The witch trials in the Holy Roman Empire, composed of the areas of present-day Germany, Switzerland and Austria, were the most extensive in Europe and in the world, both to the extent of the witch trials as such as well as to the number of executions. The witchcraft persecutions differed widely between the regions, and was most intense in the territories of the Catholic Prince Bishops in Southwestern Germany. The witch trials of the Catholic Prince Bishops of South West Germany were arguably the biggest in the world. Witch trials did occur in Protestant Germany as well, but were fewer and less extensive in comparison with Catholic Germany. The witch trials of Catholic Austria and Protestant Switzerland were both severe. Legal situation Witchcraft was formally categorized as a crime in the Holy Roman Empire in the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina in 1532. The Holy Roman Empire consisted of a number of autonomous states, both Protestant and Catholic who all had their own laws and regulations, and the witchcraft persecutions, therefore, varied considerably. Formally, however, all states within the Holy Roman Empire were under the jurisdiction of the Emperor. This made it possible for the accused and their next of kin to appeal any sentence of a local court to the Imperial court. In general, such appeals were successful in the Imperial court, but in practice, the local verdict was still put in place because the Imperial court had great difficulty in enforcing their authority over the autonomous states. History by region Austria In Austria, a witch trial in Innsbrück in 1485 resulted in Heinrich Kramer writing the Malleus Maleficarum (1486). After this, however, there were no more witch trials in Austria until the second half of the 16th century, when the witchcraft persecutions spread in parallel with the Counter-Reformation. In 1583, Elisabeth Plainacher became the first person executed for sorcery in Vienna. In the 17th century, severe witchcraft persecutions took place in Austria, one of the first being that of Bregenz in 1609, resulting in sixteen executions. In Austria, witch trials were conducted by local secular courts such as estate courts - except in those cases were clerics conducted private witch trials in the courts of their clerical estates. A common accusation was desecration of the eucharist. Women were in majority among the accused, except in the cases in which the accused were men of low status such as Romani people,