Myths and Monty Python: Using the Witch-Hunts to Introduce Students to Significance
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The Threat of Witchcraft Destroyed
Clarke said she’d lie with the Devil, The threat of Witchcraft destroyed In the shape of a gentleman, Or, the trial and condemnation of Elizabeth Clarke in the county of Essex, hung at Three times a week for six years, Chelmsford the 29. of July last. He’d say ‘Besse, I must lie with you’ and she volunteered. To the Tune of, Doctor Faustus: or, Fortune my Foe. Clarke flew to witchcraft gatherings at night, In the forest, it was out of sight, They’d feast and dance till the Devil came, Learn his magical arts and swear their allegiance. Twenty-six women Clarke accused of witchcraft, Her housekeeper Helen carried out evil tasks, With the help of Elimanzer, her familiar, She cursed Grace Glascock’s daughter. Clarke blamed Anne West for the death of John Edwards, Said she quarrelled with his mother Susan, Anne was found to have suspicious marks, Richard Edwards owned a shop in In Manningtree,aw a place in Essex, She claimed they were merely birthmarks. Lived an evil, malicious witch, Manningtree, Her name was Elizabeth Clarke, Refused to sell Clarke bread and brie, Clarke was found guilty when she was tried, She worked for Satan; she had three She killed his cattle, muttering charms, Hung whilst the crowd roared and cried, Devil’s marks. Conspired with the Devil to bring about ‘Kill the witch, end our suffering and fear’, these harms. Clarke trembled and wept, shocked by the cheer. Essex had been wrecked by the Civil War, Matthew Hopkins, the witchfinder-general, Now that we know Clarke’s fate, Struck by famine and disease, yet it Arrived in March to interrogate Clarke, I must give you a Hopkins update, swore, With his assistant Stearne and searcher After Clarke, his first suspect, Loyalty to the Roundheads, Philips, Two hundred witches he did inspect. -
The Discovery of Witches, by Matthew Hopkins
The Discovery of Witches, by Matthew Hopkins THE DISCOVERY OF WITCHES IN Answer to severall QUERIES, LATELY Delivered to the Judges of Assize for the County of NORFOLK And now published by MATTHEW HOPKINS, Witch-finder FOR the Benefit of the whole KINGDOME M. DC. XLVII. EXOD. 22.18. Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. Certaine Queries answered, which have been and are likely to be objected against MATTHEW HOPKINS, in his way of finding out Witches. Querie 1. That he must needs be the greatest Witch, Sorcerer, and Wizzard himselfe, else he could not doe it. Answ. If Satan's kingdome be divided against it selfe, how shall it stand? Querie 2. If he never went so farre as is before mentioned, yet for certaine he met with the Devill, and cheated him of his Booke, wherein were written all the Witches names in England, and if he looks on any Witch, he can tell by her countenance what she is; so by this, his helpe is from the Devill. Answ. If he had been too hard for the devill and got his book, it had been to his great commendation, and no disgrace at all: and for judgement in Phisiognomie, he hath no more then any man else whatsoever. Querie 3. From whence then proceeded this his skill? was it from his profound learning, or from much reading of learned Authors concerning that subject? Answ. From neither of both, but from experience, which though it be meanly esteemed of, yet the surest and safest way to judge by. -
Witches and Witchcraft in Ely
Witches and Witchcraft in Ely A HISTORY Francis Young Printed for the author by Cambridge Print Solutions Cambridge, 2013 Published by Francis Young © Francis Young 2013 Francis Young has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work. francisyoung.wordpress.com ISBN 978-0-9926404-0-8 Table of Contents Introduction 1 1. Hereward and the Witch 3 2. A Necromancer in the Lady Chapel 5 3. Witchcraft and the Reformation 9 4. Witchfinders in Ely 11 5. Witchcraft in Ely in Modern Times 15 Notes 20 Introduction The Cambridgeshire Fens are one of the last places in England where traditional belief in witchcraft was widespread. Until as late as the mid-twentieth century, Fenland communities were isolated, and their inhabitants were more vulnerable to environmental illnesses, such as malaria, than the rest of the population. A hard life, geographical isolation, close-knit communities and mistrust of outsiders may all have contributed to the Fenlanders’ abiding belief in the power of witchcraft. Ely’s place in the history of English witchcraft is a special one. As the cathedral city at the heart of the Fens, under the independent jurisdiction of the Bishop, Ely was the place where anyone locally accused of witchcraft would be brought to trial. The city was the hub from which John Stearne completed the last stage of Matthew Hopkins’s infamous witch-hunt in the 1640s, and Ely was the scene for the (quite literal) downfall of the first ‘witch’ to appear in English history. -
Empowering Popularity: the Fuel Behind a Witch-Hunt
EMPOWERING POPULARITY: THE FUEL BEHIND A WITCH-HUNT ________________________________ A Thesis Presented to The Honors Tutorial College Ohio University ________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for Graduation From the Honors Tutorial College With the degree of Bachelor of Arts in History ________________________________ Written by Grace Konyar April 2017 Table of Contents List of Figures ……………………………………………………………………….2 Introduction………………………………………………………………………….3 Chapter One………………………………………………………………………..10 Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story: The Development of Witchcraft as a Gendered Crime Chapter Two………………………………………………………………………………...31 The World Turned Upside Down: The Fragility of the Suffolk and Essex Witch-Hunts Chapter Three ……………………………………………………………………………...52 That Would Be Enough: The Tipping Point of Spectral Evidence Chapter Four………………………………………………………………………74 Satisfied: The Balance of Ethics and Fame Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………….93 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………..97 1 List of Figures Image 1: Frontispiece, Matthew Hopkins, The Discovery of Witches, London, 1647…...........................................................................................................................40 Image 2: Indictment document 614 of the Essex Summer Sessions for Maria Sterling. Courtesy of The National Archives- Kew, ASSI 35/86/1/72. Photograph by the author………………………………………………………………………………....41 Image 3: Frontispiece, A True Relation of the Araignment of eighteen Witches, London, 1945……………………………………...……….…………………………48 -
Pope Innocent VIII (1484-1492) and the Summis Desiderantes Affectibus
Portland State University PDXScholar Malleus Maleficarum and asciculusF Malleus Maleficarum Temporum (1490) 2020 Pope Innocent VIII (1484-1492) and the Summis desiderantes affectibus Maral Deyrmenjian Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/mmft_malleus Part of the European History Commons, History of Christianity Commons, Medieval History Commons, and the Medieval Studies Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Deyrmenjian, Maral, "Pope Innocent VIII (1484-1492) and the Summis desiderantes affectibus" (2020). Malleus Maleficarum. 1. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/mmft_malleus/1 This Book is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Malleus Maleficarum by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. Maral Deyrmenjian Spring, 2020 Pope Innocent VIII (1484-1492) and the Summis desiderantes affectibus At the end of the fifteenth century, Dominican friars were authorized to persecute practitioners of certain local customs which were perceived to be witchcraft in the mountains of Northern Italy.1 A landmark in the chronology of these witch-hunts was the papal bull of 1484, or the Summis desiderantes affectibus, and its inclusion in Heinrich Kramer’s witch-hunting codex, the Malleus Maleficarum. While neither the pope nor the papal bull were significantly influential on their own, the extraordinary popularity of Kramer’s Malleus draws attention to them. Pope Innocent VIII, born Giovanni Battista Cibó, was born in Genoa in 1432 into a Roman senatorial family.2 Cibó did not intend to become a member of the clergy and, in fact, fathered two illegitimate children: Franceschetto and Teodorina. -
The Salem Witch Trials from a Legal Perspective: the Importance of Spectral Evidence Reconsidered
W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1984 The Salem Witch Trials from a Legal Perspective: The Importance of Spectral Evidence Reconsidered Susan Kay Ocksreider College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Law Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Ocksreider, Susan Kay, "The Salem Witch Trials from a Legal Perspective: The Importance of Spectral Evidence Reconsidered" (1984). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539625278. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-7p31-h828 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS FROM A LEGAL PERSPECTIVE; THE IMPORTANCE OF SPECTRAL EVIDENCE RECONSIDERED A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History The College of Williams and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Susan K. Ocksreider 1984 ProQuest Number: 10626505 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest. ProQuest 10626505 Published by ProQuest LLC (2017). -
Finding the Witch's Mark
Hamline University DigitalCommons@Hamline Departmental Honors Projects College of Liberal Arts Spring 2014 Finding the Witch’s Mark: Female Participation in the Judicial System During the Hopkins Trials 1645-47 Shannon M. Lundquist Hamline University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/dhp Part of the Cultural History Commons, European History Commons, History of Gender Commons, History of Religion Commons, Social History Commons, and the Women's History Commons Recommended Citation Lundquist, Shannon M., "Finding the Witch’s Mark: Female Participation in the Judicial System During the Hopkins Trials 1645-47" (2014). Departmental Honors Projects. 18. https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/dhp/18 This Honors Project is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Liberal Arts at DigitalCommons@Hamline. It has been accepted for inclusion in Departmental Honors Projects by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Hamline. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Finding the Witch’s Mark: Female Participation in the Judicial System During the Hopkins Trials 1645-47. Shannon Lundquist An Honors Thesis Submitted for partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation with honors in History from Hamline University March 31, 2014 1 Table of Contents Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 2 The Hopkins Trials ............................................................................................................. -
Witch Fever Gripped East Anglia for 14 Terrible Months
Witch-hunts! © This article looks at some of the long, sad history of anti-witch laws in England and Wales and takes a peek also at the situation today elsewhere. Can’t look at everything, but this is an eclectic view of laws, case studies and practice. The real start was in Ireland, in Kilkenny with Petronilla de Meath, who was burned at the stake for witchcraft and heresy on 3 November 1324, but she was the only recorded such burning in Ireland. It’s probably worth looking at this case in more detail as she was executed as the scapegoat for her employer – have a look on www.headstuff.org/history/terrible-people-from-history/petronilla-de- meath-irish-witch/. Henry VIII passed the Witchcraft Act 1542 against the following crimes: “... use, devyse practise or exercise, or cause to be devysed practised or exercised, any Invovacons or conjuracons of Sprites witchecraftes enchauntementes or sorceries to the intent to fynde money or treasure or to waste consume or destroy any persone in his bodie membres, or to pvoke [provoke] any persone to unlawfull love, or for any other unlawfull intente or purpose ... or for dispite of Cryste, or for lucre of money, dygge up or pull downe any Crosse or Crosses or by such Invovacons or conjuracons of Sprites witchecraftes enchauntementes or sorceries or any of them take upon them to tell or declare where goodes stollen or lost shall become.” This law was repealed by Edward VI in 1547, only to be replaced by the Witchcraft Act 1563 by Elizabeth I. -
John Lowes-2008
A brief history of witchcraft in England. Popular belief in witchcraft (persons who were supposed to have entered into a compact with the Devil) prevailed in England throughout the Middle Ages and was entertained by many eminent men. During the reign of James 1st (1566-1625) He earned the unenviable reputation of being, “the wisest fool in Christendom” for his ill judged favouritism. He tightened the witchcraft laws and regarded those who doubted witchcraft as being witches themselves. The pact with the Devil and the keeping of imps was given renewed emphasis. Witches were to be executed by hanging. And so the new turbulent scene was set as Shakespeare’s witches chanted... ...Double double toil and trouble Fire burn and cauldron bubble... (Macbeth 1606) And now unravelled in a short space of time (1642-1645) the painful trials and deaths of almost 300 alleged witches. ... the keeping of imps was forbidden John Lowes, Rector at Brandeston Lowes was accused by his own parishioners of having Papist leanings, many of his flock detested him for being vexatious and turbulent, there being one occasion the rector gave a parishioner a bloody nose during a row in the churchyard. Tempers were further inflamed when he took the side of a woman who had been accused of witchcraft thus gaining an unjustifiable reputation of being a witch himself. Petitions by his parishioners to the Church Authorities to have him removed, met without success but all this made the rector an eventual target of the self appointed Witch Finder General Matthew Hopkins. In 1642 at Framlingham, Hopkins extracted confessions from two suspected witches, who, under extreme duress linked the rector to witchcraft. -
The Malleus Maleficarum
The Malleus Maleficarum file:///C|/!!witch/home.html [2002-01-20 12:41:37 PM] The Malleus Maleficarum THE MALLEUS MALEFICARUM of Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger Unabridged online republication of the 1928 edition. Introduction to the 1948 edition is also included. Translation, notes, and two introductions by Montague Summers. A Bull of Innocent VIII. ● The Malleus Maleficarum The Malleus Maleficarum (The Witch Hammer), first ● Search the Malleus published in 1486, is arguably one of the most infamous books ever written, due primarily to its position and regard ● Introduction to Online Edition during the Middle Ages. It served as a guidebook for Inquisitors during the Inquisition, and was designed to aid ● Introduction to 1948 Edition them in the identification, prosecution, and dispatching of ● Introduction to 1928 Edition Witches. It set forth, as well, many of the modern ● A Note Upon the Bibliography misconceptions and fears concerning witches and the influence of witchcraft. The questions, definitions, and ● The Bull of Innocent VIII accusations it set forth in regard to witches, which were ● Letter of Approbation reinforced by its use during the Inquisition, came to be widely regarded as irrefutable truth. Those beliefs are held downloads even today by a majority of Christians in regard to ● Adobe PDF Version practitioners of the modern “revived” religion of ● eBook Version Witchcraft, or Wicca. And while the Malleus itself is ● MS Word Version largely unknown in modern times, its effects have proved long lasting. ● Write Us At the time of the writing of The Malleus Maleficarum, there were many voices within the Christian community (scholars and theologians) who doubted the existence of witches and largely regarded such belief as mere superstition. -
You're a Witch
EDUCATION Aha! RESOURCE You’re a Witch EARLY MODERN EUROPEAN WITCH-HUNTS Year 8 The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions About Us THE AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH COUNCIL CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR THE HISTORY OF EMOTIONS (Europe, 1100–1800) The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions (CHE) was established in 2011. It recognises the importance of emotion in shaping our mental, physical and social wellbeing, and that the expression, understanding and representation of emotions has changed over time. Through its innovative research, the Centre seeks to build on our understanding of emotions, past and present, and provide insight into contemporary Australian culture. With a focus on the medieval and early modern periods, the Centre’s research examines four key themes: Meanings, Change, Performance, and Shaping the Modern. Through its education and public outreach programs, and affiliations with industry and cultural organisations, the Centre aims to invigorate our culture, and engage the community in the consideration of emotions and their impact on history. For more information about the Centre’s research and public outreach programs go to www.historyofemotions.org.au About This Lesson Resource Aha! You're a Witch! ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions Curriculum Series Wendy Norman Curriculum Writer Dr Carly Osborn Series Editor Dr Abaigéal Warfield Researcher Our thanks to Mandi Dimitriadis of Makers Empire and DECD for her feedback on an early version of this material. WHO WE ARE This material is provided under a Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 AU). -
Social Conflict in the Late Middle Ages Plague, War, and Witches (Why You Shouldn't Mess with the Inquisition)
Humanities 1B Lindahl Social Conflict in the Late Middle Ages Plague, War, and Witches (why you shouldn’t mess with the Inquisition) Transformation - The good, the bad, and the ugly 13th century - Trade and the City Revival of trade, the return of money, specialization and craft, growth of the city Burghers and Bourgeoisie, Population growth, Magna Carta (1215) – Nearly a Renaissance Then ….. 14th century - Plague and War Famines of the early 14th century The Black Death (Bubonic/Pneumonic Plague) 1347-1351 In Sicily and Italy, 1347. To England by 1349. The “quarante” in Venice Reactions to the Plague – depopulating cities, breakdown of the family, apocalyptic fears, hedonism, flagellants, persecution of the Jews (again) Ars Moriendi - the Danse Macabre (Dance of Death) The Röttgen Pietà (1325), Asst. Illumination, the Cemetery of the Holy Innocents (1424), The Dance of Death prints (1490), Han Holbein’s Dance of Death (1538), The Triumph of Death (1562) Pieter Bruegel the Elder Economic dislocation and the Peasant revolts (the “Jacquerie,” 1358) The Hundred Years War (1337-1452) Edward III (England), Philip VI (France) The Battle of Crécy (1346) Henry V (England), Charles the dauphin (France)[later, Charles VII] Joan of Arc (aka “Joan the Maiden,” later St. Joan) (1412-1431) The Church and the King (round 2, following the Investiture Controversy) King Philip IV (1285-1314)(France) Pope Boniface VIII (1294-1303) - Unam Sanctum (1302) Clement V and The Papacy at Avignon (1305-1377) The Great Schism (another one)(1378-1417) – Urban VI or Clement VII The Council of Pisa (1409), The Council of Constance (1417) Conciliarism – Or, Alexander V….