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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.

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15y ago
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12y ago

Usually, they were hanged burnt to the stake or had their arms and legs tied together and got thrown in a river. If they floated to the top they were a witch and would be killed instantly, but if they sank to the bottom they were left there to die. Pretty brutal

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13y ago

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.

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13y ago

1st Answer:

they were killed

  • Torture and death after a forced "confession." Very convenient way to get rid of political enemies.

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.

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16y ago

In Europe,you got tortured then burned at the stake. In America,you were tortured and hung.

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Q: What was the punishment for witch craft in the middle ages?
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