North Berwick Flashcards
Outline an introduction to the North Berwick witches
North Berwick was in Scotland.
The involvement of royals made the case so extensive, as James V1 became involved in the trials
Scotlands less complex legal system allowed for witch hunts to occur without interference.
Scotland was relatively poor compared to to England, lots of poverty and crime
Scotland held a deep belief for fairies and folk magic.
why did witchcraft persecutions begin?
- the witchcraft act was passed in Scotland in 1563, which allowed for witchcraft to be investigated on a national level.
*economic crisis occurred, which often saw more accusations
*Gilly Duncans confession-
Duncan was reputed to have unnatural healing powers, and began visiting those who where ill, and healing them.
Duncans boss began to become suspicious of her actions, so questioned her. Tourture began and after brutal tourture, she confessed got working with the devil.
explain why James became interested In witches
James had married 14 year old, Anne of Denmark.
3 times Anne had attempted to reach James, but each time was able due to the storms.
James therefore set out to fetch Anne, and whilst in Denmark, it was suggested to him that witchcraft may be the reason why the storms where created.
How did the Danish influence the Scottish witch trials?
Denmark had inherited a long standing history of suspecting witches and their powers.
Despite this, laws were in place which protected witches, allowing no tourture ect
the protestant reformation allowed high profile cases to come to light
Anna Kolding- suspected to be a witch and be involved in the storms which were preventing Anne getting to England.
Her confession gave the king evidence of witches
explain the cases of Agnes Simpson and John Fran
Agnes Simpson was an elderly midwife who was said to have healing powers.
She fit the description of a witch, and king James himself interrogated her.
he looked for a witch mark, which he found, but this still didn’t result in her confession.
She then was subject to torturous methods, and after this, she confessed to almost anything which was asked to her.
it was said that she (repeated words in which James said to Anne on their wedding night)
John Fian arrested for 20 counts of witchcraft.
whilst their was no evidence of his ability, it was said that he was engaging in affairs when married, which caused women to say he was a witch out of spite. Despite being tourtured, he didn’t confession, which was said to be because he himself had made a pact with the devil.
explain the role of king James and torture
king James took a personal interest in witchcraft.
he had grown up in an unstable home, and was highly religious
the confession of Agnes Sampson gave James a reason for the storms, and this therefore convinced James to allow torture to be used.
explain Bothwell’s involvement in the North Berwick witch craze.
*First cousin of James
*became involved in many criminal plots against the king, and due to this was blamed for many of the witchcraft cases.
*Bothwell was trialled, but convinced James of his innocence, but due to his plots against the king, received exilement instead
explain the impact of the trials on the people
all of them were whether hanged, died in prison.
many of the Scottish fled to England
explain the judicial procedures
the ‘general commission’ allowed for the use of tortured to be used in an attempt to gain confessions from witches.
firstly, 5 judges where allowed to use the torture
this then was allowed by the privy council
despite this, a case occurred within Edinburgh which saw harsh tourture being used without a say from the privy council, which allows for this to be strictened up
explain the role of king James publication of Daemonologie.
the publication of daemonologie allowed for king James to add his own stance on witches. the sceptical work of Reginald Scott pushed him to open up on his experiences of witchcraft.
eg in his book he states that witches made pacts with the devil, suggesting that the swimming test was an effective way of finding out witches, and giving characteristics of those.
in conclusion, why where the witch-hunts so widespread?
*the role of king James
*the role of the monarchy
*weather and natural disasters
*the judicial system, less controlled by the governement
*social factors
