Witches. The ultimate medieval villains or nah? Consider our medievalist's witch PSA. Witches, a brief history: 📍 In the Middle Ages, people who practice medical and chemical arts—usually women—are midwives, herbalists, and ale brewers. Sometimes these women are accused of witchcraft, but what they are doing is actual useful services, not the magic we think of today. 📍 15th century. A few hundred years pass and "witchcraft" begins to be linked to devil worship and treated as criminal heresy. A more vitriolic and wider-spread panic about witches takes hold. 📍 16th century. The image of an ugly old woman witch working with the devil finally crystallizes, which in turn... 📍 Fuels the witch hunts of the 16th–17th centuries that sees the execution of *thousands* of innocent people on fabricated charges of witchcraft. Questions? Drop them in the comments. Happy almost Halloween! . . . 🏷: #GettyMuseum #Witches #History #OriginOfWitches #WitchCraft #ArtHistory #Manuscripts #Medieval #M...