England's Witchcraft Trials

England's Witchcraft Trials
Author: Willow Winsham
Publisher: Grub Street Publishers
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2018-08-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1473870968

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By the author of Accused comes “an entertaining as well as illuminating” history of Britain’s most infamous witch hunts and trials (Magnolia Review). With the echo of that chilling injunction, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,” hundreds of people were accused and tried for witchcraft across England throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. With fear and suspicion rife, neighbor turned against neighbor, friend against friend, as women, men, and children alike were caught up in the deadly fervor that swept through villages. From the feared covens of Pendle Forest to the victims of the notorious and fanatical Witchfinder Generals Matthew Hopkins and John Stearns, so-called witches were suspected, accused, and dragged to trial to await judgement and face their inevitable and damnable fate. In this “interesting, informative and insightful” book, historian Willow Winsham draws on a wealth of primary sources including trial transcripts, parish, and country records, and the often sensational—and highly prejudicial—pamphlets that were published after each trial. Her exhaustive research reveals just how frightening, violent, and terribly common the scourge really was, and explores the social conditions, class divisions, and religious mania that stoked its flames (All About History).

Accused

Accused
Author: Willow Winsham
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Total Pages: 187
Release: 2016-09-19
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1473850045

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The true stories of eleven notorious women, across five centuries, who were feared, victimized, and condemned for witchcraft in the British Isles. Beginning with the late Middle Ages—from Ireland to Hampshire—hundreds of women were accused of spellcasting, wicked seduction, murder, and consorting with the devil. Most were fated for the gallows or the stake. What did it mean for these prisoners to stand accused? What were they really guilty of? And by whom were they persecuted? Drawing on a wealth of primary sources including trial documents, church and census records, and the original sensationalist pamphlets describing the crimes, historian Willow Winsham finds the startling answers to these questions. In the process, she resurrects the lives, deaths, and mysteries of eleven women subjected to history’s most notable witch trials. From Irish “sorceress” Alice Kyteler who, in 1324 was the first accused witch on record, to Scottish psychic Helen Duncan who, in 1944, was the last woman imprisoned under Britain’s Witchcraft Act of 1735. Dames, servant girls, aggrieved neighbors, suspect widows, cat ladies, prostitutes, mothers, wives, daughters, and sisters. Accused brings all these victims, and the eras in which they lived and died, back to life in “an incredibly well researched . . . stunning and admirable piece of work, highly recommended” (Terry Tyler, author of the Project Renova series).

The Last Witches of England

The Last Witches of England
Author: John Callow
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2021-10-07
Genre: History
ISBN: 1350196142

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"Fascinating and vivid." New Statesman "Thoroughly researched." The Spectator "Intriguing." BBC History Magazine "Vividly told." BBC History Revealed "A timely warning against persecution." Morning Star "Astute and thoughtful." History Today "An important work." All About History "Well-researched." The Tablet On the morning of Thursday 29 June 1682, a magpie came rasping, rapping and tapping at the window of a prosperous Devon merchant. Frightened by its appearance, his servants and members of his family had, within a matter of hours, convinced themselves that the bird was an emissary of the devil sent by witches to destroy the fabric of their lives. As the result of these allegations, three women of Bideford came to be forever defined as witches. A Secretary of State brushed aside their case and condemned them to the gallows; to hang as the last group of women to be executed in England for the crime. Yet, the hatred of their neighbours endured. For Bideford, it was said, was a place of witches. Though 'pretty much worn away' the belief in witchcraft still lingered on for more than a century after their deaths. In turn, ignored, reviled, and extinguished but never more than half-forgotten, it seems that the memory of these three women - and of their deeds and sufferings, both real and imagined – was transformed from canker to regret, and from regret into celebration in our own age. Indeed, their example was cited during the final Parliamentary debates, in 1951, that saw the last of the witchcraft acts repealed, and their names were chanted, as both inspiration and incantation, by the women beyond the wire at Greenham Common. In this book, John Callow explores this remarkable reversal of fate, and the remarkable tale of the Bideford Witches.

Witch Hunt

Witch Hunt
Author: David Pickering
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013
Genre: Tromura
ISBN: 9781445608617

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The fascinating story of one of England's darkest times.

Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England

Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England
Author: Alan MacFarlane
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 382
Release: 2002-09-10
Genre: History
ISBN: 1134644663

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This is a classic regional and comparative study of early modern witchcraft. The history of witchcraft continues to attract attention with its emotive and contentious debates. The methodology and conclusions of this book have impacted not only on witchcraft studies but the entire approach to social and cultural history with its quantitative and anthropological approach. The book provides an important case study on Essex as well as drawing comparisons with other regions of early modern England. The second edition of this classic work adds a new historiographical introduction, placing the book in context today.

The Salem Witch Trials

The Salem Witch Trials
Author: Marilynne K. Roach
Publisher: Taylor Trade Publications
Total Pages: 758
Release: 2004
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781589791329

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The Salem Witch Trials is based on over twenty-five years of archival research--including the author's discovery of previously unknown documents--newly found cases and court records. From January 1692 to January 1697 this history unfolds a nearly day-by-day narrative of the crisis as the citizens of New England experienced it.

Witchcraft in Early Modern England

Witchcraft in Early Modern England
Author: James Sharpe
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 172
Release: 2014-06-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 1317881303

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With the renewed interest in the history of witches and witchcraft, this timely book provides an introduction to this fascinating topic, informed by the main trends of new thinking on the subject. Beginning with a discussion of witchcraft in the early modern period, and charting the witch panics that took place at this time, the author goes on to look at the historical debate surrounding the causes of the legal persecution of witches. Contemporary views of witchcraft put forward by judges, theological writers and the medical profession are examined, as is the place of witchcraft in the popular imagination. Jim Sharpe also looks at the gender dimensions of the witch persecution, and the treatment of witchcraft in Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. Supported by a range of compelling documents, the book concludes with an exploration of why witch panics declined in the late seventeenth century and early eighteenth century.

The Discovery of Witches

The Discovery of Witches
Author: Matthew Hopkins
Publisher: Graphic Arts Books
Total Pages: 14
Release: 2021-02-09
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1513276468

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Starting in the 15th century, a fear of witchcraft and alternative practices grew into a hysteria. Because witches were suspected to be devil worshippers, they were considered heretics to the Christian church. Consequently, the Christians launched a crusade against these women and men. Matthew Hopkins was not only among the greatest supporters of this crusade, but also one of the most active participants. In just over a year, Matthew Hopkins, a self-proclaimed “Witchfinder General”, killed over one hundred people. While the witch hunt hysteria infected much of the 17th century society in England, there were still those who opposed the accusations and discrimination against witches. After being criticized for his work, Hopkins decided to publish a guide to witch hunting, including methods to discover a witch, how to torture them into a confession, and how to prosecute them. Along with outlines of torture methods, such as sleep deprivation and forced physical activity, The Discovery of Witches also addressed the questions and concerns raised by those who did not support Hopkins. Under the guise of being a man of God, Hopkins claimed to have been sent on a divine mission to manipulate other religious groups into joining his cause. As Hopkin’s practices brought him lucrative success, he rose to a short-lived power, but his published doctrine spread his influence for years after his death. The Discovery of Witches by Matthew Hopkins is a short text of immeasurable insight. Though now recognized as zealot propaganda, The Discovery of Witches depicts a chilling perspective of a heinous time in history, including the concerns of those who opposed it. While Hopkin’s work immortalizes a fascinating yet repulsive historical movement, it also invites readers to reflect on the ways the spirit of his manipulation is still present in modern society. This edition of The Discovery of Witches by Matthew Hopkins features an eye-catching cover deign and is printed in an easy-to-read font, making it both readable and modern.

The Voices of Women in Witchcraft Trials

The Voices of Women in Witchcraft Trials
Author: Liv Helene Willumsen
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 511
Release: 2022-03-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 1000550567

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Women come to the fore in witchcraft trials as accused persons or as witnesses, and this book is a study of women’s voices in these trials in eight countries around the North Sea: Spanish Netherlands, Northern Germany, Denmark, Scotland, England, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. From each country, three trials are chosen for close reading of courtroom discourse and the narratological approach enables various individuals to speak. Throughout the study, a choir of 24 voices of accused women are heard which reveal valuable insight into the field of mentalities and display both the individual experience of witchcraft accusation and the development of the trial. Particular attention is drawn to the accused women’s confessions, which are interpreted as enforced narratives. The analyses of individual trials are also contextualized nationally and internationally by a frame of historical elements, and a systematic comparison between the countries shows strong similarities regarding the impact of specific ideas about witchcraft, use of pressure and torture, the turning point of the trial, and the verdict and sentence. This volume is an essential resource for all students and scholars interested in the history of witchcraft, witchcraft trials, transnationality, cultural exchanges, and gender in early modern Northern Europe.

Cautio Criminalis, or a Book on Witch Trials

Cautio Criminalis, or a Book on Witch Trials
Author: Friedrich Spee
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
Total Pages: 413
Release: 2012-10-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 0813934176

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In 1631, at the epicenter of the worst excesses of the European witch-hunts, Friedrich Spee, a Jesuit priest, published the Cautio Criminalis, a book speaking out against the trials that were sending thousands of innocent people to gruesome deaths. Spee, who had himself ministered to women accused of witchcraft in Germany, had witnessed firsthand the twisted logic and brutal torture used by judges and inquisitors. Combined, these harsh prosecutorial measures led inevitably not only to a confession but to denunciations of supposed accomplices, spreading the circle of torture and execution ever wider. Driven by his priestly charge of enacting Christian charity, or love, Spee sought to expose the flawed arguments and methods used by the witch-hunters. His logic is relentless as he reveals the contradictions inherent in their arguments, showing there is no way for an innocent person to prove her innocence. And, he questions, if the condemned witches truly are guilty, how could the testimony of these servants and allies of Satan be reliable? Spee’s insistence that suspects, no matter how heinous the crimes of which they are accused, possess certain inalienable rights is a timeless reminder for the present day. The Cautio Criminalis is one of the most important and moving works in the history of witch trials and a revealing documentation of one man’s unexpected humanity in a brutal age. Marcus Hellyer’s accessible translation from the Latin makes it available to English-speaking audiences for the first time. Studies in Early Modern German History