Witch Hunting: Legal Foundations

Question 1

Inquisitorial Process and Witch Tests

Answer 1

Inquisition:

• In 13th and 14th centuries, secular and ecclesiastical courts adopted an Inquisitorial System in continental Europe
• Judges investigated and adjudicated Witch trials themselves
• Usually, system had high standard of proof > at least 2 eye witnesses needed
• Witch trials harder to get eye witnesses for so judges relied heavily on confession

Witch Tests:

• Water in pail would shimmer when Witch walked past
• Witches made to recite Lord’s Prayer, had to do it without faltering
• Witches mark was for demon to suckle on, midwives looked for it and pricked it with a needle to see if it drew blood > if not then it was a witch mark
• Witch Swimmings: victims tied up and thrown into river, if she sank she was not a witch

Question 2

Torture and Free Confession

Answer 2

Torture used on Continent (Not in England) to obtain a confession or information from an accused person, Innocent people likely to confess to escape pain.

General Rules put in place:

• Victim shouldn’t die from torture
• Certain people exempt e.g. Pregnant or Child
• Judges should establish that a crime has been committed before torture is used
• Testimony from torture chamber not admissible as evidence, had to repeat confession ‘freely’

Torture in Witch Hunts:

• 1484: Witchcraft seen as a Exceptional Crime, torture rules became more relaxed
• Confessions from torture confirmed evidence of witch treatises
• Rate of convictions higher because of forced confession
• Torture ensured more people accused ‘accomplices’, led to a chain reaction

Free Confessions:

• Some confessed to avoid torture
• Some people genuinely believed they were witches
• Possible hallucinations from mould on food

Question 3

Witchcraft, Secular Courts and punishment

Answer 3

Ecclesiastical Courts:

• Played important role in regulating moral and religious life of Europeans during medieval and early modern period
• Many Witches prosecuted in Church Courts
• By late 16th century, Church Courts becoming weaker, Inquisition Courts only remained strong in Spain and Italy
• Clergy sometimes put pressure on Secular Courts to take action, most direct clerical influence seen in HRE

Secular Courts:

• Began to have a legitimate interest in Witchcraft because they believed it could result in physical harm and could be used for political purposes
• Many states passed specific prohibitions against Witchcraft in their Criminal Codes
• Laws made may have contributed to growth of hunts because they publicised the crime and facilitated its prosecution

Punishments:

• Europe: Witches often burned at the stake, this punishment was traditionally for heretics
• Some strangled before burning in France, Germany, Scotland and Switzerland
• England: Witches were hanged
• Non-Capital Punishment: Common in England, especially for 1st offence, could be a prison sentence
• Geneva sometimes banished if couldn’t determine guilt with certainty