SP 16/270 f.134. (The terms West and Western in this article refer to European societies themselves and to post-Columbian societies influenced by European concepts.) In the Near Eastin ancient Mesopotamia, Syria, Canaan, and Palestinebelief in the existence of evil spirits was universal, so that both religion and magic were thought to be needed to appease, offer protection from, or manipulate these spirits. The hunts were most severe from 1580 to 1630, and the last known execution for witchcraft was in Switzerland in 1782. On 29 June 1634 the Privy Council wrote to Alexander Baker and William Clowes, both surgeons in royal service, ordering them to gather a group of midwives and inspect and search the bodies of those women that were lately brought up by the sheriff of the County of Lancaster indicted for witchcraft 1. The emphasis on personal piety exacerbated the rigid characterization of people as either good or bad. It also aggravated feelings of guilt and the psychological tendency to project negative intentions onto others. Was it sinful to have a wet dream? From the Salem Witch Trials to the witches ofMacbeth, the figure of the witch is embedded in our culture. Charges of maleficium were prompted by a wide array of suspicions. The people continued to practice magic to heal and protect themselves, and some even used it to harm others. Black masses are almost entirely a fantasy of modern writers. We see evidence of this in the following examples: In his paper Diabolical Duos: Witch Spouses in Early New England, Paul Moyer discusses the witchcraft accusations made against couples in the middle-seventeenth century as well as during the Salem witch trials. See our extensive range of expert advice to help you care for and protect historic places. WebThroughout the 16th and 17th century, witch trials and the persecution and punishment of suspected witches were common in Europe. Very broadly speaking, a witch is a person who employs magical entities, which may include powers she carries within her body, to harm other people. Only 25 per cent of those tried across the period in England were found guilty and executed. No matter that in this case nothing sinister was found; for Jenett Hargreaves, Frances Dicconsen, Mary Spencer and Margaret Johnson, the examinations themselves must have been a degrading and traumatic ordeal. : An illustration from a 1619 pamphlet showing Anne Baker of Bottesford, Joan Willimot of Goodby and Ellen Greene of Stathern, who were all tried for witchcraft (, https://www.youtube.com/user/EnglishHeritageFilm. For ease of reading I have modernised spellings when quoting from original documents. 7. The overwhelming majority of processes, however, went no farther than the rumour stage, for actually accusing someone of witchcraft was a dangerous and expensive business. The dead hate the living and the witch hates as they do.
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