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Here is a quote from one Russian Orthodox priest:

"The number of witches burned by Luther is way greater then the number of those burnt by any (Catholic) Inquisition within one hundred years. The number of sectarians killed by John Calvin - he was burning them at the stake - is way greater than those killed by any (Catholic) Inquisition"

Is that true that Luther and Calvin were killing people? I did some research and the best I could find was the burning of Michael Servetus in Calvinist Geneva. However, when you go into details you get that it was not as much Calvin's decision as it was the city council's. And I couldn't find anything similar with regard to Luther.

Laurel
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brilliant
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    Anybody can claim anything on Youtube (as in that link you provide) but hard statistics, with names, dates and numbers need to be presented both for Catholic and Protestant executions to get a balanced answer. Yes, it was the Geneva city council decision to kill Servetus but Catholicism would plead they did not execute anyone - it was the secular government authorities that "did it". Another example of making claims. We need evidence and to know where the buck stops. Can you improve your question with balanced sources? – Anne Jan 16 '23 at 14:53
  • @Anne - What kind of balanced sources exactly do you mean? –  Jan 16 '23 at 15:30
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    Regardless of the actual numbers, Protestants engaged in the same misguided actions. I believe a focus on who killed more too easily morphs into believing the lesser was not equally bad. If all have sinned and lack the glory of God, both are equally wrong. – Revelation Lad Jan 16 '23 at 15:37
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    I don't think the claim is meant to mean Luther personally, but his followers down the ages (such as Salem). The issue is also made less clear because Catholic inquisitions very rarely burned witches. Inquisitions weren't about finding witches, but about heretics. Witches were usually burned by secular authorities. – DJClayworth Jan 16 '23 at 16:24
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    @DJClayworth - "*I don't think the claim is meant to mean Luther personally...*" - It DOES mean Luther personally, as well as Calvin. That's why I was rather surprised by that claim and came here to ask this question. He talks there about personalities of Luther and Calvin and about how cruel they were during their lives. Besides, he takes only "any one hundred years of time" of inquisition, that is, to make a proportional comparison between the inquisition and the lifetime of Luther and Calvin. –  Jan 16 '23 at 22:53
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    I suggest asking at History.StackExchange, where expertise is more in the line of producing a well sourced answers to historical questions. People there not being committed believers of one side or the other may help to get and objective answer. – Pere Jan 17 '23 at 00:49
  • @Pere - Thank you for your suggestion. Just did: https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/70779/are-luther-and-calvin-responsible-for-executing-more-humans-than-the-catholic-in –  Jan 17 '23 at 00:58
  • [Welcome to Skeptics to the readers from Christianity.SE!](http://meta.skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/1505/welcome-to-new-users) Please note the rules here are different. Please have a read of that link to better understand our expectations. – Oddthinking Jan 17 '23 at 08:43
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    @DJClayworth That's a bit of nitpicking here. The author of the quote was clearly referring to how many people were killed in protestant countries, under religiously-related charges, not who were actually carrying the executions. Tecnichally speaking, the Spanish Inquisition never killed anybody, since they didn't have the authority to do so. They only judged and declared people guitly or innocent, and then the civil authorities executed the sentence. – Rekesoft Jan 17 '23 at 11:39
  • @Rekesoft I'm the one who said it didn't refer to Luther personally. The OP says it does. – DJClayworth Jan 17 '23 at 16:26
  • @DJClayworth I wasn't refering to the OP, but to the author of the quote. I agree with you, it's unlikely the orthodox priest who said that was directly accusing John Calvin or Luther to have killed witches by themselves. – Rekesoft Jan 18 '23 at 07:53
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    @Rekesoft - What are you talking about? That's exactly what he said there. Of course, he didn't mean that Luther and Calvin put the last straw on the haystack at the stake each time and lit the fire, but he meant that they were responsible for each individual case, as if burning alive in none of those cases wouldn't have occurred had they not given their final personal consent. What really surprised me was that he said that so bluntly and confidently, that it looked like a well-known and universally recognized fact. That's, in fact, the reason why I came to stackexchange to ask this question. – brilliant Jan 18 '23 at 08:26
  • He seems to be in that position, yes. But I can assure you he would not have many credible references to make that statement other than his personal opinion. – Timmetje Jan 18 '23 at 09:07
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    @Timmetje - "_But I can assure you he would not have many credible references_" - Thank you. It's good to know that. I kind of suspected that, but was baffled by his confidence. I've been getting almost directly opposite answers to this question, but they all seem to agree that that's a thing that is rather hard to calculate. – brilliant Jan 18 '23 at 09:16

1 Answers1

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It is likely that the number of executions was significantly lower than that of the inquisition.

Estimates of the number of executions carried out by the Inquisition range from several thousand to tens of thousands. However, it is important to note that the inquisition's focus was mainly on rooting out heretics and apostates, not on executing people. Many people arrested by the inquisition were not executed, but rather were subjected to penances, fines, imprisonment, or public humiliations.

However, it is difficult to compare this to the number of people executed during the time of the Protestant Reformation, as the execution of individuals accused of witchcraft and heresy was not limited to the followers of Luther and Calvin, and occurred in many parts of Europe.

It is important to note that both Protestant and Catholic authorities were responsible for the persecution and execution of individuals accused of witchcraft and heresy.

The inquisition's involvement in witch-hunting varied by region and over time, with the most intense hunts occurring in the 14th to 17th centuries, particularly in Germany and Italy.

The region of Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Netherlands had high numbers of executions because they were a big part of the Holy Roman Empire in between the 15th and 17th century. The Catholic Church played a central role in these witch hunts through its promotion of the belief in witchcraft, investigations and trials. The Church taught that witchcraft was a form of heresy, and that it was a serious crime that needed to be punished.

The Church also played a central role in promoting the idea of the witches' Sabbath, a supposed gathering of witches and demons, which was used to justify the persecution of those accused of witchcraft.

References:

  • "Witchcraft and Magic in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Europe" edited by Geoffrey Scarre
  • "The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe" by Brian Levack

The number of those persecuted and executed for witchcraft and heresy during the time of the Protestant Reformation is not well-documented, and estimates vary widely.

The exact number of executions may never be known as records were not always kept, or have been lost or destroyed over time. Historians estimate for the inquisition thousands to several hundred thousands, spanning several decades in between 13-19th century. The Protestant Reformation spanning the 16th century is estimated in thousands, and few historians put it in the ten thousand.

The average historian would agree the inquisition as a group of institutions by the Catholic Church would have generally higher estimates, due to the timespan, and sheer size of the campaigns.

Sources:

  • "The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity" edited by John McManners

  • "The Oxford Illustrated History of Medieval England" edited by Nigel Saul

  • "Reformations: The Early Modern World, 1450-1650" by Carlos M. N. Eire

  • "A World Made by Hand: A Simple Path from the Preindustrial Age" by J.R. McNeill

  • "The Reformation: A History" by Diarmaid MacCulloch

Timmetje
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    "It is likely ..." How do you know this? Was it lower per year? Or per year and per capita? What are the range of estimates by serious historians? –  Jan 16 '23 at 22:29
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    Which Inquisition? There were three during the time period of interest (Spanish, Portuguese, and Roman) with very different focuses and numbers of executions. (Notably, the number of people executed by the Spanish Inquisition for witchcraft is in the low double digits at most.) – Mark Jan 16 '23 at 23:35
  • The numbers are very difficult to estimate.The exact number of executions may never be known as records were not always kept, or have been lost or destroyed over time. Historians estimate for the inquisition thousands to several hundred thousands, spanning several decades in between 14-17th century. Protestant Reformation is estimated in thousands and some historians put it in the ten thousand. The average historian would agree the inquisition would have generally higher estimates, due to the timespan, and sheer size of the campaigns. – Timmetje Jan 16 '23 at 23:37
  • Not sure what you mean with serious historians, but there are several academic historians that mention estimates about both. John McManners, Nigel Saul, J.R. McNeill, Carlos M. N. Eire, Diarmaid MacCulloch all have excellent books on the subjects. – Timmetje Jan 16 '23 at 23:41
  • This feels a bit unfair, because I understand this answer was migrated from where the rules are different, but please [provide some references](http://meta.skeptics.stackexchange.com/q/5) to support your claims. – Oddthinking Jan 17 '23 at 08:44
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    Sure, no problem. Added multiple books stating estimates about one of them or both, by academic historians. – Timmetje Jan 17 '23 at 10:31
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    The sentence "It is also important to note that the inquisition and the persecution of witches were not exclusively Catholic phenomena, but also happened in many Protestant countries" would be more accurate if you reversed the words 'Catholic' and 'Protestant', since around 95% of the witch trials happened in the latter. – Rekesoft Jan 17 '23 at 11:47
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    @Rekesoft - "since around 95% of the witch trials happened in the latter" - Can you provide some sources for this claim? – brilliant Jan 17 '23 at 12:39
  • @brilliant [This reddit post](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/2m5ezm/how_different_was_the_treatment_and_persecution/) goes into more details about the differences, and has references that could be useful to find more precise estimates. – Denis Nardin Jan 17 '23 at 14:20
  • @brilliant As you can read here https://www.law.berkeley.edu/research/the-robbins-collection/exhibitions/witch-trials-in-early-modern-europe-and-new-england/ (and in many other places, such as wikipedia), with-hunting was scarce in predominantly Catholic countries such as France, Italy, Portugal or Spain. Most trials happened in places like Switzerland, Germany, Scotland or the Netherlands, and given that the most lethal period was 1560-1670, the majority those countries have turned protestant already (Germany was 50% - 50%). – Rekesoft Jan 18 '23 at 07:51
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    Actually the region of Germany, Switzerland and Netherlands had high numbers because they were a big part of the Holy Roman Empire in between the 15th and 17th century. The Catholic Church played a central role in these witch hunts through its promotion of the belief in witchcraft, investigations and trials. The Church taught that witchcraft was a form of heresy, and that it was a serious crime that needed to be punished. – Timmetje Jan 18 '23 at 08:38
  • The Church also played a central role in promoting the idea of the witches' Sabbath, a supposed gathering of witches and demons, which was used to justify the persecution of those accused of witchcraft. References: - "Witchcraft and Magic in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Europe" edited by Geoffrey Scarre - "The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe" by Brian Levack – Timmetje Jan 18 '23 at 08:38
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    @Rekesoft And I did remove the sentence, my badly worded point was that the Catholic Church was also the main instigator in protestant regions. At the end, the states now modern day Germany were 50/50 Protestant and Catholic(and part of the Holy Roman Empire) in the 17th century. – Timmetje Jan 18 '23 at 08:59
  • Note that, at least in Spain, the inquisition focused more on protestants, heretics and false conversions from jews or muslims than on witches. They sometimes related the last category as superstition. – borjab Jan 18 '23 at 15:46
  • @borjab - Thank you for this input. Do you mean by "the last category" witches or jews and muslims? – brilliant Jan 19 '23 at 02:52
  • Not entirely true. During the Spanish inquisition, they found witchcraft a serious crime and heresy. The inquisitors actually believed that witches were in league with the devil and that they used their powers to harm people and oppose the Church. They believed that witches could use their powers to cause storms, make crops fail, and bring about other misfortunes. But they did focus more on rooting out and punishing heretics and converts from Judaism and Islam who were suspected of secretly practicing their original religions. – Timmetje Jan 19 '23 at 08:40
  • Some references on my last comment: _"The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe" by Brian Levack_ and _"The Spanish Inquisition: A Historical Revision" by Henry Kamen_ – Timmetje Jan 19 '23 at 08:42