshe was forced
to be under the water.
The time under thewater couldbe just several seconds or repeatedcontinuously
during the whole day.
If they floatedthey were witches using magic, if they drowned, they were innocent

8. Stoning
A group of people threwstones to the criminal until the person dies.
No individual in the group can be identified as the one who killed
the person.
It is a very slow way of dying.

9. Hanging and burned at the
stake
Hanging was the most common method of punishing witches.
Being burned at the stake wasn’t as common as we think it
was.

10. Do you remember…?
• What did witches supposedly do at night?
• Why were women accused of being witches?
• Why were witches shown in public at the
stocks?
• What animal was used for the Pulled Apart
punishment?
• How long were witches under the water in the
Ducking Pool?
• What is Stoning?
• What was the most common method to
punish witches? Which wasn’t?

11. Answers
• They met and worshipped the devil.
• Because they were single, independent, they had
knowledge about plants and they made home remedies.
Science didn’t accept that. If something bad happened,
they were accused of it.
• To humiliate them.
• Horses.
• Fromseconds to the whole day.
• Throwingstones to the witch until she dies.
• The most common was hanging and the least the stake

12. Happy
Halloween