Ugly History: Witch Hunts - Brian A. Pavlac

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Carol Wang

In the German town of Nördlingen in 1593,

1593 年，在德國的小鎮訥德林根，

an innkeeper named Maria Höll found herself accused of witchcraft.

旅館主人瑪莉亞霍爾 發現自己被控訴使用巫術。

She was arrested for questioning, and denied the charges.

她被逮捕並偵訊， 而她否認了指控。

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

即使經過了 62 回合的刑求， 她仍持續堅持自己不是女巫，

before her accusers finally released her.

指控她的人才終於放了她。

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

幾年前，在同一個小鎮， 瑞貝卡蘭普面臨了更悲慘的命運。

She wrote to her husband from jail

她從監獄寫信給她先生，

worrying that she would confess under torture,

擔心她會在刑求之下認罪，

even though she was innocent.

即使她是無辜的。

After giving a false confession,

在做出假的供認之後，

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

家人目睹她被綁在火刑柱上燒死。

Höll and Lemp were both victims of the witch hunts

霍爾和蘭普都是獵女巫的受害者，

that occurred in Europe and the American colonies

獵女巫發生在歐洲和美國殖民地，

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

時間是從十五世紀末 到十八世紀初。

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

這些獵女巫的行動， 並非單一權威所施行的統一行動，

but rather a phenomenon that occurred sporadically

而是零星發生的一種現象，

and followed a similar pattern each time.

每次發生都遵循類似的模式。

The term “witch” has taken on many meanings,

「女巫」一詞有許多意義，

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

但在獵女巫行動中， 女巫指的是為了取得魔法力量，

by obeying Satan rather than God.

選擇信奉撒旦而非上帝的人。

This definition of witchcraft spread through churches in Western Europe

這種關於巫術的定義 透過西歐的教堂傳播出去，

starting at the end of the 15th century.

從十五世紀末便開始傳播。

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

獵女巫會開始流行，是因為教宗

給予化緣修士及神學教授 海因里希克雷默許可，

named Heinrich Kraemer

permission to conduct inquisitions in search of witches in 1485.

讓他可以調查尋找女巫， 當時是 1485 年。

His first, in the town of Innsbruck,

他的第一次行動在因斯布魯克，

didn’t gain much traction with the local authorities,

並沒得到當地當權機關太多支持，

who disapproved of his harsh questioning of respectable citizens

他想要嚴厲偵訊正派的 市民，但沒有被核准，

and shut down his trials.

他的審判也被迫停止。

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

他不屈不撓，又寫了一本書

《Malleus Maleficarum》， 或《女巫之鎚》。

The text argued for the existence of witches

內文主張女巫存在，

and suggested ruthless tactics for hunting and prosecuting them.

並指出要用無情的戰略 來獵捕和起訴她們。

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

他選擇女性，因為她們 比較容易受到魔鬼影響，

though men could also be witches.

不過也可能有男巫。

Kraemer’s book spurred others to write their own books

克雷默的書鼓舞了 其他人也去寫自己的書，

and give sermons on the dangers of witchcraft.

並在布道時說明巫術的危險。

According to these texts,

根據這些文本，

witches practiced rituals including kissing the Devil’s anus

女巫會進行的儀式 包括親吻魔鬼的肛門，

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

以及毒害或迷惑被魔鬼 選中要傷害的目標。

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

雖然這些宣稱都沒有依據，

belief in witches became widespread.

女巫的說法卻廣為流傳， 越來越多人相信。

A witch hunt often began with a misfortune:

獵女巫的行動通常 始於一場不幸事件，

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

沒有豐收、牛隻生病 ， 或死產兒。

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

社區成員會怪罪巫術， 並指控彼此是女巫。

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

許多被指控的人 都是在社會邊緣的人：

the elderly, the poor, or social outcasts,

老人、窮人，或被社會拋棄的人，

but any member of the community could be targeted,

但社區中的任何成員 都有可能成為目標，

even occasionally children.

有時連孩子都有可能。

While religious authorities encouraged witch hunts,

雖然宗教當權者鼓勵獵女巫，

local secular governments usually carried out the detainment

但通常是由當地的非宗教政府來拘留

and punishment of accused witches.

和懲處被指控的女巫。

Those suspected of witchcraft were questioned and often tortured—

被懷疑施行巫術的人 會被偵訊，且通常還有刑求——

and under torture, thousands of innocent people confessed to witchcraft

在刑求之下，數以千計的 無辜人民會坦承施行巫術，

and implicated others in turn.

接著還會牽連到其他人。

Because these witch hunts occurred sporadically over centuries and continents

因為這些獵女巫的行動 橫跨數世紀和各洲，

the specifics varied considerably.

明確細節有很大的不同。

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

被定罪的女巫受到的懲罰 從小額罰金到火刑都有。

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

霍爾和蘭普受到指控的那次 獵捕行動就拖了九年之久，

while others lasted just months.

而其它行動只持續數個月，

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

受害者人數從幾人到幾百人不等。

The motivations of the witch hunters probably varied as well,

獵女巫的動機也可能有所不同，

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

但似乎，大部分的人並非 有意識地在尋找代罪羔羊——

instead, they sincerely believed in witchcraft,

反之，他們真心相信有巫術，

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

且認為他們是在做好事， 將巫術從社區中根除。

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

權力機構會以這些信仰 為基礎，造成真正的傷害。

But there were dissenters all along–

但其實一直都有反對者存在——

jurists, scholars, and physicians countered books

法學家、學者，和醫生都反對

like Kraemer’s "Hammer of Witches"

克雷默的《女巫之槌》這類書籍，

with texts objecting to the cruelty of the hunts,

他們會寫文章來反對獵捕的殘酷、

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

用強迫手段取得供詞， 以及缺乏巫術的證據。

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

從十七世紀末到十八世紀中，

their arguments gained force with the rise of stronger central governments

隨著中央政府變強大，及正當 法律程序這類法律標準的興起，

and legal norms like due process.

他們的論點也變得更有力。

Witch hunting slowly declined until it disappeared altogether.

獵女巫慢慢勢微， 直到最後完全消失。

Both the onset and demise of these atrocities came gradually,

這些殘暴行為的開始 和結束都是漸進式的，

out of seemingly ordinary circumstances.

從看似平凡的情況中漸漸發生。

The potential for similar situations,

類似這樣的情況，

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

即當權機關運用其權力 來動員社會對抗假威脅的情況，

still exists today—

現今仍有可能發生——

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

但提出理性異議對抗這些 虛假信念的能力也仍然存在。