Oh there were/are 'witches' alright. Maybe he doesn't know or care too much about it, seeing it's been poorly portrayed all the way through, plus all those Hammer and hollywood renditions. Shameful period in history, similar to the commie purges and the vax/anti-vax BS being stirred today to divide and rule. They were real people then as now. Pity they didn't exert all that energy into medical research back then (and now) instead of laying into women and kids (mostly) who were out there collecting & mixing herbs on dreary hillsides so they could sell their cures for a few pence. And then, as now, a lot of it was political. Better not get me started, other than to say when my children were toddlers, they ventured down the back garden and saw through the fence cracks an old man clipping a tree. They called out to him, 'Hello man' repeatedly, but he ignored them. You should have seen their crestfallen little faces. I was keeping an eye from the back door, saw their faces, so said quietly, 'If you're so dead inside that you can't respond to two little children, why don't you just die for real and get it over with'. The kids came inside and I forgot all about it until about six weeks later I was down the yard with the children and a little old lady popped her head over the fence. Never seen or spoken with her before. She was very nice and as she was going, said her husband had very recently died. It was the strangest thing, she said -- he'd been perfectly well, then suddenly died. Apparently, investigation had shown that a hair from his chest had somehow gone inwards, into his heart. She sounded genuine. You can imagine how I felt. Since then, I try to keep my flashes of justice/injustice under control, although must admit, I give into it still if the situation calls for it. Three of them died in short order around here several years ago. Oh wow ... and a largish branch just crashed onto our deck as I finished typing that ...