The period of
witch trials in
Early Modern Europe were a widespread
moral panic suggesting that malevolent
Satanic witches were operating as an organized threat to
Christendom during the 15th to 18th centuries. Those accused of witchcraft were portrayed as being worshippers of the
Devil, who engaged in such acts as malevolent
sorcery at meetings known as
Witches' Sabbaths. Many people were subsequently accused of being witches, and were put on trial for the crime, with varying punishments being applicable in different regions and at different times.