Witchcraft in 16th & 17th Century England funny ive gone head to head with a nasty man who thinks its funny to do telepathy i dont trust you at all the other person is charls who persecuted whiches dont trust him either 10/31/201235 Comments Happy Halloween, Tudor Enthusiasts! I was contemplating a Halloween-themed blog post for today... I already did the haunted Tudors post last year - which I hope youll read if you get the chance! When I considered the topic of witchcraft (which is interesting all on its own) I thought it would be perfect for a spooky post today. I hope you find it as fascinating as I do! Because witches were not as prevalent during the 16th century, Ive extended this post to encompass the 17th century as well - because that is when witch hunting really got going. Lets take a look at witches of the Tudor and Stuart dynasties.... Picture Witchcraft in a Nutshell Witchcraft persecutions began during Elizabeth Is reign - around 1563, which was actually much later than other areas of Europe... Witch hunts in southern France and Switzerland began as early as the 14th century. In early modern tradition, witches were stereotypically women. The common belief was that these women would make a diabolical pact with evil spirits and appeal to their intervention. They would reject Jesus and the holy sacraments, and take part in the Witchs Sabbath - a parody of the mass and sacraments. By paying honor to the Prince of Darkness, they would in turn receive preternatural powers - thereby becoming evil. Folklore said that the Devils Mark would appear on the new witchs skin like a brand, to signify that the evil pact had been made. It was said during Elizabeth Is reign that the devils mark had been spotted on Anne Boleyn - though this has been popularly seen as a cruel and unwarranted slam against her. Interestingly, the reasons for a woman to make a pact with the devil were varied - people believed that women, in their frustrations and struggles, would appeal to the devil in order to gain powers to deal with infertility, fear for her childrens well-being, or revenge against a lover. Although witch persecutions were not really in effect until 1563, the use of witchcraft had been deemed as heresy by Pope Innocent VIII in 1484. From then until about 1750, roughly 200,000 witches were tortured, burnt, and hung across Western Europe. Picture What was a Witch like? Witches were frequently characterized as being ugly and old women. (Though in Anne Boleyns case, people were apparently willing to overlook those characteristics when they called her a witch). They were typically described as crone-like, with snaggle teeth, sunken cheeks, and hairy lips. Not a pretty picture, and certainly similar to how we picture witches today! Also, if they were the owner of a cat, they were all the more likely to be considered a witch - thats right, even in the early modern period, cats were considered a sign of witchcraft. For that reason, most cats during the Tudor period in England were burnt or otherwise destroyed because of the fear that they would attract evil. As sad as that is, I find it interesting - we hear frequently about how kings and queens kept pets such as dogs and monkeys...but never cats! Now we know why! Witch Persecutions Witch persecutions were not a pretty thing. Similar to your average 16th century execution methods, the witches were handled cruelly and harshly, and were typically put under some kind of awful torture to gain a confession of their craft and other witches in the village. Thumb screws and leg irons seem to be the most common forms of torture used on the witches, and they usually resulted in a confession - This, of course, would have been taken as proof that witchcraft really did exist in England, because a woman being tortured would confess it! Whether it was said out of pain and agony or not, it certainly gave witch-hunters cause to continue looking and persecuting... and it only increased the fear of evil and the devil! 1645-1646 marks a short period of time when witch fever gripped England hard. A man named Matthew Hopkins, a renowned witch finder, had 68 people put to death in Bury St. Edmunds and 19 people hung in Chelmsford in a single day. He was given exorbitant amounts of money for touring England and ridding towns and villages of evil witches. The grateful townsfolk would do anything and pay any price to rid their homes of the devils influence! Because of this, many people lost their lives. Hopkins main tool to discover witches during this period was by using a needle and poking/prodding a wart, mole, or insect bite to see if the woman felt any pain. If she didnt, it was solid proof that the mark was indeed the devils mark! There could be no question that she was a witch and would have to be executed! However, his needle was no needle at all. It was a 3 inch spike that retracted into the spring-loaded handle so the women would not feel a thing.
Posted on: Sun, 01 Dec 2013 23:22:26 +0000
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