Medieval Europe considered witchcraft to be a very real crime and those convicted of engaging in it, more often than not women, usually suffered the death penalty. Significant peaks in the persecution of witchcraft historically follow periods of serious tension and disarray in society, reflecting society’s inclination to mass hysteria when under pressure.
Three major peaks in the persecution of witchcraft in Europe followed first, the Crusades, where contact with Eastern religions resulted in a fear of heretic influences; second, the Black Death (plague) where it was commonly believed that Satanic witchcraft was responsible and; third, the sectarian rivalries and escalation of religious intolerance during the Renaissance and Reformation.
In England, this third peak was heightened by the tensions bought about by Civil War in the 1640’s. England’s only mass witch-hunt occurred in East Anglia in 1645 – 1647, a crusade which would ultimately see in excess of 250 people being tried as witches and at least 100 of those being hanged. (It’s important to note that the widespread view of witches having been burned at the stake was common throughout Europe but not used in England – English witches were hanged not burnt.)
Witchcraft has long been present in the folklore of European culture however, the idea of witches being magical practitioners in league with the devil to whom they owe their evil powers, was not established until the witch trials in Switzerland in 1427. It was during this era that the “Malleus Maleficarum” (The Hammer of Witches) was published, detailing a code of procedure for the detection and punishment of witches. This document was relied upon heavily in the subsequent which trials in England more than two centuries later.
According to this document, and essential to prosecuting persons accused of witchcraft were five basic principles.
MALEFICIA The Latin term to describe individuals in possession of extraordinary and mysterious powers to perform evil deeds. Characteristically this meant that these deeds were magical, not religious; and harmful not beneficial.
PACT WITH THE DEVIL Witches were said to have entered into a pact with the devil, empowering her to perform maleficia and initiating her into the Devil’s service. It was believed that the Devil would leave a distinctive mark on the witch’s body as a sign of allegiance. This pact enabled the Church to punish the witch for heresy as it was a renunciation of the Christian faith.
THE WITCH”S SABBATH It was this, above the other principles, that played on the fear of the people and made witchcraft such a hideous crime. Witches were believed to gather en masse and perform blasphemous, obscene and heinous rites, including the sacrifice of children, dancing naked and engaging in sexual acts with the Devil himself as well as with other witches.
NIGHT FLIGHT Widely believed was the concept that witches had the power of flight which provided an explanation for the ability of witches to attend secret meetings in remote areas without their absence from home being detected. As “air” was known to be the devil’s domain, it seemed logical that this would be the preferred method of travel for his devotees.
FAMILIARS A familiar was supposedly the witch’s subordinate demon which took the form of an animal and drew nourishment by suckling on the blood of the witch. It’s attachment to the witch’s body would leave a bruise or “witch’s mark” which would look like an extra nipple, or teat, and be insensitive to pain. This became a major detection method for witch hunters.
The East Anglia witch-hunt began with a single case in 1644 when a tailor consulted a “wise woman” about a mysterious illness that afflicted his wife. He was told that she had been bewitched by two of her female neighbours, one of whom was the eighty year old, toothless, one legged crone, Elizabeth Clarke. Matthew Hopkins, who would later adopt the title “Witch Finder General”, immediately went into action. The woman, whose mother had been hanged as a witch many years beforehand, was stripped naked and searched for witch’s marks. Hopkins declared that she had three teats, a sure sign that he was a witch. However, law dictated that a witch could not be executed without an admission of guilt. Throughout most of Europe, terrible tortures were endured by accused witches in order to gain the necessary confession, but England’s law would not allow torture. Hopkins employed his own methods of obtaining the needed admission of guilt, which in themselves would today be considered torture in their own right. Elizabeth Clarke was kept without food or sleep for three consecutive days and nights, being made to walk to keep her awake and being constantly “encouraged” to confess. At the point of total exhaustion, she finally admitted to witchcraft on the fourth night, implicating other witches during the course of the interrogation. This led to the arrests of around 100 people, all accused of being a part of the network of witches. Trials for the accused were held at Chelmsford on July 29, 1645, which resulted in the executions of 29 people.
These trials marked the beginning of Hopkins short lived, but none the less vicious, and deadly, career as self appointed witch hunter. This proved to be lucrative for Hopkins who is reported to have charged varying sums for cleansing villages of witches – anywhere up to 23 pounds. (The average daily wage during this period was sixpence.)
Nobody was immune to the accusation of witchcraft though the majority of those tried and convicted were women. This was due in part to the belief that women were morally weaker than men and, therefore, more likely to enter into a pact with the devil. Women were also considered intellectually inferior and superstitious.
Those at greatest risk were midwives. Although around a quarter of babies died at birth or shortly after in the seventeenth century, when the hysteria of witchcraft took hold, the midwife was often blamed for these deaths. Midwives seen travelling at night (to attend a birth) were often assumed to be travelling to attend a witches’ Sabbath.
The most intense phase of the East-Anglian witch-hunts came at the end of the 1645 where execution records detail as many as 50 people being executed at one time. By the autumn of 1646, Hopkins had taken his war against witches out of Essex and Suffolk and into he surrounding shires where a further 20 witches were executed. By this stage, Hopkins was responsible for more than 100 hangings; wherever he went now, fear and apprehension surfaced.
By the end of 1646, discontent about the witch trials began to surface, particularly among the elite. Hopkins credibility was dwindling, as was his health. He died of consumption in August 1647, though local legend has it that he was, himself, hanged as a witch!
The mass hunt for witches was over though executions were still taking place sporadically until 1684. The death penalty for witchcraft was finally abolished in 1736.
