Stuart life / War on witches
3 Brandeston village Suffolk
http://www.brandeston.netAs the witch hunting momentum grew,
self-appointed ‘witchfinder generals’
sprung up around Britain, devoted to
extracting confessions of guilt. Matthew
Hopkins, the most notorious of these, was
responsible for one fifth of the total
number of executions in England over the
period. One of his targets, John Lowes,
was the elderly vicar of Brandeston who
was accused of witchcraft in 1642.
After being ‘swum’ in the moat at
Framlingham Castle and proclaimed guilty
after floating to the surface, Low was kept
awake by Hopkins for “several nights
together while running him backwards
and forwards about his cell until out of
breath... till he was weary of his life and
scarce sensible of what he said or did”.
Ultimately, Lowes ‘confessed’ to sending
imps to sink a ship near Harwich. Lowes
was hanged at Bury St Edmunds in
August 1645.
All Saints Church has a plaque
dedicated to Lowes and an image of his
hanging is depicted on the village sign.2 Taunton Castle Somerset
http://www.somerset.gov.ukThe lead-up to the repeal of the
witchcraft statutes in 1736 saw a shift
in attitudes towards witch trials and a
marked increase in judicial scepticism,
as well as the rigorous examination
of the evidence. Juries became
increasingly disbelieving of witness’s
claims of supernatural activity and,
consequently, fewer people pursued
their claims through the law.
One of the last witch trials held in
England, and the last in the south-west,
was the case of Maria Stevens who,
in 1707, was charged with bewitching
an acquaintance, Dorothy Reeves.
Although little evidence remains, we
know that the trial was held at Taunton
Castle and that Maria was acquitted
and released after both judge and jury
failed to believe the evidence given
against her.
Five years later, England saw
its last witchcraft conviction in the
shape of Jane Wenham, who was
later pardoned. Demonstrating the
cynicism with which England’s elite
viewed accusations of witchcraft,
when hearing the charge that Wenham
flew on a broomstick, the judge
allegedly joked that there was “no
law against flying”. The authorities in
England were distancing themselves
from popular beliefs.
The remains of the castle and later
buildings now house the county
museum, military museum and gallery.THE WAR ON WITCHES:
FIVE PLACES TO EXPLORE
Taunton Castle is
now home to the
county museum ALAMY1 Pendle Hill LancashireMass witch trials were rare in England;
instead, a charge was usually based on
a formal complaint from an injured
party. However, in 1612, 16 people
living around Pendle Hill were tried at
Lancaster gaol, accused of selling their
souls to the devil and murdering
17 people through witchcraft.
The initial accusation was directed
at Alison Device for allegedly cursing apedlar who had refused to give her
some pins. When the pedlar later
suffered a stroke, Alison was accused
of causing him harm by witchcraft and,
in her subsequent trial, incriminated
other members of her family, who in
turn named other village members. Ten
were sentenced to death by hanging,
and five were acquitted.
The Pendle witches are one of the
most famous examples from the
period, partly due to the wealth of
evidence available, recorded at the
time by a local clerk of the Lancaster
courts, Thomas Potts, and partly due
to the nature of the trial.All ten executed
witches lived in the
area around Pendle HillMatthew Hopkins was England’s
most notorious witch hunter