How I chose the century for my novel – Merry crisis!

When planning to write the witching novel, I had a few centuries to pick from.

I did not know right from the start where this would lead me. Witch hunts belong into medieval times, right? And those last up to … when exactly? 1500? 1600? Discussing epochs is a lot of fun! I will give it a post very soon!
But this one is about how I chose my century to write in!
Which one could give my witching tale a home? The 14th century, in which famines and the black death depopulated Europe? The 15th century, which happened in the aftermath of this disaster and saw the first witch hunts? The 16th century, which let Europe slide into religious conflicts more and more?

I chose the 17th century, because its crisis felt the most fitting. The challenges, the disasters, the fears the people in that century had to live with seemed so similar to today! If I wanted to feel myself into the skin of a witch, it had to be this one! It is even sometimes considered the worst time to be alive in! Check my sourcec below for more on this! All I want to say here is that it often in the end lost this titel to the 6th century to some accounts, but read for yourself!

So, when I chose my century ny heart sang merry crisis! But what crisis shaped the 17th century?

Climate

In the late 16 and lasting through the 17th century the so-called „little ice age“ challenged civilizations around the world. In some parts of Europe, the average temperature dropped by 2°C. This caused famines and in which millions of people lost their lives.

War

As if that was not enough, some of the biggest wars seen in Europe so far took place. The 80 years war as well as the 30 years war restructured the continent. It was a time for cities to burn down and starve, and for mercenaries to loot the villages. In Germany alone, 5 million people died, leaving (the German) population as much decimated as last in 1347, after the black death.

Disease

Although the big plague waves of the medieval era had already been over for centuries, diseases still were everywhere. People in the cities knew in which intervals to expect the black death to return and made attempts to prepare, still seeing terrible consequences regularly. The ongoing wars with the movements of military as well as refugees caused these calculations to become unreliable, and often these two problems combined in one place.

Even if I may not be able to argue for the 17th century to have been the worst to be alive in, it still was a terrible time. It also was a time in which my mind of today finds a fitting place in while trying to keep it all together in a pandemic with a terrible war next door and worried about the sustainability of our life. Feeling into the skin of my witch is a way to mentally survive this for a little bit longer.

Would you have expected these parallels between today and the 17th century? I have to admit that listing them as I just did surprised me in an uncomfortable way, the first time I did this. The crisis are so similar. And these crisis which are so existential, as a change in climate is for the harvest and therefor for humans most basic needs to be met, or as not to die of a bad cough the next winter, or have your land burn down in a war, made desperate people search for witches as well as divide themselves politically and culturally even more. It shapes the world view not necessarily in a better way to live through a time like this.

But to not let my readers leave my blog with this spiral and destruction in mind, I also want to mention another phenomenon belonging into this so very dark time! Difficult times may not in fact produce great people (as I have already argued), but it seemed to have produced great art! Maybe even the kind of art needed to mentally survive times like this. In the 17th century, many European nations saw their „golden periods“, as they are sometimes called. There were Painters such as Rembrandt and Vermeer, Molilère‘s comedies were written, and the list could go on for so much longer.

It may be surprising that so much creativity blossomed in face of such destruction, but then again, the scull is an important object in so many Baroque paintings, and that has its reasons.

So, I found my century to write in in shared crisis between me and my witch! Living 400 years apart, when share the basic challenges in our lives, even though they look a little different on the outside!

I do not know what to make of this or what kind of conclusion to write.
Is this a positive outlook for the future, because crisis tend to end at some point?
Or should we worry about our sustainability, or even about witches to be looked for?

I honestly do no know.
So, all I have left to say is: „Merry crisis!“

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https://www.science.org/content/article/why-536-was-worst-year-be-alive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrJrnQg2C_E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c86FIVLErbg

https://www.iflscience.com/the-17th-century-was-a-truly-terrible-time-to-be-a-human-63776

Maissen, T. (2018). Frühe Neuzeit. C.H.Beck: München.

Mortimer, I. (2014). Centuries of change. The bodly head: u.n.