Taxes, Lawyers, and the Decline of Witch Trials in France

Abstract

This paper explores the rise of the fiscal state in the early modern period and its impact on legal capacity. To measure legal capacity, we establish that witchcraft trials were more likely to take place where the central state had weak legal institutions. Combining data on the geographic distribution of witchcraft trials with unique panel data on tax receipts across 21 French regions, we find that the rise of the tax state can account for much of the decline in witch trials during this period. Further historical evidence supports our hypothesis that higher taxes led to better legal institutions.

From the Persecuting to the Protective State? Jewish Expulsions and Weather Shocks from 1100 to 1800

“…45 But the empirical evidence we present suggests that the new nation states of western Europe were less responsive to it. This is consistent with the findings that stronger states were responsible for ending the European witch-hunts in the late seventeenth century (Levack, 1996;Johnson and Koyama, 2011) and with the argument that the rise of larger and more centralized states led to a gradual increase in bounds of religious toleration in the early modern period (Johnson and Koyama, 2012a). 44 For studies of the expulsion of Jews from England see Leonard (1891); Elman (1937);Ovrut (1977); Menache (1987); Stacey (1997Stacey ( , 2000; Mundill (1998);Katznelson (2005); Koyama (2010b).…”

“…For the effect of this on persecution of minority groups see Johnson and Koyama (2011) and Johnson and Koyama (2012a).…”

“…For example, Glaeser (2005) who studies the incentive politicians have to incite hatred against particular groups ;Gregory et al (2011) who study Stalin's purges; Johnson and Koyama (2011) who examine the relationship between the rise of the French state and the decline in trials for witchcraft ;and Vidal-Robert (2011) who studies what factors were associated with more trials by the Spanish Inquisition.…”

The Literary Inquisition: The Persecution of Intellectuals and Human Capital Accumulation in China

“…This suggests that 10 Our analysis of the effects of the literary inquisition is also related to a wider literature on persecutions. Johnson and Koyama (2013) examine the causes of the persecution of heretics in medieval and early modern Europe while Johnson and Koyama (2014) study how legal fragmentation helped perpetuate large-scale witchhunts in seventeenth century France.…”

Plague, Politics, and Pogroms: The Black Death, Rule of Law, and the Persecution of Jews in the Holy Roman Empire

“…Recent historical work has shown that most European polities lacked 'minimally effective states' until the early modern period (Epstein, 2000;North et al, 2009;Dincecco, 2009Dincecco, , 2010Grafe, 2012;Johnson and Koyama, 2014a;Hough and Grier, 2015). 4 Building on these insights, Johnson and Koyama (2014b) provide evidence that legal fragmentation in seventeenth century France was associated with more intense witch-trials and that a process of legal centralization was required to control the use of torture and curtain the panic over witchcraft. In contrast to the arguments in favor of a polycentric political order, these arguments suggest that political centralization may be crucial to the emergence of the rule of law.…”