According to Jean Bodin, a 16th century demonologist, in his De la Demonomanie des Sorciers:
"Even if the witch has never killed or done evil to any man, or beast, or fruits, and even if he has always cured bewitched people, or driven away tempests, it is because he has renounced God and treated with Satan that he deserves to be burned alive... even if there is no more than the obligation to the Devil, having denied God, this deserves the most cruel death that can be imagined.
Not all witches were burned at the stake; witches were hanged in England and America. Witches were given the mercy of strangulation prior to burning in France, Scotland, and Germany. Nonetheless, many were burned alive if they recanted their "confessions" or did not seem properly penitent for their "crimes". Oh, and all expenses for the trial, the inprisonment, and the actual execution were billed to the deceased's relatives or estate.

There is no way to count how many were killed on the charges of Witchcraft; estimates range from 300,000 (during only 150 years of the Inquisition) to over a million, with over 100,000 in Germany alone where the most virulent witch-hunts took place. This was a substantial part of the population, especially since the population was still recovering from the ravages of the Black Plague. In 1233 Pope Gregory IX instituted the Roman Catholic tribunal known as the Inquisition in an attempt to suppress heresy. In 1320, the church (at the request of Pope John XXII) officially declared Witchcraft and Paganism as heretical movements and a "hostile threat" to Christianity. Witches had now become heretics and the persecution against all Pagans spread like wildfire throughout Europe. (It is interesting to note that before a person can be considered a heretic, he or she must first be a Christian, and Pagans have never been Christians. They have always been Pagans.) The single most influential piece of propaganda in this campaign was commissioned by Pope Innocent VIII in 1484 after he declared Witchcraft to be a heresy. He instructed the Dominican monks Heinrich Kraemer and Jacob Sprenger to publish a manual for witch-hunters. Two years later the work appeared with the title Malleus Malificarum, or The Witches' Hammer. The manual was used for the next 250 years in the Church's attempt to purify the Christian faith.

"He must not be too quick to subject a witch to examination, but must pay attention to certain signs which will follow. And he must not be too quick for this reason: unless God, through a holy Angel, compels the devil to withold his help from the witch, she will be so insensible to the pains of torture that she will sooner be torn limb from limb than confess any of the truth. But the torture is not to be neglected for this reason, for they are not equally endowed with this power, and also the devil sometimes of his own will permits them to confess their crimes without being compelled by a holy Angel."

-- Kramer and Sprenger, the Malleus Maleficarum
One of the most sobering things about the Burning Times is that most of the slain were not Pagans, they were devout Christians falsely accused. Isn't it convenient that the Church inherited all the money and all the lands of anyone convicted of Witchcraft? It also disolved into denominational prejudice, because Catholics would accuse Protestants of Witchcraft and the Protestants would do the same thing to the Catholics.
Victims were persecuted, brutally tortured, often sexually molested or raped, and then executed by Church authorities. Once denounced, a suspected Witch was arrested and then hideously tortured into a confession. Suspects were subjected to thumbscrews, the rack, boots which broke the bones of the legs; they were deprived of sleep, starved and beaten. At times, hundreds of suspected Witches were killed in a day. A more complete description of the different methods of torture is discussed here.
Witchcraft in England was made an illegal offense in the year 1541, and in 1604 a law decreeing capital punishment for witches and Pagans was adopted. Forty years later, the thirteen colonies in American also made death the penalty for the "crime" of Witchcraft. By the late 17th century, the followers who remained loyal to the Old Religion were in hiding and true Paganism had turned into a secret underground religion.
The burning executions themselves were great public displays. After sentencing, the condemned only had to wait until the stake was erected and the fuel collected before they were tossed on the flames to writhe and die. In Scotland a little more respect was shown; the days before an execution were days of fasting and stern prayer. The witch was strangled first, and then her corpse-- or sometimes her unconcious or semi-conscious body-- was tied to a stake or dumped in a tar barrel and set on fire. If she was not dead and managed to stumble out of the fire, onlookers pushed her back in.
What started it? What caused relatively good people to throw their neighbors onto bonfires and cheer as they died? Prejudice, ignorance, and fear. Is it over yet? Depends on what you mean. The bonfires have stopped (at least in the "civilized world"- they are still burning in rural Africa), but there is more than one way to be burned. People are still persecuted for Witchcraft, still lose their children over Paganism, and still have their lives threatened even today. The legacy of 300 years of torture and death lives on.

The Salem witch trials occurred at a very hectic time in New England. There are numerous factors and events that influenced the trials. The main factors that started and kept the trials going were religion, family feuds, economics, and the imaginations and fears of the people. Rev. Samuel Parris and his family was a big part of the Salem Witch Trials He was married and had a nine-year-old daughter, Betty, and a twelve-year-old niece, Abigail Williams, who was an orphan. Abigail was expected to earn her keep by doing most of the household chores, and also care for her invalid aunt. Betty’s poor health prevented her from helping with the household chores, so much of the work feel on Abigail’s young shoulders. After chores were done, there was little entertainment for Betty and Abigail. Salem Town was eight miles away, and Boston was a twenty-mile journey over unforgiving roads. Thus, Samuel Parris only visited these places when business required it. He also opposed the girls playing hide-and-seek, tag and other childhood games because he believed playing was a sign of idleness, and idleness allowed the Devil to work his mischief. Reading was a popular pastime during the winter months. There was an interest in books about prophecy and fortune telling throughout New England during the winter of 1691-92. These books were especially popular among young girls and adolescents. In Essex County girls formed small, informal circles to practice the divinations and fortune telling they learned from their reading to help pass the cold months.

Betty Parris, her cousin Abigail Williams, and two other friends formed such a circle. Tituba, Rev. Parris’s slave, whom he bought while on a trip to Barbados, would often participate in the circle. She would entertain the others with stories of witchcraft, demons, and mystic animals. Other girls soon joined their circle in the evenings to listen to Tituba’s tales and participate in fortune telling experiments. They would tell their fortunes by dropping an egg white into a glass of water and then interpret the picture it formed. However, Betty Parris and Abigail Williams began to become upset and frightened with the results of their fortunes. This coupled with the family financial and social difficulties, likely caused the two girls to express their stress in unusual physical expressions. Samuel Parris believed this unnatural behavior to be an illness and asked Salem Village’s physician, William Griggs, to examine the girls. He did not find any physical cause for their strange behavior and concluded the girls were bewitched.

Puritans believed in witches and their ability to harm others. They defined witchcraft as entering into a compact with the devil in exchange for certain powers to do evil. So witchcraft was considered a sin because it denied God’s superiority, and a crime because the witch could call up the Devil in his or her shape to do cruel acts against others. In any case when witchcraft was suspected, it was important that it was investigated thoroughly and the tormentors identified and judged. Unknown to Samuel Parris, Mary Sibley, the aunt of another afflicted girl, ordered Tituba and her husband, John Indian, to bake a "witch cake" in order to help the girls name their tormentors. The girls were at first hesitant to speak, but Betty eventually spoke and named Tituba. The other girls soon spoke and named Sarah Osborne and Sarah Good. All three women were prime candidates for the accusations of witchcraft. Sarah Osborne was an elderly lady who had not gone to church in over a year, and poor church attendance was a Puritan sin. Sarah Good was a homeless woman who begged door to door. If people failed to give her alms, she would say non sense words and leave. People would often blame her visits for the death of livestock. They believed the words she spoke under her breath were curses against them for not giving her things. Since Tituba was Parris’s slave and well known to Betty and Abigail, it is no surprise then that her name was the first to be called out by Betty. The low social standing that these three women had clearly made them believable suspects for witchcraft.

During the questioning of the three accused, Betty, Abigail, and six other girls would often scream and tumble on the floor of the meetinghouse. Even with the harsh questioning by the two magistrates and the unusual actions of the afflicted girls, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne maintained their innocence. Tituba, however, confessed for three days.

During Tituba’s confession, she talked of red rats, talking cats, and a tall man dressed in black. She stated that the man clothed in black made her sign in a book, and that Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and others, whose names she could not read, had also signed this book. It is not exactly clear why she confessed to witchcraft. She might have thought that she was guilty since she practiced fortune telling, which was considered a form of "white magic," or perhaps thought that the judges would be easy on her if she confessed. Whatever her reason, a confession was not likely obtained from her by torture. When Tituba finished her long confession, she, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne were taken to a Boston jail. Sarah Osborne would later become the first victim of the Salem witch trials when she died two months later of natural causes while still in jail.

The accusations of witchcraft continued even after the jailing of three accused witches. Why the accusations continued is still debated to this day. Some say the recent small pox outbreaks, Indian attacks, and witchcraft was the wrath of god and in order to appease him they would have to find and punish every last witch. Although some say the girls were suffering form hysteria. Whether it was hysteria or Gods wrath the accusations did not stop.

As the accusation of witchcraft continued to rise, those who doubted the truthfulness of the afflicted girls were also punished in many ways. One such person was a 60-year-old tavern owner named John Procter who believed the afflicted girls would "make devils of us all!" Therefore it was not long before his wife was jailed in Boston under charges of witchcraft.

By the end of May 1692, around 200 people were jailed under the charges of witchcraft. Almost all of them as a result of spectral evidence. Cotton Mather, son of famed minister and Harvard President, Increase Mather, spoke out against spectral evidence. He felt it was unreliable because the Devil could take the form of an innocent person to do his evil deeds. His warning against the use of spectral evidence was followed by Royal Governor William Phips establishing a Court of Oyer and Terminer to investigate the allegations of witchcraft at Salem Village.

The first to be tried under the newly formed court was Bridget Bishop on June 2, 1692. She was found guilty of witchcraft and hanged June 10, 1692, on Gallows Hill. The hangings of six convicted witches did little in abating the spread of witchcraft in Massachusetts during the summer months of 1692. More people began displaying signs of affliction, as a result, accusations and arrests for witchcraft continued to grow in number. Those from all walks of life, rich or poor, farmer or merchant, were now being accused. No one was exempt from being accused of witchcraft..

The trials continued with Giles Corey’s scheduled for mid-September of 1692. However, he refused to answer the questions asked by the court. Due to his refusal, the court exercised its legal right and ordered the sheriff to pile rocks upon him until he co-operated. He was taken to a field near the Salem Meetinghouse, his hands and legs were bound, and heavy rocks were piled upon his chest. Even with the increasing weight, he refused to answer the court’s questions. On September 19, 1692, after two days of enduring the increasing weight, Giles Corey was crushed to death. Whatever his reason, Giles Corey chose death over standing trial for witchcraft.

Giles Corey's refusal to stand trial did not slow the courts conviction of accused witches. Martha Corey, Mary Easty, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeater, Margaret Scott, Wilmott Reed, Samuel Wardwell, and Mary Parker were hanged on Gallows Hill September 22, 1692.

Many people felt the accusations and trials were getting out of control. By October, ministers, judges and numerous others believed that the trials claimed innocent lives. "It were better that ten suspected witches should escape than that one innocent person should be condemned." was the sentiment Increase Mather imparted to the Boston clergy. It was not long after Increase Mather made this statement that on October 12, 1692, Governor Phips issued orders to protect the current prisoners accused of witchcraft from harm and suspended the arrest of suspected witches--unless the arrests were absolutely necessary. He soon followed these orders with dissolving the Court of Oyer and Terminer on October 29, 1692.

Therefore, Governor Phips orders, Increase Mather’s statement to the Boston clergy and wavering support of the trials soon left the cries of the afflicted to fall on deaf ears. The fury of the witch trials subsided, and the last witch trial was held in January 1693. Governor Phips ended the witch trials when he pardoned the remaining accused in May 1693. With this pardon, the Salem witch trials, which resulted in nineteen hangings and a death by crushing rocks, was finally concluded.

The aftermath of the Salem witch trials was severe. Even with the witch trials over, many were still in jail because they could not pay for their release. Additionally, those who were convicted of witchcraft had their property confiscated by the government. This left their families without money and, in some cases, without a home.

The trials took a toll on the surrounding land and structures. Houses and fields were left untended, and the planting season was interrupted. The fields that were planted were not cultivated or harvested. Also, the Salem Meetinghouse was left dilapidated due to the distraction of the trials. Crop failures and epidemics continued to bother Salem for years after the trials ended. The Puritans felt that these events were happening because God was punishing them for the hangings of innocent people. Therefore, a day of fasting and prayer for forgiveness was ordered for January 13, 1697.

What happened to the afflicted girls is not widely known. Surviving information regarding them has provided only small details as to what happened to them after the Salem witch trials. Ann Putnam, Jr. raised her brothers and sisters when her parents died two weeks apart from each other. In August 1706, she asked the congregation of her church for forgiveness. The pastor read a statement she prepares to the congregation.