Matthew Hopkins 1645-47

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  • Created by: 11rsims
  • Created on: 27-05-18 13:28
What is the background of the hunts?
H & S were responsoble for 400 executions which was 2x as much as previous centuries, hunts were carried out in chaos of religion and war
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What was the Eastern Asoociation?
East Anglain cities formed the Eastern Association which provided Puritan troops for Parliamentarians
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Who was Charles I and what did he do in the 20's?
in 1625 Charles I became King at 12 as his brother Henry died at 18, in the Tudor and Stuart periods parliament was important but Charles dissolved them and ruled alone for 11 years
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What happened with Charles in the 40's?
he called Parliament to help raise funds to fight wars in Scotland, in 1642 he tried to arrest 5 leading MP's who tried to limit his power he raised his standard at Nottingham signalling the start of the Civil War
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what was the impact of war?
The county became the epi-centre of witch-hunts, 20% of men sent to fight, there was a shift in power in relationships and women joined radical puritan sects which said men and women had equal status, C of E eroded and Puritans took over
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who was Margery Sparman? What were the stories of 1645
confessed to entertaining the devils imp-her husband had gone to war, 1645 (stories of a royalist woman giving birth to a headless bay, dog digging up corpse and eating it, women drinking and swearing)
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What happened to the assizes courts?
assizes courts didn’t function normally and justice was given out by local magistrates, •Prisoners were executed immediately, Fears intensified as judges were absent, Hopkins and Sterne were paid by town officials and had a 42% conviction rate
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Who was the Earl of Warrick?
commissioned to oversee Essex assizes, had little experience, worked closely with magistrates so Warwick hanged 13 witches
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what was the economics like?
crops failed mid 1640’s, 1646 (summer was wet), disease effected livestock and crops, Wheat and Rye was rotted by Ergot (hallucinogens), meat and cheese prices rose, Wheat rose by 20%, seed corn consumed threatening harvest for next year
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what was enclosure?
Enclosure (Sir Myles Sandy enclosed 4000 acres of land-no fuel or grazing for poorer people), •East Anglia evicted tenants to produce more agriculture, riots occurred in 1630’s and accused witches were linked to previous enclosure
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What was the economic impact of civil war?
Inflation, price of grain increased by 15% and livestock 12%, horses confiscated by armies, 1643-taxes increased but wages did not
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Who was Margeret Moon?
from Parish on Manningtree evicted when a man offered her landlord 10 shillings more per year, she became poor and begged and was later accused for livestock deaths & death of a child
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When did Hopkins become concerned with witches?
Hopkins became concerned with witches in 1644 when a meeting near his house in Manningtree kept him awake. March 1945 they presented accusations to local magistrates as they could not act like judges so they acted as witchfinders.
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where did they go for the trials?
The witchfinders spent 2 years apart investigating separately Hopkins then questioned witches in Yarmouth Aldeburgh,Westleton and Norforld were 40 women were tried by the assizes in 1645 & 8 women tried at Huntingdonshire.1947 Hopkins went to Norfolk
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Who was Elizabeth Clarke?
•Old & had one leg. Searched for devils mark and 3 teats were found. She was watched for several nights and familiars appeared (a rabbit called sack & sugar and a dog like creature Jarmara) She named other witches (Rebecca West) she became a witnes
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who was John Lowes?
a royalist clergyman who spoke in defence of Ann Annson by saying he was as much as a witch as she was. Hopkins made him swi at the moat at Framlington castle & he floated. He confessed to making a pact with the devil and keeping familiars
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Wht did Historian Louise Jackson show?
showed that the 124 suspects from Suffolk (80% female) can be shown as deliberate violence carried out against women.
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How was women targeted?
Poor women involved in dairy farming was vulnerable as they could be accused of witchcraft if cream cuddled or cattle died. Hopkins was keen to find evidence of sexual activity with the Devil. Murders of husbands and children were referred to in tria
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Who ws Susanna Stegolf? Who ws Priscilla Collit?
•Susanna Stegolf (guilty of murdering her husband because of domestic violence), Priscilla Collit (confessed to killing her children after sleep deprivation)
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what class where witches from?
Few records of witches class but most witches were illiterate and uneducated (weavers, millers, labourers) and the victims tended to be literate (landowners or clergy) Men tended to be from the lower class but women could be from any
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What was the qulifications of H & S?
•neither of them were qualified but said they were witchfinder generals & born in to the Puritan tradition, Parliament didn't give him title of witchfinder general he gave it to himself
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What were the methods of H & S?
Assessed witches quickly and efficiently and was paid by town councils and they carried out interrogations by themselves and also with local magistrates. • They wanted to uncover the relationship between the accused witch and devil marks
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What was the procedure?
The accused would be isolated in their own home or a neighbours, search-women would try to find a devils mark,Watching & sleep deprivation, Torture & intimidation, walking, Swimming test which was approved by James I in Daemonologie
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Who was Hopkins?
Son of a Puritan Clergyman, started his career at 25 and died at 28, He could not inherit the estate as he had 2 older brothers so he had to go in to law or trade and he established himself as a gentleman in Manningtree,People thought he had authorit
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Who was Sterne?
Mid 30’s during the craze, Grew up in Suffolk were he was married and had a daughter Anne, He was Puritan and was the first person to receive a warrant for Manning Trees magistrates to search for witches and Hopkins volunteered to assist him.
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how uch did trials cost?
Imprisonment (cost 3p per day per person. In Ipswich imprisoned witches cost £50 whilst waiting for trial and it cost a lot to feed them) Assizes were expensive (a Sheriff had to find funds for accommodation of judges and heating and food.
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How much did executions cost?
Executions (Mary Lakeland ws burned and £3 was spent on her burning which was 3x more expensive than hanging)
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How much did H & S get paid?
Hopkins and Stearne were paid 20 shillings which was one months wages for a labourer but in one trial they got £6 for two visits.
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What was the Aldeborough witch trials?
•cost more than £40 which was 1/7th of the towns annual budget and a special tax was collected for the trial
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How was traditional authority re established?
Fighting ceased when Charles surrendered to the Scots at Newark in May 1646 so by late summer witches were being acquitted as Parliament controlled the country and Parliaments in town were less fearful so didn’t need scapegoats.
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What happened in september 1646?
Hopkins visited King’s Lynn to give evidence against 9 witches the Mayor was there and JP’s all prisoners pleaded not guilty and 2 were found guilty but the rest was acquitted gaining Hopkins £2
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What did people ask bout the hunts in 1647?
Where did Hopkins acquire his skills?, The swimming test was not allowed in law so why did Hopkins use it?
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who was John Gaule?
Minister in 1646 of Great Staughton and was aware parishioners would blame witches for their misfortunes but John thought that there own sins were to blame. He heard about a recent confession and was not convinced witchfinders were doing noble work.
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What was his main points in his book "select cases of conscience touching witches and witchcrafts in 1646"?
He approved of witch-hunting but not of the methods of H & S, pleaded for restraint in accusations as witchfinding should be carried out in a cautious way, he said people in East Anglia praised witchfinders more than God
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what ws his other points?
•witchfinders assumed authority when they didn’t really have any so he preached in Sermons against them and said that it was unlikely witches would have connections with the devil he said confessions shouldn’t be taken at face value.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

What was the Eastern Asoociation?

Back

East Anglain cities formed the Eastern Association which provided Puritan troops for Parliamentarians

Card 3

Front

Who was Charles I and what did he do in the 20's?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What happened with Charles in the 40's?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

what was the impact of war?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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