Oleatta O’Dell
Humanities-152
09/24/2017
Professor Horten
Where The Blame Falls
The premodern world was one in which an early death was a common occurrence and
natural disaster could tear entire societies apart, leaving nothing in its wrath. In a world ridden
with sickness and disease, who is left to blame? For those living in the medieval age God was at
the forefront of society, an almighty power who could do no wrong. This left the blame to fall
upon the devil,witchcraft and unfortunately, others in the society. Blaming things such as the
plague, on witchcraft was a reoccurring trend during medieval times. The people of this time so
heavily believed in witchcraft and used it to justify why terrible things happened because, people
didn’t believe God could bring them such misfortune. Along with religious reasons, witchcraft
was likely so widely believed because medical practices at the time simply were not developed
enough to understand illness and what caused it. Lastly, the medieval era was a time in in which
sexism and classism were extremely prevalent and played a huge role in determining who was
accused of witchcraft. All of these factors offer an insight as to why the people of the premodern
world used witchcraft to justify tragedy and disaster.
Religion during the pre modern time period was vastly different from religion and
religious practices today. During medieval times the church had more power than any kingdom
and the people trusted the pope more than any king. Religious views and beliefs triggered the
belief in witchcraft because people didn’t want to, or couldn’t believe that God would punish
them by bringing forth things such as the plague. This unwillingness to blame God and the
inability to blame nature can clearly be seen in Geraldine Brooks novel “Year Of Wonders”,
when the villiage people accuse characters Men and Anys of witchcraft. The people of the
village let their fears get the best of them. Rather than waiting on God to ease their suffering or
blaming God for their suffering, they attribute their pain to people and powers immediately
around them. The first of these unfortunate casualties was Mem Gowdie. While Men had never
done anything to the villagers other than help them, by delivering their babies and creating tonics...