The concept of witchcraft in the
middle ages depended on
certain presuppositions. These included the beliefs that the
devil and his subordinates, such as
demons,
imps, incubi, and succubi, were real and had power in the world; that people could have physical relations with them; and that contracts between people and
demons could be enforced.
In the satanic witchcraft of the middle ages, witches were thought to be servants of the devil. In return for serving the devil according to contract, witches allegedly received certain powers, particularly to cause or cure illness or transfer it from one person to another; to raise storms and make rain or, sometimes, to cause drought; to produce impotence in men and sterility in women; and to cause crops to fail, animals to be barren, and milk to go sour. They were believed to be able to arouse love through the use of philters and potions and to destroy love by charms and spells; and to do harm or even bring about death by the so-called evil eye, or by sticking pins into a wax figure of the victim. They supposedly could become invisible and fly with the aid of a broom or special ointments. Witches allegedly foretold the future; animated inanimate objects,
revived the dead, and conjured up other spirits; and transformed themselves and others into animals, particularly cats and wolves.
Witches in Europe in medieval times and later were
organized into covens of 12 members, mainly but not exclusively females, and a leader usually a male. The leader was considered the vicar of the devil and was regarded by many of his simpler worshipers as the devil himself. Traditionally, he was represented as dressed all in black or in the guise of a goat.