Answer:
a. began before the Reformation and lasted through the seventeenth century.
Explanation:
The Movable Type Printing Press was invented by the famous Johann Gutenberg and this went a long way to significantly influence and amplify the spread or dissemination of information during the Protestant Reformation.
The Movable Type Printing Press was an invention which allowed the Protestant Reformation to spread rapidly throughout Europe.
John Calvin was a theologian during the Protestant reformation in Geneva.
He was born on the 10th of July, 1509 and he died on the 27th of May, 1564. Also, the theological foundation of his Protestantism was Predestination.
In his work titled "Institutes of the Christian Religion." he stated that, all human beings are wicked and weak; thus, no matter what, only those who were predestined would be privileged to go to heaven.
Basically, the doctrine of calvinism known as predestination emphasizes that, God has chosen or selected some people to be destroyed eternally and others to be saved (go to heaven). Also, those people who have been predestined for eternal destruction cannot be saved even by their good works.
Furthermore, the fear of witchcraft in Europe also known as Wiccaphobia was considered to be a societal norm that started in the fourteenth century across the Christian side of Europe and the United States of America. This fear led to so much national panic, as well as the torture and death of numerous number of people who were proclaimed to have had witches or sorcery.
Hence, the great European fear of witchcraft (Wiccaphobia) began before the Reformation and lasted through the seventeenth century.
