Popish plots were pretty similar... including the predisposition of people to see every event as linked to them, even if the evidence was totally fictitious in certain instances. I know it's an extreme and oblique example, but it shows how events happen over a period of time, just the characters change. How they're represented has startling similarities too, but it consoles people that there's an unreasonable evil enemy you see, and occasionally actual events turn up to reaffirm the totality.
I know some people on this thread only like to think that experts should be listened to when they put themselves up as said expert, but they do show themselves up as embarrassing with their bloodlust to confirm a set of people as evil in comparison to their good. Communication also allows people to know about random attacks across the globe nowadays. You reckon the average Coventrian of the 17th century would know about a couple of people being stabbed in Germany? I couldn't tell you about the politics in 17th century Germany because it's not my area of expertise (although of course their religious tensions were pretty high at the time!), but rest assured it wouldn't have been sunshine and light!
Certain people on this thread will also be too stupid (retards, in their language) to understand that that doesn't mean that I therefore support knife weilding nutters wreaking violence and injury in the name of a ridiculous religion.