Witchcraft

Question 1

Who was accused of witchcraft?

Answer 1

• 80-90% of those accused were women; often elderly single women or widows. This shows attitudes to women at the time which were that they were inferior to men.

‘Cunning folk’ or ‘wise women’ were often accused. These were women in their villages who people consulted about their health, well-being, pregnancy and child-birth.

Question 2

East Anglia Witch Hunts 1645-1647

Answer 2

• Started on 21 March 1645 with the arrest of Elizabeth Clarke in Manningtree and ended in Ely on 23 September 1647 during the time of the English Civil War.
• Trials happened across East Anglia e.g Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Huntingdonshire, Cambridgeshire, the Isle of Ely, and Northamptonshire.
• Those accused often had a mole, birthmark or other unusual marks on their bodies.
• Between 1645 and 1647 around 300 people were arrested on suspicion of being witches; with 112 of them executed (by hanging). Many of those killed had been discovered by Matthew Hopkins the ‘Witchfinder General’ and his assistant John Stearne (see sheets on law enforcement) who were paid 20 shillings for every ‘witch’ found!

Question 3

Why did people stopped being accused of witchcraft?

Answer 3

• By the late 17th century, the Enlightenment movement had begun and in 1660 the Royal Society was set up by Charles II. This encouraged people to look for rational and scientific explanations with educated people viewing witchcraft as pure superstition.
• The last recorded execution for witchcraft in England was in 1716.

Question 4

Why was there an increase in accusations of witchcraft at this time?
- Economic problems

Answer 4

The population of England doubled between 1500-1700 from 2.5 million to 7 million. This meant there were not enough jobs for all.
Falling wages, rising unemployment, enclosure and poverty increased tensions between people in small communities. Loss of livestock blamed on evil spirits and witchcraft as opposed to bad luck or bad weather.
Increase in homeless vagabonds brought accusations of witchcraft made by wealthy people against poor people

Question 5

Why was there an increase in accusations of witchcraft at this time?
-religious problems

Answer 5

Reformation and frequent changes from Catholic to Protestant by the King/Queen led to more accusations of witchcraft which was seen as a sin against God and Christian society. Catholics and Protestants accused people to show their religious beliefs were superior.
Protestants and Puritans claimed that the Catholic Church was full of superstitious practices such as pouring Holy water on the fields to get a good harvest which needed to be got rid of like witchcraft.
After the Gunpowder plot James I became fearful of Catholic plots and became obsessed with uncovering threats. Therefore, he encouraged witch hunts.

Question 6

Why was there an increase in accusations of witchcraft at this time?
Political problems

Answer 6

At a time of economic and religious instability, witchcraft was used as a scapegoat so that people would not blame the King or Queen e.g Henry VIII made witchcraft a crime against the King, punishable by death to deflect criticism of his changes to the Church.
James I mistrusted women and wrote the book ‘Demonologie’ in 1597 about witchcraft.
Political turmoil during the English Civil War of 1642-1651 led to conflict and instability across the country with people taking the opportunity to accuse those who did not ‘fit in’ of being witches.