Ugly History: Witch Hunts - Brian A. Pavlac

翻译人员: Carol Wang 校对人员: 功伟 邢

In the German town of Nördlingen in 1593,

1593 年，在德国小镇诺德林根，

an innkeeper named Maria Höll found herself accused of witchcraft.

旅店老板玛利亚·霍尔被指控使用巫术。

She was arrested for questioning, and denied the charges.

被捕后的审讯中，她否认这项指控。

She continued to insist she wasn’t a witch through 62 rounds of torture

经历了 62 轮酷刑后， 她依然坚称自己不是女巫，

before her accusers finally released her.

控告者最终只好放了她。

Rebekka Lemp, accused a few years earlier in the same town, faced a worse fate.

几年前，同一个镇上被指控的 丽贝卡·莱普，命运就糟透了。

She wrote to her husband from jail

狱中，她给丈夫写信说道，

worrying that she would confess under torture,

担心自己会屈打成招，

even though she was innocent.

即使她是无辜的。

After giving a false confession,

她虚假招供后，

she was burned at the stake in front of her family.

家人目睹她被绑烧死在火刑柱上。

Höll and Lemp were both victims of the witch hunts

霍尔和莱普，

都是 15 世纪末到 18 世纪初期间，

that occurred in Europe and the American colonies

发生在欧洲和美国 殖民地的猎巫行动受害者。

from the late 15th century until the early 18th century.

These witch hunts were not a unified initiative by a single authority,

这些猎巫行动并非 由一个权威发出的统一行动，

but rather a phenomenon that occurred sporadically

而是偶尔发生，

并且每次都遵循相似模式的现象。

and followed a similar pattern each time.

The term “witch” has taken on many meanings,

“女巫”一词具有许多含义，

but in these hunts, a witch was someone who allegedly gained magical powers

但这些猎巫行动中的女巫，

据称是通过服从撒旦 而非上帝获得魔力的人。

by obeying Satan rather than God.

This definition of witchcraft spread through churches in Western Europe

这种巫术的定义

于 15 世纪末开始在西欧教堂传播。

starting at the end of the 15th century.

It really gained traction after the pope gave a friar and professor of theology

直到 1485 年，在教皇准许修道士 和神学教授海因里希·克莱默

named Heinrich Kraemer

开展寻找女巫的调查后，

permission to conduct inquisitions in search of witches in 1485.

它才获得了广泛关注。

His first, in the town of Innsbruck,

在因斯布鲁克镇，

didn’t gain much traction with the local authorities,

他的第一个审讯并没得到 地方当局的大力支持，

who disapproved of his harsh questioning of respectable citizens

当地政府不赞成 他对可敬公民的严厉审讯，

and shut down his trials.

并关闭了他的审判。

Undeterred, he wrote a book called the "Malleus Maleficarum," or "Hammer of Witches."

他没被吓倒，写了一本名为 《女巫之锤》的书。

The text argued for the existence of witches

书中论证了女巫的存在，

and suggested ruthless tactics for hunting and prosecuting them.

并提出狠毒策略 去猎巫并依法处置他们。

He singled out women as easier targets for the devil’s influence,

他特别指出，女性 更容易受到魔鬼的影响，

though men could also be witches.

尽管男人也可能是巫师。

Kraemer’s book spurred others to write their own books

克莱默的书鼓励 他人也写了类似的书，

and give sermons on the dangers of witchcraft.

并就巫术的危险性发表讲道。

According to these texts,

根据这些书的描写，

witches practiced rituals including kissing the Devil’s anus

女巫们练习各种仪式， 包括亲吻魔鬼的肛门，

and poisoning or bewitching targets the devil singled out for harm.

以及毒害或蛊惑 魔鬼选出的伤害目标。

Though there was no evidence to support any of these claims,

虽然没有任何证据支持这些说法，

belief in witches became widespread.

但相信女巫存在的说法 却广泛流传开来。

A witch hunt often began with a misfortune:

猎巫常常因不幸事件而发：

a failed harvest, a sick cow, or a stillborn child.

庄稼欠收、奶牛生病或婴儿死胎。

Community members blamed witchcraft, and accused each other of being witches.

社区成员将其归咎于巫术， 并互相指责对方是女巫。

Many of the accused were people on the fringes of society:

被指控是女巫的， 多数是社会边缘人：

the elderly, the poor, or social outcasts,

老人、穷人或社会弃儿，

but any member of the community could be targeted,

但社区的任何成员 都可能成为目标，

even occasionally children.

甚至偶尔会是儿童。

While religious authorities encouraged witch hunts,

宗教当局鼓励猎巫，

local secular governments usually carried out the detainment

通常由当地政府

and punishment of accused witches.

对被控告的女巫进行关押和惩罚。

Those suspected of witchcraft were questioned and often tortured—

那些巫术嫌疑人受到审讯 并经常被折磨——

and under torture, thousands of innocent people confessed to witchcraft

数千名无辜者 在酷刑下承认使用巫术，

and implicated others in turn.

反过来又牵连到其他人。

Because these witch hunts occurred sporadically over centuries and continents

因为这些猎巫事件 零星发生在几个世纪和不同大陆上，

the specifics varied considerably.

具体细节也差别很大。

Punishments for convicted witches ranged from small fines to burning at the stake.

对被定罪女巫的惩罚范围， 从小额罚款到火刑烧死不等。

The hunt in which Höll and Lemp were accused dragged on for nine years,

霍尔和莱普被指控的 那次猎巫行动持续了 9 年，

while others lasted just months.

而其他猎巫行动只持续了几个月，

They could have anywhere from a few to a few hundred victims.

受害者也从几人到几百人不等。

The motivations of the witch hunters probably varied as well,

猎巫人的动机可能也各不相同，

but it seems likely that many weren’t consciously looking for scapegoats—

但似乎许多人并非有意寻找替罪羊——

instead, they sincerely believed in witchcraft,

相反，他们真相信巫术的存在，

and thought they were doing good by rooting it out in their communities.

认为在社区中 根除巫术是做了件好事。

Institutions of power enabled real harm to be done on the basis of these beliefs.

权力机构让真正的伤害 得以产生，也是基于这些信念。

But there were dissenters all along–

但一直有持异议者——

jurists, scholars, and physicians countered books

法学家、学者和医生们

like Kraemer’s "Hammer of Witches"

反驳像克雷默《女巫的锤子》那样的书，

with texts objecting to the cruelty of the hunts,

包括反对猎巫的残酷性、

the use of forced confessions, and the lack of evidence of witchcraft.

刑讯逼供，以及缺乏巫术存在的证据。

From the late 17th through the mid-18th century,

从 17 世纪末一直到 18 世纪中叶，

their arguments gained force with the rise of stronger central governments

随着中央政府的强大 和法定诉讼程序类法规的出现，

and legal norms like due process.

他们的论点得到了支持。

Witch hunting slowly declined until it disappeared altogether.

猎巫行动才慢慢减少， 直至全部消失。

Both the onset and demise of these atrocities came gradually,

这些暴行的开始和消亡，

都有一个在看似普通的环境下 逐渐发展的过程。

out of seemingly ordinary circumstances.

The potential for similar situations,

今天也有类似情况存在的可能性，

in which authorities use their powers to mobilize society against a false threat,

当局可利用其权力

动员社会力量抵御虚假威胁——

still exists today—

but so does the capacity of reasoned dissent to combat those false beliefs.

但理性异议者打击 那些错误信念的能力亦如此。