Changing attitudes.

Question 1

What year was Malleus Maleficarum wrote?

Answer 1

1486.

Question 2

What did the Malleus Maleficarum act as?

Answer 2

A guidebook for witch-hunters.

Question 3

What was Malleus Maleficarum responsible for?

Answer 3

The deaths of thousands of people across Europe.

Question 4

What was the devil’s mark used for?

Answer 4

Imps to suckle on.

Also used to gain a conviction.

Question 5

What was the 1542 witchcraft act?

Answer 5

It made the conjuring of spirits, witchcraft or sorcery in order to find treasure, cause harm to a person or their goods a capital offence.

Question 6

What was the second witchcraft act in 1563?

Answer 6

It was more server than the one in 1542. It made it a crime to evoke any evil spirits. However, the death penalty was only imposed if the death of a person occured.
If injury of death of an animal occured than the person was given a lesser sentence of imprisonment for one year.

Question 7

What was the third witchcraft act in 1604?

Answer 7

The death penalty was retained for the killing of a person, but it was reintroduced for a second offence in lesser kinds of magic. The act also made it illegal to consult or feed any evil spirit.

Question 8

What year was the boy of burton case?

Answer 8

1596-97.

Question 9

Outline the events of the boy of Burton case (1596-97):

Answer 9

In 1596 Thomas Darling went out with his uncle hunting. He came back ill, and started having fits- the doctors put this down to him being bewitched. He accused 60-year-old Alice Goodridge. It is likely that he already knew about her reputation as a healer. She was taken to his house to confront the victim, but he fell into fits, and scratched her face in order to try and break the spell. Two days after the visit, Alice and her 80-year old mother, Elizabeth Wright were arrested and searched for marks which they found.

Before Alice’s trial began she was put in front of Darling, and once again he fell ill. Goodridge said that it was possible to break the spell, but before she had chance to elaborate she had a choking fit. Before a date could be set for her execution, she died in custody.

Despite her death Goodridges fits continued, and John Darrell was called in to before am exorcism. However, 10 years earlier he falsely accused Margaret Roper of being a witch.

After Darling’s exorcism he gave an exorcism to William Sommers. However, there was a trial and the judge, Edward Anderson ordered an examination, in which Samuel Harsnett was present. Both Darling and Sommers confessed that they were just putting on an act.

Question 10

What year was the Pendle Swindle case?

Answer 10

1634.

Question 11

Outline the events of the Pendle case:

Answer 11

Edmund robinson originally brought up the notion of witchcraft to avoid punishment from his father for not looking after his cattle when he was asked to. He was also well aware of the local reputation of Jennet Device. He claimed that he was approached in the woods by two greyhounds, one of them changed into Francis Dickinson, and the other one an unknown boy. The woman offered him 1 shilling to keep quiet but he refused. She ended up taken him to a witches coven in which he was able to escape. The magistrates were brought to a number of churches where Robinson identified the witches who were involved- 25 in total. The magistrate was sceptical and sent the details to the privy council in London. They instructed Henry Bridgeman to carry out an investigation on some of the women. He concluded that Robinson’s motive for the accusations were not found in magic.

Question 12

What year was the haunting at Tedworth?

Answer 12

1662.

Question 13

Outline the general events of the Demon Drummer case in 1662:

Answer 13

Mompesson was the accuser. He was a landowner and a local JP. The ex-soldier William Drury, was fraudulently attempting to raise alms for the poor with a forged pass by banging on his drum. Drury was arrested and then his drum was confiscated. The drum was sent to Mompesson’s house. Then he started to have a series of unexplained disturbances:

1. Thumpings, the sound of scratchings, strange lights were seen and detected.
2. Objects were thrown around the room beds were raised.
3. On xmas day a Bible belonging to Mompesson’s mother was found buried beneath the hearth of ashes.

Even representatives of King Charles were sent to investigate this.
Drury was sentenced to deportation in 1663, and the disturbances stopped immediately. However, he was able to escape, he then was acquitted, and then he was sentenced to deportation again.

This case was also attacked by Balthasar Bekker.

In the end it was believed that Mompesson’s servants carried this out.

Question 14

What year was the Jane Wenham case?

Answer 14

1712.

Question 15

Outline and explain the events of the Jane Wenham case in 1712:

Answer 15

She was accused of bewitching a farm labourer- Matthew Gilson, who refused to give her a small amount of straw. Gilson’s employer publicly voices this accusation, so Wenham reported him to the local JP. He was fined 1 shilling, and Wenham was angry about this and promised to get revenge in another way- the farmers daughter and livestock then fell ill.

Anne Thorne then complained against he, saying that she had bewitched her, and caused her to suffer from fits, hallucinations of demons and caused her to vomiting pins. Apparently Wenham gave a full confession, but she claimed that she only practiced harmless magic. A total of 16 witnesses were called to give evidence against her. Despite this john Powell was still sceptical of the evidence. He managed to secure Jane Wenham a royal parson, and gave her a little cottage to live in outside of her hometown.

Question 16

What was the significance of Powell in the Jane Wenham case?

Answer 16

He was an outsider so his views were not subjective.

Question 17

Outline and explain who George Mackenzie was?

Answer 17

He was a scottish lawyer. He became concerned about the legitimacy of the witch-hunts after the scottish ones of 1661-62. He published the ‘laws and customs of Scotland in matters criminal’. He put forward a number of arguments to continue witch hunts. He claimed that:

1. True witches deserved punishment.
2. Not all of them deserved the harsh punishments that they got.
3. He doubted that the devil would offer riches.
4. Normal league procedures were not followed in lots of witchcraft cases. They often gave false confessions as a result of things such as sleep deprivation.

His work indisputably contributed to a steep decline in witchcraft cases being heard at court.

Question 18

What was the significance of John Holt?

Answer 18

He was called to the bar in 1663 (to become a barrister) . As lord chief justice he oversaw 11 or possibly 12 witchcraft cases, and each one resulted in the acquittal of the accused. I.e in the case of Mother Munnings, who was accused of causing death by witchcraft. he refused to accept the evidence given by a man when he was on the way back from an alehouse.

One of the most famous cases was the Jane Wenham case in 1712. Before the case reached John Holt it was dismissed by an assize judge. When the case was put before Holt he famously put the accused on trial. This shows how serious scepticism was. It was very likely that the works of Webster, Beaumont and Bekker were known to him.

Question 19

What was the difference between Matthew Hale, and John Holt?

Answer 19

John Holt’s predecessor, Matthew Hale was willing to accept dubious testimonies in order to secure witchcraft convictions.

Question 20

Who was the last witch to be executed in England?

Answer 20

Alice Molland in 1684.

Question 21

When was the 1604 witchcraft act repealed?

Answer 21

1604. However, many ordinary people still believed in witches.

Question 22

Briefly outline the views given in Reginald Scot’s ‘The discoverie of witchcraft’ in 1584:

Answer 22

it was the first major work of English scepticism.

1. He believed that witches were suffering from some sort of melancholia ( depression or sorrowfulness.)
2. Those who were guilty were unable to do any harm as they were mear tools of the devil
3. He was a member of the family of love- a radical protestant sect that rejected many traditional catholic and protestant practices.
4. He made a clear connection between fraudulent hunts and the catholic church.
5. It was so controversial that he had to publish it himself.
6. He was more than likely influenced by the high-profile witch hunts in Chelmsford ( like Harsnett)
7. He doubted more far-fetched charges such as cannibalism.

Question 23

Briefly outline the views and impact given by Samuel Harsnett’s a discovery of the fraudulent practices of John Darrel, 1599:

Answer 23

1. He was influenced by the Boy of Burton case.
2. He was likely to have been aware of the cases carried out at Chelmsford.
3. In his work he was heavily critical of John Darrell. It included the following bits:

. Survey of the people Darrell claimed to have exorcised.
. The fact that he instructed Sommers to fake a possession
. it recounts the confession given by Somers and Darrel.
. He also goes to great lengths to discredit somers fits.

4. It led to the pamphlet war between Darrell, Harsnett and 2 ministers with puritan sympathies. Ultimately this was significant as it questioned the entire possibility of demonic possession.

Question 24

What was the significance of Ady’s candle in the dark wrote in 1656?

Answer 24

1. He witnessed some witch trials in St bury edmunds in person.
2. Witches cannot be found in written form anywhere in the Bible.
3. He felt compelled to write it as he knew of too many wrongdoings.
4. He believed that familiars simply could not be possible.
5. He was very critical of the swimming test and methods such as sleep deprivation etc.

Question 25

What is the Significance of Websters ‘ The displaying of supposed witchcraft, 1677’?

Answer 25

1. Webster was a nonconformist.
2. He thought that witches did exits but were not able to command supernatural powers.
3. He was very critical of the Demon drummer case as well as the Pendle Swindle on 1634.

Question 26

What was the impact and view of Balthasar Bekker’s ‘ the enchanted world’?

Answer 26

1. He was influenced by Reginald Scot.
2. He used the Bible as his primary source of evidence.
3. He believed that unless the devil had a body it would be impossible for him to influence events on earth.
4. His works were first published in Holland, and 4000 copies were sold. It was then translated into German, Italian, French and English. Afterwards he then received a bunch of pamphlets criticising him for the decline in witchcraft beliefs. Despite this its influence in England was limited.