For history to repeat itself, it has to start somewhere, right? Witch hunts in Europe date back to around 1450 and last until the 18th century. The European witch hunts, much like the Salem witch trials, occurred because of the rejection of rapid social, economic, and religious transformation. (Jones Gendercide Watch: European Witch Hunts). Often, during periods of rapid change, it takes time for reforms to be implemented or for citizens to adapt to the new arrangement. The result of the rejection of change during this time period was mass hysteria and moral dilemmas. The European witch hunt trials were based on opposing opinions, ignorance and were used to take revenge on people, which ultimately led to death and destruction and still impacts the world today. The European witch hunt began shortly after the Renaissance, which began in Florence. Italy in the mid-12th century and was the transition from magical and spiritual responses to rational and scientific responses to reality. This was ultimately the rejection of the domination of the church. During this period there were new patterns of thought, diverse literature, a flowering of art, science and the formation of skepticism and secular thinking (Butler The Flow Of History). Many new thinkers and philosophers such as Leonardo Da Vinci became important and influenced thought during this period. Even if it seemed that the changes brought about in that period were new and had given Europe a new face, in reality they were “paradoxically a little old-fashioned. On the continent, fashion had turned back the clock to imitate the ancient styles of ancient Greece and Rome. The Renaissance was not a new beginning, but it was conservative and backward-looking." (Jones Gendercide Watch: European Witch...... middle of sheet ......Hutton, Ronald. Account of the witch hunts. None: unpublished, 1650. Print. Institoris, Heinrich and Jakob Sprenger. Malleus maleficarum Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 1494. Print.Jones, Adam. “Gendercide Watch: European Witch-Hunts – main page. Gendercide Watch, nd Web. 6 March 2012. “South Africans go on witch-hunt.” Baltimore Sun, 27 September 1998: 1-2. Print.Roper, H.R.. Seventeenth-Century Crisis; Religion, Reform, and Social Change. "The Role of Mental Illness in 16th- and 17th-Century European Witch Hunts: An Assessment." Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences Library: Wiley Periodicals, Inc., 2006. 337–351.