ENGLISH WITCH TRIALS : a separate case?
Historical Background
English Reformation 1534 - Anglican Catholic Church
Henry
VIII (1509-1547) breaks with
Edward VI (1547-1553) move towards more Protestant Calvinism
Mary Tudor (1553-1558) Catholic restoration, “Bloody Mary”
Elizabeth I Tudor (1558-1603)
James
I Stuart (1603-25) formerly James VI of
Charles I Stuart (1625-1649)
English Civil War (1640-1660) Charles I executed 1649 (regicide)
I. Contrast with continental
witch trials
"old crime"--maleficium
as specific harm; not "new crime" of diabolism
results in small scale, individual trials
absence of inquisitorial procedure and no
torture
accusatory procedure in Anglo Saxon common law
crime of withcraft defined as criminal
offense,
not as heresy (as on continent), tried
in secular courts
result: penalty is hanging, not burning
II. English Witchcraft legislation (see xerox packet, or e-reserve, Wk 6.5)
Three statutes :
1542:
maleficium & sorcery defined as felonies
(felony = capital crimes,
punishable by death)
1563:
causing death by maleficium = felony
lesser maleficial injuries = pillory
1604:
prohibits "feeding or entertaining evil spirits"
types of evidence used in absence of torture
i. search for witches' mark ("pricking"
a witch)
ii. familiars: animals fed by witches' teat (tit)
III. Chronology 1559-1736 (executions approx. = 500)
1603-1625, peak
under James I - Scottish influence
1645-1647 campaign of Matthew Hopkins:
"Witchfinder General" -- self appointed,
for hire by towns
active during English Civil War (1640-1660)
responsible for approximately 200 executions
1685
- Last execution for witchcraft in
1736
- Repeal of 1604 w/c statute
Christina
Larner, "Witch beliefs & witch hunting in
in Xerox packet, section #2, also
on
E reserve under Week 6,
Confessions
of the
Brian
Levack, Chap. 7, "The
Note
"