![]() In some regions, many of those accused of witchcraft were cunning folk, folk healers or midwives. European witch-hunts and witch trials in the early modern period led to tens of thousands of executions. Often they would be formally prosecuted and punished, if found guilty or simply believed to be guilty. Suspected witches were also intimidated, banished, attacked or killed. It was thought witchcraft could be thwarted by protective magic or counter-magic, which could be provided by cunning folk or folk healers. In medieval and early modern Europe, where belief in witchcraft traces back to classical antiquity, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have used maleficium or black magic against their own community, and often to have communed with evil beings. Anthropologists have applied the English term "witchcraft" to similar and related beliefs in occult practices in many different cultures, and societies that have adopted the English language have often internalised the term. The belief in witchcraft has been found in a great number of societies worldwide. A practitioner of witchcraft is a witch (predominantly for women), though men may sometimes be referred to as a warlock. Witchcraft, as most commonly understood in both historical and present-day communities, is the use of alleged supernatural powers of magic, generally stereotyped as doing harm or evil. The Witches by Hans Baldung (woodcut), 1508 ![]() Please improve the article by adding information on neglected viewpoints, or discuss the issue on the talk page. This article may be unbalanced towards certain viewpoints. ![]()
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