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*1: a searching out for [[persecution]] of persons accused of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchcraft witchcraft]
*1: a searching out for [[persecution]] of persons accused of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchcraft witchcraft]
*2: the searching out and deliberate harassment of those (as [[political]] opponents) with unpopular views
*2: the searching out and deliberate harassment of those (as [[political]] opponents) with unpopular views
==Description==
==Description==
A '''witch-hunt''' is a search for witches or evidence of witchcraft, often involving [[moral]] [[panic]], mass hysteria and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynching lynching], but in historical instances also legally [[sanctioned]] and involving official witchcraft [[trials]]. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_trials_in_the_Early_Modern_period classical period of witchhunts] in Europe and North America falls into the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Modern_period Early Modern period] or about 1480 to 1750, spanning the upheavals of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_Reformation Reformation] and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Years%27_War Thirty Years' War], resulting in an estimated 40,000 to 60,000 executions.
A '''witch-hunt''' is a search for witches or evidence of witchcraft, often involving [[moral]] [[panic]], mass hysteria and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynching lynching], but in historical instances also legally [[sanctioned]] and involving official witchcraft [[trials]]. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_trials_in_the_Early_Modern_period classical period of witchhunts] in Europe and North America falls into the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Modern_period Early Modern period] or about 1480 to 1750, spanning the upheavals of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_Reformation Reformation] and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Years%27_War Thirty Years' War], resulting in an estimated 40,000 to 60,000 executions.
<center>For lessons on the related [[topic]] of '''''[[Persecution]]''''', follow [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Persecution '''''this link'''''].</center>
The last executions of people [[convicted]] as witches in Europe took place in the 18th century. In the Kingdom of Great Britain, witchcraft ceased to be an act punishable by [[law]] with the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchcraft_Act_of_1735 Witchcraft Act of 1735]. In Germany, [[sorcery]] remained punishable by law into the late 18th century. Contemporary witch-hunts are reported from Sub-Saharan Africa, India and Papua New Guinea. Official legislation against [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchcraft witchcraft] is still found in Saudi Arabia and Cameroon.
The last executions of people [[convicted]] as witches in Europe took place in the 18th century. In the Kingdom of Great Britain, witchcraft ceased to be an act punishable by [[law]] with the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchcraft_Act_of_1735 Witchcraft Act of 1735]. In Germany, [[sorcery]] remained punishable by law into the late 18th century. Contemporary witch-hunts are reported from Sub-Saharan Africa, India and Papua New Guinea. Official legislation against [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchcraft witchcraft] is still found in Saudi Arabia and Cameroon.
