Throughout the era of the European witch trials in the Early Modern period, from the 15th to the 18th century, there were protests against both the belief in witches and the trials."Thomas Murner (1499) accused some theologians of explaining misfortunes by natural causes rather than by witchcraft; and one Oranus (quoted in Del Rio) lamented that so many learned men in France were skeptics", Robbins, "The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology", p. 144 (1997); "Murner was shocked that some theologians explained disasters by natural causes rather than by witchcraft.", ibid., p. 9. Even those protestors who believed in witchcraft were typically skeptical about its actual occurrence.

Forms of protest

Legal Various objections to the witch hunts were raised on the basis of their abuses of the law."A second group of writers concentrated their attack not on the theory of witchcraft but on the legal abuses associated with the witch trial.", Midelfort, "Witch hunting in southwestern Germany, 1562-1684: the social and intellectual foundations", p. 25 (1973). Andrea Alciato (1515) and Johann Weyer (1563) both objected that torture could lead to false confessions.. Already in 1515, Alciato recognized the danger of torturing witches until the named those they had seen at the sabbath. Weyer raised the same point in 1563 when he protested that prisoners were "constantly dragged out to suffer awful torture until they would gladly exchange this most bitter existence for death," and that they quickly confessed "whatever crimes were suggested to them rather than be thrust back into their hideous dungeons amid ever recurring torture.", Midelfort, "Witch hunting in southwestern Germany, 1562-1684: the social and intellectual foundations", pp. 27-28 (1972). Johann Georg Gödelmann (1591) objected to legal abuses and improper methods of trial,"Other thinkers, like Johann Georg Godelmann, the Rostock jurist originally from Swabia, tried to reduce the legal abuses of witch hunting and attacked many of the superstitions concerning witchcraft. Godelmann also denied that witches could raise storms, but he nonetheless conceded that true witches must be severely punished.", Midelfort, "Witch hunting in southwestern Germany, 1562-1684: the social and intellectual foundations", p. 27 (1972)."The Rostock jurist Godelmann agreed in 1584 that improper trial methods accounted for many miscarriages of justice.", Midelfort, "Witch hunting in southwestern Germany, 1562-1684: the social and intellectual foundations", p. 27 (1972). while Friedrich Spee (1631) argued that there was no empirical evidence for allegations of witchcraft, even self-confessed."The legal or pragmatic mode of attack on witch hunting found its most eloquent expression in the Jesuit Friederich von Spee. With years of experience as confessor to witches about to be executed, Spee asserted that he had never seen one who really had done the things she confessed. His Cautio Criminalis of 1631 is a stinging indictment of German criminal procedures", Midelfort, "Witch hunting in southwestern Germany, 1562-1684: the social and intellectual foundations", p. 28 (1972). In 1635 the Roman Inquisition acknowledged that "the Inquisition has found scarcely one trial conducted legally"."even the Roman Inquisition recognized that abuses were common; in 1635 it admitted that "the Inquisition has found scarcely one trial conducted legally."", Midelfort, "Witch hunting in southwestern Germany, 1562-1684: the social and intellectual foundations", p. 28 (1972). In the middle of the 17th century, the difficulty in proving witchcraft according to legal process contributed to the councilors of Rothenburg ob der Tauber (German), following advice to treat witchcraft cases with caution."Doubts about their ability to prove witches unequivocally guilty according to due legal procedure, fears that they would invoke God's wrath against themselves and their subjects if they overstepped its bounds, and a certain humility in thinking that witchcraft was a matter best left up to God, all played a part in encouraging the Rothenburg councillors and their advisers to handle witchcraft cases with caution.", Rowlands, 'Witchcraft narratives in Germany: Rothenburg 1561-1652', p. 59 (2003)."Compelling legal reasons almost always also existed in specific cases to discourage the councillors and their advisers from taking action against sabbat-attenders.", Rowlands, 'Witchcraft narratives in Germany: Rothenburg 1561-1652', p. 57 (2003). In 1652 jurist Georg Christoph Walther advised the Rothenburg council in the case of two women accused of witchcraft, insisting that unless the women could be found guilty by proper due legal procedure they should be released without punishment."Stick to legal procedure, he advised the council, and, if Horn and Leimbach cannot be proven guilty according to it, they should be released without punishment and their eternal fate left to the all-seeing wisdom of God. The risk of executing the innocent along with the genuinely guilty was otherwise far too great.", Rowlands, 'Witchcraft narratives in Germany: Rothenburg 1561-1652', p. 58 (2003).

Ethical

Anton Praetorius (1598) and Johann Matthäus Meyfart (1635) objected to the witch hunts on the basis of the cruelty with which they were carried out."Author of the Christliche Erinnerung an gewaltige Regenten (A Christian Reminder to Powerful Princes, 1635), Meyfart opposed witch hunting by underscoring the cruelties of witchcraft", Golden, "Encyclopedia of witchcraft: the Western tradition", volume 2, p. 757 (2006)."The Westphalian jurist Anton Praetorius, who wrote against the craze in 1598-1602, had been driven to protest by the executions he had witnessed there.", Trevor-Roper, "Religion, the Reformation and social change, and other essays", p. 143 (1984).

In Catalonia, in January 1619, the Jesuit Pere Gil delivered a document to the Spanish viceroy to Catalonia Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, 7th Duke of Alburquerque against the witch hunt. Following the arrest of Caterina Freixa on 8 November 1619, between 1619 and 1622, a widespread debate opened between supporters of hunting and its opponents after fourteen prestigious Catalan jurists linked to Generalitat de Catalunya (among them Joan Pere Fontanella) signed a document in defence of Caterina Freixa's innocence to try to avoid her death sentence, marking the beginning of the end of witch hunt in Catalonia.

Theological

Martin LeFranc (1440) objected that witchcraft could not take place in reality due to the sovereignty of God, and that even witches who confessed to witchcraft were being deceived by illusions of the devil."There's no old woman so stupid who's done even the least of these things. But in order to have her hanged or burned, the enemy of humankind, who knows well how to set traps to make the mind deceive itself, has made her mind fool itself. (I. 17553) There are no broomsticks or rods by which anyone could fly.", LeFranc, quoted in Kors & Peters, "Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700: A documentary history", p. 169 (2001). LeFranc blamed the clergy for permitting such beliefs to flourish."The discussion slowly shifts from the activities of witches to the nature of demonic power and finally to the Defender"s criticism of the clergy for allowing such beliefs to circulate.", LeFranc, quoted in Kors & Peters, "Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700: A documentary history", p. 169 (2001). Antonino, Archbishop of Florence (1384–1459), insisted that common beliefs concerning witches were mere foolishness, and required those who held such beliefs to make confession and repent of them."in his instructions to confessors, he requires them to ascertain from penitents whether they believe that women can be transformed into cats, can fly by night and suck the blood of children, all of which he says is impossible, and to believe it is folly. Nor was he alone in this, for similar instructions are given by Angelo da Chivasso and Bartolommeo de Chaimis in their authoritative manuals.", Lea, "A History of the Inquisition In Spain", volume 4, p. 209, (1906-1907). Ulrich Müller, writing as "Molitoris" (1489), believed in witchcraft but opposed common beliefs on the subject on the basis of the theological arguments of the Canon Episcopi."Ulrich Muller or Molitoris published a treatise on witchcraft theory in 1489, hoping to prove that witches were guilty of real crimes. But, after twice quoting the Canon Episcopi verbatim, Muller had to conclude that witches do not travel at night, and do not gather at the Sabbat in reality. These experiences happen "only in their dreams, or, as we have said, because of an excess of imagination."", Stephens, "Demon Lovers: Witchcraft, Sex, and the Crisis of Belief", p. 139 (2003). Gianfrancesco Ponzinibio (1520) extended this argument to deny the reality of all diabolical witchcraft."The Italian lawyer Gianfrancesco Ponzinibio wrote one of the earliest systematic attacks on the idea of diabolical witchcraft as it had emerged in the fifteenth century", Burns, "Witch Hunts in Europe and America: An encyclopedia", p. 236 (2003) Reginald Scot (1584) put forward similar arguments and cited John Calvin numerous times."Argument by argument, Reginald Scot, in The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584), works his way through the writings of Bodin, and of Kramer and Sprenger. He, too, knows how to engage in philosophical and theological discussions on the nature of the spirit world. He, too, can cite authorities and quote Scripture.", Otten, "A Lycanthropy Reader: Werewolves in Western culture", p. 102 (1996)."Scott's basic premise is that God is the creator and sustainer of His creation, and that to give power to the demons (as do Bodin and Kramer and Sprenger) is to relegate God to the role of "the Devil's drudge."", Otten, "A Lycanthropy Reader: Werewolves in Western culture", p. 102 (1996). Cornelius Loos (1592) claimed that belief in witchcraft was mere superstition."It was during this persecution at Trier that Comelius Loos, a scholar of Dutch birth who held a professorship in the university of that city, dared to protest against both the persecution itself and the superstitions out of which it grew.", Burr (ed.), "Translations And Reprints From The Original Sources Of European History", volume 3, p. 15 (1896).

Skeptical

Skeptical protests took a number of forms; scientific, medical, or attribution of alleged sorcery to fraud.