Changes

The church certainly would not have felt threatened by any of these women, as Dan Brown suggests; they were poor and unpopular—not powerful, freethinking women.  Furthermore, it was rare that church authorities accused witches; it was almost always ordinary citizens, and often other women!  Interestingly, 20-25% of witchcraft charges were made against men and more than half of witch-trial defendants—male and female—were acquitted.  As Amy Welborn puts it, “the witch-trial hype was apparently a nuisance to authorities.”  (Welborn 77)

The church certainly would not have felt threatened by any of these women, as Dan Brown suggests; they were poor and unpopular—not powerful, freethinking women.  Furthermore, it was rare that church authorities accused witches; it was almost always ordinary citizens, and often other women!  Interestingly, 20-25% of witchcraft charges were made against men and more than half of witch-trial defendants—male and female—were acquitted.  As Amy Welborn puts it, “the witch-trial hype was apparently a nuisance to authorities.”  (Welborn 77)

Additionally, Brown states that the [[Malleus Maleficarum]] “Hammer of the Witches” was a “universal guide” to witch trials, mass produced and used by church authorities everywhere— basically, the misogynist bible.  The Malleus Maleficarum was a real book, and it certainly was an evil work, but it only went through 30 printings (amazon.com) and its author was not Catholic, but a Dominican Inquisitionist [[Heinrich Kramer]], an unsuccessful fraud.  Although Kramer claimed experience in over 100 trials, he actually only tried 8 women and was thrown out of the second town he went to. (Welborn 78)

Additionally, Brown states that the [[Malleus Maleficarum]] “Hammer of the Witches” was a “universal guide” to witch trials, mass-produced and used by church authorities everywhere— basically, the misogynist bible.  The Malleus Maleficarum was a real book, and it certainly was an evil work, but it only went through 30 printings (amazon.com) and its author was not Catholic, but a Dominican Inquisitionist [[Heinrich Kramer]], an unsuccessful fraud.  Although Kramer claimed experience in over 100 trials, he actually only tried 8 women and was thrown out of the second town he went to. (Welborn 78)

Perhaps the most serious fact overlooked by Dan Brown in his representation of the Catholic Church as anti-female is [[Mary the Mother of Jesus]].  Dan Brown’s total silence on this matter is glaringly obvious to anyone who knows anything about Christianity.  The truth is that the Catholic Church holds Mary in extremely high esteem—some even believe too much.  She is such a central figure in the Catholic faith, that at times she appears as important as Jesus Christ himself.  However, Dan Brown has seemingly never heard of her.

Perhaps the most serious fact overlooked by Dan Brown in his representation of the Catholic Church as anti-female is [[Mary the Mother of Jesus]].  Dan Brown’s total silence on this matter is glaringly obvious to anyone who knows anything about Christianity.  The truth is that the Catholic Church holds Mary in extremely high esteem—some even believe too much.  She is such a central figure in the Catholic faith, that at times she appears as important as Jesus Christ himself.  However, Dan Brown has seemingly never heard of her.