Research Project Reflection Paper - Essay Example

Project Reflection Project Additions to the Witchcraft Scholarship The topic on the rise of Christianity and fall of witchcraft was quite interesting and amazing, especially now that I learnt of immense trends of witch-hunts I Europe between fifteenth to seventeenth centuries. I was exiting to learn the factors that ultimately led to the decline of witches and the rise of Christianity. Primarily, there are so many things that the project I did adds up to the witchcraft scholarship. First, the roles of the jury team that did use to prosecute the witch-hunts suspects are addressed clearly.

The jury team did use to follow the proposals made by the public. If one was suspected of having been an associate of witchcraft, torments were started until the victim gave up and confessed of having participated in the witch-hunts. Secondly, we learn of the staged s of witchcraft decline: the accusatory and convictions decrease stage and the conclusion of the matter. The impact of political, intellectual, social and economic factors are also looked and expounded holistically, and the way they did contribute to witchcraft decline.

Therefore, the witchcraft decline is looked like a process cultivated by many factors, all brought together and brewing up the declining heat (Bever, pg. 276).Scholarly LimitationsOn conducting the research, I faced several research limitations, especially with reference to the availability of scholarly materials. Some of the materials that I grasped to conduct were sometimes not so reliable. Reliable resources were quite limited, and it did call for me to conduct a thorough search on the primary sources in the university databases.

Additionally, very few scholars have conducted research on the same topic. It was quite hard to find a consistent and reliable relationship between the research I conducted and the one that conducted by previous researchers. The research did call for analyzing primary resources on works done around 15th to 17th century. Sometimes the different scholarly articles could communicate different information at a similar topic. The bias prevalence was hence was quite a concern. Another bias is the language used in the primary sources.

Having been written around 15th to 17th century, the language used was quite hard and did call for one to take quite a lot of time analyzing the content.Expanding the PaperMany interesting topics emerged during the process of my research conduction. I would like to conduct further research on them, should a chance erupt. First, I would conduct a thorough research on Matthew Hopkins, a witch hunter in England. His career did flourish in an environment where witches were detested and punished severely.

The promulgation and implementation of the Poor law are another area that would necessitate research: how did the law came into being and its implications to the world of witchcraft.Interesting Area during ResearchThe witch-hunts prosecution process did rose my curiosity. There was a circulating belief that the witches could be forced to enter into a covenant with the devil; hence, they could possess the power to use a broomstick to fly, create rain and storms, and transform themselves into animals.

During the prosecution process, the witches were advised to have their hair shaved off their whole body so that they could not have a slightest place to hide their magical powers. Sometimes they could be pierced and beat to admit of their participation. Beliefs were spread across Europe that for one to protect self against the witch-hunts craze, pouring salt around the homestead could keep it off.Work CitedBever, Edward. “Witchcraft Prosecutions and the Decline of Magic.” Journal of Interdisciplinary History 2009 : 263–293.