Chapter 1B - Introduction Flashcards
What were the two main types of witchcraft?
- maleficium = witches committed evil deeds such as killing livestock and crops or interfering with nature. People were cursed by witches
- Malleus Maleficarum = a book published in 1486 that stated that witches held a covenant with the devil. Acted as a guidebook for witch hunters
Who was martin Luther? What impact did he have?
- Born in 1483 in Germany
- openly criticised the catholic church’s focus on salvation through good works and rituals rather than through faith alone
- Henry VIII broke away from catholic church in 16th century
- during 16th and 17th century an puritanism evolved from Protestantism. Many witch hunters were puritans
What are familiars?
- supernatural creators associated with witches as representatives of the Devil
- take form of dogs, cats, toads and mice
- could sometimes take shape of man
- Believed to have used the Devils mark on the witch to feed and suckle blood
- witches got their familiar after meeting with devil
Who were cunning-folk? How do they link with familiars?
- folk-healers
- distinguished from witches because they generally carried out good deeds
- familiars had long been associated with them as harmless fairies
What did the witches gain from having a familiar?
- witches were protected by familiar after initiation
- sometimes the familiars had shape shifting powers and were often given affectionate names
How did witches meet familiars?
- suddenly appear when witch was alone urging them to make a pact with the devil or cause harm
- could be given by someone else. A mother would sometimes be charged with giving familiar to daughter
- familiars promised to give witches wealth and take revenge on their enemies
What did familiars do?
- caused harm to others
- damaged property
- fed from the witch
- did not belong to one witch
What was the first witchcraft act?
- 1542 during reign of Henry VIII (repealed in 1547)
- made conjuring of spirits, witchcraft and sorcery in order to find treasure, cause harm to a person or their goods, or to discover what had happen to stolen goods a capital offence
- focused on the crime of witchcraft consisting of acts of hostility against the community rather than pacts with the devil
What was the second witchcraft act?
- passed in 1563 under reign of Elizabeth I (repealed in 1604)
- more severe in some ways, more lenient in others
- made it a crime to invoke evil spirits for any purpose, weather maleficium was involved or not
- death penalty only applied if witch had killed a person with witchcraft. If animal killed only sent to prison for a year
What was the third witchcraft act?
- passed in 1604 by James I and repealed in 1736
- more severe than 1563
- death penalty for killing a person still stood
- death penalty reintroduced for lesser offences (such as destroying livestock)
- offence to consult or feed evil spirit
What was the assize circuit?
-Assize courts were courts that travelled in six “circuits” around the country, hearing the most serous cases
What impact did the witchcraft laws have?
- hundreds of trails carried out under the laws
- used most often in relation to accusations of damage caused to neighbours and their goods
How were witches ID in the general community?
- people who were physically deformed
- those who were withdrawn or socially arkward
- women (especially older ones) were most often accused
What tests did suspects undergo to discover if they were witches?
- swimming test = right thumb tied to left big toe and vise versa. Thrown into lake, if they floated they were guilty, if they sank they were innocent
- asked to recite the lords prayer
- Devil marks
- suspects watched for several days and nights. Derive suspects of sleep or rest and force them to go hungry
