In the middle ages if you were suspected to be a witch they would tie a very heavy atleast 200 pound weight to her ankle. Then they threw her into a lake. If she was a witch she would float on the water and they would take her out and kill her. If she wasn't she would sink to the bottom. When that happened they would just leave her down there to die.
There was an enormous amount of variation in how witches were punished during the Middle Ages.
In some cases, witchcraft was punished by death, but the manner of death was not specified.
In some cases, witches were told to stop practicing witchcraft, or they would get into trouble. In one such case I know of, the witch was later accused, prosecuted, found guilty, and hanged.
Some legal systems regarded the belief in witchcraft was an unacceptable superstition. Under such systems, there was no punishment for practicing witchcraft, but there was a punishment for punishing witches. Charlemagne's legal code made burning a witch at the stake a capital offense.
I would point out that very few witches were punished during the Middle Ages. Witch hunts began after the Middle Ages ended. I have seen an estimate that the average number of people executed for witchcraft per year in medieval Europe was one. That being the case, most people of the time were very likely unaware of executions for witchcraft.
1st Answer:
they were killed
2nd Answer:
Possibly the commonest medieval punishment for witchcraft was no punishment at all.
There were some countries that had laws against witchcraft in the Middle Ages, and others with none. In the Carolingian Empire, the Kingdom of the Franks, and the Kingdom of the Lombards, belief in witchcraft was legally considered a superstition, which meant that execution of a witch was murder and a capital crime. Accused witches were protected under the law unless it could be proven they had killed someone.
Later on, when various groups of people petitioned popes to do something about witchcraft in their countries, witches were tried under Church auspices. But there was no defined punishment, so there were circumstances when people who confessed to witchcraft were simply told not to do it anymore and let go.
The great witch hunts were not medieval, and took place after the Middle Ages ended.
There is a link below to an article on witch hunts.
Guilds
Wherever they wanted to live the would go. A craft worker was free, they did not have to stay at one village for their whole life like the serfs. The craft worker often made clothes in the Middle Ages.
Well, in the middle ages, it was mostly unheard of to kill your self. If one did there was probably no punishment since suicide was not a major concern of the state during the middle ages.
Wherever they wanted to live the would go. A craft worker was free, they did not have to stay at one village for their whole life like the serfs. The craft worker often made clothes in the Middle Ages.
There was not a punishment for begging in the Middle Ages. There were however punishments for crimes such as stealing, murder, and treason.
During the Middle Ages, the pope issued a bull which banned the use of torture for getting confessions or punishment. To the best of my knowledge, it was never actually sanctioned prior to that time either. The idea of used of physical punishment to gain forgiveness might have arisen for the punishment of heretics and witches in the Late Middle Ages, and might have been accepted on a widespread basis as the Renaissance went into the witch hysteria, but that was mostly after the Middle Ages.
Guilds
dfs
Wherever they wanted to live the would go. A craft worker was free, they did not have to stay at one village for their whole life like the serfs. The craft worker often made clothes in the Middle Ages.
Well, in the middle ages, it was mostly unheard of to kill your self. If one did there was probably no punishment since suicide was not a major concern of the state during the middle ages.
Wherever they wanted to live the would go. A craft worker was free, they did not have to stay at one village for their whole life like the serfs. The craft worker often made clothes in the Middle Ages.
The Middle Ages came before the Renaissance. Renaissance means rebirth which is how I remember! Hope I helped:)
There was not a punishment for begging in the Middle Ages. There were however punishments for crimes such as stealing, murder, and treason.
kill yourselve
A belief held widely in England in the middle ages was that a witch would not sink in water but people who weren't witches would sink. It was supposed to be a test to see who was a witch and who wasn't.
Yes it does. If you were a Lord or the lord's officials you were most likely exempted from punishment. But say you were of the poorest class your punishment would be extremely worse just because you were poor
I know most people would answer, claiming that the Renaissance was rational and the Middle Ages dedicated to superstition. My own view, after studying this for a while, is that the Middle Ages were considerably less superstitious than the Renaissance. The bad witch hunts happened after the Middle Ages ended, as did Church attempts to suppress science. The Renaissance was really no more prolific in production of new inventions or science than the Middle Ages. The Renaissance also saw a decline in the rights of women and lower classes. I have included a link below to an article on witch hunts, which illustrates the point pretty well, I think.