1. Magic & Witchcraft England and the Continent 15 th – 18 th Centuries With thanks to Professor Ken Wrightson

2. Ursula Kemp 1582 1582 Hanged for maleficium Hanged for maleficium Buried in a road instead of consecrated ground Buried in a road instead of consecrated ground

3. Magic M agic within the popular culture of early-modern England –C–C ommon practice –L–L arge body of beliefs that stood outside the world of formal religion. –N–N ot an alternative religion. –T–T he “debris of many different systems of thought.”

4. “It was a large, loose, pluralistic affair without any clear unifying principle. It encompassed superhuman beings and forces, witches and wise men and a mass of low- grade magical and superstitious practices. The whole was less than the sum of its parts.” - James Obelkevich

5. Popular Magic The means were well known by everyone. Specialists – Cunning Folk Wise Women Clever, or, Cunning Men Power was considered to be inherited Records indicate there was a wise woman or clever man within ten miles of any village.

6. Why would you seek these people? Medical Reasons – Ursula Kemp Bewitching Livestock Recovery of property Advice & telling of fortunes Therapists and counselors Cheap, available, & knowledgeable The popular equivalent of astrologers who served a more elite clientele Counted among the medical practitioners of their time

7. Reaction of the Church Did not like popular magic Officially- all power over life comes from God – God’s nature could not be commanded or manipulated – Misfortune was a test of faith – Misfortune was punishment – Any validity was due to evil spirits – The case of Reverend Ralph Josselin – Exodus 22:18

8. Witchcraft A specific kind of magic causing injury or death. The malevolent and malicious use of supernatural powers against another or their property. Maleficium – devil worship- much more serious than just popular magic Surge in the late 16 th and early 17 th centuries. “A combination of popular superstition and ecclesiastical fantasy” (Henry Kamen) Peculiar to Western Europe, end of 15 th, Through 16 th C. – No evidence of ecclesiastical reaction in Orthodox areas.

9. Witchcraft, con’t Continental Europe and Scotland – Witchcraft is a heresy – Religious zeal – Decline in persecutions Spanish Inquisition 1610 French Parlement 1640

10. Witchcraft in Early Modern England A Crime, not a heresy – An antisocial crime The Ecclesiastical stereotype Continental ideas known, but not adopted 1542- a felony (unlawful purposes) – Death on 2 nd conviction 1563- felony to invoke evil spirits – “” 1604- felony to bewitch and injure – To dig up (the deceased) for the purposes of witchcraft – To consult with or feed an evil spirit

11. Witchcraft in E.M. England Trial evidence – Very few trials involving acts with the devil They did not fly No witches sabbats No conjuring of demons and devils Very little sex with devils (widespread on continent) The had familiars

12. Witchcraft in E.M. England Trials, con’t – Trials Focused on simple maleficent acts – Condemned were hanged not burned – Unlike on the continent, (most) prosecutions were instigated from below- not above No evidence the authorities wanted witch hunts Exception- 1645-1647, matthew Hopkins – Personal profiteering – They were sporadic and occasional

13. Witchcraft in E.M. England Trials – Torture (unlike Scotland and the Continent) – Records no longer exist w/ exception to the “Home Circuit” – Three spikes in trial activity- Why?

14. Witchcraft in E.M. England Trials, con’t – Economic downturn producing paranoia from below? – Political expediency? 1561- William Cecil-> Act of 1563(2 nd Pr) – Ursula Kemp- 1582 1604 and james I “Good and Godly laws passed by Good and Godly regimes” To oppose witchcraft establishes legitimacy among the Christian (all sects) Loss of the protective magic provided by the Medieval Church

15. Witchcraft in E.M. England Whom were tried? Whom were tried? – Witches were usually women and frequently elderly – widowed – Often accused of bewitching neighbors – Often poorer – Physical deformity – “begging with menace” – Accusations arose from tensions between economically marginal women and their better-off neighbors

16. Witchcraft in E.M. England Whom were tried? Whom were tried? – Misogyny? Morally weaker and more prone to temptation Morally weaker and more prone to temptation – Probably not Accusations initiated by other women Accusations initiated by other women Magistrates (male) heard and often dismissed cases Magistrates (male) heard and often dismissed cases Juries were universally male and failed to believe or even hear the cases Juries were universally male and failed to believe or even hear the cases ?

17. Witchcraft in E.M. England Conclusion – In England there were no mass witch hunts with the exception of the 3 spikes mentioned. – In England the hunts pop up spontaneously and from below. (unlike in Scotland and on the continent) – The cases could only have taken place with the existence of laws that enabled them. BUT The Scientific Revolution and Newton’s Laws How do you PROVE the accusations? The laws were avoided or ignored The laws were symbolic and contingent in their origins. – In the end (W.A. of 1735) there were no hunts because state and church authorities did not want one. – But this all came too late for Ursula Kemp.