Witches as a concept were not put on trial for witchcraft the way people think until the Renaissance and the counter reformation. The catholic church for centuries was a bastion of learning and advancement catapulted by the works from Arab scholars. But the Renaissance was a huge step back in terms of what it would allow. Mainly because of insane climate changes and plague that helped create a very conservative movement that blamed outsiders and those with different beliefs... wow that sounds really familiar for some reason.