Witchcraft and Swashbuckling
 

How much overlap is there between the hsitories of the European witch hunts and the period in Swashbucklers? Also how could they be combined in a campaign?

Re: Witchcraft and Swashbuckling
 

Witch-hunts were from antiquity to modern day, but famously from the Medieval Era to the 17th Century, and "Swashbuckling" was coined in the 16th century, so it's safe to assume overlap.

Re: Witchcraft and Swashbuckling
 

The "Great Witch Hunt" (which, to quote Ken Hite "never really happened") was between early 15th and late 18th century. Same period as Swashbucklers. The only swashbuckling novel I can remember where it is an issue is the Swedish Freebooter on the Baltic by Viktor Rydberg, in which the mysterious hero also is an alchemist and which has a sideplot with a fanatical Lutheran priest killing people for imagined witchcraft when they are really just people who knows some medicine, y'know standard plot A. But Rydberg hat some major hate for established religion...

However, its the same historical period and involves the same peoples. Should work with no problems, as they said on Rescue Rangers...

Erik

Re: Witchcraft and Swashbuckling
 

Interesting, I never read anything that combined the two, although the period does overlap.

My guess is that this was mainly a continental phenomenon. People in the islands and sailing about probably had bigger concerns than this sort of neighbor bickering and finger pointing. There were real enemies to demonize, practical problems like raids, pirates, war... on the face of overwhelming odds people tend to group together.

I guess there probably was the occasional witch burning, but matters like this in the islands were probably dealt with swiftly... rather than turn into a finger-pointing campaign amongst common folk.

There was also less agricultural farm life. More trading. More slaves...

My guess is that this was much less of a factor, although probably present at some minor level.

That said, there probably were a few noteworthy cases that could very well be the material for a campaign that combined these elements.

EDIT: sailors were also VERY superstitious, so they probably were accustomed to a high degree of unorthodox beliefs.

Re: Witchcraft and Swashbuckling
 

Mind you, not all Swashbuckling stories concern pirates...

Erik

Re: Witchcraft and Swashbuckling
 

Not pirates, but they involve a lot of sailing, trading, life in the islands of the shore, etc...
The exceptions are the "musketeer" style campaigns. Which is just fencing+politics.

You have a point, but I guess I was working on the fact that the OP had just opened a thread asking about how to crew a ship. So I assumed sailing was involved.

Re: Witchcraft and Swashbuckling
 

In Sweden, more people were executed for bestiality than for witchcraft.

Re: Witchcraft and Swashbuckling
 

Not pirates, but they involve a lot of sailing, trading, life in the islands of the shore, etc...

Erh... not, not neccesarily. That's like saying all fantasy campaigns assumes the characters are barbarians, just because Conan and his knockoffs, and ignoring Tolkien, Leiber and Le Guin.

Not just the musketeers, but Scaramouche has no sailing/trading/piracy. Neither has Zorro/The Curse of Capistrano. Neither has The Count of Monte Christo. Neither has Eroll Flynn-esque Robin Hood stories, which inflenced the whole fencing thing. Neither has the Scarlet Pimpernel, the stories of Dick Turpin and other heroic highwaymen... I could go on.

Erik

Re: Witchcraft and Swashbuckling
 

Forgive my ignorence but is Sweeden traditionally Catholic or Protostant?

All those witches in Salem must have got to the New World somehow...

Re: Witchcraft and Swashbuckling
 

Very very Lutheran since the time of the Reformation. Note that there was no greater tendency for Catholics to start witch hunts; that is a myth.

Erik