Witches are women thought to possess evil powers. Ursula Southeil, famously known as Mother Shipton, was a witch with a large reputation. She was described as ugly and very disfigured. She was called Hag Face by the locals and her father was believed to be the Devil. Although her misfortunate appearance, she was often thought of as the female Nostradamus. She predicted the Spanish Armada, the Great Plague, and some assume the internet: “around the world thoughts shall fly in the twinkling of an eye.” For her sake, Mother Shipton died a normal death and was said to be buried on unholy ground near the outer edges of York in 1561.
The Salem Witch Trials started in the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem, a village in Massachusetts, were said to be possessed by the devil and a few women were accused of witchcraft. Hysteria spread through colonial Massachusetts to the extent a special court was opened to hear the cases. Bridget Bishop was the first witch hung. Eighteen other people followed Bishop and one hundred and fifty men, women, and children were accused through the following months. Though the Massachusetts General Court later cancelled guilty decisions against suspect witches and granted securities to their families, bitterness remained in the community, and the agonizing legacy of the Salem Witch Trials would suffer for centuries.
Belief in the supernatural, more specifically in the devil, came into view in Europe around the early 14th century. As