What sort of woman flies around at night, perhaps leading a pack of hunters or accommodated by an assortment of animals, and works magic in the homes of certain women? Although a witch might fit the bill, this description applied to a belief in a variety of magical females across Europe in the Late Middle Ages. Such magical evening hunting parties appear in many sources from Italy and Germany in the 14th century before the witch trial-craze got going. This image from the 16th century is of the “Bendanti,” who claimed to be able to travel outside their bodies at night — their aim was actually to fight against witches.
In Germany “the night women” were also called “the benevolent ladies”, led by figures who would ride out in the evenings and visit homes to bestow blessings upon women who had left offerings for them. “Perchte” was one such female who granted good fortune, and she became especially associated with the Christmas season.
All of this evidence speaks to a positive association with women who practiced magic in the Late Middle Ages, which shows how much a break in tradition the radical growth in persecuting alleged witches really was. Historians have been studying why the fear of witches arose in the Early Modern Era for many years: the social changes associated with the Protestant Reformation is one of the main reasons.
Source(s): Ronald Hutton, _The Witch: a Brief History of Fear from Ancient Times to the Present_, Yale UP, 2017, pp. 133-146. Wikipedia.
