an innkeeper named Maria Höll found herself accused of witchcraft.

一間旅社的老闆娘 Maria Höll 被指控施行巫術。

She was arrested for questioning, and denied the charges.

她被逮捕審問，並否認指控。

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

在她的控告者最終釋放她之前，她遭受 62 輪的酷刑

before her accusers finally released her.

持續堅持她並不是個巫婆。

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

幾年前在同一個城鎮遭到指控的 Rebekka Lemp，面臨更悲慘的命運。

She wrote to her husband from jail

她在監獄中寫信給她的丈夫

worrying that she would confess under torture,

擔心自己會因為酷刑而招供

even though she was innocent.

儘管她是無辜的。

After giving a false confession,

在做出假證供之後

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

她在家人面前被焚燒致死。

Höll and Lemp were both victims of the witch hunts

Höll 和 Lemp 都是發生在 15 世紀末到 18 世紀初

that occurred in Europe and the American colonies

歐洲和美國殖民地

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

獵巫行動下的受害者。

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

這些獵巫行動並非由官方統一倡議

but rather a phenomenon that occurred sporadically

而是一個不定期發生的現象

and followed a similar pattern each time.

每一次都遵循著相似的模式。

The term "witch" has taken on many meanings,

「巫婆」一詞有很多的解釋

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

不過在這些行動中，巫婆是一個據稱因為服從撒旦而不是上帝

by obeying Satan rather than God.

因此獲得魔法的人。

This definition of witchcraft spread through churches in Western Europe

巫術的定義在 15 世紀末的西歐教會間

starting at the end of the 15th century.

盛傳開來。

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

在教皇允許一位名叫 Heinrich Kraemer

named Heinrich Kraemer

的修道士兼神學教授

permission to conduct inquisitions in search of witches in 1485.

在 1485 年間進行巫婆調查之後，巫術越來越受到注意。

His first, in the town of Innsbruck,

他的第一個調查在 Innsbruck 鎮

didn't gain much traction with the local authorities,

當時他並沒有得到當地政府的大力支持

who disapproved of his harsh questioning of respectable citizens

也不贊同他對於可敬的市民的嚴厲審問

and shut down his trials.

而終止他的審判。

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

他並沒有因此退縮，他寫了一本名叫「Malleus Maleficarum」或稱做《女巫之槌》(Hammer of Witches) 的書。

The text argued for the existence of witches

內容證明巫婆的存在

and suggested ruthless tactics for hunting and prosecuting them.

並提議用殘忍的策略來狩獵和起訴他們。

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

他指出女性較容易成為惡魔影響的目標

though men could also be witches.

儘管男性也有可能是巫婆。

Kraemer's book spurred others to write their own books

Kraemrer 的書鼓舞了其他人寫下他們的書

and give sermons on the dangers of witchcraft.

長篇說教巫術的危險。

According to these texts,

根據這些文字

witches practiced rituals including kissing the Devil's anus

巫婆實行儀式包含親吻惡魔的肛門

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

和下毒或迷惑傷害惡魔選出的目標。

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

雖然沒有任何證據支持這些主張

belief in witches became widespread.

對於巫婆的信仰已經變得十分普遍了。

A witch hunt often began with a misfortune:

獵巫行動通常因為災害而開始：

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

失敗的收成、生病的母牛、或者是一個死胎。

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

社區成員怪罪於巫術，並互相指控對方是巫婆。

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

許多的被告是屬於社會的邊緣人：

the elderly, the poor, or social outcasts,

年長者、窮人、或是被排擠的人

but any member of the community could be targeted,

不過任何社區的成員都可能被當作目標

even occasionally children.

有時候甚至是兒童。

While religious authorities encouraged witch hunts,

當宗教當局鼓勵獵巫

local secular governments usually carried out the detainment

地方世俗政府通常會對被指控的巫婆

and punishment of accused witches.

進行拘留和懲罰。

Those suspected of witchcraft were questioned and often tortured—

這些被懷疑施行巫術的人被審問並通常受到折磨，

and under torture, thousands of innocent people confessed to witchcraft

在酷刑之下，成千上萬無辜的人都承認施行巫術

and implicated others in turn.

並反過來牽連其他人。

Because these witch hunts occurred sporadically over centuries and continents

由於這些獵巫行動在數百年間不定期發生在各個大陸

the specifics varied considerably.

所以具體情況差異很大。

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

對被定罪的巫婆處罰範圍從小額罰款到在火刑柱上燃燒。

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

針對 Höll 和 Lemp 被指控的獵巫行動拖延了 9 年之久

while others lasted just months.

其他人的僅持續幾個月。

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

受害者從幾個到幾百個不等。

The motivations of the witch hunters probably varied as well,

巫婆狩獵者的目的也不盡相同

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

但很多人似乎並不是有意識的在找尋代罪羔羊，

instead, they sincerely believed in witchcraft,

而是他們真正的相信巫術

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

並認為將其從社區中根除是做好事。

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

權力機構對這些信仰造成真正的傷害。

But there were dissenters all along–

但是一直有反對者 ——

jurists, scholars, and physicians countered books

法學家、學者、和醫師，反擊像

like Kraemer's "Hammer of Witches"

Kraemer 的《女巫之槌》那類的書籍，

with texts objecting to the cruelty of the hunts,

以文字反對殘酷的狩獵

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

用強迫的手段逼供以及缺乏施行巫術的證據。

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

從 17 世紀末到 18 世紀中期

their arguments gained force with the rise of stronger central governments

他們的論點隨著強大的中央政府和

and legal norms like due process.

正當程序的法律規範的興起而得到推動。

Witch hunting slowly declined until it disappeared altogether.

獵巫行動逐漸減少直到完全消失。

Both the onset and demise of these atrocities came gradually,

這些暴行的開始和消失都是在看似普通的情況下

out of seemingly ordinary circumstances.

逐漸消失的。

The potential for similar situations,

潛在類似的局面

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

是官方利用他們的權力去動員社會對抗一個虛假的威脅

still exists today—

直至今日依然存在 ——

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

不過理性反駁這些虛假信仰的能力也是。