All About History

In a continent ravaged by plague, war and religious upheaval, maleficium (malicious magic) was just one more menace that people had to weather. No one was safe from maleficium, nor from accusations of practicing magic and consorting with the Devil –

Imagine for a few minutes you're a peasant in 17th-century Europe: a widow who lives in the small abode your husband left in his will. You tend a small plot of land on which you grow a number of root vegetables as well as a few herbs that have tradit

Possibly the most infamous witch-hunt in history took place over the course of a few months in the Puritan community of Salem, New England in 1692. After a doctor had come to the conclusion that the daughter and niece of reverend Samuel Parris were s

Nearly every culture across the modern world recognises the concept of a witch. Though variations occur, more often than not the witch represents something dark and sinister; something to be fared. Compared to the innocent maiden, clothed in white, t

In early Greek mythology Hecate was the goddess of the wilderness and childbirth, but her role developed over time into goddess of sorcery and even queen of ghosts. Hecate is commonly depicted as having three heads to indicate the duplicity of her ch

It's difficult to strike the right chord when talking about witch trials and the events surrounding them as they are, through the eyes of a modern historian looking back, both violent and outlandish. Today, the phenomenon of charging people with crim

Gunnhild, the infamous Viking queen that ruled over three nations. had many names: queen, sorceress. mother to a generation. Seen as a scourge to kings and kin alike, much of what we know of her must be pieced together from fragmented stories and the

The Middle Ages get a bad press in all sorts of areas. In the history of witchcraft, the idea of zealous medieval inquisitors consigning an old crone to the flames because of the slander of a neighbour and a reputation as a ‘wise woman’ is well estab

It is no secret that Gunnhild was said to have learned magic from Finnar wizards in the cold north of the country. At that time, the Norse writers didn’t distinguish between Finns and Sàmi peoples, but regarded both as uncivilised, malicious and magi

You would be forgiven for not knowing the story of Joan of Navarre. Queen of England She has been overshadowed in comparison to the more 'popular' female monarchs, such as the wives of Henry VIII or his daughters, despite the fact that Joan was accus

Jacques de Malay was calm Through seven long years of accusations, trials, torture, denials and confessions, he had been anything but calm, but as the frail, bearded man was led out onto the lle aux Juifs on the Seine, he did not weep or tremble. A c

As the cold winter days of November turned into the icy nights of December 1441. one of the most famous royal women in Europe faced up to a life sentence in jail. The prisoner - Eleanor of Gloucester - had already had to deal with public humiliation

The Spring day in 1464 was bright and fair as Edward IV, England’s first Yorkist king, rode with the hunt in Whittlebury Forest. Whether his thoughts lay on his quarry, the weather or the tumultuous times that had brought him the crown, they were soo

James could scarcely avoid being impressed by Tycho Brahe (1546-1601). As well as being famous as one of the leading experimental scientists of the age, he was a colourful extrovert who wore a metal sheath over his nose to cover an old fencing scar,

Tried: 4,000-6,000 Executed: 1,500 Unlike their neighbours, it wasn’t purely maleficium that concerned the Scottish church and crown, it was the act of sorcery itself. From 1563, witchcraft and consulting with witches were crimes against God and the

Reginald Scot (c.1538-1599) is one of the many ‘solid’ citizens of independent but quiet demeanour who formed the backbone of Tudor England. He was a landowner with modest estates in Kent, did his stint as a Justice of the Peace and served as an MP f

Two old crones, blind and disfigured muttered muted incantations in the light of the moon over the forest of Pendle: cursing and curing at will, no one was safe from the dark magic that spread from their households. Friend and foe alike had much to f

1592 Demdike meets a devil named Tibb while out begging. Despite being told she could have anything she liked in return for giving him her soul, she resists, telling him that she wants nothing. 1592 After resisting temptation for several years, Demdi

One of the accusations against the Pendle witches was the plot to blow up Lancaster Castle in order to rescue the imprisoned Alizon, Demdike, Chattox and her daughter. This revelation caused great alarm and held particular significance, coming as it

Usually old, sometimes ugly, often female. The witch of children’s fairytales still lingers as a stereotype today. Court records show that across Europe the majority of those tried as witches were women even though white witches and cunning folk were

When Issobell Sinclair admitted she had talked to fairies as she tried to protect cattle from harm on Hallowe'en with a sheet and some hair, she sealed her fate. The Scottish woman was hanged as a witch soon after her trial in 1633. But just a centur

The Renaissance is seen as a time where artistry and scientific thought flourished in Europe. Some of the world’s greatest artists, scientists and thinkers such as Michelangelo, Isaac Newton and René Descartes appear and work to advance human ingenui

Bamberg (1609-1631) Accused Over 1000 Convictions 900 Executions c.900 The witch trials in Bamberg were pursued with vigour by the cities leaders. Under Prince-Bishop Johann Gottfried von Aschhausen, who held office from 1609 to 1622, the trials in e

In all likelihood, the brief and bloody career of this persecutor is taken as proof that England in the 1640s was a cruel and superstitious place where witch mania was common (‘All those vicious Puritans, you know!’). In fact, if Hopkins’ activity pr

A witch hunter was simply someone who had, or professed they had, the ability to identify whether a suspected person was a witch. Operating in an official or unofficial capacity, witchfinders were found throughout Europe across the period of witchcra

One of the most well-known of witch tests, the practice of swimming a witch began in popularity on the continent. A suspect was bound hand to toe and lowered or thrown into water; if they floated, they were guilty, rejected by the water of baptism, a

The witch persona revolves around a relationship with the devil and the ability to cast spells, predict the future, heal the sick, and place curses. After their arrest, accused witches were subjected to harsh interrogation and torture. Confessions we

In November 1610, six people were executed for witchcraft in Logroño, a town approximately 75 miles from Pamplona: another five people, who had died in captivity, were burned in effigy. The local tribunal of the Spanish Inquisition had been sifting e

Picture a witch. To most people, an old, poor. haggard woman jumps to mind; upper classes point their fingers at spinsters and peasants, who stand no chance of asserting their innocence. Although this scenarto was common. the Wfuzburg witch trials tu

22 September 1692 The air crackled with tension as the people of Salem, Massachusetts, gathered on Gallows Hill to witness the latest round of justice. The eight men and women who had been brought by cart were neighbours, even friends and family - bu

At the time of the trials, Salem was divided into Salem Village – populated by farmsteads and families with traditional values – and Salem Town, where a new, entrepreneurial class had been slowly growing for the last two decades. With clear tension b

19 people were hanged in total at Salem 14 women & 5 men 54 people confessed to witchcraft during the Salem trials 12 people had been convicted and executed for witchcraft in New England before 1692 132 of the accused were women ■

When Janet Horne was stripped naked, covered in tar, paraded through the streets of Domoch, and burned at the stake in 1727. her grisly execution for piacticing witchcraft marked the last such retribution against a supposedly guilty individual in the

Slowly but surely throughout the 17th century, the peISecution and prosecution of witches in Europe slowed: declining steadily, prosecution rates reached little more than a trickle, before finally the practice of trying witches was stamped out altoge

In an attempt to link modern day witchcraft practitioners with the persecuted of the past, anthropologist and folklorist Margaret Alice Murray put forward an exciting theory regarding the ancient pedigree of the 20th-century witch. According to her b