Pendle Flashcards
What were the consequences of the gunpowder plot?
Harsher on Catholics, laws to celebrate bonfire night.
Plotters hanged, drawn and quartered
James even more paranoid than before
Who wrote an account of the case and who was it dedicated to?
Thomas Potts- Thomas Knyvet who caught Guy Fawkes.
Why is the setting of this case significant?
It was in Lancashire which was an area seen as more Catholic than other areas of the country.
What were the Assizes courts?
Courts held in main county towns, presided over by visiting judges.
What kind of crime did the Assizes deal with?
Dealt with capital crime. Verdicts returned by locally picked juries of 12.
What happened to the population of Pendle between 1443 and 1650?
It grew hugely from only around 50 to 1,620 in 1650.
What negative effects had the reformation had on Pendle?
Clergy would sometimes come to blows with superiors over marrying without a license. Catholics had to live in secret.
What were the effects of the closing down of Whalley Abbey?
It removed income, cloth, grain and money for the poor. A Puritan clergy was set up in the area and had some influence over the trials.
What did the 1604 witchcraft act do?
Made it no longer required that you needed tangible evidence of maleficium to convict and suspects became more treated like robbers or murderers. Conjuring of spirits became a capital offence.
Who was the JP of he area?
Roger Nowell
Who were the heads of the rival families?
Old Demdike and Old Chattox
Who were the 4 people detained by April 1612?
Alizon Device, Old Demdike, Old Chattox, Anne Redferne
What was significant about the Malkin Tower meeting?
Fit the ideas of continental witchcraft, led to the denunciations of others including higher status individuals like Alice Nutter. Played on people’s fears of Catholics, linked to gunpowder plot.
Who was present at the trial?
Thomas Potts, Roger Nowell, Defendants, General public, Judges Bromley and Altham.
What was the acquittal rate in England at the time for witchcraft?
75%
What was significant about the conduct and nature of the trial?
Thomas Potts wrote everything down. ALizon Device did not try to defend herself. Roger Nowell used Jennet Device to denounce. 10 of the 19 accused were found guilty.
What were the two main industries people were in?
Cattle rearing and cloth, this was due to cattle rearing being to unstable.
What kind of inflation was there in the 16th century?
Rents increased by 39%
What new buildings were built in order to accommodate the growing population of Pendle?
Corn mill in 1546, corn mill in 1598, Church of Newchurch was built in 1544
What event highlighted the poverty of copyholders and what were the consequences of this?
They clashed with the Duchy of Lancaster, copyholders petitioned him due to having limited resources to pay fees. They were forced to sell their land and this made them less likely to give charity.
How did the closing down of Whalley abbey cause a power shift?
Gentry had control over the abbey and its lands. They could exercise more power than they had before. Most were anti-Catholic or Puritan.
What caused Old Demdike and Chattox to have a rivalry?
There was a case of supposed stealing which John Device had to settle through grain donations. They competed for a market as wise women. Old Chattox was accused of bewitching old Demdike’s cattle.
What did Alizon device accuse Old Demdike and Old Chattox of doing?
Old Demdike- Bewitching a cow, turning milk into butter, cursing Richard Baldwin’s daughter
Old Chattox- Murder through witchcraft, cursing Anne Nutter, killing John Moore’s son, killing Hugh More,
Who did Roger Nowell arrest after Alizon Device?
Old Chattox, Old Demdike, Anne redferne
