History
Lecture: Tuesday, September 18
Salem Witch Trials
The old colony of New England, which is now Massachusetts
Typically women are associated with witchcraft however in Salem men as well were accused of
witchcraft
Puritans- religious descendants in New England between 1620-1640 who leave England due to
impurity
VERY RELIGIOUS
They hope to provide a new religious community in the new world to show the corruption in the
English churches
They however did not leave all old world ideas behind one example is their belief in witchcraft
Witchcraft and its History
In the middle ages the church and witchcraft coincided with no issues but in the twelfth century
the church begins to seek out and remove disbelievers from society including gays, jews and
witches
Malleus Maleficarum- book created by German monks (Hemet of the withces)
It was a summary of all that was known to the church about witches up until 1487
Often used in the hunting of withces
This novel determined that the state should also take charge not just the church and that the
state must act in the presecution, trialing and killing of witches
Depicted witches as women!
The fifteenth century witchcraft went from being an isolated few who practiced in private to an
organized threat to the church and to Christianity by a group of witches
1450-1750 between 50 000 and 9 million people were killed for witchcraft
Witchcraft was believed by even the top minds like Isaac Newton, they believed in a physical
world being the world we live in that was material and an invisible world that we could not see,
they also believed you could pass between these worlds as a wtich
Three types of magic
o White Magic
Used for good
To heal
End drought
Superstition is white magic
o Black Magic (Maleficium) Evil
To cause harm
To injure or kill
o Pact with the Devil
Using your magic to serve satan
To serve his purposes and a threat to Christianity
Maleficium Examples
o Death and serious injury (children were considered vulnerable)
o Minor injuries and mishaps (make you trip or get lost)
o Amimals (hen stop laying eggs)
o Influence the weather (cause storms)
o Reproductive process (cause miscarriages or defects)
o Nocturnal visits (believed to scratch and visits by spirits)
o Jobs (killing your livestock)
o Other powers- flying, telling the future, mind reading, invisibility
In Salem at the end of the seventeenth century anything that goes wrong in your village is
attributed to witchcraft
Why would they do this?
o Greed
o Anger
o Revenge
o People believed it was Satan’s way of overthrowing god’s kingdom
How do you enter this pact?
o Sex with the devil
o Sign his book, one of his spirits will approach you
o You receive goods or marriage in exchange for overthrowing God
How a Witch Does What She Does
An evil look, touch or curse- people believed you did not have to see the look, feel the touch or
hear the curse just the fact that someone had done the deed meant they could curse you
Animal Familiars- believed to be able to turn themselves into animals, or use spirits which take
on animal forms assigned by the devil that helped the devil ensure the witch was completing her
task
Image Magic- pretty much a voodoo doll called a poppet that they would model after someone
in order to cause harm
Possession- If Satan cannot convince you to help his cause by bribery he will come and choke
you, or torture you, or restrict your breathing, when people were being taken over by the devil
and were evidently fighting this impulse they were considered possessed
During possession it is said that the possessed had spectral sight which meant they could see
their attackers in the invisible world How to Catch a Witch
Punishment for witchcraft was death so people concealed
The evidence of witchery
o Spectral
By locating someone who is possessed they are then able to identify their
attacker in the invisible world
This led to insane accusations and feuds being settled by witchery accusations
o Confession
Someone confesses to being a witch
Best form of evidence
Could once again be a madman confessing who just thinks they’re a witch
o Torture
People could admit to make the pain stop
Although it was outlawed in New England evidence shows it was used in the
witch trials
o Physical
Poppets or dolls
Potions
o The Devil’s Mark
The mark that the devil puts onto you if you sign yourself over to him
A way for the devil to identify his followers
o The Witch’s Teat
An extra bit of flesh somewhere on the witch’s body that was used by the devil
to suck her blood
Believed to be sucking out your soul
Typically on breast or vagina which would be searched by a Women’s Panel
appointed by the city
o Water Ordeal
Tie up the witch and throw her into the nearest body of water and if she floats
she is a witch if she sinks they pull her out, it was believed because she rejects
crisis the water rejects her
o Praying Badly
Saying the lord’s prayer backwards or not being able to say it at all
o Not Crying
At saddest of events
She rejects the lord and therefore has no soul
o Laying on Hands
To see where the evil came from by returning it to whoever is possessing you
o Not Attending Church
Because they reject God
o Witnesses If someone saw the curse or felt the touch
This became necessary when they decided to stop killing everybody
“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” is in the bible which justifies the death penalty
The Procedure
It was not a mob going wild there was a legal procedure that had to be followed
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