Chapter 1B - Sceptical cases Flashcards
What was the Privy Council?
- private council of the monarch
- made of advisors hand picked by the king
What is a justice of the peace?
Public official appointed to preserve peace and administer the law at a local level
What was Thomas darlings story?
- Feb 1596 he went hunting with uncle (boy of burton)
- when he returned he fell ill and the next day began having fits
- had hallucinations, said he saw green cat and green angles
- he claimed that when he lost his uncle in the woods he saw a strange women with who he argued with
Who was initially accused of bewitching Thomas Darling? Why was this suspicious?
- either 60 year old Alice Gooderidge or her mother, 80 year old Elizabeth Wright
- darling probably knew who these women were and blamed them due to their reputation
What happened when gooderidge went to visit Darling?
- Darling began to fit and scratched her face in an effort to break the spell
- Gooderidge confirmed she had met with Darling but she had not bewitched him. She argued with him as she thought she was someone who had once played a trick on her
What happened when Alice Gooderidge was arrested?
- arrested with her mother, they found witch-marks and detained them at Derby prison
- after long period of sleep deprivation and starvation she confessed to bewitching Darling and explained she had a familiar in the form of a dog called Minny which was given to her by her mother
- she sent the dog to harm Darling after the encounter
What happened at Gooderidge’s trail?
- placed in front of Darling who had 38 fits in succession
- she explained to the JP that it was possible to break the spell but she had a choking fit before she could finish
- she was sentenced to death but died in custody before the execution
Who was John Darrell?
- Despite Gooderidge’s death the fits still continued
- Darrel (a well known exorcist) was called in
- had already been warned 10 years previous by a judge for falsely accusing a women of witchcraft in Mansfield
- He recommended a combination of prayer, fasting and reading bible extracts
How successful was Darrell?
-Practiced the techniques in may 1596 on Darling with apparent success
Who was William Somers?
- An apprentice of Darrell’s who he exorcised in Nottingham, 1597.
- Somers claimed that he had been bewitched by 13 women lead by Alice Freeman
- All were arrested by only 2 were sent for trail
- Darrell supported Somer’s but was already attracting suspicion
- Somers was questioned and confessed that he worked with Darrell to fabricate the case
What happened after Somer’s confessed?
- Darrell was a minister so case went to the Archbishop of York who set up a commission
- Somer’s was questioned again but took back his confession and fell into violent fits so real that the commission believed he was bewitched -Alice freemen was bought to trail in front of Judge Anderson. Somer’s once again confessed of lying and Freeman was released
Who was Judge Edward Anderson?
Judge who was involved in case of Alice Gooderidge and Alice Freeman
What happened to Darling after Somer’s confession?
- Judge Anderson wrote to Archbishop of Canterbury about Darrell’s case
- Darrell was summoned and questioned by the Archbishop, Bishop of London and Samuel Harsnett
- Darling and Somer’s was among witnesses. They confessed to lying
- Darrell and George More (another exorcist who helped Darrell both imprisoned for a year
What impact did Darrell’s case have on the law?
-Bishop Bancroft draw up a canon that forbade any clergymen to practice exorcism without a license
What were Edmund Robinson’s claims?
- Looking for plums in the Pendle forrest one night in November 1633 when he was approached by 2 greyhounds
- when a hare ran past the dogs did not move
- black one changed into Frances Dickinson, grey one into an unknown boy
- women offered shilling for him to keep quiet. He refused and boy turned into horse
- they took Robinson to a witches gathering at a house called “Hoarsones” where he eventually escaped
What happened after Robinson told his father his story?
- Local magistrates were informed 3 months later
- magistrates were led to a number of churches were Robinson ID’d around 25 witches to be bought to trail
- taken to Lancaster for trail were 17 were found guilty.
What did the magistrates think of the pendle swindle case?
- were sceptical and sent a Report to the Privy council in London
- they had doubts on written evidence and spoken testimony
- They instructed the Bishop of Chester, Henry Bridgemen to investigate some of the women
What did Bridgemen find upon investigating?
- The Robinson’s were not being truthful
- sent them to London to be interrogated along with four of the accused women
- women were examined and questioned by king Charles himself. No marks were found
Who was Margaret Johnson?
- one of the four sent to London with the Robinsons
- confessed despite lack of evidence against her
- said she sold her soul to the devil who called himself a Mamilion and promised to give her all she desired
- claimed she met with other witches however her descriptions did not match with Robinsons claims
What happened to Edmund Robinson after London?
- Known as a witchfinder for a time
- encouraged by father and uncle, he would visit church services in Lancashire where he would ID witches in the congregation
- gained enough wealth to buy two cows
- once again summoned to London, the boy was separated from his dad and confessed to making the whole story up and only did what his father told him to. Father wanted revenge against Francis Dickinson over dispute on payment for a cow
Who was john Mompesson?
- Land owner and JP who lived at Tedworth in March 1662
- officer in county militia
- intervened in the case of a drummer and ex-solider, william Drury,
What were alms?
Money or food given to the poor
