Witchcraft

Question 1

What were two features of the 1736 repeal of witchcraft legislation

Answer 1

Fraudulent cases would be punished with a one year prison sentence
Magic and witchcraft were declared non-existent

Question 2

Who was the first person to be found guilty of false accusations of witchcraft in 1701?

Answer 2

Richard Hathaway

Question 3

What are 4 statements that reflect how publications had an impact on Judicial Scepticism.

Answer 3

• Questions around ‘proof’ and evidence began in the late C16th
• There was a notable change in acceptance of evidence from shortly before Bacon’s work to after it
• An increasing number of judges and jurors aware of the logic and rationality behind ideas from people like Hobbes
• There was a shift in accusing people of witchcraft, to finding the accusers guilty

Question 4

When was the second witchcraft act implemented

Answer 4

1563

Question 5

When did John Locke publish “Essay concerning human understanding”

Answer 5

1690

Question 6

When did Reginald Scot publish “The Discoverie of witchcraft”

Answer 6

1584

Question 7

When did Francis Bacon publish “Of the Proficience and Advancement of Learning Divine and Human”

Answer 7

1605

Question 8

When did Thomas Hobbes publish “De Corpore”

Answer 8

1655

Question 9

When did Isaac Newton publish “Principia Mathematica”

Answer 9

1687

Question 10

When was the Pendle Swindle

Answer 10

1634

Question 11

What did John Holt do during the trial of 1701?

Answer 11

He asked an expert on the ‘scientificity’ of the evidence whether it was possible for someone to survive 2 weeks without eating

Question 12

Who wrote “Dialogue concerning Witches and Witchcraft” (1594)?

Answer 12

George Gifford

Question 13

What was the name of the Lord Chief Justice who was prepared to convict on ‘presumptions’ rather than proof

Answer 13

Edmund Anderson

Question 14

Which fraudulent case takes place in 1662?

Answer 14

The demon drummer of tedworth

Question 15

When did Copernicus publish “Revolution of heavenly spheres”

Answer 15

1543

Question 16

When did Samuel Harsnett publish “Fraudulent Practices of John Darrel”

Answer 16

1599

Question 17

When was the Royal Society founded

Answer 17

1660

Question 18

When was Sir John Holt appointed Chief Justice

Answer 18

1689

Question 19

When was Balthasar Bekker’s “Enchanted world” published

Answer 19

1691

Question 20

When was the Jane Wenham case

Answer 20

1712

Question 21

What method of torture is questioned for its use in obtaining evidence during the Pendle Swindle trial?

Answer 21

Sleep deprivation

Question 22

What two statements that best summarise the Malleus Maleficarum

Answer 22

• It was a book that argued women were more likely to be witches because they were impressionable and had “slippery tongues and feeble minds”
• It was a book that selected specifically chosen parts of scripture to justify the unusual legal proceedings in witchcraft trials

Question 23

What three statements that summarise George Mackenzie’s beliefs about witchcraft.

Answer 23

• Witchcraft might be possible but most of the people accused were not genuine witches
• True witches deserved punishment, judges who didn’t fulfill their roles and sent innocent people to their deaths should also be blamed
• Witches were people who had been deceived, but were not necessarily evil, and therefore undeserving of harsh punishments

Question 24

What was the name of the witch who was found innocent in 1682 and who was the judge of her case?

Answer 24

Joan Buts, Matthew Hale

Question 25

In the 1620s trial, led by Heneage Finch, what piece of evidence was used to convict the witch standing trial?

Answer 25

The witch’s Devil Mark

Question 26

Which sceptical authors are believed to have influenced Holt’s sceptical thinking?

Answer 26

Scot, Ady and Webster

Question 27

What are the impacts of Bacon’s work.

Answer 27

• His ideas and methods began being implemented mainly after 1640, and he influenced members of the Royal Society.
• The rational method was eventually used in the study of religion (re-examining the bible), society, philosophy and eventually history.
• Some of the early members of the Royal Society actually used his methods to try to empirically prove the existence of witchcraft.

Question 28

What is the name of the accuser in the Pendle Swindle case?

Answer 28

Edmund Robinson

Question 29

What year was the final Witchcraft Act?

Answer 29

1736

Question 30

What impact did George Mackenzie have on the rise of sceptical thinking?

Answer 30

He was the first judge to practice sceptical thinking but his influence was limited to Scottish law and Sir John Holt

Question 31

Who wrote ‘The Fraudulent Practices of John Darrel’ in 1599?

Answer 31

Samuel Harsnett

Question 32

Which three cases did Sir John Holt find witches innocent.

Answer 32

• 1696 Elizabeth Horner
• 1694 Mother Munnings
• 1695 Launceston Case in Cornwall

Question 33

Give a summary of the Boy of Burton fraudulent case

Answer 33

Thomas Darling accused Alice Goodridge of bewitching him, 13 other potential witches were picked out in the investigation. John Darrell was brought in to exorcise Thomas Darling of the curse but attracted suspicion because of his reputation. Afterwards, Darling admitted that he had lied about the accusation. Darling and Darrel were imprisoned.

Question 34

What three things did James want to take place during a hunt.

Answer 34

• Search for Devil’s Marks- very important
• Swimming test an effective identification method
• Women are more like to be witches because they are vulnerable to be led astray

Question 35

When does King James VI write Daemonologie

Answer 35

1597

Question 36

Why do we know so much about John Fian’s trial

Answer 36

It was reported in ‘Newes from Scotland’

Question 37

How was Thomas Ady’s Candle in the Dark similar to that of Reginald Scot’s Discoverie of Witchcraft

Answer 37

They both argued against the biblical justification of magic and sorcery

Question 38

How did the changing religious climate affect beliefs in witchcraft and sceptical thinking

Answer 38

There became multiple ways to interpret the Bible, which led to multiple interpretations of witchcraft and its religious roots

Question 39

What was the diabolical pact

Answer 39

A pact made between someone and the devil where they offer their soul in exchange for wealth and power

Question 40

What forms of torture were used in Scotland

Answer 40

• Cords around limbs / head twisted with a rope
• Sleep deprivation
• Witches Bridle
• Thumbscrews / leg screws / boots
• Nails under the fingers

Question 41

When was the North Berwick Witch hunt

Answer 41

1590-1591

Question 42

Who argued that objects had primary and secondary qualities and because spirits had no primary qualities, they can’t be real

Answer 42

John Locke