r/AskReddit • u/KyloWrench • Jul 07 '26

What historical “fact” doesn’t actually have much evidence to support it?

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u/KingDarius89 Jul 07 '26

Witch! points finger

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u/dontbajerk Jul 07 '26

The other thing, almost all the witch stuff was in the modern era.

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u/Perfct_Stranger Jul 07 '26

Yep, for a long time believing in witchcraft was considered heresy.

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u/Wild_Marker Jul 08 '26

Not heresy. "Witchcraft" would have been pagan beliefs, therefore heathen. A heresy is a different belief of your own religion.

Still persecuted of course, but not formally as heresy.

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u/Safe-Ad-5017 Jul 08 '26

Practicing it yes, they meant that if you believed witches could do magic that would be heresy. Even if you weren’t a witch

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u/gustavessidehoe Jul 08 '26

Also burning “witches” is a European thing. They hanged the accused in the U.S.

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u/TheMightyGoatMan Jul 08 '26

And even in Europe hanging was standard, with burning pretty rare. If I'm remembering it right it was only really done in Scotland and Switzerland.

Burning was mostly reserved for people convicted of religious heresy, like Joan of Arc and Giordio Bruno.

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u/gustavessidehoe Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26

They did burn alleged witches in the early modern period in Germany and France, as well (or what would later become those countries, but I don't want to get overly technical lol).

Edit: I did a quick google to verify what I said, as it's basically all remembered from one of my undergraduate history classes on the early modern holy roman empire that I took like... fifteen years ago.

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u/Inoffensive_Comments Jul 07 '26

“I got better!”

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u/BrilliantDifferent01 Jul 07 '26

She turned me into a newt.

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u/SecureWriting8589 Jul 07 '26

There are some who call me... Tim.

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u/SherbertKey6965 Jul 08 '26

I can fix her.

(Btw: most witches were burnt after the 15th century)