Suzanne Gaudry Research Paper

The tens of thousands of people who were persecuted for being witches during the witch hunts showed the world how fear and the right motive can cause people to turn on their own neighbors. After the Malleus Maleficarum and the catholic church’s persecution of heretics witch hunts began to grow more prevalent even spreading to the americas. Usually targeting women who were single, were in a low economic class, and unable to properly fight the accusations they became a easy target to condemn to death. Suzanne, being an uneducated older women, had no chance of beating the court and her accusers leading to a corrupt trial. The trial of Suzanne Gaudry is unfair and unjust which proves that the courts and everyone responsible for the witch trials …show more content…
Courts and inquisitors as well as anyone else involved on the legal and political side of the witch hunts were invested in them to keep them ongoing as they give their jobs more money and work. As more trials occurred word spread about witches and the fear of them grew. They became hunted and people who would embody even a few of the traits of a witch would become targeted. This was great news to courts as more trials happened more business for the court occurred. The article states “As Valenciennes, the 9th of July, 1652. To each 4 lives,16 sous.” (315) This excerpt shows the payment to the court. The court would of also had an incentive to torture Suzanne in order to make her confess and put confidence into the court for being able to execute witches, this would then bring more accused witches to the court. The court was invested to keep Suzanne Gaudry in trial and then execute her making an example for further witches to be brought to justice. This might not of had been the true intentions of each individual at the court however this became the intention of the whole judicial system and the community to make profit for killing