The Witchcraft Act was enacted in 1563, three years after Scotland’s parliament declared Protestantism the country’s official ...

The Witchcraft Act of 1563 resulted in the deaths of thousands of falsely accused victims. Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday.

One could argue that the Witchcraft Act of 1604 was the first moral panic law and one of the earliest violence against women laws on our books as a British colony,” Del. Bagnall told the committee.

The act defines practicing witchcraft as pretending to exercise any kind of supernatural power, witchcraft, sorcery or enchantment calculated to cause fear, annoyance or injury.

The act defines practicing witchcraft as pretending to exercise any kind of supernatural power, witchcraft, sorcery or enchantment calculated to cause fear, annoyance or injury.