This was put in place under Henry VIII and was the first piece of English legislation to make witchcraft a felony.
It stated that the conjuring of spirits, witchcraft and sorcery in order to find treasure, cause harm to a person or their goods a capital offense.
The Act focused on witchcraft as hostility towards a community rather than withcraft being a pact with the Devil
It removed a right known as 'benefit of the clergy' from those convicted; this was a legal device that spared someone from hanging if they could read a passage from the Bible
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An Act Against Conjurations, Enchantments and Witc
This Act was seen as more severe than the first as it made the act of invoking crimials spirits a crime
It did not matter if harm to people was involved or not
However, others would argue it was more lenient as the death penalty was only invoked if the witchcraft lead to death
If injury or death if an animal occured, the guilty party was given a lesser sentence of imprisonment for one year
The act did not focus on the pact with the Devil but continued to focus on harm casued by witches
The Act was repealed in 1604
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An Act Against Conjuration, Witchcraft and Dealing
Seen as far more severe than the 1563 we King James had a particular interest in witchcraft
He wrote a book entitled 'Daemonologie' which emphasisied the threat witches posed to England and Christianity
The death penalty was retained for killing, but also extended to other types of magic such as destroying livestock, or goods, or attempted murders. The Act also made it an offense to consult with, or feed evil spirits
The Act had many supporters including; the Eark of Northumberland, the Bishop of Lincoln and Cheif Justice of the Court of Pleas
It was enforced by 'Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins'
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