The witch-hunt craze picked up speed during the Reformation period. The intellectual leaders of this religious movement, which sought to reform the Christian practices of Europe and reject the Catholic Church as the only true Christianity, offered no protection to those accused  of Witchcraft. The public, confused and struggling with the new religious ideas being put forth, was only too willing to blame anyone whose opinions and traditions differed. Anybody with a grudge against a neighbor might denounce her as a Witch. It was the perfect environment for mass persecution. The legal sanctions against Witchery became even harsher than before, and the lengths to which authorities would go to secure a confession grew even more malevolent.

The infamous Malleus Maleficarum, a guidebook for Inquisitors, added fuel to the fires of Christian righteousness. The torturers believed that if an accused person was not guilty, God would certainly intervene. When Divine intervention didn't happen, the subsequent confessions and deaths increased the Inquisitors' fervor and power.

During the so-called Burning Times in Europe, which lasted from the fourteenth until the eighteen centuries, at least ten of thousands and possibly millions of people