It is true to say that women were the healers who gathered the herbs and made up the medicines. It was a strong fear that these women could use their knowledge of herbs to harm as well as heal.

It would also be true to say that ‘old’ women (over 40 or 50) were believed to be ‘useless’ to the community. Such marginal women were feared dangerous, due to a desire seen in them to affect the community in a craving for importance and respect.

Many of the accused probably did conform to this stereotype, although the high proportion of younger women accused also begs an explanation.

The social and legal inferiority of women seemed to be a trigger of a fear in men that women would use diabolical means to gain the recognition they desired. If women were, in general, less trusted and more feared, intimidation and torture would be more likely directed at them. It was very common, also, for a man to excuse a love affair by claiming he had been bewitched: this would seem a logical explanation for the high proportion of attractive young women being accused of witchcraft.

Whatever power women were denied, they still possessed the power over life itself. This power lead to beliefs that women may also have power over death. The miracle of birth held such importance – due to high infant mortality – that fears escalated during pregnancy, birth and the first years of life. The many precautions taken before, during and after the birth lead to superstition based upon the anxieties experienced.

Barbara Eherenreich and Dierdre English wrote a pamphlet on women healers, and they argued that the witch craze was an attempt by medical men to wrest the power from midwives over the female body. The Malleus Maleficarum specifically attacks midwives as witches.

It could also be that midwives were accused due to the complex rituals that were performed during the birth period – such as using blessed birth girdles. These could cause suspicion among those present if the rituals were not performed satisfactorily and the baby was stillborn or malformed.

A woman’s role as housewife also endowed her with power: it was her responsibility to keep the house ordered and clean and feed and clothe the inhabitants. A woman’s domestic responsibilities were endowed with symbolic significance. A housewife’s ability involves the ability to transform ‘natural’ items into culturally useful and acceptable objects: she must create thread from wool, and cream, butter and whey from milk. In cooking, churning, spinning, skimming and washing, the housewife is becoming a mediator between nature and culture.

The witch is often represented as the ‘anti-housewife’. The presence of witchcraft and sorcery is often claimed when milk goes sour or cows produce blood instead of milk. It is in this way that the witch is seen to rebel, creating chaos, pollution and disorder where she should maintain order cleanliness and tradition.