This excerpt from an Introduction to Folklore may be of use to you in this regard; I can't speak to Orthodox cultures (I am not familiar with witch-craze trials in these regions), but one should remember that Protestant lands had more trials than Catholic ones:

Throughout European history, there have been examples of people who specialized in the use of the magical arts. In general, these people followed the craft for the benefit of others within a village. Anti-social witchcraft is rare in historical records, and those practicing magic were often highly regarded.

During the medieval period, witches continued to practice their craft, but the Church steadily escalated its interest in their activities. Still, the idea that witches were evil did not become widespread until the fifteenth century. Several factors caused this change, not the least of which was the Church’s attempt to root out pagan survivals. Not surprisingly, the Church classified holdovers of the old religion as evil, a concept that European peasants were slow to grasp.

A general crisis occurred in peasant society during the late medieval period as pressure from the aristocracy and the land-holding Church caused a shift away from dairy culture to farms producing grains. Well into prehistory, European peasants regarded cattle as a source of wealth. The English word “fee” comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for cattle. The same is true for the Latin root of “pecuniary.” The problem with a cattle, dairy culture, however, is that it is extremely difficult to tax. Grain production allows for the amassing of agricultural wealth, and so the Church and the aristocracy increasingly forced peasants to grow more grains at the expense of their pastures and cattle.

European peasants consequently faced a shrinking pool of wealth. Put more plainly, their herds were dwindling. At the same time, the Church was condemning magical practices as a result of perceived pacts with the devil. Peasants, increasingly anxious about declining wealth, began to look for practitioners of magic as the evil source of their economic demise. Although there are earlier examples of trials, reputed witches found themselves condemned in larger numbers beginning in the 1480s.

Of course, many historians have considered the question of what caused the witch craze, and in the process, they have identified many factors that certainly contributed to the hysteria. Finding a cause for the witch craze is a complex problem, and it is probably better to discuss multiple, complementary causes and influences. Regardless of the origin of this phenomena, the primary documents associated with the prosecution of witches provides an opportunity to peer into late medieval folklore.

Ultimately, the election of Pope Innocent VIII in 1484 added another dimension to the situation when he issued a formal statement against witchcraft. He further commissioned Heinrich Kramer (ca. 1430-1505) to research and write a book documenting the perceived epidemic of witchcraft. The author included the respected name of Jakob Sprenger (ca. 1436-1495) as a co-author of the resulting publication, but the extent of the learned academic’s participation in the project is not clear. The resulting Malleus Maleficarum (The Witches’ Hammer) appeared in 1487. Because its publication occurred shortly after the invention of the Gutenberg Press, the publication received wide dissemination, and it became a sensation. It appeared in twenty-nine printings by 1669.

The Malleus Maleficarum remains one of the most useful documents portraying medieval beliefs in the subject. But because of its popularity, the document not only documented current folk belief, but it also influenced it. This was the period of the great witch trials. Although Papal authority started the witch craze, it became most severe in Protestant countries where economic transitions and resulting strains were common. Thus, almost no witches were executed in Ireland or Italy, and it was relatively rare in France. Most victims lived in Germany, the Scandinavian Countries, and Britain.

The witch trials left a large body of documents that can be regarded as preserving contemporary folklore. Indeed, much of the material reflects an older, pre-Christian layer of medieval folklore as Christian forces sought to discredit and destroy remnants of the old religion. Conversion of the North had been, after all, somewhat superficial, and the folk maintained many older practices. The witch trials provided an excellent opportunity for the Church, whether Roman or Protestant, to label pre-Christian religious practices as evil and then to cause them and their practitioners to be exterminated.