Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England

Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England Why was there any problem? Today when we think of witches, we think of fairy tale witches on brooms with black cats and warts on the tips of their noses, but then, they would have thought anyone could be a witch. If you were an old lady, often a widow who lived at home alone, people would not automatically go "witch witch". Often people that were accused had a family, also there was a lot of the rich accusing the poor. This is the story of Elizabeth Crossly. Henry Cockfeild told how a poor woman called Elizabeth Crossly came to his house begging. Henry gave her a small amount and sent her away, Elizabeth was not pleased with this amount but she went anyway. The next night Henry's one year old son started having fits three months later he was dead. Henry blamed Elizabeth, At the trial other people said she had bewitched members of there family. Elizabeth was found guilty and hung. Elizabeth's story was not uncommon. Here is a chart to show the number of witchcraft trials in the south east of England from 1560 to 1701. County Number of trials Sussex 6 Hertfordshire 45 Surrey 55 Kent 79 Essex 279 As you can see there were a lot of trials in Essex. Were there any rules? Henry VIII introduced Laws against witchcraft because he thought witches were involved in plots to kill him. He made a law stating that any witch must be

  • Word count: 1866
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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The Effects of Emma’s and Clara’s Deaths on Charles and Esteban in Madame Bovary and The House of the Spirits

Michael Smith Candidate Number: Campbell High School World Literature Paper 1 Word Count: 1,485 The Effects of Emma's and Clara's Deaths on Charles and Esteban in Madame Bovary and The House of the Spirits In both Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits and Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary, the deaths of the major characters, Clara and Emma, have profound effects on their husbands, Esteban and Charles. Even though each marriage consists of a distant relationship between husband and wife, once the wives die, the husbands, ironically, strive to become what their wives had wanted them to be. The legacy that each wife sets during her life lives on through her husband. Allende characterizes Esteban as narrow-minded and intractable during his life with Clara. His temper is described as "his most salient trait...a characteristic he had had since childhood, when he used to throw himself on the floor foaming at the mouth, so furious that he could scarcely breathe, and kicking like one possessed by the devil"(Allende 41). His insularity and his short temper cause Esteban to hit Clara, knocking out several of her teeth, and then to blame his actions on Pedro Tercero Garcia, a peasant spreading socialist ideas. Esteban does not once during Clara's life accept any socialist ideals. The tensions Esteban has with his family escalate because of his rigid beliefs in manners and

  • Word count: 1647
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Unknown Bravery.

Unknown Bravery By James Rowson Chapter 1: Conscription The Smith family of three sat around the kitchen table eating their breakfast in complete silence pondering the recent chain of events. It had been a tough time for them, well not just for them, it was hard for everyone. The Great War had broken out almost a year to the day but it was only as of late the reality of the situation had sank in: starvation, losses in battle and the terror of invasion. Although in the last few weeks a new nemesis had reared it is ugly head, conscription. Conscription is every able-bodied man over the age of 18 was forced to join one of the three Armed Forces: the Army, the Navy or the R.A.F. This did not bear well for the Smith's as Alfred and Margaret's only offspring had come of age, so to speak, Charles was 18 years old. The entire family were anti-war. Charles's father was against all forms off physical and mental combat and a devout Catholic. He had married Charles's mother during the Crimean War rather than join the forces and had paid dearly for it, his own father had disowned him. Alfred was determined not to make the same mistake with his child and as soon as the war had begun he told Charles that it was not necessary for him to join the forces. A clunk echoed down the hall into the kitchen and was heard by all. "Post's 'ere" chimed Mrs. Smith, as the busybody made her way down

  • Word count: 4502
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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How far was Edward IV successful at restoring order in England between 1471 and 1483?

How far was Edward IV successful at restoring order in England between 1471 and 1483? Edward IV was very successful at restoring order in England between 1471 and 1483. As this was his second reign, Edward had experience behind him, so he knew what to do and what not to do to support England. The main question behind his success was whether it was political fortune or political skill that helped him in his reign. Edward IV improved royal finances by two main ways: ordinary revenue and extra-ordinary revenue. His ordinary revenue included crown lands, custom duties and feudal 'prerogatives'. Crown lands means that Edward gained land from nobles, e.g. if a noble died, the king automatically gained his land. This situation happened many times, with the Duke of Clarence and Warwick. Custom duties are taxes on imports. Edward IV was entrepreneurial and was interested in the key commodities: wool, tin and cloth. In the 1470s, there was an upturn in trade and between 1471 and 1483 there was a 40% improvement in trade which was a great achievement for England. Feudal Prerogatives included wardship, bishop vacancies and profits of justice. Wardship was when the king could claim the income of a child. The king was therefore inheritor of the land until the child became of age, then the king would charge an entry fee for the child to reclaim their land OR the king would sell the child

  • Word count: 1054
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Why was there a distrust of Charles I's intentions by 1640?

Why was there a distrust of Charles I's intentions by 1640? In order to answer this question it is first necessary to determine what Charles' intentions were. He had come to the throne married to a French princess, Henrietta Maria. She was a devout Catholic and had her own private chapel complete with Catholic priest. This had created some friction between the Church of England and the Monarch as they were unhappy with his Catholic bride. He had also had quarrels with Parliament. In 1628, he was forced to accept the Petition of Rights, which forbid taxation without Parliament's approval. Shortly after this in 1629, he dissolved Parliament altogether and began what was known as 'The Eleven Years Of Tyranny', or 'The Eleven Years Of Personal Rule' from Charles' perspective. The main issue that arose from dissolving Parliament was money, Charles did not have direct control over all the funds of the country. He needed Parliament in order to do this. During this period of history, sovereigns were expected to 'Rule of their Own', meaning that they ran the country using their own personal wealth. As there was no Social Service, National Health Service, or Education System, the running of the country extended to banquets and entertaining guests. Charles did not have any major problems as far as this was concerned as he continued the practices of selling honours and knighthoods. He

  • Word count: 1173
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Why was there a revolution in France in 1789

Why was there a revolution in France in 1789? The causes of the revolution in France can be divided it to long-term causes and short term causes. The main long-term cause was the way in which the country was run. The 'ancien regime' was the period in France before the revolution of 1789. There was royal despotism, heavy taxes, the parlements had no real power and the church was also exploiting the peasants. The main short-term causes were the American war of Independence, the financial crisis in France and the unwillingness for the King and church to change. During the 'ancien regime' the country was divided into estates. The first estate was the clergy, the second estate were the nobles and the third were the peasants, the King was its head. The idea of having estates is that all of the estates represent different things, but none of the estates can work together without the other, which was partially true. The King apparently controlled all of the estates and was the most vital part of the machine that was the estates. The First estate was extremely rich and powerful, far more than the Monarch. The members of the first estate generally had good lives and were opposed to the ideas of reform from the king and the 'enlightened nobility'. This had a detrimental effect on the ability for the regime to modernise and 'abide' with new ideas. The Second estate made up 1-2 % of

  • Word count: 1849
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Role and Influence of Ruth Wilcox in “Howard’s End”.

Role and Influence of Ruth Wilcox in "Howard's End". Howard's end is a symbolic novel. The novel deals with conflict of different social class and human relationship. Ruth Wilcox is very important character as I am going to discuss the role and influence of Mrs. Wilcox. Ruth Wilcox is representing the conservative English. Although, she is alive only for a short time. Her symbolic connections are with the land. Mrs. Wilcox often wars a long dress trailing on the grass. In contrast to her, other women always avoid their skirt to have contact with land. Through Mrs. Wilcox, Forster opposes London. "London makes separateness: it against personal relations, it makes individuality almost impossible without money" (1) Forster main hope is at Howard's end (Mrs. Wilcox's house). The value and tradition of England is represent: "[The house] was English and the wych-elm that [Margaret] saw from the window was an English tree. No report had prepared her for its peculiar glory. It was neither warrior, nor love, nor god; in none of these roles do the English excel. It was a comrade, bending over the house, strength and adventure in its roots, but in its utmost fingers tenderness, and the girth, that a dozen man could not have spanned became in the end evanescent, till pale bud clusters seemed to float in the air. It was a comrade. House and tree transcended any similes of sex."

  • Word count: 950
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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The Habsburg Valois Rivalry

The Habsburg Valois Rivalry Personal *Francis wanted to gain Milan because it would bring him international prestige, glory and wealth. *The election of the HR Emperor in 1519 caused dislike between Charles and Francis. Francis thought after hi victory at Marignano in 1515 he would become the HR Emperor. He spent 400,000 ecus in bribes to the electors. Francis was upset when he narrowly lost the election to Charles. *France was active in Italy from 1521, but the imperial forces routed them at Pavia in 1525 and captured Francis. Animosity was made worse by the Treaty of Madrid in 1526. Francis was captured after the Battle of Pavia(1525) he was forced to sign the Treaty of Madrid here he agreed to surrender all claims on Italy and the Netherlands and to return French Burgundy. Francis then refused to acknowledge it. Charles then held Francis sons hostage till Francis paid a ransom for their return(1529). *In May 1536 possibility King and Emperor would settle their differences by single combat in a duel. *Charles was distracted by other problems involving Turks and German Protestants i.e. the Schmalkaldic League. France exploited both of these problems. 1530 Francis met representatives from the Schmalkaldic League, he even financed their armies. *HVR ended because in 1559 to 1598 France became involved in a major political crisis. *Henry II of France and Philip II of

  • Word count: 1180
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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How far were James I's financial problems in England up to 1618 Of his own making?

How far were James I's financial problems in England up to 1618 Of his own making? On his journey south from Scotland to his newly ascended throne of England James described himself as being 'like a poor man wandering about forty years in wilderness and barren soil, and now arrived in the land of promise.' Having made a success of governing Scotland, James couldn't believe his luck in now being enthroned to this rich prosperous land, which should be much easier than the poor Scotland to govern. All through his journey south he was entertained in lavish style by the leaders of English society, trying to impress him with their generosity and wealth, surpassing anything he experienced in Scotland, leading James therefore to assume that this land would have vast amounts of wealth for his monarchy to tap into. James's extravagance was one of his greatest political and financial problems. What made his position worse was that he was succeeding Elizabeth who was seen to be the exception to the general rule of extravagant monarchs. She had learnt from experience how the mechanisms for tapping the English wealth effectively did not exist, and kept tight control over expenditure to avoid falling into debt. However Elizabeth's tight fisted-ness with money meant that she was not very generous to her subjects and with the coming of the new king they were eager to welcome James's open

  • Word count: 1462
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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What are your first impressions of Henry?

Sana Javed What are your first impressions of Henry? The first impression of Henry is shown straight away in the chorus as he is described as being 'warlike', this gives the audience the impression that Henry is ready for war and almost was made to fight. The chorus then carries on to say that he shall 'assume the port of mars', This again shows us how much passion he has about war, as Mars is the god of war. Also how 'at this heels (leashed in like hounds)', this is showing how he is ready to be unleashed to the French and give all he has got; 'should Famine, Sword, and Fire crouch for employment', these personifications of death show how Henry is ready to attack like a 'hound'. In the first act Canterbury and Ely talk about Henry's past and how he's a changed man now, 'His hours filled up with riots, banquets, sports', but in the end he turned out well, even though they did not think he would, 'the courses of his youth promised it not'. Therefore Henry is now a changed man, and turned into a 'real' king who is admired by his people. They also talk about the King in an admiring way, 'The King is full of grace and fair regard. And a true lover of the holy Church', this shows us from the other characters point of view that not only is Henry faithful and pious but a fair and responsible king who wants the best for his Country and people by going about business in a just

  • Word count: 892
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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