2.1 Influence of social, economic, and religous context of the Pendle Witch Trials

Question 1

economic and social context: Pendle’s economy

what was farming in the 13th and 14th century like in Pendle?

Answer 1

• pendle forest was originally for deer hunting
• 1296: over 900 cattle were kept on farms there
• 1327: at least 4 powered mills for finishing cloth in Lancashire, 2 close to Pendle
• Early 17th century, Pendle was an upland pastoral economy

Question 2

economic and social context: Pendle’s economy

what is pastoral farming

Answer 2

land used for the rearing of sheep and cattle

Question 3

economic and social context: Pendle’s economy

what were probate inventories

Answer 3

lists of items belonging to a person drawn up after their death in order to establish the value of their estate

Question 4

economic and social context: Pendle’s economy

cloth, heavy industry, probate inventories, why did families have to take on this work?

Anne whittle

Answer 4

• most cloth was worked in the homes of farmers, and entire families would assist with the process of cloth production
• heavy industry existed, but most were engaged in pastoral farming
• probate industries show many families were engaged in both cattle rearing and the manufacturing of cloth
• many families had to take on this work because the results from agriculture were unpredictable

Eg. Evidence presented at the trials shows Anne Whittle (Old Chattox) was still carding wool for the wife of James Robinson in 1606, when she was well into her seventies

Question 5

economic and social context: cattle and the witch trials

how much were cows worth at a market?

Answer 5

£3
(a skilled manual worker would earn this in around 6 months)

Question 6

economic and social context: cattle and the witch trials

what was Old Chattox accused of in terms of cattle?

Answer 6

1. bewitching cattle belonging to Hugh Moore + a cow belonging to Anthony Nutter after he appeared to favour the friendship of her rival, Old Demdike
2. her and her daughter, Elizabeth were accused of killing a cow that belonged to John Nutter after Elizabeth begged him for a dish of milk

Question 7

economic and social context: inflation

Pendle Forest 1507 developments

Answer 7

• cattle farms were prevbiously leased to tenants on an informal basis
• 1507, arrangements were formalised with fixed rents and entry fines introduced

Question 8

economic and social context: inflation

what was the result of the new 1507 rules?

rents, copyholders, rights, tenants

Answer 8

• rents increased 39%
• copyholders benefitted through increased profits
• those who didnt have the rights as copyholders and had to pay forest entry fines and rents found their economic situation declined
• many tenants faced the constant threat of eviction

Question 9

economic and social context: population growth

1520s population

Answer 9

around 2.5m

Question 10

economic and social context: population growth

what hampered growth in the mid 16th century?

Answer 10

• short lived epidemics of other viral diseases hampered growth, but these had reduced greatly by 1612

Question 11

economic and social context: population growth

Population increase 1443, 1527, 1650

what was the result?

Answer 11

• 1443: 24 tenants in Pendle Forest
• 1527: 100
• 1650: (population) around 1620

therefore, food needed to be produced more efficiently

Question 12

economic and social context: population growth

1546, 1598, 1544

Answer 12

• 1546: corn mill was built
• 1598: another corn mill was built
• 1544: the church of Newchurch established, to the south-east of Pendle Hill

Question 13

economic and social context: clashes with the duchy of Lancaster

1607 developments: what did the Duchy do?

Answer 13

• questioned the validity of the copyholder’s estates, hoping to gain money from them
• the copyholders in 1608 petitioned him, explaining that they had limited resources to pay

Question 14

economic and social context: clashes with the duchy of Lancaster

1609 agreement with the copyholders?

Answer 14

• they were forced to pay a lump sum of 12 years rent to confirm their rights and privileges
• lots of copyholders were forced to sell their land
• (understandable why Pendle residents would be less likely to offer charity to the vulnerable woman who would be accused of witchcraft)

Question 15

economic and social context: copyholders, subtenants, and squatters

copyholders and the subtenants payment

copyholders vs subtenants payment to the duchy

Answer 15

• copyholdes were relatively wealthy + had to pay rent to the duchy
• but the subtenants had to pay rents on average 25x higher than this to the duchy of lancaster AND their contracts were often only a year or less

Question 16

economic and social context: copyholders, subtenants, and squatters

accused who were subtenants?

Answer 16

• Old Chattox’s daughter, Anne Redferne, was a tenant of Robert Nutter, who Old Chattox was accused of murdering

Question 17

economic and social context: copyholders, subtenants, and squatters

what was the role of illegal squatting

Answer 17

also commonplace
- the law prohibited houses with fewer than 4 acres of land being let, but the landlords ignrored it as small holdings could be lucrative.
- likely many suspected witches lived in properties by this arrangement

Question 18

religous context: reformation in Lancashire

did the reformation effect lancashire?

Answer 18

• despite lancashire’s reputation as a refuge for recusant catholics, it didn’t exponentially suffer from the protestant reformation

Question 19

religous context: reformation in Lancashire

local clergy vs christopher nuttall

Answer 19

• minister in Pendle
• argument came to attention when he married a couple in an alehouse,
• and he had married a couple without a license in 1592

Question 20

religous context: reformation in Lancashire

limited examples of the residents of Pendle troubling the church courts? 1611, 1692, 1622

Answer 20

• 1611: 2 catholics found living secretly in the house of Henry Standen and not attending church, but this wasn’t acted upon
• 1692: Richard Moore charged for claiming God did more harm than good
• 1622: constable charged for being absent from church

Question 21

religous context: church organisation and the witch hunt

Newchurch in Pendle?

parish, population

Answer 21

• dependnet chapelry of the parish of Walley
• covered 180 square miles and compromised a population of 10,000 people

Question 22

religous context: church organisation and the witch hunt

Henry VIIIs dissolution of the monasteries did what to Pendle?

Answer 22

• Whalley Abbey was closed down
• Pendle forest lost an irreplacable resource of education and charity for the poor

Question 23

religous context: church organisation and the witch hunt

what was the new church organisation

gentry management, alcohol

Answer 23

• abbey and its lands became property of the crown
• Henry VIII instructed 2 members of the loval gentry to manage the estate, so landed gentry could exercise more power
• some of these gentry were puritan, many were anti-catholic protestants, who cracked down on drunkenness and reduced the strenght of alcohol in Pendle forest.

Question 24

religous context: church organisation and the witch hunt

1594 Nicholas Starkie of Huntroyd, George More

Answer 24

• resulted in the publication of George More’s A Discourse Concerning the Posession and Dispossession of 7 Persons of One Family in Lancashire 1600
• explained it was the puritan ministers who should be thanked for ending the posession, and was used as a guide to influence the 1612 witch hunt

Question 25

# religous context: white magic what was white magic?

Answer 25

- helpful magic, healing powers, etc. - evidence from the trials show senior witches were involved in 'white' magic as well as Maleficium

Question 26

# Attitudes to witchcraft before **1604** what was the procedure for witch trials before **1604?**

Answer 26

- courts required members of the local community to make accusations, rather than professional inquisitors, clergy members, or juries

Question 27

# Attitudes to witchcraft before **1604** Before **1604** what did courts require in terms of evidence?

Answer 27

TANGIBLE evidence of *maleficarum* such as death or injury - suspects were treated in a similiar way to other criminals, such as murders

Question 28

# the impact of the **1604** statute why was it significant?

Answer 28

- inclusion of conjuring spirits as a **capital offence** - James succeeded the throne in **1603** (def a major reason for the act) and promoted the view that the most damaging aspect of witchcraft was the pact with the devil, bc it was a threat to social order. - first used in the **1612** trial