BBC History Magazine

FIVE THINGS YOU (PROBABLY) DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT… The history of witchcraft

1 Most witches were devout Christians

Although people who identify as witches or Wiccans today follow a pagan religion, accused medieval and early modern witches were often fervent churchgoers. They lived in a European world in which Christianity saturated daily life. Many accused people explained to their interrogators that they used Christian prayers in healing spells, calling on God, the saints and the Holy Ghost.

Some suspects belonged to fundamentalist Christian sects. At Salem in 1692, the convicted witches Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey were among the most pious worshippers at their Congregational church. Joan Balls, accused in Suffolk in

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