Witchcraft

Key Dates in the history of witchcraft:

• 1542 - The first law was passed saying that witchcraft was a crime
• 1590 - The future King James I wrote an important book on witchcraft
• 1645 - The year when Matthew Hopkins, witch-finder, accused record numbers of people of Witchcraft in Essex 
• 1717 - The last trial for Witchcraft
• 1736 - The last law saying that witchcraft was a crime repealed

Matthew Hopkins - Witch-finder general

• Was about 25 years old in 1645
• Witch-finder general
• Failed to make a success of being a lawyer
• Hopkins had began scouring in East Anglia for witches
• He tortured his suspects
• Torture was illegal and was not used in other enquiries into witchcraft
  • He forced his suspects to stand up & forced them to walk until their feet were blistered
  • He made sure they got no sleep - a very effective way of weakening their resistance
  • He humiliated the suspects by ********* them naked
  • Methods of torture were effective with old people
  • Many suspects confessed
• If a mouse, fly or spider entered a cell of where the suspects were, Hopkins claimed it was the witch's familiar.
• His Helpers found 'witches marks' on suspects body:
  • Spots
  • Scar
  • Boil
• Witches were:
  • Hanged
  • Died of bad gaol conditions
  • Held in prisons and their fate was unknown
  • A small minority managed to acquit and were released - provided evidence against her fellow suspects
• Witch-finders were paid for every witch…