Witch Trials

[1871]

The witch trials in the Early Modern period were a period of witch hunts between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, when across Early Modern Europe, and to some extent in the European colonies in North America, there was a widespread hysteria that malevolent Satanic witches were operating as an organized threat to Christendom. Those accused of witchcraft were portrayed as being worshipers of the Devil, who engaged in such acts as malevolent sorcery, and orgies at meetings known as Witches' Sabbaths. Many people were subsequently accused of being witches, and were put on trial for the crime, with varying punishments being applicable in different regions and at different times.



While early trials fall still within the Late Medieval period, the peak of the witch hunt was during the period orthe European wars of religion, peaking between about 1580 and 1630. The witch hunts declined in the early 18th century. In Great Britain, their end is marked by the Witchcraft Act of 1735. But sporadic witch-trials continued to be held during the second half of the 18th century, the last known dating to 1782, though a prosecution was commenced in Tennessee as recently as 1833.

Over the entire duration of the phenomenon of some three centuries, an estimated total of 40,000 to 60,000 people were executed.

Among the best known of these trials were the Scottish North Berwick witch trials, Swedish Torsåker witch trials and the American Salem witch trials. Among the largest and most notable were the Trier witch trials (1581–1593), the Fulda witch trials (1603–1606), the Würzburg witch trial (1626–1631) and the Bamberg witch trials (1626–1631).


The sociological causes of the witch-hunts have long been debated in scholarship. Mainstream historiography sees the reason for the witch craze in a complex interplay of various factors that mark the Early Modern period, including the religious sectarianism in the wake of the Reformation, besides other religious, societal, economic and climatic factors.




Beginning of the witch hunts during the 15th century


1533 account of the execution of a witch charged with burning the German town of Schiltach in 1531
While the idea of witchcraft began to mingle with the persecution of heretics even in the 14th century, the beginning of the witch-hunts as a phenomenon in its own right become apparent during the first half of the 15th century in south-eastern France and western Switzerland, in communities of the Western Alps, in what was at the time Burgundy and Savoy.

Here, the cause of eliminating the supposed Satanic witches from society was taken up by a number of individuals; Claude Tholosan for instance had tried over two hundred people accusing them of witchcraft in Briançon, Dauphiné by 1420.[46]

Soon, the idea of identifying and prosecuting witches spread throughout the neighboring areas of northern Italy, Switzerland and southern Germany, and it was at Basel that the Council of Basel assembled from 1431 to 1437. This Church Council, which had been attended by such anti-witchcraft figures as Johann Nider and Martin Le Franc, helped to standardize the stereotype of the Satanic witch that would be propagated throughout the rest of the trials.[47]

Following the meeting of the Council and the increase in the trials around this area of central Europe, the idea that malevolent Satanic witches were operating against Christendom began spreading throughout much of the Holy Roman Empire and several adjacent areas. According to historian Robert Thurston, "From this heart of persecution the witch stereotype spread, both through a flood of new writings on the subject and through men who had been at the Council of Basel and now went elsewhere to take up new assignments in the church." The most notable of these works was published in 1486, written by the German Dominican monk, Heinrich Kramer—allegedly aided by Jacob Sprenger—known as the Malleus Malificarum (The Hammer of the Witches) in which they set down the stereotypical image of the Satanic witch and prescribed torture as a means of interrogating suspects. The Malleus Malificarum was reprinted in twenty-nine editions up till 1669.





On December 5, 1484, Pope Innocent VIII issued the Summis desiderantes affectibus, a papal bull in which he recognized the existence of witches and gave full papal approval for the inquisition to move against witches, including the permission to do whatever necessary to get rid of them. In the bull, which is sometimes referred to as the "Witch-Bull of 1484", the witches were explicitly accused of having "slain infants yet in the mother's womb" (abortion) and of "hindering men from performing the sexual act and women from conceiving" (contraception).



Peak of the trials: 1580–1630

The height of the European trials were between 1560 and 1630, with the large hunts first beginning in 1609.[2] During this period, the biggest witch trials were held in Europe, notably the Trier witch trials (1581–1593), the Fulda witch trials (1603–1606), the Würzburg witch trial (1626–1631) and the Bamberg witch trials (1626–1631).



In 1590, the North Berwick witch trials occurred in Scotland, and were of particular note as the king, James VI, got involved himself. James had developed a fear that witches planned to kill him after he suffered from storms whilst traveling to Denmark in order to claim his bride, Anne, earlier that year. Returning to Scotland, the king heard of trials that were occurring in North Berwick and ordered the suspects to be brought to him—he subsequently believed that a nobleman, Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell, was a witch, and after the latter fled in fear of his life, he was outlawed as a traitor. The king subsequently set up royal commissions to hunt down witches in his realm, recommending torture in dealing with suspects, and in 1597 he wrote a book about the menace that witches posed to society entitled Daemonologie.



Decline of the trials: 1650–1750

Whilst the witch trials had begun to fade out across much of Europe by the mid-seventeenth century, they continued to a greater extent on the fringes of Europe and in the American colonies. In Scandinavia, the late seventeenth century saw the peak of the trials in a number of areas; for instance, in 1675, the Torsåker witch trials took place in Sweden, where seventy-one people were executed for witchcraft in a single day. In the nearby Finland, which was then under the control of the Swedish monarchy, the hunt peaked in that same decade.[2] During the same period, the Salzburg witch trials in Austria led to the death of 139 people (1675–1690).





The clergy and the intellectuals began to speak out against the trials from the late sixteenth century. Johannes Kepler in 1615 could only by the weight of his prestige keep his mother from being burnt as a witch. The 1692 Salem witch trials were a brief outburst of witch hysteria in the New World at a time when the practice was already waning in Europe. Winifred King was the last person tried for witchcraft in New England.



During the early 18th century, the practice subsided. Jane Wenham was among the last subjects of a typical witch trial in England in 1712, but was pardoned after her conviction and set free. The last execution for witchcraft in England took place in 1716, when Mary Hicks and her daughter Elizabeth were hanged. Janet Horne was executed for witchcraft in Scotland in 1727. The Witchcraft Act of 1735 saw the end of the traditional form of witchcraft as a legal offense in Britain, those accused under the new act were restricted to people who falsely pretended to be able to procure spirits, generally being the most dubious professional fortune tellers and mediums, and punishment was light.



Helena Curtens and Agnes Olmanns were the last women to be executed as witches in Germany, in 1738. In Austria, Maria Theresa outlawed witch-burning and torture in the late 18th century; the last capital trial took place in Salzburg in 1750.



Three developments in Christian doctrine have been identified as factors contributing significantly to the witch hunts:
1) a shift from the rejection of belief in witches to an acceptance of their existence and powers,

2) developments in the doctrine of Satan which incorporated witchcraft as part of Satanic influence,

3) the identification of witchcraft as heresy. Belief in witches and supernatural evil were widespread in medieval Europe, and the secular legal codes of European countries had identified witchcraft as a crime before being reached by Christian missionaries. Scholars have noted that the early influence of the Church in the medieval era resulted in the revocation of these laws in many places, bringing an end to traditional pagan witch hunts




Matthew Hopkins

(c. 1620 – 12 August 1647) was an English witchhunter whose career flourished during the time of the English Civil War. He claimed to hold the office of Witchfinder General, although that title was never bestowed by Parliament. His witchhunts mainly took place in the eastern counties of Suffolk, Essex, Norfolk, and occasionally in Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, and Huntingdonshire.

Hopkins' witch-finding career began in March 1645 and lasted until his retirement in 1647. During that period, he and his associates were responsible for more people being hanged for witchcraft than in the previous 100 years,and were solely responsible for the increase in witch trials during those years. He is believed to have been responsible for the deaths of 300 women between the years 1644 and 1646.It has been estimated that all of the English witch trials between the early 15th and late 18th centuries resulted in fewer than 500 executions for witchcraft. Therefore, presuming the number executed as a result of investigations by Hopkins and his colleague John Stearne is at the lower end of the various estimates, their efforts accounted for about 40 per cent of the total; in the 14 months of their crusade Hopkins and Stearne sent to the gallows more people than all the other witchhunters in the 160 years of persecution in England.

[Boboulas]

I feel bad for laughing at this picture.

http://www.witchcraftandwitches.com/images/ducking.jpg

Kinda looks like fishing with witches for bait xD

[Fuzzly Bear]

[1871]

(05-17-2012 04:21 PM)Boboulas Wrote:  I feel bad for laughing at this picture.

http://www.witchcraftandwitches.com/images/ducking.jpg

Kinda looks like fishing with witches for bait xD

They still have these ducking stools kept around the UK;





now its more civilised as they have pizza express

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(05-17-2012 06:18 PM)HamishFTW Wrote:  

Not far from the truth though wrong century. You can reasd the transcripts they kept;

Rev. Lone to witness concerning Mr. Hawes of Steeple and prove That the said Hawes did saie of him self that he was a forediviner or a southsaier:
next court
William Harris said that Mr. Hawes sholld be a divinar or elles he had a Famyliar:
Richmond, another diviner, was quoted to the same effect, warning against Hawes as a naughtie man:
to be judged
Document Q/SR 18/41
1566
Robert Wallys
Guilty
No Goods
Claims benefit of Clergy
________________________________________
Document Q/SR 48/61
1574
A wandering vagabond and "soothsayer"

"There was a witch in Boreham, and upon her confession before Archdeacon Cole, she fled and went away.
Joan Cocke of Kelvedon did lay her hands upon the knees of Richard Sherman, clapping her hand, upon which it is by common report come to our knowledge that he was lamedand yet halt.
Noble's wife of Kelvedon, daughter of Joan Cocke, is suspected to have by the craft of witchcraft, slain one cow and two others to have caused to give milk of all colours

1 February 1567 Scope and Content Indictment of Alice PRESTMARYe of Great Dunmow, wife of John PRESTMARYe spinster, bewitched Edward Parker son of Robert Parker "tanner", putting him in peril of his life, so that his life is despaired of. Pleads not guilty; guilty. Judgement according to the Statute. [ASS 35/9/2/5]

INQUISITIONS

102. Taken on 7 May 9 Eliz., at Colchester, before John and rob. Myddeton, coroners for the town of colchester, on view of the body of Alice PRESTMARY a prisoner in colchester Castle. the jurors say that she languished for a mont of on illness called `a fever' from 1 to 6 May and then died. Voisitation of God.

Assizes held at Brentwood 13 March 1567......

Alice Preasmary taken at Dunmow, for suspicion of felony.
Also, her husband, John Prestmarye killed himself in 1567
INQUISITIONSTaken on 1 February 9 eliz., at Great dunmow, before tho. Knott, coroner, on view of the body of John PRESTMARYE of Great Dunmow lab. aged 60 years. The jurors say that John on 30 January hanged himself from a `walnute tree' in his garden with a halter.
Felo de se. (felon of himself)

His inquest was on the same day as her trial.



'Faith Mills, of Fressingham, Suffolk, admitted that her three pet birds, Tom, Robert and John, were in reality familiars who had wrought havoc by magically making a cow jump over a sty and breaking a cart. She was hanged'

*****************

Men and woomen were executed but mostly women. Matthew Hopkins got rich from being a witch hunter.

After the success of the Chelmsford trials, Hopkins followed it by creating another sensation in Suffolk. There he discovered that the minister of Brandeston, John Lowes an old man of seventy ‘was naught but a foul witch’. It appears that Lowes had been a quarrelsome old fellow and was sorely disliked by many in his parish. At first he stoutly denied his guilt, but a confession was gained when he was subjected to Hopkins’s most approved methods by teams of his watchers who, “kept him awake several nights together while running him backwards and forwards about his cell until out of breath. After a brief rest, they then ran him again. And thus they did for several days and nights together, till he was weary of his life and scarce sensible of what he said or did”.

It was in this state of mind that Lowes finally confessed, “he had covenanted with the devil, suckled familiars (Tom, Flo, Bess and Mary) for five years, and had bewitched cattle. He had also caused a ship to sink off Harwich, on a calm sea, with the loss of fourteen lives”. A later pamphlet by Stearne states that Lowes “was joyfull to see what power his imps had”. Lowes later retracted his confession, but this didn’t save him, and since he was not allowed a clergyman to read the burial service for him, he recited it himself on his way to the scaffold on the 27th August 1645.

http://www.witchtrials.co.uk/matthew.html

[South Side Silurian]

The sad thing is that now-a-days the ways in which some confessions are extrapolated from people accused of something isn't too dissimilar to the ways Hopkins et al got their accused to confess. Label em witches/terrorists/criminals first and begin the process from that starting point, with that label the justification for the methods utilised.