What did people think of witches in the 1600's?

People thought witches were horrible deadly people! People were hung, drowned and even burned at the stake if they were classified as a witch.

Belief in ghosts, malevolent spirits, witches and other elements of the supernatural was typical in Elizabethan times (the late 16th century). Witches were considered a physical manifestation of evil and a threat to society's moral and religious fiber. This was the era of witch hunts and witch trials, a period that lasted from 1400 to 1700, culminating in the famous Salem witch trials of the late 1600s. Under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, England passed the 1562 Elizabethan Witchcraft Act forbidding "conjurations, enchantments and witchcraft's.