What was the church's attitude to "magic" prior to the 15th century?

A Timeline on 'Magic' and Witch-Craft in the Middle Ages, and the 'Church'

• 1140 -- Canon Episcopi becames part of Canon law. It was included in Gratian's authoritative Corpus juris canonici of c. 1140 (Decretum Gratiani, causa 26, quaestio 5, canon 12) and as such became part of canon law during the High Middle Ages.
• 1215 - Fourth Council of the Lateran bans use of Ordeals, Canon 18 (i.e. Trial-by-Ordeal)
• 1252 - Pope Innocent IV allows inquisitors to torture suspected herectics, by issuing public decree, Ad extirpanda. It, however, did not absolve Inquisitors who tortured, i.e. for irregular conduct (re Canon 18)
• 1256 - Pope Alexander IV classifies Sorcery as Heresy, Ut negotium of 1256- reference in pdf. (I cannot find direct English translation/reference). This one did absolve Inquisitors of Canon irregularity.
• 1324 - Trial of Dame Alice Kytelier (Irish) - the events are slightly confusing.
• 1376 - Nicholas Eymerich writes manual for Inquisitors, Directorium Inquisitorum (witch-craft is defined under theology for the first time).
• 1396 to 1406 - Start of witch-hunts in Western Alps (Switzerland and Italy), due principally to Peter von Greyerz. One of the victims is Stedelen.
• 1398 - University of Paris condemns rituals and magic.
• 1475 - Johannes Nider publishes Formicarus, one of history's most important primary source on witch-craft, as viewed by the Church during 15th century.
• 1478 - Start of Spanish Inquisition
• 1484 - Pope Innocent VIII issues Summis desiderantes affectibus, a papal bull regarding witch-craft.
• (and the list goes on ...)

"What was the church's attitude to supposed witches prior to the 15th century?"

Answer: Exodus (22:18) says: “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”

What drove the change toward intolerance and prosecution? Answer: There was no change.

What could have caused the increase in witchtrials during the Middle Ages?

(not asked, but I'm presuming this is of interest).

A few reasons, well-documented in Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700: A Documentary History -- Alan Charles Kors, Edward Peters, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001. I will go with Little Ice Age, as one of the major factor. Scientific analysis and correlation (not causation) with witchtrials is published here: Witchcraft, Weather and Economic Growth in Renaissance Europe, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 2004. From the abstract:

In the period between 1300 and 1800 as many as one million people were executed in Europe for the crime of witchcraft. Although a variety of theories about the witch-hunts have been put forward over time, little has been said about the possibility that the witch-hunts were motivated by a desire for vengeance in a time of misfortune. This paper connects the witch-hunts in Europe with deteriorating weather and slow economic growth during this period. The most intense period of witch-hunting coincided with a period of below-average worldwide temperatures known as the little ice age.

NOTE: I don't deny that the 'Church' did not always follow Exodus (22:18) but it does not mean a change when they do, because the witch-trials were (in my opinion) never truly about ideology - rather, it was clearly driven by material-wealth (i.e. economic returns).

"What was the church's attitude to supposed witches prior to the 15th century?"

Presumably it's intolerance of magic, as outlined in Exodus 22:18. The problem is that it's a form of violation of the First Commandment as given, "You shall have no other gods before me." Likewise it's a violation of the Greatest Commandment given in Matthew 22:37. That is, trust in God and him alone. Trusting in magic indicates not trusting in God. Israel at that time was a theocracy established by God, but nations since that time are not. So the treatment of someone thought to be a witch was a matter of law before Jesus in the nation of Israel, but such treatment is no longer permitted. Nevertheless, that hasn't necessarily been understood by all in the church.

"What drove the change toward intolerance and persecution?"

Intolerance seems to be a theme of our human nature. That is, we are intolerant of those that are different. For example, witches, Confederates, blacks, Christians, Muslims, etc. Persecution builds on that intolerance through the belief that it's okay to persecute those we cannot tolerate. That is, that if we find someone abhorrent, such as a racist, we then perceive that we somehow have the right to persecute that person. It may be difficult to look at someone else's intolerance and wrap our heads around what makes them tick. It's probably easier to contemplate our own intolerance of someone we find abhorrent (maybe against racists is a good example) and that will help illustrate what drives us, and shed light on similar patterns in others.

As I said in the comments above, this isn't one of my specialist areas, but a few points may help provide an answer.

Firstly, given the exhortation in Exodus 22:18 "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live", we are probably on safe ground if we say that the attitude of the church towards practitioners of "magic" wasn't particularly positive - even before the 15th century.

Now, I know that there is a debate about whether the Hebrew term mekhashepha, translated in the King James Bible as "witches", should be better translated as "poisoners". However, since the mekhashepha (whoever they might be) are also included with "necromancers", "those who cast spells", "those who summon spirits" etc., as "an abomination to Yahweh" in Deuteronomy 18:9-10, I think it is safe to assume that the church would have taken a strong stand against them - whatever debates among modern scholars may conclude about the precise meaning of the original Hebrew word.

In fact, we know that the early church took such a stand against them. They actually passed decrees which condemned magic:

"... not only preached against magic, but also passed ecclesiastical legislation against it. The decrees (or "canons") of regional assemblies (or "synods") eventually became the basis for the church's "canon law", which even in its early forms condemned magic.

• Magic in the Middle Ages by Richard Kieckhefer, p41.

So it seems clear that the church's attitude to magic, as expressed in its early decrees, and later in canon law, was a highly negative one.

What drove the change to intolerance and persecution?

As J Asia has already pointed out, there really was no change in the 15th century.

Witch hunts were by no means unknown in the Middle Ages. However, the growth of the Inquisition from the 13th century (initially in response to Catharism), and the development of the Reformation from the 14th century onward meant that religious crimes and heresy were being dealt with increasingly harshly.

Of course, one other significant factor in the later persecutions was King James I/VI himself. We know that he was obsessed with the threat posed by witches. His book Daemonologie would become a key text in later witch hunts.

Source:

Kieckhefer, Richard: Magic in the Middle Ages, Cambridge University Press, 2000

It is worth considering the etymology of the word magic, from 3rd century Latin magica. Now look at that of magus from the Classical Latin - meaning "wise man", and we see there is at least a linguistic connection from the magi to magic. There is an inevitable nexus between the origins of religion and those of the occult.

As regards witches, in England the centuries of the female witch were the 16th and 17th. The historiographical reasons for this are embedded deep in social history. One of them has to do with it being an age when access to legal process was becoming more available to the public..

The sixteenth century was also a time when traditional village and family support for lone persons, particularly females was breaking down, as society became more mobile. Workhouses and the poor law were introduced. Lone people remaining outside of provision were isolated as traditional family support broke down - the theory goes. Such lone individuals could become figures of suspicion. There had been far fewer cases of witches before the sixteenth century.

One of the leading historians in this field is Dr Clive Holmes, Emeritus Professor of Social History, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Holmes explains why trials for witchcraft ceased in Britain after the seventeenth century - the last conviction was in 1712 - though there were trials well into the 19th century. See Holmes' Why did the prosecution of witches cease in England? Kindle edition.

"Witchcraft" and magic were viewed by the Church as religious crimes, (making a pact with the Devil to obtain these powers), and therefore treated harshly.

Note, however, that this trend had barely begun by the 14th and 15 centuries (a two century period when this "transition" took place). Prior to the 14th century, there was no such linking of extraordinary powers with the Devil.

The Church was primarily concerned about prosecuting "heresy," and did not make a link between heresy and witchcraft until about the 14th and 15th centuries. Instead, magic was earlier considered "superstition," a lesser issue.