T3: Women

Question 1

in the 16th and 17th centuries, how many women were executed for witchcraft in Britain?

Answer 1

around 1000

Question 2

when were 1000 women executed for witchcraft in Britain?

Answer 2

16th +17th centuries

Question 3

what was a ‘teat’?

Answer 3

a special mark put on a withes body by the devil

Question 4

what was a ‘familiar’ ?

Answer 4

an animal nearby a witch that was the embodiment of the devil

Question 5

who believed in witchcraft in the early 17th century?

Answer 5

most people

Question 6

what are the 5 reasons what accusations of witchcraft rose in the early 17th century?

Answer 6

• economic factors
• religious factors
• James I
• attitudes towards women
• Civil War

Question 7

how did economic factors lead to an increase in witchcraft accusations?

Answer 7

• population growth meant more competition for jobs and rise in vagrants –> people distrustful of the v poor.

Question 8

what kind of women were accused of witchcraft?

Answer 8

often on the outside of society- elderly, widowed, poor

Question 9

how did religion lead to increased accusations of witchcraft?

Answer 9

• divisions after the Reformation (1534) heightened tensions in communities
• some Protestants believed Catholics followed the Devil
• sense of enemies close by

Question 10

how did James I lead to an increase in witchcraft accusations?

Answer 10

believed strongly in witches - encouraged witch hunting and wrote ‘daemonologie’ in 1594 (handbook on witches and how to catch them)

Question 11

when did James I write daemonologie?

Answer 11

1594

Question 12

how did attitudes towards women lead to an increase in witchcraft accusations?

Answer 12

• believed women more susceptible to the Devil’s influence due to Eve in the Garden of Eden
• way to suppress women who didn’t conform to standards of expected behaviour (obedient, married etc)

Question 13

how did the Civil War to lead to an increase in witchcraft accusations?

Answer 13

• tensions in communities- us v them
• some people used it as a chance to settle old scores
• people felt more anxious with the lack of government control
• some felt that traditional authority was being undermined- feared for patriarchal values

Question 14

who was Matthew Hopkins?

Answer 14

self-declared witch-hunter general

Question 15

where did Matthew Hopkins operate?

Answer 15

all over East Anglia

Question 16

how many deaths of women was Matthew Hopkins responsible for 1645-7?

Answer 16

about 100

Question 17

when was Hopkins employed by a JP in Essex to hunt for witches?

Answer 17

1645

Question 18

how much did Hopkins earn from witch hunting?

Answer 18

could be paid the equivalent of a months wages per witch caught

Question 19

what interrogation methods did Hopkins employ to extract confessions?

Answer 19

food and sleep deprivation, torture.

Question 20

when did Matthew Hopkins likely die?

Answer 20

1647

Question 21

how did Hopkins ensure he always had business?

Answer 21

would torture women to get them to give up names of other ‘witches’

Question 22

when did witchcraft accusations decline?

Answer 22

later in the 17th century

Question 23

reasons why witchcraft accusations declined?

Answer 23

• Hopkins’ death 1647 - he had been key in fuelling hysteria
• increasing popularity of the scientific method

Question 24

when did the scientific method increase in popularity?

Answer 24

after 1660

Question 25

how did the increased popularity of the scientific method help in the decrease of witchcraft accusations?

Answer 25

demanded empirical proof and objective thinking --> more questioning of shaky evidence, higher standards of proof required. witchcraft came to be regarded as a superstitious idea rather than a crime

Question 26

how quickly did wider public attitudes about witchcraft change?

Answer 26

slower- more isolated rural communities continues to believe in witchcraft

Question 27

when was the last recorded witchcraft trial in England?

Answer 27

1716

Question 28

what 3 factors contributed to the change in status of women in the 17th century?

Answer 28

1. Civil War 2. religion 3. legislation

Question 29

when was the Adultery Act passed?

Answer 29

1650

Question 30

what did the Adultery Act do?

Answer 30

changed the law so that both men and women could be sentenced to death for adultery

Question 31

how significant was the Adultery Act 1650?

Answer 31

significant in theory, but in Devon, male suspects only made up 10% of the 255 people charged 1650-60

Question 32

what legal restriction did CII raise regarding theatre and when?

Answer 32

1660 - lifted the legal restriction on women performing in stage plays (more due to his love of theatre than for gender-equality's sake)

Question 33

when was the Adultery Act?

Answer 33

1650

Question 34

what did the Adultery Act do?

Answer 34

changed the law so that both men and women could be sentenced to death for adultery.

Question 35

was the Adultery Act impactful in changing the status of women?

Answer 35

no - still most often used against women e.g. 1650-60, male suspects only made up 10% of the 255 people charged in Devon.

Question 36

when was the Marriage Act?

Answer 36

1653

Question 37

what did the Marriage Act do?

Answer 37

allowed civil marriages to take place, overseen by JPs- didn’t give men as many rights over their wives as Church marriages did

Question 38

was the Marriage Act impactful in changing the status of women?

Answer 38

no - largely ignored or evaded

Question 39

why was the Marriage Act largely ignored or evaded?

Answer 39

didn’t give men as many rights over their wives as

Question 40

what became of the Adultery Act and the Marriage Act?

Answer 40

CII repealed them both 1660

Question 41

overall, how successful was legislation in changing the status of women in the 17th century?

Answer 41

not successful

Question 42

in what way did the role of women change during the Civil War?

Answer 42

During CW, women took on the roles of men who had gone away

Question 43

how widespread was the taking over of roles of men by women during the CW?

Answer 43

not very - more common in gentry families where large estates needed to be managed

Question 44

example of woman who took over estate during CW?

Answer 44

Lucy Hutchinson managed the estate of her Parliamentarian Colonel husband

Question 45

example of a woman who commanded a unit of troops in the CW?

Answer 45

Mary Banks, a royalist, commanded a unit of troops in defence of Corfe Castle in Dorset

Question 46

examples of a woman's protest?

Answer 46

- CW: Puritan women found themselves at the forefront of protest and campaigns especially around the CW e.g. 6000 women petitioned Parliament for peace on Aug 1643 - religion: When the Leveller leader John Lilburne was imprisoned in 1649, his wife and Katherine Chidley organised a petition for release and argued that women were created in the image of God too and should therefore have as much freedom as men.

Question 47

how many women petitioned Parliament for peace in Aug 1643?

Answer 47

6000

Question 48

when did 6000 women petition Parliament for peace?

Answer 48

Aug 1643

Question 49

when was Leveller leader John Lilburne imprisoned?

Answer 49

1649

Question 50

what was the name of the women's activist who petitioned for John Lilburne's release?

Answer 50

Katherine Childley

Question 51

what was the name of the Leveller leader who was imprisoned 1649?

Answer 51

John Lilburne

Question 52

what was the result of the petition to free John Lilburne?

Answer 52

The women were told they should return home and continue with housework, and Lilburn wasn’t released.

Question 53

were the changes to the status of women seen in the Civil War long-lasting?

Answer 53

no - after the CW, many women went back to how they were before

Question 54

how did some Puritans challenge the status of women?

Answer 54

Puritans valued having family at the heart of worship rather than the Church. As a result, many richer Puritans advocated for more widespread education so that women could read and write to instruct their children in religious education

Question 55

what religion advocated for women's education?

Answer 55

Quakers

Question 56

did the Quaker's advocacy of women's education materialise into anything?

Answer 56

not really - women allowed to speak at Quaker meetings but only 4 of the 15 schools they founded before 1671 were willing to accept girls

Question 57

what was the widespread belief about women's education?

Answer 57

widespread belief, even in many Puritan circles, that education for women was dangerous

Question 58

where was Corfe Castle located?

Answer 58

Dorset