At some point during the 15th century, Witchcraft was a normal part of everyday life. Witches accompanied religious ministers to help the ill or to deliver a baby. They were regarded as having spiritual power in their communities. When something went wrong, no one questioned the ministers or the power of the witchcraft. Instead, they questioned whether the witch intended to inflict harm or not. Later, Fueling concerns about the harmful influence of magic and the devil urged people to take decisive action in the battle with witches and magic. It was against this emotionally charged backdrop that Henry VIII introduced the first English statutes addressing witchcraft in 1542, followed by new, stricter, legislation by Elizabeth I in 1563 and James I in 1604. …show more content…
There was much superstition and ignorance in the 17th century England and hundreds of women were wrongly accused and punished. From 1484 until around 1750 some 200,000 witches were tortured, burnt or hanged in Western Europe and England. Most supposed witches were usually poor old women. Women who weren’t lucky enough to look beautiful. Any woman who was ‘crone-like’ with broken irregular teeth , sunken cheeks and a hairy lip was assumed to be a witch ! Owning a cat was also taken as a proof against these women as the cat was the most common sign of witches .
The witch trials took place in the 15th and early 16th centuries, but then the witch scare went into decline, before becoming a major issue again in the 17th century due to the work of Mathew Hopkins.. Matthew Hopkins was an English witch-hunter whose career started during the English Civil War. He called himself the Witch finder General . His witch-hunts mainly took place in March 1644 and lasted until his retirement in 1647. He was responsible for more people being hanged for witchcraft and was responsible for the increase in witch trials
While witch trials were on the decline across Europe and the American Colonies by the end of the 17th century, there remained a dangerous remnant in some regions, where the social context could easily spark another panic. This essay will compare the Salem village witch trials of the early 1690s to those in Scotland, with particular emphasis on the case of Christian Shaw in Renfrewshire in the late 1690s: two areas in which a sudden resurgence in witchcraft accusations can be seen. It should be noted that witchcraft cases in Scotland were highly varied, and the cases used here cannot be taken as standard across Scotland during the period. Both societies were highly religiously centred, with doctrine permeating every aspect of life, making them
The witch hunts of Scotland were said to have occurred for a plethora of reasons. In the reading entitled ‘The Devil and the Domestic: Witchcraft, Quarrels and Women’s Work in Scotland’ authored by Lauren Martin, Martin states that women were more like to be persecuted for committing the crime of witchcraft. She explains this by discussing the relationship between what was considered women’s work and the devil. Furthermore, Martin stipulates that this was a result of the quarrels that occurred between women over work. This led women to often be the accusers and accused (Martin, 74).
The North Berwick Witch Trials began in 1590 and carried on till 1592. Many people that came from East Lothian, Scotland, including several nobles of the Scottish court. The questionable witches were incriminated for holding their covens on the Auld Kirk Green in the village of North Berwick, East Lothian which is near Edinburgh. Witchcraft wasn't a problem nor a concern at first but the events following made some very drastic changes in East Lothian, Scotland. A year or so preceding to the events was a time where King James VI of Scotland, was very merciful when it came to witchcraft.
During the years of 1692 and 1693 there have been suspicions of witchcraft among our own people, few have said these statements are preposterous, but due to my findings through my research I have found the answers to the question many have been seeking. During the trial, many of our people testified against Abigail including the following: Tituba, Mary Warren, and John Proctor. While examining the testimonies, the prosecution was able to persuade these victims to divulge complete information on events involving Abigail. After attending the trial of the prosecution of Abigail Williams the jury ruled unanimously against for all accounts of first degree murder of John Proctor and 19 others, as well as attempted murder of Elizabeth Proctor.
Accused and Betrayed Throughout the late 1600’s women had been accused of being a part of witchcraft. In this time women went through many disgusting torture treatments and got charged with many different things. When a women had been accused she would be “treated” with many different types of torture until they had died or had admitted to doing witchcraft. Some of the tortures were called: “The Garotte”,” Dunking the Witch”, and “The Boots”.
There were over twenty people who were tried and executed under the inference of studying witchcraft. Twenty people got executed and fourteen of them were women. Five of these women were imprisoned, including two pure infants. There were over 200 people in total who were accused of practicing this so-called “witchcraft”. This was all an immense rage that started in Europe that lasted from the 14th century all the way to the end of the 17th century and was unfortunately brought back up in the late 19th century.
Social: 1600s During the 1600s, there were plenty of witch trials and wars regarding religion. In the 1600s, there was a new thing going on. In Europe, people were hunting witches, whether they were men or women. Usually, the ones that were victims, falsely accused were women, for doing witchcraft.
When this was going around, people started to fear the idea that witches were living among them because, they were extremely religious and the thought of witches brought much unease and panic. This can be related to the Red Scare in the sense that People during the 1950’s feared Communism. According to Ohio History Center, “Many in the U.S. feared that the Soviet Union and its allies were planning to forcefully spread communism around the globe, overthrowing both democratic and capitalist institutions as it went.” This goes to show that People feared that certain people and certain beliefs would overthrow their government and other kind’s of parties. With the worry of witches in Salem in the 1690’s fear led officials to do things they would not usually do.
Since 1300, the English government had been concerned with witches, with sorcerers that predicted or made prophecies, which were a threat to the king’s life. In 1308, Guichard, Bishop of Troyes, was accused of killing the Queen of France by sorcery. In 1419, King Henry V of England, who reigned from 1413 until his death in 1422, denounced his stepmother Joan of Navarre for attempting to kill him by means of spells and incantations, in 1418, she was imprisoned. Joan was released in 1422, and lived until 1437.
For the 16th and 17th centuries of early modern European history, many societies were consumed by a trepidation over alleged theories of witchcraft and sorcery in their communities. “Witch-hunts”, especially in Central Europe, resulted in the trial, torture, and execution of tens of thousands of victims, a large proportion of whom were women . In England alone, more than 90 percent of those convicted of witchcraft were women, and the few men who were accused were generally married to a woman who had already been deemed guilty of the offence . Although there are numerous ideas behind the explanation of this witch-craze, there are few which explain why it was almost exclusively women who were targeted. It is possible to say that neither before nor since these centuries have adult European women been the main focus for such a large scale barbarity.
During the 16th century, many people believed that witchcraft, rather than the workings of God's will, offered better reason of sudden and unexpected bad fortune, such as the death of a child, bad harvests, or the death of cows and bulls. Witch-hunting became something that you constantly think about in some parts of the country. In 1736 Parliament passed an Act undoing the laws against witchcraft but charged fines on people who claimed to be able to use magical powers. Secondly, When witchcraft was proven to be a crime?
1. The Church of England was already turbulent with the tension between the antiquated Catholics and the emerging Protestants. The Puritans were part of a subset of Protestants, so naturally one would expect them to have resolved their issues with the Church of England throughout Protestant control. While the Puritans certainly favored Protestant rule over the Catholics, with whom they had a diametric set of beliefs, they were never favored by the Protestant rulers in turn. Obviously, the Puritans regarded themselves as worthy of their opinions and of a higher place in government.
As Whitney mentioned, the witch hunts occurred in the 17th century were due to the fears of women becoming “economically and psychological” independent, and threatening the male control of property and social order. Those women were viewed as “discontent” meaning the refusal of accepting their predetermined social status (Whitney 85). In contrast, men who had high authority and social status like the Putmans and Parris could purposely manipulate women and instigated the public resentment to falsely accuse, and cruelly eliminate their enemies such as Rebecca and other accused witches. Certainly, the girls and women in the Putman and Parris’s families who made the false accusations of witches and witchcraft were wielded by
As I said, what they possibly though were witchcraft back then could be something treatable by now. Unlike in 1690’s, they didn’t have proof to back their hypothesis that it was bewitching. But now that the reason behind the said incidents were already established and proved wrong by people who studied what might have happened back then. People might still believe witchcraft does exist in present time solely because they have no idea that it might just be an illness that they had no idea about. That the reaction of people around toward something can affect greatly on how things can be
Bridget Bishop, a resident of Salem, was the first person to be tried as a witch. Surprisingly, Bishop was accused of witch craft by the highest number of witneses. After Bishop, more than two hundred people were tried of practicing witchcraft and twenty were executed. Many of these accusations arose from jealous, lower class members of society, especially towards women who had come into a great deal of land or wealth. Three young children by the names of Elizabeth, Abigail, and Ann were the first three people to be “harmed” by the witches.