witchcraft +

Question 1

span witchcraft insect

Answer 1

1550-1700

Question 2

who were witchgunters

Answer 2

middling sort- usually lairds, propertied classes ruled localities of pre-industrial scotland, sheriffs jp

Question 3

why witch-hunting

Answer 3

larneer
gender
crisis
state building
moral offences
small communities

Question 4

gender relations

Answer 4

 James sharpe- eng- women accused oterh women demonstrating autonomus power and initiative
 Although clive homes q- many women witness in court stage managed powerful men

Question 5

Warner

Answer 5

• believed hunting not women but people who had sold souls tod evil

Question 6

spikes of witchcraft un sci asp

Answer 6

 5 panics- 1590-1, 1597, 1628-20, 1649, 1661-2
 Times crisis-stanley cohen- particular form of behavious not just undesirable but threat to soc fundamental values

Question 7

why at times crisis

Answer 7

• Behavour newly identified as deviant
• National panic tines halved 19-10% of men, whilst in ger opp effect
• Ger anyone could be a witch, whilst scot any woman could be a wicth
• 3/5 crisis when cost of living soared
• In panics witchcraft ore likely seen as conspiracy, first witched asked name acconplicies

Question 8

broader context why women poorer

Answer 8

 Many Scotsmen migrated to continent as mercenary soldiers lat 16th and early 17thc- 35k
 20% young men of pop around million emigrating
 Less women married- so less financially stable and no male protection, same with older women/widows

Question 9

period witchuntng ad stat building

Answer 9

 Intense concern for order- struggle for stability rabb
 More taxation more bureaucracy and bigger amies made states potentially more powerful
- perceived increase crime

Question 10

perceived increase crime

Answer 10

• 1579, 1587- ‘grite delay in actionis criminall’
• James vi- ‘these unlawfule artes’ had neer been so rife

Question 11

moral offences

Answer 11

 Broader pattern of moral offences women increased criminal responsibility at reofmration
* 1563 legislated against witchcraftand adultery crminialised
* 1567 formicationa nd incest too
* Obesseion with sex as sex w sdevi – authroities feared a sexual conspiricay

Question 12

1660 regulation gender relations

Answer 12

• scolding adultery domestic violence faded away
• Only bearing fo illegit children cont punished as burdened poor rates
• Scottish kirk session discipline cont longer until 1730s- extra marital sex, breach sabbath riot scandal and drunkenness, witch hunting lasted longer too

Question 13

small communities

Answer 13

 Both women and men gai n and hold respect of neighbours
 Womens threats insults and curses small change of community life
 Needed to prive guilty as if not accused and punished for slander
 Realm womend rivalries- jockeying plCE IN COMMUNITY, EFFORTS LIVE UP TO PATRUARCHAL IIDEAS- the women failed to conform actual witches

Question 14

1597-68

Answer 14

o Represents a curtailment of witchhuning organised from above by privy council
o Greater contralisation of prosecution process
o Critical attitude adopted towards accusations and evidence
o Council led esp by jusges among its members worked to restrict loca enthusiasm soa st o ensure that only the most plausible cases were actually prosecuted

Question 15

demand for cases

Answer 15

 Varied on te and place
 No instances of privy counc chiding local authroities for not pursuing witches

Question 16

what triggered measures jeep prosecutions low

Answer 16

 Excesses of more decenrtalised ‘creduous’ hunt of 1597
 400 cases, just under half executiom esp in Aberdeen perth and fife
 Q over reliability of method- Aitken claimed could look into eyes determine witch although claimed same person both guilgyt and not gulty
* Sparking debate over whether to cont hunt
 Deamonologie
edi riot

Question 17

daemonologie

Answer 17

king james published that year – state sthta it was a great crime to condemn the innocent as it was to let the guilty escpae free- trust in the ksice of gdo
* Pricking and floating witch in water

Question 18

edi riot

Answer 18

riot 17 dec 1596 reaffirmed king hames and advisors in determination to gain greater control over the kirk

Question 19

shift prosecution 1597-1628

Answer 19

 Gaxing eyes and swimming removed
 10 trails before justice court, conci 78
Chanelling cases to justice ciurt rather than commiosns

Question 20

e v s legal framework - e

Answer 20

: Torture was officially illegal in common law. It could only be used with a special warrant from the Privy Council, and even then, it was rare. Confessions obtained under torture were not admissible as evidence in ordinary criminal courts.

Question 21

s legal framework

Answer 21

The use of torture was more permissible under Scots law, especially in witch trials. Although it technically required Privy Council approval, in practice, local authorities frequently used torture informally or received retrospective approval.

Question 22

English torture methods

Answer 22

quasi-legal coercive practices typically used esp during civil war
- watching/sleep deprivation
swimming test rare though
pricking limited more scot

Question 23

sleep deprivation

Answer 23

Suspect was kept awake for days, often tied to a stool.
Popularised by Matthew Hopkins (1645–47).
Believed the witch’s familiar would appear if she was kept conscious.
“She was watched three nights and days, never sleeping…” — Essex trial record
“Walking” or Forced Pacing
Suspects forced to walk continuously to prevent sleeping.

Question 24

swimming test

Answer 24

Based on the belief that water rejects witches.
Suspects were tied and thrown into water to see if they floated.
Rare in England, and legally dubious.

Question 25

scottish tortire

Answer 25

cottish authorities, especially local Presbyterian kirk sessions, were more willing to use actual torture, especially during panics in the 1590s and 1649–50. boot thumscrews pricking sleep deprivations too scolds brilde braks

Question 26

scolds bridle

Answer 26

Iron muzzle inserted into the mouth to prevent speaking, with spikes on the tongue. Rare in England, used more systematically in Scotland.

Question 27

when sleep deprivation used

Answer 27

Agnes Sampson (1591) and Isobel Gowdie (1662).

Question 28

boot

Answer 28

Wooden or metal frame compressed around the suspect’s leg with wedges. Can cause crushing injuries. Required Privy Council permission — but often granted.

Question 29

thumbscrews

Answer 29

Metal vice crushed the thumbs. Used during interrogation to force confessions.

Question 30

pricking

Answer 30

* Intellectual belief that devil nipped witce body when demonic pat made- inversion Christian baptism * Mark insentive to pain * Strip searched * Bodily blemished could serve as the mark * Became professionalised

Question 31

confessions

Answer 31

* Prickers claim devil smarj in private parts- spare search and hasten execution * Torture- elizabeth crockett in alloa confessed she didn’t know whether the devil gave her a mark or not but if she had the devils amrk on private member * Most male lacked sexual aspect as implied then that they are or devil is homosexul

Question 31

severity and frequency england

Answer 31

: Torture was used more cautiously. Accusations were often treated with skepticism, especially after the Restoration. English trials tended to be fewer and less brutal overall.

Question 32

scotland severity and frequency

Answer 32

: Torture was more severe and widespread. The Scottish witch hunts (especially 1590–91, 1597, 1649–50) were often state-backed and accompanied by enthusiastic use of physical coercion

Question 33

judicial culture eng

Answer 33

More adversarial and cautious, with judges often requiring substantial evidence. Influential skeptics like Reginald Scot (1584) pushed back against witch trials.

Question 34

scotland judicial culture

Answer 34

The legal system allowed for more inquisitorial procedures and greater local autonomy, enabling zealous ministers or magistrates to pursue cases with brutal interrogation

Question 35

scotland trials

Answer 35

agnes Sampson 1590-1 isohel gowdie Inverness 1662

Question 36

agnes smapson

Answer 36

* Agnes was accused of raising storms to kill King James VI. * According to James Melville and Newes from Scotland (1591), she was: o Stripped, shaved, and tortured using a device called the "scold's bridle" with iron spikes. o Subjected to sleep deprivation until she confessed. o James VI personally interrogated her. "Her body was searched, her head shaven, and the Devil’s mark was found. She was kept waking for days together." — Newes from Scotland (1591)

Question 37

Isabel gowdie

Answer 37

Inverness, 1662) * Famous for her long and vivid confessions of sabbats and dealings with the Devil. * No formal torture is recorded, but her detailed confessions strongly suggest psychological pressure or sleep deprivation. * Her case reflects the pervasive climate of fear and coercion in Scottish interrogations. "I was in the Devil's service for thirteen years..." — Confession of Isobel Gowdie, 1662

Question 38

England trials

Answer 38

Matthew hopkins- witchfinder general trial of Elizabeth Clarke reginoald scot

Question 39

Matthew Hopkins

Answer 39

(Witchfinder General, 1640s) * Not legally allowed to use torture, but employed "watching" (sleep deprivation) and walking (forced pacing). * Hopkins wrote a defence of his methods in The Discovery of Witches (1647). "We watched her and kept her from sleeping... until her imp was seen to come to her." — The Discovery of Witches, 1647

Question 40

trail of Elizabeth Clarke

Answer 40

Clarke (Essex, 1645) * Clarke, an elderly one-legged woman, was interrogated by Hopkins. * She was watched for days and eventually confessed, implicating others. "She was watched by four men and two women for three nights and days continuously..." — Assize record, Essex Archives

Question 41

Scotland mor like europe

Answer 41

high frequency torture mass trials and executions judicial inquisitionarlism - allowing judges to investigate and use tortire more proactively

Question 42

England and Europe

Answer 42

- torte illegal -fewer executions - 500 pepe cop 2.5-4k scot - more scepticism - Reginald scot, John Webster elite skepticism - dutch republic or Sweden

Question 43

continental Europe

Answer 43

Holy Roman Empire fr and stay spain

Question 44

spain

Answer 44

Inquisition was less likely to burn witches—it distrusted popular panics and witchcraft evidence.

Question 45

france and italy

Answer 45

especially under inquisitorial jurisdictions) used both judicial torture and ecclesiastical procedures, though often more procedural and controlled than in Germany.

Question 46

holy roman empire

Answer 46

(especially southern Germany) saw extreme torture and large death tolls (e.g., Würzburg and Bamberg trials, 1620s–30s). o Use of the strappado, racking, burning, and other tortures was routine. o Torture was legally integrated into the Carolina Code (1532).

Question 47

later scottish witch-hunt/trail

Answer 47

Political collapse during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, execution of Charles I. * The Kirk (Presbyterian Church) enforced extreme moral discipline. * Up to 600 people accused in a single year, particularly in east-central Scotland. * Torture was widespread, including booting and pricking.

Question 48

continental European witch hunts

Answer 48

1560-1630 Holy Roman Empire French jura 1660s, trier 1580s-90s scandinavia- 1662-63 Norway

Question 49

holy roman empire witch hut

Answer 49

Religious fragmentation (Reformation vs. Counter-Reformation), wars, and famines. * Legalisation of torture via Carolina Code (1532): required confession, often extracted through torture. * Bamberg and Würzburg (

Question 50

bombers and wurzburg

Answer 50

1626–31): massive hunts during the Thirty Years’ War. o 900+ executed in Würzburg alone; many were children. o Victims included elite figures and were tortured by professional witch-hunters.

Question 51

French jura and tier

Answer 51

1660s and Trier, 1580s–90s: * Crisis: Religious zeal, fear of heresy, local rivalries. * Intense trials driven by local bishops or secular judges, often with mass torture and executions.

Question 52

Scandinavia

Answer 52

Vardø, Norway, 1662–63): * Crisis: Harsh weather, economic disruption, and religious pressure. * Dozens of women accused of causing storms—trials included torture and confessions of flying to sabbats.

Question 53

stooping in scotland

Answer 53

eg indeed like sir George Mackenzie

Question 54

gouger Mackenzie

Answer 54

* Lord Advocate of Scotland (from 1677) * Senior legal official in charge of prosecutions * Highly educated, Royalist, and Episcopalian * Author of Laws and Customs of Scotland in Matters Criminal (1678)

Question 55

George Mackenzie role in with trials

Answer 55

1670s legal prominence judicial skepticism lists torture influence on legl pracice

Question 56

Mackenzie judicial skepticism

Answer 56

* Mackenzie believed that most witchcraft confessions were produced by torture, fear, or delusion. * He acknowledged that witchcraft existed, but warned that trials were often unfair or mistaken.

Question 57

Mackenzie limits n torture

Answer 57

* He opposed the routine use of torture, especially unauthorised local methods like sleep deprivation and pricking. * His legal writings stressed that confessions under torture were unreliable

Question 58

influence on legal pratcice

Answer 58

* As Lord Advocate, he could refuse to prosecute dubious witchcraft cases. * He discouraged local magistrates from pursuing weak accusations. * Under his tenure, prosecutions dropped sharply.