Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP / Getty Images
It is not clear exactly when the broom was first invented, But the act of sweeping dates back to ancient times, when people probably used bundles of thin sticks, reeds, and other natural fibers to sweep dust or ashes from a fire or fireplace.
The word broom comes from the actual plant, or bush, which was used to make many early sweeping devices. Gradually it replaced the Old English word besom, although both terms appear to have been in use until at least the 18th century.
From the beginning, brooms were primarily associated with women, and this ubiquitous household object became a powerful symbol of female domesticity.
Despite this, the first wizard who confessed to riding a broomstick: Guillaume Edelin.
Edelin was a priest from Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, he was arrested in 1453 and tried for witchcraft after publicly criticizing the church’s warnings about witches. His confession was tortured and he finally repented, but he was still imprisoned for life.
At the time of Edelin’s “confession”, the idea of witches riding broomsticks was already well established.
The oldest image known of witches on broomsticks dates from 1451, when two illustrations appeared in the manuscript of the French poet Martin Le Franc Le Champion des Dames (The defender of the ladies). In both drawings, a woman flies through the air on a broom; the other flies on a simple white stick.
Both wear headscarves that identify them as Waldensians, members of a Christian sect founded in the 12th century who were branded as heretics by the Catholic Church, in part because they allowed women to become priests.
It is impossible to know whether such stories, reported at the height of anxiety over witchcraft in Europe in the Middle Ages, reflected reality or not.
Most of what we know about medieval witchcraft today comes from the records of religious inquisitors, court officials, and testimonies from accused witches themselves (often while being tortured).
Starting in the 17th century, accounts of witches using brooms to fly up and out of chimneys became became more common, even as women became more closely associated than ever with the home and the domestic sphere.
According to a custom, women placed a broom in front of a door, or placed it on a fireplace, so that others would know that they were not there. at home. Perhaps for this reason, popular legend embraced the idea that witches left their houses through chimneys, although very few accused witches confessed to having done so.
Popular anxiety about witchcraft had subsided by the 18th century. Although there are still many self-identified “witches” in the United States today, thanks to the growth of neo-pagan religious traditions like Wicca, few of them claim to be soaring through the skies aboard their trusty broomsticks. But the image of witches flying on broomsticks lives on, especially on Halloween.
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