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How many people were tried and executed during the early modern witch trials?
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Witchcraft
El conjuro or Las brujas (“The Conjuring” or “The Witches”), oil on canvas by Francisco Goya, 1797–98; in the Museo Lázaro Galdiano, Madrid.
During the early modern period, which spanned from the 15th to the 18th century, historians estimate that nearly 100,000 people were prosecuted for witchcraft. Of those prosecuted, it is estimated that between 40,000 and 60,000 individuals were executed.1234
These early modern witch trials were not evenly distributed; they were most severe in areas of west-central Europe, including Switzerland, parts of France, and German-speaking regions of the Holy Roman Empire. Women were disproportionately targeted, accounting for more than three-quarters of all those accused. While these figures are significant, they are far lower than the exaggerated claims sometimes found in modern popular literature.342