Pendle Witch Hunt

Question 1

When was the Pendle Witch Hunt?

Answer 1

1604-1613

Question 2

How many people were found guilty at the trial?

Answer 2

11- Old Chattox died before

Question 3

What were the names of the families involved?

Answer 3

The Device Family

The Referne Family

Question 4

Who succeeded Elizabeth I in 1603?

Answer 4

King James VI of Scotland

He became King James I of England

Question 5

How would the Gunpowder Plot have impacted religious tension in England?

Answer 5

The gunpowder plot was Catholic attempt to kill the King

It would have heightened animosity between Protestants and Catholics

Question 6

How did religion vary across England?

Answer 6

Protestantism was the main religion of England but there remained strong Catholic support in the North

Being further from London it was difficult to manage

Question 7

What did courts need in a trial as evidence?

Answer 7

Tangible proof of Maleficium such as death or injury

Question 8

What did the 1604 Witchcraft Act declare?

Answer 8

Conjuring of spirits was now a capital offence, the most damaging aspect of witchcraft was the pact with the Devil

The trial of of witches was transferred to ordinary courts from the Church courts

Question 9

What impact does this have on trials?

Answer 9

Now that tangible evidence is no longer needed, more people could be accused and executed

Question 10

How would the economy of Pendle be described?

Answer 10

It was mainly a pastoral economy (sheep and cattle) with limited arable farming.

There was also a strong cloth industry (70% owned tools for this)

Question 11

Why were residents at constant risk of eviction in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?

Answer 11

Rent increased by 39% and inflation grew.

Enclosure took land away from tenants and sold/ rented it out to other people

Question 12

How did the population of Pendle change?

Answer 12

It increased all over the country, by the 1500s the population had grown to half of pre-Black Death levels

In Pendle, there were 24 tenants in 1443 by 1650 it had increased to around 1620

Question 13

How did the relationship between the Duchy of Lancaster and the copyholders change?

Answer 13

They were expected to pay a lump sum of 12 years rent to confirm their rights.

Many couldn’t afford this and either evicted or increased rent prices for their tenants

Question 14

How did London view Lancashire in terms of religion?

Answer 14

An ‘ignorant corner’ where Catholicism was still active,

Lancashire historically had looked after Recusant Catholics

Question 15

Why had Whalley Abbey been a valuable resource for Pendle?

Answer 15

It provided cloth, grain and money for the local residents

Question 16

What impact did the dissolution of Whalley Abbey have on Pendle and the surrounding area?

Answer 16

It took away a valuable source of income and support

Without Catholic influence, a group of Puritan ministers had more and more influence

The new parish had a population of 10,000 people and they couldn’t be cared for effectively

Question 17

What happened on 18th March 1612?

Answer 17

John Law, a pedlar, was travelling with his wares when Alison asked him for some pins- John Law refused.

Alison muttered a curse and he presumably suffered a stroke and encountered her familiar (a black dog)

Question 18

How did Alison Device respond?

Answer 18

She believed she was a witch and confessed to using a curse and familiar

Question 19

What was the family rivalry between Alison Device’s and Anne Redferne family?

Answer 19

Old Demdike - Alison’s grandmother

Old Chattox- Anne’s grandmother

Accused each other of stealing and theft, particularly grain and a cap

Alison’s father had promised to pay some grain yearly but this ended when he died - the accusations returned

Question 20

Who was Roger Nowell?

Answer 20

An experienced JP and local landowner, he had been High Sheriff of Lancashire and had strong connections with high profile Protestants

Question 21

What was Nowell’s involvement?

Answer 21

He led the investigation into Alison Device, it is unclear whether he went in knowing he was going to convict

He was familiar with the Pact with the Devil from the work of William Perkins

Question 22

What did Alison Device confess after an interrogation with Nowell?

Answer 22

She accused Old Chattox of murder through witchcraft along with other examples of magic

Accused Old Demdike of being a witch

Old Chattox, Old Demdike and Anne Redferne are taken in for questioning

Question 23

What did Old Demdike confess to?

Answer 23

Inability to evoke the name of Jesus

Having a familiar named Tibb, and suckling him

Making an effigy of a person to bewitch them

She was potentially tortured by Nowell

Question 24

What were Old Demdike’s accusations?

Answer 24

Old Chattox and Anne made figures out of clay- Tibb told her these were effigies of Christopher Nutter, Robert Nutter and Marie Nutter

Christopher Nutter hd accused Old Chattox on his deathbed in 1595

Question 25

Alison was searched by Nowell for something- what was it?

Answer 25

The Devil’s mark

Her mother Elizabeth was also searched, she admitted to having one for 40 years but was released

Question 26

What does Nowell investigate?

Answer 26

A sabbat at a graveyard in Newchurch- Elizabeth, James and Jennet Device are questioned Jennet becomes the star witness at 9 years old

Question 27

What did Jennet state?

Answer 27

That at least 20 witches were present at the meeting at her house and that James had stolen a sheep to be eaten

James also revealed more names and named the meeting “Great Assembly and Feast”

Question 28

What were the objectives of the meeting?

Answer 28

To free the women imprisoned at Lancashire castle by blowing it up

To perform a ritual to name Alison Device’s spirit

To provide protection to Jennet Preston, a women identified as a witch

Question 29

What happened after the evidence from Jennet and James?

Answer 29

11 people were imprisoned, including the original suspects

Old Demdike dies shortly after arriving at the Castle- Old Chattox then tries to lay more blame on her

Question 30

Who were the judges?

Answer 30

Sir James Altham- one of the most senior judges in England, strongly Protestant

Sir Edward Bromley- another senior judge, highly trusted by the King

Both wanted the King’s favour, Bromley had just been knighted and wanted to be closer to London

Question 31

When did the trial take place?

Answer 31

18th-19th August in Lancaster

All but one pleaded not guilty

Question 32

How were the judges perceived?

Answer 32

As being rational and wise men but they were prepared to accept dubious evidence probably acquired under torture

James Altham had recently sent a an innocent women to the gallows in Yorkshire based on the evidence of Jennet

Question 33

Who acted as prosecutor?

Answer 33

Roger Nowell, all JPs and witness involved had to be present at the trial

Question 34

What were the punishments for the accused

Answer 34

10 died, 9 found guilty and hung with only Margaret Pearson being sentence to 4 days public humiliation

Question 35

The Production of Potts’ account

Answer 35

Potts was Clerk of the Court unique insight
Ordered to write it by the two judges so an account could go public
Potts was told which evidence to use closely monitored while writing

Question 36

Potts’ Background

Answer 36

Brought up in the home of Thomas Knyvet, strong Protestant who apprehended Guy Fawkes
Had wanted to be a lawyer but didn’t go to university
A well regarded civil servant

Question 37

The Objectives of Wonderfull Discoverie

Answer 37

Provided an account that justified the trials

Protected the reputation of Potts, Bromley and Altham to advance their careers

Question 38

Can we trust it?

Answer 38

Can’t say it’s totally unreliable because Potts had motive/ judges were involved
He was a well informed observer who sat through the trials, checked by Bromley
Large number had attended, trials weren’t secret
Written in the immediate aftermath