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Anglian Witch Hunts - Coggle Diagram
Anglian Witch Hunts
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Political context
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‘The World turned upside down’ from a pamphlet produced shortly after the Civil War, shows the chaos and confusion that was thought to have taken hold. It was written by John Taylor, who described himself as a ‘well wish to the King, parliament and Kingdom; and it was published in London in 1647
Economic Crises
Crop failure
Wet summers combined with freezing winters led to regular crop failure. In 1646 for example the summer was exceptionally wet, with disease affecting livestock and crops.
The price of meat and cheese rose dramatically and despite the fact that Charles surrendered in that year, the price of wheat rose by 20%.
In October of both 1645- 1646 a time when people usually were enjoying the beauty of the harvest, heavy rains caused crops to root and fields to be trodden in mud
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Changing land use
Changing land use in the preceding century caused resentment that also manifested itself in the witch hunt.
As the rich were able to acquire more land to feed their cattle the poorer residents felt shut out from any prosperity
Across East Anglia, landlords who let land to tenants were tempted by the improved profits that could be made by evicting their tenants and enclosing the land in order to focus on agriculture.
Isle of Ely sir Miles Sandys was an aggressive landlord. He acquired large estates and enclosed 4000 acres of land. The inhabitants petitioned to the court of chancery with 100 signatures to allow them to continue to use the common land but failed
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Mathew Hopkins
Context
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He and his associates were responsible for more people being hanged for witchcraft than in the previous 100 years, and were solely responsible for the increase in witch trials during those years.
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Geography, numbers and gender
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1647 - Hopkins attends Norfolk assizes. Is subject to fierce questioning about his activities. Witch hunts end. Campaign moves into Cambridgeshire
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