page_title: Witch trials in the early modern period
section_title: Causes and interpretations
hierarchical_section_title: Witch trials in the early modern period / Causes and interpretations
caption_attribution_description: "The Witch, No. 2"
context_page_description: Prosecutions for the crime of witchcraft reached a highpoint from 1580 to 1630 during the Counter-Reformation and the European wars of religion, when an estimated 50,000 people were burned at the stake, of which roughly 80% were women, and most often over the age of 40.
caption: The Witch, No. 2, c. 1892 lithograph by Joseph E. Baker
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