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Common methods of execution for convicted witches were hanging, drowning and burning. Burning was often favored, particularly in Europe, as it was considered a more painful way to die. Prosecutors in the American colonies generally preferred hanging in cases of witchcraft.
Twenty people were eventually executed as witches, but contrary to popular belief, none of the condemned was burned at the stake. In accordance with English law, 19 of the victims of the Salem Witch Trials were instead taken to the infamous Gallows Hill to die by hanging.
All five women were executed by hanging on July 19, 1692.
Current scholarly estimates of the number of people who were executed for witchcraft vary from about 40,000 to 50,000. The total number of witch trials in Europe which are known to have ended in executions is around 12,000.
Janet Horne | |
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Died | june 1727 Dornoch, Scotland |
Cause of death | Burned alive |
Monuments | The Witch’s Stone in Littletown, Dornoch. |
Known for | Last person to be executed legally for witchcraft in the British Isles |
Dorothy/Dorcas Good | |
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Died | Unknown |
Other names | Dorcas Good |
Known for | Youngest accused of witchcraft in the Salem witch trials |
Parent(s) | William Good (father) Sarah Good (mother) |
Legal Legacy of the Salem Witch Trials
On October 29, 1692, Phips dissolved the Court of Oyer and Terminer, a decision that marked the beginning of the end for the Salem witch trials. By May 1693, Phips had pardoned and released all those remaining in prison on witchcraft charges.
Witch-hunts are practiced today throughout the world. While prevalent world-wide, hot-spots of current witch-hunting are India, Papua New Guinea, Amazonia, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
This changed who was seen as a witch and how they were prosecuted over time. The Witchcraft Act of 1542 was England’s first witchcraft law, enacted during Henry VIII’s reign.
It occurred during the peak of Europe’s witch-hunting madness, which took place from 1450 to 1750. Interestingly, it was not way back in the Middle Ages, but rather in modern times that witch hunting reached its peak. In Germany, an estimated 40,000 “witches” were burned alive.
Good is always depicted as an old hag with white hair and wrinkled skin. She is often said to be sixty or seventy years of age by the same writers who clearly state that she was pregnant and had a six-year-old daughter.
A total of 24 innocent people died for their alleged participation in dark magic. Two dogs were even executed due to suspicions of their involvement in witchcraft.
The Puritan Religion and How it Influenced the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 was an event that lasted a year in which religion fueled mass hysteria in a small colony.
Rich intellectuals intervened to protect themselves as well as innocents, and the subsequent reform of the systems of law made it more difficult for witch-trials to be brought and witches to be found guilty, bringing about the initial decline of the witch-hunts.
The Witch trials in England were conducted from the 15th century until the 18th century. They are estimated to have resulted in the death of between 500 and 1000 people, 90 percent of whom were women. The witch hunt was as its most intense stage during the civil war and the Puritan era of the mid 17th century.
The Trials were unfair, the Government and the townspeople were corrupt, and they had stress from outer threats surrounding the village. The Salem Witch Trials were unfair. … It was one of the largest witch hunts. During the trials unusual things happened and innocent people were blamed.
The belief in sorcery and its practice seem to have been widespread in the ancient Near East and Nile Valley. It played a conspicuous role in the cultures of ancient Egypt and in Babylonia.
What Happened to the Girls? Most of the accusers in the Salem trials went on to lead fairly normal lives. Betty Parris, Elizabeth Booth, Sarah Churchill, Mary Walcott, and Mercy Lewis eventually married and had families.
It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as an allegory for McCarthyism, when the United States government persecuted people accused of being communists.
Bridget Bishop was indicted again for witchcraft on April 19, 1692, along with Marry Warren, Giles Corey and Abigail Hobbs. <20> She was accused by Mercy Lewis and Ann Putnam. Her examination was held before John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin at the Corwin home.
Sarah Good | |
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Occupation | Housewife |
Known for | Convicted of witchcraft in the Salem witch trials |
Spouse(s) | Daniel Poole (died 1682) William Good |
Betty Parris is the first to fall ill, and the reason Hale is summoned to Salem. After being discovered by her father, as she danced with the other girls in the woods, Betty becomes sick and unresponsive.
Rebecca Towne Nurse (or Nourse) | |
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Nationality | English |
Occupation | Housewife |
Known for | Convicted of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials |
Spouse(s) | Francis Nurse (or Nourse) |
Annie Putnam | |
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Born | October 18, 1679 Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony |
Died | 1716 (aged 36–37) Massachusetts Bay Colony |
Known for | Accuser in the Salem witch trials |
Parent(s) | Thomas Putnam (father) Ann (née Carr) Putnam (mother) |
Bridget Bishop | |
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Bishop, as depicted in a lithograph | |
Born | Bridget Magnus c. 1632 England |
Died | 10 June 1692 (aged c. 60) Salem, Colony of Massachusetts |
A witch hat is a style of hat worn by witches in popular culture depictions, characterized by a conical crown and a wide brim.
In the 17th century, warts were seen as the “devil’s mark,” a justification given to accuse women of witchcraft during the Salem witchcraft trials. It was believed that the devil would confirm his pact with a witch by giving her a mark of identification.
Question | Answer |
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How many people were formally charged with witchcraft? | 140 |
How many people were afflicted? | 43 |
Who was the first afflicted girl? | Betty Parris |
Which accused person was pressed to death for refusing to answer the court’s questions? | Giles Corey |