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Key Topic 2: The Lancashire witches of 1604-13 - Coggle Diagram
Key Topic 2: The Lancashire witches of 1604-13
The influence of social, economic and religious context of the area around Pendle in the early seventeenth century and the significance of the new witchcraft statute of 1604
Timeline
1604: New witchcraft statute in England modifies the law of 1563
1612
March: Alizin Device meets pedlar John Law and is accused of bewitching him
April: Old Demdike, Old Chattox and others are implicated
10th April; The meeting at malkin Tower, leading to further accusations
August: The majority of defendants are found guilty of the Lancaster assizes and executed on Gallows' Hill, Lancaster
1613: Thomas Potts publishes 'The Wonderful Discoverie of Witches' in Lancaster
The significance of the new witchcraft statute of 1604
Context
1605: The Gunpowder Plot (Catholic plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament when James was in attendance)
1603: James I becomes King of England
The law before 1604
English law required members of the local community to make accusations
The crimes that witches were charged with had not changed for centuries
Maleficium
English courts required evidence of maleficium, such as death or injury. They treated suspects like other criminals.
Three Acts of Parliament made witchcraft an offence
1542: Made conjuring, witchcraft, and sorcery to find treasure or cause harm a capital offence, focusing on the acts of hostility towards the community rather than a pact with the Devil.
1563: Made it a crime to invoke spirits for any purpose, punishable by death only if the act of witchcraft resulted in the death pf a person. If harm/death was caused to an animal, the punishments was imprisonment for one year.
The 1604 Act (repealed in 1736)
Accession of James was a catalyst in reforming witchcraft legislation
Severe
Death penalty for killing a person and for a second offence
Made it an offence to consult with or feed any evil spirit
Inclusion of the conjuring of spirits as a capital offence
Promoted the view that the most damaging aspect of witchcraft was that it originated from a pact with the Devil, threatening social order (diabolism).
Historian Stephen Pumfrey has argued the Lancashire trials represent a fusion of the continental focus on the diabolical pact and more traditional popular beliefs
Economic and social context of the area around Pendle in the early seventeenth century
Clashes with the duchy of Lancaster
1607, lawyers from the duchy questioned the validity of the copyholders' estates
The duchy hoped to gain money for the crown from the copyholders
Petition in 1608
In 1609, an agreement was made with the duchy whereby the copyholders were expected to pay a lump sum of 12 years' rent in order to confirm their rights and privileges
Cattle
£3 at market
Many witches accused pf damaging livestock
Accusations of bewitching
Inflation
Rents increased by 39% as a result of new tenant arrangements once entry fines were introduced
General price inflation in the 16th century, especially for agricultural goods, meant that copyholders benefited through increased profits
Enclosure
Population growth
Decline in incidences of the plague
Population of Pendle in 1443 was 96 which increased in 1650 to 1620
Food needed to be produced more with the increase in population
Copyholders, subtenants, and squatters
Feeling of insecurity
The relatively wealthy copyholders had to pay rent to the duchy of Lancaster, but subtenants who rented from the copyholders had to pay rents that were on average 25 times higher than the rent paid by the copyholders in the first decade of the 17th century
A number of the suspected witches were subtenants
Illegal squatting and uneducated tenancies
The economy of Pendle
An upland pastoral economy
Limited arable farming
70% of homes contained tools required for cloth production
Religious context of the area around Pendle in the early seventeenth century
The Reformation in Lancaster
The area around Pendle did not suffer as much from the Reformation
Limited examples of Pendle residents troubling the Church courts in the 17th century
The fact that the older witches were charged with using spells based on corrupted versions of Catholic prayers indicates the Protestant Reformation may have had only limited impact on many people
Church organisation and the witch-hunt
Newchurch in Pendle was a dependent chapelry, compromising a population of 10,000
Whalley Abbey closed down (dissolution of the monasteries)
It had for centuries provided charity and education
The Abbey also had an inflow of wealth enabling it to support the people by providing cloth, grain, and money
With the absence of a Catholic Abbey, a group of Puritan clergy and their associates amongst the gentry were able to wield more influence
White magic
In over 100 cases from the Lancashire Quarte Sessions, magic is accepted as a familiar part of religious life, and there are blurred boundaries between witchcraft and the work of village healers, or 'white'/helpful magic
The origins of the case: Alizon Device and John Law; the investigations of Roger Nowell; Old Demdike and Old Chattox and their witchcraft families; the meeting at Malkin Tower
Alizon Device and John Law
March 1612, Alizon Device cursed a pedlar (John Law) who refused to give her some pins
He collapsed and she was convinced she was the cause
She immediately confessed and he forgave her
His son later heard about this and brought it to the attention of the authorities
He claimed when he refused to give her pins, a large dog appeared and he fell and became paralyzed
Alizon was brought to the local magistrate, Nowell, and she willingly confessed
Alizon also implicated her grandmother, Old Chattox
The investigations of Roger Nowell
Who is Nowell?
Local magistrate and experienced JP
Had strong connections with high-profile Protestants
It is speculated that Nowell was familiar with Perkin's 'Discourse of the Damned Art of Witchcraft' (1608) which promoted the notion that witchcraft consisted of a pact with the Devil, and with James' 'Daemonologie'
Initial investigation
Interrogated Alizon Device and she confessed she had made Law lame
Nowell's investigation became more widespread Alizon continued to confess
Alizon described her initiation into witchcraft with her grandmother, Old Demdike
Searched Alizon for the Devil's mark
Jennet Device gave a statement about not only Alizon but also her mother causing them to be arrested
Further arrests
Old Demdike and Old Chattox were detained 3 days after Alizon Device
After Demdike confessed, she put the attention on her old rival, claiming she saw Old Chattox making clay figures
Use of torture
Old Demdike and Old Chattox, and their witchcraft families
Old Chattox
Anne Whittle
First accused in 1595 when it was said she possessed her son Nutter and caused his death to secure the deeds to their property
She was acquitted due to the lenient Witchcraft Act of 1562
Old Demdike
Elizabeth Southerns
Daughter names Elizabeth Device
Grandchildren called James and Alizon Device
Malkin Tower was her home
Conflict between arch enemies
Source of the family rivalry was the theft of clothing and grain from Alizon Device
Worth 20 shillings
Went on backwards and forwards and no resolution was agreed
John Device agreed to a settlement to settle the debt but when he died it wasn't paid
Demdike accused Chattox of witchcraft, conjuring spirits and black sabbath
The meeting at Malkin Tower
Sabbat?
JP Henry Hargreaves visited Malkin Tower in April with James Device and found clay images and teeth from the Newchurch graveyard
James Device and Hargreaves went to Yorkshire and visited Jennet Preston who James identified as being at the meeting
April 27th: Nowell and magistrate Bannister examined James, Jennet, and Elizabeth Device to ascertain what happened at the meeting
Jennet claimed:
James had stolen a sheep to be eaten at the meeting, killing it at home
20 witches were present
Potts collected names
Nowell discovered the meeting had 3 objectives
Planned to secure the release of 4 women imprisoned at Lancaster Castle, blow it up, and murder Gaoler
Carry out a ritual to name Alizon Device's spirit
Provide protection to Jennet Preston, who had been accused by the Lister family
Questionable evidence
Child witness (Jennet Device)
A great deal of James' evidence included a number of cliches
There is a strong change the meeting at Malkin Tower did happen, but it is more likely that it was a meeting between friends and neighbours worried they might be accused on association with those already arrested
Main causes of the Lancashire witch-hunts
Key individuals
James I's 'Daemonologie' allowed for child witnesses
Family rivals
Alizon Device: named others
Nowell
Political factors
Recent plots resulting in tensions (eg. Gunpowder Plot 1605)
Recent witch-hunts
Witchcraft Act 1604
Social and economic conditions
Population growth
Increase in poverty
New taxes on land/ cost of burdens
Landowners rack-renting
Copyholder tenants struggling
Loss of charity
Inflation
The religious context
Corruption of the Lancashire clergy
Very large size of the parish
Still much Catholicism
Attitudes to women
Older women
Both families predominantly women
Popular belief
Familiars
Cunning folk/ cunning women
Sabbath
Clay models of their victims
Legal issues
Witchcraft Act 1604: now punishable by death
Roger Nowell: a magistrate who wishes to investigate
Literature/printing
James I's 'Daemonologie' 1597: magistrates would be aware of it and it allows for child witnesses
Thomas Pott's pamphlet afterwards
Local issues
Feud between the families
The trial of 1612: the Judges Bromley and Altham; the conduct and outcomes of the trial; impact of Thomas Pott's account
The Judges Bromley and Altham
Bromley
Similar background to Altham
Also became a Baron of the Exchequer
Shropshire gentry family
Educated in the Calvinist tradition
Father was a high-profile lawyer
So, he was able to receive his legal training for free, and entered the Inner Temple
From 1603, he was given a number of important legal responsibilities and he returned as MP for Bridgnorth 6 times between 1586-1604, with the final parliament lasting until 1611
King James gave him the role of mediator with the House of Lords over proposals for a union between England and Scotland,
Demonstrating the trust placed in him by the KIng
Altham
Coming to the end of a distingusished legal career
Establish gentry family
Father had been Sherriff of London and Essex
Trinity College, Cambridge
MP for Bramber from 1589
Knighted by James I in 1605
Baron of the Exchequer from 1606
Respected, orthodox Protestant, resulting in him rising quickly in the reign of James I
Likely held similar views on witch-hunting as the king, and may well have carried with him and consulted a copy of 'Daemonologie' during the trial
Bromley and Altham
Practice of judges travelling across the country to hear cases had been established for centuries
Worked relatively well in order to reduce bias associated with local magistrates overseeing localcases
16th August the judges arrived in Lancaster
1610: Bromley madea Serjeant-at-law and Baron of the Exchequer
Both Altham and Bromley worked as assize judges alongside their work in London, and it seemed Bromley was hoping to be promoted tp a circuit closer to London
Both concerned with gaining the King's favour, and positive convictions for witchcraft may have been a way of achieving this
The Samlesbury witches
Who?
Jennet Bierley
Ellen Bierley
Jane Southworth
They had been accused by a 14 year old of witchcraft, Grace Sowerbutts
Case was thrown out of court
The girl making the accusation had been exposed by Bromley to be unreliable and under the influence of the Catholic priest
A final witch, Isabel Roby, was brought to trial
At the end, all those who had been found guilty were brought back into court
Judge declared they be hung
The conduct and outcomes of the trial
Main trial held at the assize courts in Lancaster on 18th-19th August 1612
11 people in total went to trial
9 women
2 men
Pendle witches were hung together with he Samlesbury witches
6 of the accused came from the two families
Defendants were not allowed to prepare a defence and it's likely many of them wouldn't even have know the exact charges against them
Nowell acted as prosecutor
Bromley and Altham accepted dubious evidence and confessions
Both were Protestant and had gained advancement under James
Child witness, Jennet Device, was central to many of the convictions
10/11 were found guilty
10 were hung at Gallow's Hill on 20th August 1612
The accused
Similarities between the accused
Murder
Use of a child witness
Involvement of animals
Bewitching people/animals
Women
Who?
Old Chattox
Elizabeth Device
Charged with the murders of John and James Barley, and Henry Mitton
Accused of organising the meeting at Malkin Tower
James Device
Had illness and could not stand or speak so he was examined first
Charged with the murders of Anne Towneley and John Duckworth
Confessed on 27th April
Further charged with the murders of John and Blaze Hargreaves
Anne Redferne
Found guilty only after a second murder accusation
Alice Nutter
Identified by Jennet Device for being at the Malkin Tower meeting
Accused of murder
Katherine Hewitt
Accused of being at Malkin Tower and murder
John and Jane Bulcock
Accused of betweitching someone until they went mad
Jennet identified them
Alizon Device
Confessed instanty and pleased John Law's forgivness
Margaret Pearson
Accused of killing a horse
old Chattox was brought out as a witness
Found gilty and sentenced to 4 days public humiliation
Old Demdike
Died in jail awaiting trial
Impact of Thomas Pott's account
'The Wonderful Discovery of Witches' (1613)
Why is Pott's account particularly valuable?
He had a unique insight into the trial
His account is entirely first-hand
Thomas Potts
Brought up in the name of Thomas Rhyret
Did not attend university
Took a number of positions as clerk in various courts, before becoming a civil servant
Limitations of this evidence
Selective in the details he includes
Edited the speeches of Bomley and Altham in order to improve them
fails to include any of the build-up to the trials and legal processes involved in bringing the cases to court
Lasting impact of this account
Sates his aim is to hold up the trials as an example to others
States the judges placed their respects in him by asking him to publish an account of the trials