key terminology

Question 1

maleficium

Answer 1

• an “evil deed”
• by 1580 this was understood as an act of witchcraft
  designed to harm

Question 2

sacrament

Answer 2

• a ceremony carried out to attain spiritual grace

- eg: Holy Communication

Question 3

devil’s mark

Answer 3

• a mark on the body of someone who had entered a

convent with the devil

Question 4

cunning folk

Answer 4

• general carried out good days

- eg: folk healers etc

Question 5

assize circuit

Answer 5

• courts that travelled around in six circuits around the

country, usually hearing serious cases

Question 6

justice of the peace

Answer 6

• a public official appointed to administer the law at local
  level

Question 7

privy council

Answer 7

• private council of the monarch

Question 8

vagrant

Answer 8

• a beggar or someone who would wander looking for
  work
• by the 17th century it was someone who could work but chose not too
• could be punished by whipping etc

Question 9

dissenter

Answer 9

• a member of the non-established church outside the church of england

Question 10

idolater

Answer 10

• someone who worships false idols

Question 11

non-conformist

Answer 11

• a protestant who does not conform to the established practices of the church of england

Question 12

calvinist

Answer 12

• a follower of john calvin

- protestant reformation, very strict

Question 13

heretic

Answer 13

• someone who disagrees with the teachings of the church

Question 14

polymath

Answer 14

• a person with wide knowledge and learning who specialises in a number of different subjects

Question 15

occult

Answer 15

• mystical, supernatural or magical powers and practices

Question 16

culture

Answer 16

• how people express ideas/beliefs that are important to them

Question 17

renaissance magus

Answer 17

• a man of deep intellectual and spiritual qualities, who was in possession of polymatic and occult knowledge

Question 18

familiar

Answer 18

• a demon supposedly attending and obeying a witch

- often said to assume the form of an animal

Question 19

diabolic pact

Answer 19

• a deal with the devil, according to traditional christian belief about witchcraft
• the pact is between person and satan, or a lesser devil

Question 20

sabbat

Answer 20

• a secret meeting between witches

Question 21

neoplatonism

Answer 21

• a body of varied, and in some way contraindicatory elements as a way of thinking and helped foster the acceptance of reality of the spiritual world

Question 22

natural philosophy

Answer 22

the study of the natural world

Question 23

empiricism

Answer 23

the belief that knowledge can only come from experience - seek our evidence to formulate theories

Question 24

inductive reasoning

Answer 24

reasoning based on evidence

Question 25

deductive reasoning

Answer 25

when a conclusion is made based on something already known or assumed