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Belief in witchcraft seems to be almost universal in human societies. In Europe's early society, many Europeans developed a heightened concern with the phenomenon/occurrence of witchcraft. This belief led to widespread persecutions in which thousands of Europeans, both women and men, were executed as witches. Governments and society organized "hunts" for these alleged witches, torturing, accusing more than 100,000, and executing thousands of people in a period known as the European witch craze, lasting from …

…of imprisonment, and/or punishment for their said crimes.(Doc. B2) In this statement, Pope Innocent legitimized the persecution of witches, in the name of the Catholic religion. On the Protestant side, Martin Luther justified witch persecution by describing the evils that witches partake in, and that they work with the Devil.(Doc. B3) One who did not believe in witches was said not to have religion, so most accepted the propaganda they were told.