Witchcraft is a topic that creates ideas of mysticism and folklore but this reality is far from the truth. This page investigates the scapegoating, division and isolation that many accused individuals faced. This page will explore legal documents and try to create a meaningful realistic analysis of ‘who’, ‘what’ and ‘why’ the fear and superstitions fuelled the Early Modern Period.

The misconceptions and forgotten women due to witch-hunts as a result of christian daemonism and witch mania during the late sixteenth to early seventeenth century.

In this series of blog posts I will be looking into the historical but also sociological perspectives for the misconceptions and why women are often forgotten in the historiography. Early modern narrative associated with the witch-hunting mania is one of men who pursued witch-hunting as a form of profiting from the instability of religion and political tensions.

  Most public history and the notorious misconception around accused women in England, was that women were burnt however this is far from the truth. In England and Wales, the accused were hung and it was Victorian narrative; as well as popular culture which has allowed this misconception to spread. This is common in the digital age with the pro-feminist quote ‘we are the granddaughters of the witches you could not burn’ which seems to come around each autumn. A sort of positivity framed in the fact that women were feisty and defiant, and yes they were. Though not to the extent of which this quote suggests that these women were accused for a greater cause. Instead there was no a ‘great cause’ but these women got caught existing in a time where fear of the unknown and religious tensions, created an environment where scapegoating even the smallest difference in norms and values could become commonplace.

The real accusations came from King James I’s interest which caused by the storm which Anna and James had travelled through in 1589, which from what James VI/I had witnessed in Denmark. This saw him become deeply fascinated in witches and the occult. On the continent there was far greater tension in regards to witches and witch-hunting with larger statistics of men accused, in Scandinavia children were believed to be witches and in communication with the devil due to being associated with being pure and innocent. This would mean that like women, children were viewed as weak by early modern society this would allow the devil to enter them. The process of witch finders such as the infamous Matthew Hopkins (active between 1643-1647) this was one of torture through sleep deprivation, pricking ‘the devils mark’ and or the hiring of midwives to locate the devils teat. However, though Matthew Hopkins is most notoriously associated with the introduction of the swim test. This was through the use of a ducking stool to see if the accused would sink or swim. Though, in fact another misconception is that Hopkins popularised it, the reason for the ‘swim test’ was due to the fact that at infant baptism in christianity removes the original sin that Christians believe that everyone was born with due to the Garden of Eden and Eve. Those who were not baptised still held sin. Meaning that those individuals especially women due to Eve being the one who sinned were more likely to turn to make a pact with the devil. This conveys how Hopkin’s popularisation of the ‘swim test’ links to the impact of christian daemonism and the neglect of these women being remembered in history. Especially against a male narrative that created the contemporary sources, this conveys the elitist attitudes to those accused of witchcraft. These women were also for the most part were not of pagan belief or wise women however those who deviated with societal expectations in Early Modern England. This was due to the fact that the elite could write and the peasantry had oral traditions.

  In fact most of the public perception focuses on women accused of witchcraft in England and Scotland starting with James VI/I most notably the North Berwick 1590-91. The East Lothian witch trials and Edinburgh trials that took place from 1591-92. This can be conveyed in a later contemporary source by Bovet 1684 known as ‘Pandemonium’. This illustrates the importance of fear and religious instability as a factor in the rise of those accused of witchcraft. Although, the amount of individuals accused under the reigns of both Elizabeth I and James VI/I of Scotland. The lack of employment due to increasing urbanisation during the 1590s led to increased hardship, which in older historiography suggested people became more susceptible to making deals with the devil. This means that they were more susceptible to creating a pact with the devil.

  Overall, in this introduction it highlights the importance in the role of why these women are forgotten. This is due to the fact that in the public eye the misconceptions means earlier women are neglected. This means the public forge the ideas that all those accused of witchcraft were burnt when this was not the case.However, due to contemporary attitudes these women are so often forgotten in history or wrapped up in folklore and mystery.

The contemporary sources used in the introduction is:

R. Bovet, 1684 ‘pandaemonium’

Secondary sources:

J. Wormald.2021. ‘James VI and I Collection of Essays’

Pudney, E. ‘A defence of Witchcraft belief: A sixteenth century response to Reginald Scot’s Discoverie of witchcraft’