An analysis on the legality of the witch-hunts in 16th and 17th century England and Scotland with a gender perspective

Abstract

The hunting of witches was a time of legal and social persecution of women during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. England and Scotland used their criminal justice system to punish alleged witches, firstly by the enactment of acts and secondly by holding witchcraft trials. The aim of this work is to examine the impact that the law had on the hunt of “witches” from its legality to its fairness. To achieve this goal, it is going to be examined the influence that gender had in the construction of this offence.