Now is you ask someone what they think about witches they'd probably say something like "theirs no such thing" or "there are people that think its fun to muck around with magic but nothing actually happens, its just a image they like to support". But back then it was a totally different story, people thought witches got their powers from the devil. The very word "witch" means servant of the devil in return for their souls once they died. After a witch had attended the Sabbath they were given a small animal like a cat, toad, fox or dog - these were called familiars, it was an evil spirit in the form of an animal. They thought a witch would feed her familiar with her own blood. A witch would have a small mark on her body like a wart or a mole, this is where the familiar would suck her blood, and often the marks were just birthmarks. Witches were almost never actually accused off attending a Sabbath. I think it is quite strange that no one actually was accused of attending a Sabbath but every one believed they happened.
What Happened at the Trial?
Now we would think it was stupid to accuse a Doctor of being a witch because he healed your son of an illness but then this type of thing was not uncommon. Here is a chart to show some people who were accused here in Essex:
There are four general findings that occur in most of the trials.
- It was often poor people being accused by rich people
- Nearly all the accused were old and female
- Often it started with a small quarrel between neighbours
- Witches were hardly ever accused of worshipping the devils, they were normally accused of harming their neighbours
There is a story about a young married couple who had a baby who was very ill. An old woman that was a witch came to their house and cured the baby. Over the years the witch comes again and again to heal cows and other things. In return the couple gave her food and shelter and become good friends. One day they see their neighbour's cow being taken, they don't say anything but the next day the neighbour comes out and says "the witch stole my cow". The couple knew that a young boy took it but they don't tell because they do not want to be accused of defending the witch. The witch got tried and her sentence was to be burnt at the stake. Her good friends were their shouting insults with the rest of the crowd!
The last person to be accused was in 1727 in Essex, she was called Janet Horne and was accused of turning her daughter into a flying horse
How do you test a Tudor and Stuart witch?
There are a few ways to test a witch. Often before they tested them they would be tortured. A lot of women would have admitted to being witches without being tortured because the thought was so horrifying. Others were tortured and tested. One of the tests was to take a witch, with her hands tied behind her back and lower her into the water of the duck pond. If she floated she was a witch, and if she sank she was innocent - the only problem was that if she sank and was innocent that she would drown anyway. Another test was to take a large pin or bodkin and piece her in her witchmark (mole/wart or birthmark) - if she felt no pain, or did not bleed she was a witch. Another way was to weigh 2 very large bibles then to weigh the suspected witch if they weighed less than the 2 holy books, which most people did especially if they were poor, then they were a witch.
How were witches tortured?
There were many tortures for witches. Often people died whilst they were being tortured. The tortured them to try and get them to admit to being a witch. Here are three of the tortures that they might have suffered:
- The mask of fear - an iron mask with holes for the mouth, eyes and nose was placed over the head and you would have to stay like that for days
- The witches collar - a collar with inward facing spikes with handles to pull on at the back - the witch would be dragged through the town, people would punch and kick them but if they fell over the spikes would go through their neck and kill them
- There was also a cupboard full of spikes, the witch would be placed in there for several days, if she moved she would almost certainly be impaled and killed
There were many other forms of torture, if you were an innocent old woman, which would you have chosen:
- To lie and say you were a witch and be hung
- To get tortured and even if you didn't admit to being one, it was incredibly likely that you would be hung anyway
Who hunted the witches?
All over the country, in every town, city and village people were always on the lookout for witches but there were some people whose sole job was to find them. The most famous of these was Matthew Hopkins, who was a lawyer. Matthew Hopkins killed more witches in fourteen months than the rest of his department did in 160 years. For six months his average was to kill 19 so-called witches a day. Matthew Hopkins set up his hunt in East Anglia and gave himself the name "Witch Finder General". Matthew Hopkins claimed he had a list of all the witches in the world, which he said was the devils own list. Hundreds of people were executed as a result of his inquiries - nearly all of the people were women and over 50 years of age.
Who were cunning folk?
In every town there would be people who would be known to be "cunning folk". These were people who had no real qualifications but acted as Doctors, fortune-tellers and some could predict the weather. These people were thought of as witches but nobody really cared because farmers always needed to know what the weather would be like so that they could predict their harvest and people always wanted cures for diseases and to know what would happen in the future. No one cared that they were witches they loved them until things started to go wrong i.e. mysterious deaths, people having fits or sudden changes in the weather.
Was England the only country that had problems with witchcraft?
No, is the simple answer. In Europe, a lot of the people accused were actually young males. In some countries they never once killed a witch. Others killed every single person that was accused they didn’t even get a trial.
Was Essex one of the only witchey places in England?
Essex was quite witchey, but the main reason it appears so much is because they kept very good records, nearly every trial was recorded and so were all the execrations. There were many other parts of England that had just as many cases, but the records just do not exist any more. In a lot of books they use Essex as an example because the records are so clear.
Was the entire witchey thing just foolish?
Now we would say yes, it was stupid. It brought about the killing of hundreds of people, but back then with what they believed in, I think I could imagine believing in witchcraft. It must have been very difficult to explain things like why did my baby just die or why has it gone from a lovely sunny day to this storm so lots of people would say witchcraft.
Was witchcraft really that big an issue?
In the Tudor and Stuart time witchcraft was a very big issue, it was associated with death and pain, no one thought witches were good. Witches would be tried and punished, often the people would be accused maybe because every one hated them. Now we would think if they were a witch, they would use magic to get themselves out of this situation. Today we don’t believe in witches but even if we did, it would not be that big an issue but back then they hardly had any science, so they had to come up with ways to explain things. There were particular places that were very witchy and others with no accounts of witchcraft.
Bibliography
Witchcraft in the Tudor and Stuart times
Changing minds
