Above all, we have tried to consider the perspective of the victims that is, those who were accused of witchcraft. Anyone willing to feed them on blood can hope to put them to work in a series of worrying deals. In Mexico the Franciscan friars linked indigenous religion and magic with the Devil; prosecutions for witchcraft in Mexico began in the 1530s, and by the 1600s indigenous peasants were reporting stereotypical pacts with the Devil. The Devil was deeply and widely feared as the greatest enemy of Christ, keenly intent on destroying soul, life, family, community, church, and state. The next stage is that all this evidence is put to a jury, who decide whether to take it to trial or not. Young women were sometimes accused of infanticide, but midwives and nurses were not particularly at risk. When you look at the intellectual, social and cultural world of the 17th century, witchcraft made perfect sense, says Professor Owen Davies, author of America Bewitched: The Story of Witchcraft After Salem. Allegations of witchcraft frequently blamed the accused for naturally-occurring events the illness or death of people or livestock, the failure of crops, even sexual dysfunction. This is where the familiar of the witch begins to take shape: like the dead, fed on blood, and like the dead, malevolent. How Rye Bread May Have Caused the Salem Witch Trials, https://www.britannica.com/topic/witchcraft, Academia - The Magic Art of Witchcraft and Black Magic, Ancient Origins - The Long History of Witchcraft Persecution, witchcraft - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), witchcraft - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Elsewhere in Europe, suspected witches could be tortured into confession, but under English law, torture was illegal. The actual numbers are far lower, but still striking: between 1482 and 1782, around 100,000 people across Europe were accused of witchcraft, and some 4050,000 were executed. On 29 June 1634 the Privy Council wrote to Alexander Baker and William Clowes, both surgeons in royal service, ordering them to gather a group of midwives and inspect and search the bodies of those women that were lately brought up by the sheriff of the County of Lancaster indicted for witchcraft 1. Part of the Alfred Newton and Sons collection. But, in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, men and women of both high and low status believed in witches ubiquity in a far more disturbing way. Witchcraft spells just like all other spells are indeed real. However, whether something is real or not really depends on perceptions and what the person was looking wants to see. If you are looking for evidence that witchcraft is not real, then you will see evidence to that effect. The burning of a witch in Vienna, Austria in 1538 by Ullstein Bild (from Little, 2018). He wrote the treatise Daemonologie, published in 1597. 5. In Spain, Portugal, and southern Italy, witch prosecutions seldom occurred, and executions were very rare. Black masses are almost entirely a fantasy of modern writers. (Three of the group initially tried at the assizes died in jail prior to the Privy Council investigation.) Both Protestants and Catholics were involved in the prosecutions, as the theology of the Protestant Reformers on the Devil and witchcraft was virtually indistinguishable from that of the Catholics. In the long run it may be better simply to describe the witch hunts than to try to explain them, since the explanations are so diverse and complicated. Those people say that if you do get any power from the riders, its the power of hell and devils. One of the most common is the interwoven initial M, for the Virgin Mary, which persists long after Catholicism has been forbidden. Most accused children had parents who had been accused of witchcraft. These courts reduced the number of witch trials significantly by 1600, half a century before legal theory, legislation, and theology began to dismiss the notion of witchcraft in France and other countries. Consequently, witchcraft became almost synonymous with social deviance. Explanations of the witch hunts continue to vary, but recent research has shown some of these theories to be improbable or of negligible value. How did culture shift towards this persecution? But who could such women be? Monks reported that their nocturnal emissions were often the result of being pressed or sat on by a human female figure. Diane Purkiss is Professor of English Literature at Keble College, University of Oxford, Top image: Detail from Witches, a 1508 painting depicting the Witches Sabbath (Science History Images/Alamy Stock Photo). Another is a spiral in which the roaming entity will get lost. These figures include estimates for cases where no records exist. Whether or not the complaint is taken any further depends on how energetic the JP is and how much he believes in witchcraft. You can unsubscribe at any time. The process began with suspicions and, occasionally, continued through rumours and accusations to convictions. But the idea of the witch who flies in the night and draws power from dark cosmic forces to work her ill will on others pre-dates Christianity, probably by many centuries. Not in English-speaking countries. To the learned in the 17th century, however, the familiar was simply a devil. After an outbreak of hunts in France in 158788, increasingly skeptical judges began a series of restraining reforms marked by the requirement of obligatory appeal to the Parlement in cases of witchcraft, making accusations even more expensive and dangerous. This is where the familiar of the witch begins to take shape: like the dead, fed on blood, and like the dead, malevolent. Please contact site owner for help. In later centuries, constant attempts to defeat heresy brought to light a number of figures who were difficult to reconcile with Christianity. You are using an old version of Internet Explorer. We explore the role of the witchfinder, but also the willing collaboration of ordinary people in ridding the land of witches. One of the midwives listed, Aurelia Molins, was married to one of the surgeons listed, James Molins. WebWitchcraft in Europe during the 17th century was common. We'd like to use additional cookies to remember your settings and understand how you use our services. You are using an old version of Internet Explorer. 7. John M. Taylor lists a total of 37 cases, 11 of which resulted in executions. Elizabeths pet torturer was Sir Richard Topcliffe, who was so immersed in his work that he developed a portable rack that he could take with him on consultations. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Subscribe now for regular news, updates and priority booking for events.Sign up, All content is available under the Open Hello thanks for your comment, thats really interesting. However, the elves are still dangerous, especially if crossed. WebHow was the practice of witchcraft viewed in seventeenth century New England? What were the surgeons and midwives looking for? It was while Elizabeth sat on the throne that it was made use of more than in any other period of history and The rack seldom stood idle in the latter part of Elizabeths reign. There was also the infamous Peine forte et dure which was still being used in Salem, Mass in 1692. One of the most famous witch trials in British history is that of the Pendle witches in 1612, where 12 'witches' who lived around Pendle Hill, mostly women, were charged with the murders of 10 people using witchcraft. Historic England Ref EAW008091. In Homers Odyssey (c.800 BC), Circe who turns men into animals is described as a witch, and Plutarch refers to witchcraft in his treatise On Superstition (c.AD 100). They think that the dead that remain in the earth are not demons but elves. There is no particular moment when this popular idea is formulated. He wrote the treatise, : Detail from Witches, a 1508 painting depicting the Witches Sabbath, Science History Images/Alamy Stock Photo), https://www.youtube.com/user/EnglishHeritageFilm. You have to keep to the rules. The Spanish Inquisition and the Catholic Church instigated the witch trials, In Scotland, where he had ruled as James VI since 1587, James had personally intervened in the 1590 trial of the North Berwick witches, who were accused of attempting to kill him. Widely influential, it was reprinted numerous times. In England the majority of those accused were women. Mother Shipton's Cave, Knaresborough. Indeed, a letter from the Bishop of Chester to the Privy Council recording his conversation with Margaret Johnson, one of the accused women, states that Johnson herself claimed to have familiars. Midwives were rarely accused. She certainly doesnt have to have a hat and a broomstick. It may not display all the features of this and other websites. Another accusation that often accompanied maleficium was trafficking with evil spirits. 91 persons were condemned to The decline of witch hunts, like their origins, was gradual. From the Salem Witch Trials to the witches ofMacbeth, the figure of the witch is embedded in our culture. The latter was the greatest evil of the system, for a victim might be forced to name acquaintances, who were in turn coerced into naming others, creating a long chain of accusations. Nevertheless, the reasons for the decline in the witch hunts are as difficult to discern as the reasons for their origins. Three-fourths of European witch hunts occurred in western Germany, the Low Countries, France, northern Italy, and Switzerland, areas where prosecutions for heresy had been plentiful and charges of diabolism were prominent. Again, witches are typically seen as particularly active after dusk, when law-abiding mortals are asleep. Even though the clergy and judges in the Middle Ages were skeptical of accusations of witchcraft, the period 130030 can be seen as the beginning of witch trials. Further leaps of logic concluded that demons wanted to produce offspring. A sorcerer, magician, or witch attempts to influence the surrounding world through occult (i.e., hidden, as opposed to open and observable) means. If you suspect one of your neighbours is a witch, do not ever let her have the last word in a conversation. If you are found guilty, you could become one of the 30,00060,000 people who were executed for witchcraft in the early modern era. The Christian church coexisted peacefully with folk magic for a time, and even incorporated some magical practices into their religious traditions. Colchester Castle served as the place where he jailed and interrogated the women and men believed to be witches. The 1604 Witchcraft Act under James could be described as a reversion to that status quo rather than an innovation. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Even in England, the idea of a male witch was perfectly feasible. In France in 1022 a group of heretics in Orlans was accused of orgy, infanticide, invocations of demons, and use of the dead childrens ashes in a blasphemous parody of the Eucharist. Were ducking stools ever used as punishment for crimes other than witchcraft during the Middle Ages. Archives, Open The responsibility for the witch hunts can be distributed among theologians, legal theorists, and the practices of secular and ecclesiastical courts. Is there any record of what happened in later life to the poor women who were examined ? Since 1970 careful research has elucidated law codes and theological treatises from the era of the witch hunts and uncovered much information about how fear, accusations, and prosecutions actually occurred in villages, local law courts, and courts of appeal in Roman Catholic and Protestant cultures in western Europe. One such figure was peculiar to the western Alps. Professor Diane Purkiss tackles the common misconceptions about witchcraft and the witch trials of the 16th and 17th centuries. There was some residual paganism in a very few trials. Delve into our history pages to discover more about our sites, how they have changed over time, and who made them what they are today. The overwhelming majority of processes, however, went no farther than the rumour stage, for actually accusing someone of witchcraft was a dangerous and expensive business. Belief in witchcraft was prevalent at all levels of society, even among the most highly-educated (indeed in 1597 James VI of Scotland, later James I of England, had published his own compendium of witchcraft lore). Midwives, of course, were experts in female anatomy. You look at the lumps in the grass. The people continued to practice magic to heal and protect themselves, and some even used it to harm others. Nor were all witches women men could be witches too. Source Historic England Archive BB98/02592. Hornbeam Arts via Flickr. Torture was not allowed in witch cases in Italy or Spain, but where used it often led to convictions and the identification of supposed accomplices. Thursday 8 April 2021 | Dr Jessica Nelson | Records and research | 9 comments. We have the Langbein volume in our reference library at Kew so I will have a look at it. By entering your details, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and privacy policy. Although many witchcraft theorists were not deeply misogynist, many others were, notably the authors of the infamous Malleus maleficarum. The terms witchcraft and witch derive from Old English wiccecraeft: from wicca (masculine) or wicce (feminine), pronounced witchah and witchuh, respectively, denoting someone who practices sorcery; and from craeft meaning craft or skill. Roughly equivalent words in other European languagessuch as sorcellerie (French), Hexerei (German), stregoneria (Italian), and brujera (Spanish)have different connotations, and none precisely translates another. Parrys book is The History of Torture in England An examination of witches in the 17th century. Witch marks are ancient boundary spells. Mother Shipton is believed to have been a witch and Photographer: Unknown photographer for John Laing plc, Historic England Archive John Laing Collection. These thinkers rejected the idea that elderly women could do magic that flouted the will of God. Witchcraft was always viewed with a bit of an apprehension mixed with Dan Browns Da Vinci Code is one of the purveyors of such erroneous hype, stating: The church burned at the stake an astounding 5 million women, which would be astounding if true. In Western society until the 14th century, witchcraft had more in common with sorcery in other culturessuch as those of India or Africathan it did with the witchcraft of the witch hunts. Also printed in Sidney Young ed.. The accusations were usually made by the alleged victims themselves, rather than by priests, lords, judges, or other elites. Successful prosecution of one witch sometimes led to a local hunt for others, but larger hunts and regional panics were confined (with some exceptions) to the years from the 1590s to 1640s. Witches Facts. A witch is an individual that practices witchcraft. Witches were not always considered to be evil. Originally they were considered to be magical and capable of healing, bringing good luck, and providing protection. Witchcraft began as a pagan religion that worshipped both a masculine and feminine god. Although some people undoubtedly practiced sorcery with the intent to harm, and some may actually have worshiped the Devil, in reality no one ever fit the concept of the witch. Nonetheless, the witchs crimes were defined in law. WebBetter Essays. By the 1590s, the last decade of Elizabeth Is reign, the idea of the witch in England had crystallised as an old, very poor woman, lame or blind in one eye, and inclined to lose her temper over personal slights. The origins of witchcraft may have begun as a continuation of using magic as a normal and essential part of life, but its evolution shows the practice of magic turned into a disrespect towards God and Puritan values. Out of these murky beginnings, we discover how the witch became the subject of the chilling persecutions of the 16th and 17th centuries. The first Witchcraft Act was passed under Henry VIII, in 1542, and made all pact witchcraft (in which a deal is made with the Devil) or summoning of spirits a capital crime. Professor Diane Purkiss debunks eight of the most common myths about witchcraft. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. But certificates such as this one, providing documentary evidence of exactly what was done, what was found, and by whom, are extremely rare. Webthis date, witchcraft was simply believed to be a sect of heresy, which would firstly be tried by the Church and then by the State; however the growing number of witch trials on the continent of Europe alarmed Henry. You can follow Lipscomb on Twitter @sixteenthCgirl or visit her website suzannahlipscomb.com. It investigated whether the charges resulted from personal animosity toward the accused; it obtained physicians statements; it did not allow the naming of accomplices either with or without torture; it required the review of every sentence; and it provided for whipping, banishment, or even house arrest instead of death for first offenders. Web1. Author of, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London. Although events at Salem are often described as hysteria, this wasnt madness, or insanity. The surgeons named on the certificate were all professional men and members of the Barber-Surgeons company; several of them were in royal service. Some societies regard a witch as a person with inherent supernatural powers, but in the West witchcraft has been more commonly believed to be an ordinary persons free choice to learn and practice magic with the help of the supernatural. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Large monasteries over the 12th to 14th centuries became preoccupied with the moral problem of wet dreams. Web1. Corrections? Maleficium was a threat not only to individuals but also to public order, for a community wracked by suspicions about witches could split asunder. Although defined differently in disparate historical and cultural contexts, witchcraft has often been seen, especially in the West, as the work of crones who meet secretly at night, indulge in cannibalism and orgiastic rites with the Devil, or Satan, and perform black magic. Using an old browser means that some parts of our website might not work correctly. Witch trials continued through the 14th and early 15th centuries, but with great inconsistency according to time and place. In England, Scotland, Scandinavia and Geneva, witch trials were carried out by Protestant states. The witchs familiar was usually a small animal, sometimes as tiny as a housefly. Eastern Christian, or Orthodox, churches carried out almost no witch-hunting. The Salem witch trials occurred in colonial Massachusetts between early 1692 and mid-1693. They were believed to take the form of common animals and feed on the blood of the witch leaving tell-tale marks which were thus considered physical evidence of witchcraft. In other words, they had found nothing odd at all on the bodies of three of the women, and on the fourth there were a couple of growths but nothing that the examiners thought sinister. Having received their orders, Clowes gathered a group of surgeons and midwives and carried out the examinations on 2 July. Once accused, a witch had no chance of proving her innocence. Yet one general explanation is valid: the unique character of the witch hunts was consistent with the prevailing worldview of intelligent, educated, experienced people for more than three centuries. 2. This article was first published on HistoryExtra in 2015, Suzannah Lipscomb is Emeritus Professor at the University of Roehampton, and the author of several books about the 16th century, Enjoying HistoryExtra.com? Terracotta tiles on the roof of Saintoft Lodge, Newton-on-Rawcliffe, Ryedale, North Yorkshire. 3. She was always portrayed as an old hag, because she represented cold and winter. Matthew Hopkins, Puritan Witch-Hunter General, The Discovery of Witches, 1647. However, witches bodies were burned in Scotland, though they were strangled to death first. Anyone willing to feed them on blood can hope to put them to work in a series of worrying deals. Witches were not a persecuted minority, because witches did not exist: the people hurt or killed in the hunts were not witches but victims forced by their persecutors into a category that in reality included no one. Between 1482 and 1782, thousands of people across Europe most of them women were accused of witchcraft and subsequently executed. It did not take long for intellectuals to note her resemblance to the witches with whom they were familiar from classical literature. In 1374 Pope Gregory XI declared that all magic was done with the aid of demons and thus was open to prosecution for heresy. Before Europeans established colonies in America, magical practices and traditions were an essential part of European life. Dont ever let her across your threshold. Local courts were more credulous and therefore more likely to be strict and even violent in their treatment of supposed witches than were regional or superior courts. Most judges and many jurymen were highly sceptical about the existence of magical powers, seeing the whole thing as a huge con trick by fraudsters. Somebody would complain to the local justice of the peace (JP) that you had bewitched an animal, or a foodstuff, or a child. She Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. These allegations would have important implications for the future because they were part of a broader pattern of hostility toward and persecution of marginalized groups. In Scotland, where he had ruled as James VI since 1587, James had personally intervened in the 1590 trial of the North Berwick witches, who were accused of attempting to kill him. You can also catch up on previous series in whichwehave uncovered the true stories of famous spies and lostlove letters within our collection. The Devil Re-Baptizing Men and Women in the Pact, from The Compendium Malifarcarum, 1610. We see evidence of this in the following examples: In his paper Diabolical Duos: Witch Spouses in Early New England, Paul Moyer discusses the witchcraft accusations made against couples in the middle-seventeenth century as well as during the Salem witch trials. You have heard many stories about these lumps in the grass. Youll also hear how archives themselvesare evidence of the past. If you were a person living at that time, how would you try and defend yourself from witches? Whoops! Travel with us from the pre-Christian world to the burial mounds of the English landscape, where an underworld of elves, demons and familiars came alive in the popular imagination. Lancaster Castle's monumental gatehouse would have welcomed the 10 accused who would have trekked 50 miles or so from Pendle to be thrown into the castle's damp cells and left for months.