Witchcraft Acts (HW) Flashcards
When was the First Witchcraft Act?
1542
What did the First Witchcraft Act include?
Made the conjuring of spirits, witchcraft and sorcery in order to find treasure, cause harm to a person or their goods or to discover what had happened to stolen goods punishable by death (A capital offence).
When was the Second Witchcraft Act?
1563
What did the Second Witchcraft Act include?
Made it a crime to invoke evil spirits for any purpose, where maleficium was involved or not. This was more lenient than the first Act though because the death penalty was only put into force if the act of witchcraft resulted in the death of a person.
*Significantly this Act reveals that the notion of the Diabolical Pact had not yet entered English consciousness, as the focus was on the harm caused by witches and not the witch themselves.
When was the Third witchcraft Act?
1604
What did the Third Witchcraft Act include?
The death penalty was retained for the killing of a person and it was reintroduced for a second offence in lesser kinds of magic, like destroying livestock and goods, or attempting to kill a person. The Act also made it an offence to consult with or feed any evil spirit.
*The last point to do with the Act shows that the notion of the Diabolical Pact had now made it into English consciousness and law.
When did the repeal (removal) of Witchcraft legislation in Britain begin?
1736
What happened when the government repealed the Witchcraft legislation?
The government finally repealed the 1604 Witchcraft Act in both England and Scotland. There was little opposition to the decision in England, compared to more religious opposition in Scotland.
A new Witchcraft Act was passed, specifically aimed at punishing fraudulent cases, with a maximum penalty of one year in prison. Importantly, this Act declared that magic and witchcraft were not real.
*Despite this legislation, many ordinary people continued to believe in witches.
