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East Anglia Witch Craze, Matthew Hopkins--> He had two older brothers…
East Anglia Witch Craze
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Civil War
1625 – Charles I become King Of England, Scotland and Ireland. He was king due to his brother Henry dying
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During the 11 years, Puritan MPs were not happy with Charles’ almost Catholic approach to religion
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Parliament is recalled in 1640 and debates between them and Charles continue until 1642 when he attempts to arrest 5 leading MPs – they flee and Charles raises an army in what he claimed was self-defence.
August 1642, Charles raised his standard in Nottingham – start of the Civil War
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Economic
Crop failures – wet weather and ergot - poverty. Even eating the Seed Corn - desperation
Price of meat and cheese rose by 20%
Puritan’s interpreted this as punishment from God – a sign that Charles should not be returned to the throne
Easy to blame misfortunes on witches
Landlords enclosed land and evicted tenants = more begging and a lack of charity
Puritans = idleness means sinfulness – some stop paying poor rates
Better-off continued to fear that old woman beggars would use magic in revenge for a lack of charity
Legal structures
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War heading towards East Anglia = assize circuits disrupted, those with little authority oversaw the ones that did happen (e.g Earl of Warwick had no experience and oversaw the Essex Assizes in 1645)
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Matthew Hopkins--> He had two older brothers so he would have been aware from an early age that he wouldn’t inherit the estate
THEIR INFLUENCE
- Despite a lack of qualifications and experience, they both became very good at their work.
- They were able to make assessments of suspected witches quickly and efficiently before moving on to receive their next invitation.
- They were paid a fee and expenses, consisting of food, lodgings and horses.
- Local magistrates and officials often helped in interrogations and there is evidence that they occasionally testified in court.
- There is not evidence that they were actually present at the executions of the witches – they would only stay long enough to set legal proceedings in motion
He was older than Hopkins and was in his mid-30s during the hunt
He grew up in Suffolk and was married to Agnes Cawston – they had a daughter called Anne.
He was a Puritan and was the first to receive a warrant to search suspected witches from Manningtree magistrates Sir Harbottle Grimston and Sir Thomas Bowes. Hopkins volunteered to help him.
The hunt starts when Hopkins is kept awake at night by a meeting of witches near his house in Manningree in 1644. The first witches were all women and they presented their accusations to magistrate Si Harbottle Grimston. They then began offering their services to towns and parishes for a fee.