Why did Europe burn their witches?

Why did Europe burn their witches?

In Europe the usual method of execution for those found guilty of Heresy and/or witchcraft was to be burnt at the stake. In his book”The Malleus Maleficarum", Heinrich Kramer argued that witchcraft was heresy (punishable by death) and that death was "the only certain remedy against the evils of witchcraft". Previously the punishment for witchcraft had been a fine; or public penance.I'd like to point out that heresy and witchcraft were not the same thing. A person could be charged for heresy for spreading or teaching ideology that was not in line with that of the Catholic Church. Not all heretics were witches; but all witches were heretics.To burn a heretic's body was to deprive them of a good Christian burial. By burning the body, that person couldn't rise to face God on the day of Judgement; and thus would never ascend to Heaven. But when executing a witch; destroying the body was seen as extra important; because of the belief in Europe that witches could rise from the grave and continue to wreak havoc. In Scotland, the usual method of execution was to garrot the witch and then burn the body.This method of execution adds further weight to the theory that witches were believed to be able to rise from the grave.
In America; there's little or no evidence of a belief in witches rising from the grave; which is why the "witches" of Salem were hung rather than burnt at the stake. The Salem witch trials also took place later than many of those in Europe (1692). In Europe we'd had witch trials since the 1300's, and maybe the judges in Salem though hanging less barbaric.

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