The Bethlehem Insane Asylum (officially known as Bethlem Royal Hospital and historically nicknamed Bedlam) was founded in 1247. It was established by Simon FitzMary, who was an alderman and a former Sheriff of London. They created with the sheer reads and then Bethlehem insane asylum study what they did to the people in there they abused and used the witch trials of europe +9 The European witch trials occurred primarily between 1450 and 1750, peaking during the height of the religious wars and the Counter-Reformation (1560–1630). An estimated 100,000 people were prosecuted, with 40,000 to 60,000 executed. The majority of victims were older, lower-class women. Trials were largely fueled by climate crises, religious hysteria, and local community disputes.Key Historical DriversThe Holy Roman Empire: Modern-day Germany and Switzerland accounted for the vast majority of all European witch trials, heavily driven by intense Catholic-Protestant conflicts and decentralized local courts.The "Great Hunt" (1560–1630): This period saw massive waves of mass trials. Because many of these trials were localized, they were often exploited by neighbors to resolve property or personal disputes.Belief System: Unlike earlier medieval periods, where "witchcraft" was sometimes dismissed as superstition, early modern hunts viewed magic as a heresy inherently tied to devil-worship.Major TrialsSome of the largest documented mass executions took place in Central Europe during the Counter-Reformation:Trier Witch Trials (1581–1593): Perhaps the largest mass execution in European peacetime, resulting in up to 1,000 deaths across the diocese in modern-day Germany.Würzburg Witch Trials (1626–1631): Driven by Catholic Prince-Bishops, an estimated 900 people were executed or died in custody.Basque Witch Trials (1609–1611): Taking place in Spain, this was a rare instance where the Spanish Inquisition halted the hysteria, concluding that the confessions were the result of mass delusion rather than actual sorcery.Why They EndedThe witch hunts ultimately declined and ended due to the Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries. As the Scientific Revolution popularized rationalism and empirical evidence, legal systems across Europe banned the use of torture in witchcraft cases and increased central political authority to overrule local witch panics. Prussia outlawed the trials in 1714, followed by Great Britain in Beloud