Witch Craze + Bloody Code Flashcards
What was the witch craze, and when and where did it happen?
Between 1645 and 1647, approximately 250 accusations of witchcraft came before the authorities in East Anglia. This was the largest number of accusations that England had experienced in one place over such a short time. It was described as a ‘witch craze’.
Who was Matthew Hopkins, and how did he cause the witch craze?
Matthew Hopkins styled himself as a ‘witchfinder general’ and claimed he could accurately identify witches by inspecting their bodies for a devil’s mark. However, most poor women had marks on their body from performing day-to-day manual labour, and it was unreliable and easily abused.
How did government and lawmakers(English civil war) cause the Witch craze?
The civil war disrupted courts and weakened the control of local authorities. This meant that assize judges (royal judges who travelled around the country hearing serious cases) were less able to travel, and locals took the law into their own hands. Due to the less experienced people taking on the law, poor evidence would be accepted to convict witches.
When was the English civil war?
1641 until 1649
What was the Bloody Code, and when was it introduced?
Laws set out crimes that were punishable by death. Murder, pickpocketing goods worth 1 shilling, poaching and cutting down trees. It was introduced between the late 17th century and the 19th century.
How did urbanisation lead to the Bloody Code?
Towns were growing in size. Londons population had grown from 75 to 400 thousand. This made it harder to enforce the law using traditional methods of the hue and cry as these were based on that everyone knew each other. Streets were more crowded, so criminals could escape, and harsher punishments would act as a stronger deterrent
How did pamphlets, such as The Proceedings of The Old Bailey, published in 1674, and books such as daemonologie, published in 1597, lead to the introduction of the Bloody code? (Media)
It shared violent crime stories taken from trials and sensationalised individual cases, giving the impression that crime was worse and more common than it was. This made people conclude stronger deterrents were necessary and created panic and daemonologie warned readers that there were witches in society
What is a statistic from the Bloody Code?
Crimes punishable by death:
1688 - 50
1765 - 160
1815 - 225
How did attitudes in society help introduce the bloody code?
The death penalty had been used for centuries and it had always been the idea that severe punishments were the most effective deterrents. This meant that most people assumed it worked well and it was a popular choice as a deterrent
How did wealth and poverty lead to the east Anglian witch craze?
EXAMPLE: The English civil war led to a period of economic hardship. This increased tensions and distrust and the wealthier villagers were unsettled when the poor asked for help
EXPLAIN: People looked for scapegoats as there is a mistrust and as the polarisation of rich and poor increases, so did the chance of the poor being accused of being a witch
