365 years ago today, 23 women from Essex stood trial at the Chelmsford Assizes for the crime of witchcraft. All 23 were convicted and sentenced to death by hanging. Each of them had been arrested by the self-styled 'Witch-finder General' Matthew Hopkins, who was one of the most horrifying people ever to walk the face of the earth, and who is believed to have sent more people to the gallows during his short reign of terror than had been hanged as witches in the previous century. Working throughout the English Civil War, when the poplace was already stirred up, nervy and living on a knife edge, Hopkins exploited the ignorance, superstition and religious fervour of the people of that time and sent approximately 300 innocent men and women to their deaths. Just think about that number for a few moments, would you? Three hundred people, all innocent, who paid with their lives thanks to a mixture of fear, superstition, ignorance and sheer spite. There are many, many things that Britain can be proud of throughout its long and gloried history, but there are equally as many dark and terrible deeds and the 'witch trials', sadly (and not exclusive to this country by a long shot), is one of them.
I'm not going to sully my blog with any more talk of Hopkins; he makes me feel nauseous as it is and besides, you can go and google him if you want to find out more. No, my sympathies - and my interest - lie firmly with the men and women who were tried and executed for this supposed 'crime'. And it's not just because of my pagan beliefs; all of the people who were killed in those days were, like everyone else, Christian, but when you read the testimonies it's just heartbreaking. This is taken from the evidence of Anne Leech, one of the 'Manningtree witches' whose trial ended 345 years ago today...
"And this Examinant also confesseth, that she sent her gray Imp to Elizabeth, the daughter of Robert Kirk of Mannyntree, about three yeers since, to destroy her; and upon the sending of the said Imp, the said Elizabeth languished by the space of one whole yeer, untill shee dyed, and that the occasion of offence this Examinant took against her the said Elizabeth was, for that she had asked a Coife of the said Elizabeth, which shee refused to give to this Examinant. And further, this Examinant saith, that long since, but the exact time she cannot remember, she sent her gray Imp to kill the daughter of the widow Rawlyns of Misley aforesaid; and the reason was, because this Examinant was put out of her Farm, and the said widow Rawlyns put in, where shee dwelleth at this present..." - from www.witchtrials.co.uk
Bear in mind that Anne, like so many others, had been locked up in a cell, given very little food, deprived of sleep for 2 or 3 days, subjected to personal and intrusive 'tests' and cut with a blunt knife, which were just some of the methods used by Hopkins to extract his 'confessions'. Having been subjected to these ordeals, I think I'd probably confess to consorting with the Devil as well...
There are no exact figures for the number of men, women and even children who were murdered throughout the so-called 'witchcraze', but every single one of them was guilty of nothing more than being old, or disabled, or different, or had done something to cause another person to hold a grudge against them. They had not consorted with the Devil, or conjured imps and demons to mischief and maim others. They were innocent human beings, and it's high time that they and their reputations were reclaimed from the stigma currently associated with them.
And, of course, it is also important to realise that the practice of executing people for witchcraft hasn't vanished into the mists of time. In some countries, especially in Africa, chidren in particular are ostracised, tortured and murdered for being witches even as you read this. I can freely and proudly stand up and proclaim that I am a Pagan, a witch, like many other people throughout the world. This statement makes some people look at me a bit strangely, but I am not in fear of my life wen I make it. And yet in some countries, if I was branded with this label by a neighbour or family member, I would be dead. We like to think that the horrors of the past - the witch trials, torture, plague, religious oppression, the oppression of women and other things - remain in the past. They do not.
Remember Anne Leech and the other men and women falsely accused as witches and murdered. But remember, too, that the false accusations and murders continue to this day. Nothing can bring back the dead now, but only when we have fully conquered the darkness at the heart of humanity can we truly claim to have finally left the Dark Ages behind us...
I'm not going to sully my blog with any more talk of Hopkins; he makes me feel nauseous as it is and besides, you can go and google him if you want to find out more. No, my sympathies - and my interest - lie firmly with the men and women who were tried and executed for this supposed 'crime'. And it's not just because of my pagan beliefs; all of the people who were killed in those days were, like everyone else, Christian, but when you read the testimonies it's just heartbreaking. This is taken from the evidence of Anne Leech, one of the 'Manningtree witches' whose trial ended 345 years ago today...
"And this Examinant also confesseth, that she sent her gray Imp to Elizabeth, the daughter of Robert Kirk of Mannyntree, about three yeers since, to destroy her; and upon the sending of the said Imp, the said Elizabeth languished by the space of one whole yeer, untill shee dyed, and that the occasion of offence this Examinant took against her the said Elizabeth was, for that she had asked a Coife of the said Elizabeth, which shee refused to give to this Examinant. And further, this Examinant saith, that long since, but the exact time she cannot remember, she sent her gray Imp to kill the daughter of the widow Rawlyns of Misley aforesaid; and the reason was, because this Examinant was put out of her Farm, and the said widow Rawlyns put in, where shee dwelleth at this present..." - from www.witchtrials.co.uk
Bear in mind that Anne, like so many others, had been locked up in a cell, given very little food, deprived of sleep for 2 or 3 days, subjected to personal and intrusive 'tests' and cut with a blunt knife, which were just some of the methods used by Hopkins to extract his 'confessions'. Having been subjected to these ordeals, I think I'd probably confess to consorting with the Devil as well...
There are no exact figures for the number of men, women and even children who were murdered throughout the so-called 'witchcraze', but every single one of them was guilty of nothing more than being old, or disabled, or different, or had done something to cause another person to hold a grudge against them. They had not consorted with the Devil, or conjured imps and demons to mischief and maim others. They were innocent human beings, and it's high time that they and their reputations were reclaimed from the stigma currently associated with them.
And, of course, it is also important to realise that the practice of executing people for witchcraft hasn't vanished into the mists of time. In some countries, especially in Africa, chidren in particular are ostracised, tortured and murdered for being witches even as you read this. I can freely and proudly stand up and proclaim that I am a Pagan, a witch, like many other people throughout the world. This statement makes some people look at me a bit strangely, but I am not in fear of my life wen I make it. And yet in some countries, if I was branded with this label by a neighbour or family member, I would be dead. We like to think that the horrors of the past - the witch trials, torture, plague, religious oppression, the oppression of women and other things - remain in the past. They do not.
Remember Anne Leech and the other men and women falsely accused as witches and murdered. But remember, too, that the false accusations and murders continue to this day. Nothing can bring back the dead now, but only when we have fully conquered the darkness at the heart of humanity can we truly claim to have finally left the Dark Ages behind us...
It's time to reclaim the word 'witch'. It's time to the let the innocent rest in peace...
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