MORE ON THE GOOD OLD DAYS

I just finished reading Servants of Satan: The Age of Witch Hunts by Joseph Klaits and found a little more evidence that the "good old days" of Christian Europe pretty much sucked:

Jews, heretics, homosexuals, and magicians were among the most important of the nonconforming groups. From the twelfth century on, outsiders came under increasing verbal and physical attack from churchmen, allied secular authorities, and, particularly in the case of Jews, from the lower strata of the population. In the early Middle Ages, a more easygoing acceptance of social diversity had usually been the norm. After Imo, however, new patterns of enmity quickly emerged, and a climate of fear and hostility became frozen into place. Not until the end of the seventeenth century, when ancient hatreds receded somewhat, did a few areas of Western culture temporarily abandon the stress on social conformity and unanimity of belief. But, by the time of this decline in preoccupation with unconventional behavior, the witch craze had run its course.

From this perspective, the six centuries from about 1100 to 1700 can be considered as a unit. Charges that early in the period were directed against heretics, homosexuals, Jews, and magicians were later applied in modified form to people labeled as witches.
(page 19)