The Russian Witchcraft Trials of the 17th Century

In Normandy there was a 100 year period beginning in 1564 that saw 59 people accused of witchcraft and close to 50% of them were men. Russia alone had over 500 witch trials in the 17th century, and of the 15% who were executed, only 25% were women. The biggest and most deadly trial took place in a town northeast of Moscow called Luke. It started on December 6 of 1656 when a church service was disrupted by a woman having an unusual seizure. Her symptoms were frightening to most of the community but her chilling was how her condition seemed to spread to others.