query: who was accused of witchcraft in the crucible act 1

pos: The Crucible breaks down and falsely claims that the Devil is bewitching her and others in town. With prompting from Hale and Putnam, Tituba accuses Sarah Osborne and Sarah Good of witchcraft. Mrs. Putnam identifies Osborne as her former midwife and asserts that she must have killed her children. Abigail decides to play along with Tituba in order to prevent others from discovering her affair with Proctor, whose wife she had tried to curse out of jealousy. She leaps up, begins contorting wildly, and names Osborne and Good, as well as Bridget Bishop as having been "dancing with the devil". Betty suddenly

pos: The Crucible and Hathorne as illegal. Rev. Hale criticizes the decision and demands to know why the accused are forbidden to defend themselves. Danforth replies that given the "invisible nature" of witchcraft, the word of the accused and their advocates cannot be trusted. He then orders that all ninety-one persons named in the deposition be arrested for questioning. Giles Corey submits his own deposition, accusing Thomas Putnam of forcing his daughter to accuse George Jacobs in order to buy up his land (as convicted witches have to forfeit all of their property.) When asked to reveal the source of his information, Giles

pos: Solomon Kimball House (Wenham, Massachusetts) 106 Main Street. John Solart was financially successful, yet drowned himself in 1672 leaving an estate of over £500. His widow soon remarried Ezekiel Woodward, and kept her seven children from receiving their rightful share of Solart’s estate. Eventually, these children successfully petitioned the General Court for redress in 1682. Martha was a sister of Sarah Good, who was one of the first three to be accused of witchcraft during the Salem witchcraft hysteria and was hanged in 1692. Sarah's 4 year-old daughter Dorothy Good (also known as Dorcas Good) was also accused and arrested for witchcraft. Dorothy Good survived

pos: Sarah Bibber Sarah Bibber Sarah Bibber (or Vibber or Vibert; born c. 1656 – year of death unknown) was involved in the infamous Salem witch trials in 1692, both as an accuser of witchcraft, as well as being accused of being a witch herself. Bibber was one of the "afflicted" who testified against the accused in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. She is mentioned in indictments, gave depositions and testified under oath against 15 people accused of witchcraft. These were Mary Bradbury, George Burroughs, Giles Corey, Mary Easty, Sarah Good, Dorcas Hoar, Elizabeth How, George Jacobs, Sr., Susannah Martin, Rebecca Nurse,

pos: Sarah Good an infant in her cell in the jail in Ipswich. The infant died before her mother was hanged. In 1710, William Good successfully sued the Great and General Court for health and mental damages done to Sarah and Dorcas, ultimately receiving thirty pounds sterling, one of the largest sums granted to the families of the witchcraft victims. Sarah Good Sarah Good (, 1653 – , 1692) was one of the first three women to be accused of witchcraft in the Salem witch trials, which occurred in 1692 in colonial Massachusetts. Good was accused of witchcraft on , when Abigail Williams

neg: The Crucible (opera) trials. The Arthur Miller play on which it was based was written as an allegory for McCarthyism and the Red Scare, which occurred in the United States in the 1950s. Miller was himself questioned by the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1956. Several women and men in the town are accused of witchcraft by a group of young girls led by Abigail Williams. Her jealousy of John Proctor's wife, Elizabeth, leads Abigail to accuse Elizabeth of witchcraft. John himself is eventually accused and hangs rather than recant, saying he can't dirty his name and stands up for what he

neg: John Hale (minister) of witchcraft in the Salem witch trials of 1692, and supported the work of the court. However, on November 14, 1692, 17-year-old Mary Herrick accused his second wife, Sarah Noyes Hale, and the ghost of executed Mary Eastey of afflicting her, but his wife was never formally charged or arrested. A later commentator on the trials, Charles Upham suggests that this accusation was one that helped turn public opinion to end the prosecutions, and spurred Hale's willingness to reconsider his support of the trials. In Arthur Miller's 1953 play "The Crucible", a fictional portrayal of Hale appears in Act I

neg: Witchcraft Acts killing with witchcraft, roughly half were acquitted. Only nine of the accused were men. Under the Scottish Witchcraft Act 1563 both the practice of witchcraft and consulting with witches were capital offences. This Act stayed on Scottish statute books until repealed as a result of a House of Lords amendment to the bill for the post-union Witchcraft Act 1735. In 1604, the year following James' accession to the English throne, the Elizabethan Act was broadened to bring the penalty of death without benefit of clergy to any one who invoked evil spirits or communed with familiar spirits. The Act's full

neg: Witchcraft Acts title was "An Act against Conjuration, Witchcraft and dealing with evil and wicked spirits", (1 Ja. I c. 12). It was this statute that was enforced by Matthew Hopkins, the self-styled Witch-Finder General. Supporters of the Act included the Earl of Northumberland, the Bishop of Lincoln, the Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, the Attorney General for England and Wales, the Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, and the Chief Justice of the King's Bench. The Acts of Elizabeth and James changed the law of witchcraft by making it a felony, thus removing the accused from the jurisdiction

neg: The Crucible War. (Again, narration not present in all versions). The remainder of Act Two is set in the Proctor's home. John and Elizabeth are incredulous that nearly forty people have been arrested for witchcraft based on the pronouncements of Abigail and the other girls. John knows their apparent possession and accusations of witchcraft are untrue, as Abigail told him as much when they were alone together in the first act, but is unsure of how to confess without revealing the affair. Elizabeth is disconcerted to learn her husband was alone with Abigail. She believes John still lusts after Abigail and tells

neg: Witchcraft Acts who should "use, practise, or exercise any Witchcraft, Enchantment, Charm, or Sorcery, whereby any person shall happen to be killed or destroyed", was guilty of a felony without benefit of clergy, and was to be put to death. Indictments for homicide caused by witchcraft begin to appear in the historical record in the period following the passage of the 1563 Act. Out of the 1,158 homicide victims identified in the surviving records, 228 or 20.6% were suspected of being killed by witchcraft. By comparison, poison was suspected in only 31 of the cases. Out of the 157 people accused of

neg: Women in early modern Scotland for child murder and, after pressure from the kirk, a law of 1690 placed the presumption of guilt on a woman who concealed a pregnancy and birth and whose child later died. In the aftermath of the initial Reformation settlement, Parliament passed the Witchcraft Act 1563, similar to that passed in England one year earlier, which made the practice of witchcraft itself and consulting with witches capital crimes. Between the passing of the act and its repeal in 1736, an estimated 6,000 persons were tried for witchcraft in Scotland. Most of the accused, some 75 per cent, were women, with

neg: Witch trials in the early modern period execution for witchcraft in England took place in 1716, when Mary Hicks and her daughter Elizabeth were hanged. Janet Horne was executed for witchcraft in Scotland in 1727. The Witchcraft Act 1735 put an end of the traditional form of witchcraft as a legal offense in Britain. Those accused under the new act were restricted to those that pretended to be able to conjure spirits (generally being the most dubious professional fortune tellers and mediums), and punishment was light. In Austria, Maria Theresa outlawed witch-burning and torture in the late 18th century (the last capital trial, that of Maria Pauer

neg: Witch trials in early modern Scotland when a "victim" suffered ill fortune, particularly after a curse had been issued. The use of curses by some women as a means of acquiring social power may have made this process more likely to occur. Almost all witchcraft prosecutions took place in secular courts under the provisions of the 1563 Act. In 1649 the religiously radical Covenanter regime passed a new witchcraft act that ratified the existing act and extended it to deal with consulters of "Devils and familiar spirits", who would now be punished with death. There were three main types of court in which accused witches could

neg: The Crucible him that as long as he does, he will never redeem himself. Mary Warren enters and gives Elizabeth a 'poppet' (doll-like puppet) that she made in court that day while sitting as a witness. Angered that Mary is neglecting her duties, John threatens to beat her. Mary retorts that she saved Elizabeth's life that day, as Elizabeth was accused of witchcraft and was to be arrested until Mary spoke in her defense. Mary refuses to identify Elizabeth's accuser, but Elizabeth surmises accurately that it must have been Abigail. She implores John to go to court and tell the judges that

neg: Joan Allen in 1977 when John Malkovich asked her to join. She's been a member ever since. In 1984, she won a Clarence Derwent Award for her portrayal of Hellen Stott in "And a Nightingale Sang". In 1989, Allen won a Tony Award for her Broadway debut performance in "Burn This". She also starred in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play "The Heidi Chronicles". She received Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress for her roles as Pat Nixon in "Nixon" (1995) and as Elizabeth Proctor, a woman accused of witchcraft, in "The Crucible" (1996). She was also nominated for Best Actress for her

neg: European witchcraft insanity present in such witch trials. In 1687, Louis XIV issued an edict against witchcraft that was rather moderate compared to former ones; it ignored black cats and other lurid fantasies of the witch mania. After 1700, the number of witches accused and condemned fell rapidly. In England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland there was a succession of Witchcraft Acts starting with Henry VIII's Act of 1542. They governed witchcraft and providing penalties for its practice, or—after 1700—rather for pretending to practise it. In Wales, fear of witchcraft mounted around the year 1500. There was a growing alarm of women's magic

neg: Witchcraft Suppression Act, 1957 if the accused is by habit or repute a witch-finder, the sentence is increased to imprisonment for up to 20 years, and in that case the offence is presumed to have caused the killing unless proven otherwise. The following three crimes attract a fine of up to R200,000 or imprisonment for up to five years or both. The following crime attracts a fine of up to R80,000 or imprisonment for up to two years. The act also repealed the various witchcraft laws inherited from the colonies from which South Africa was formed. The Witchcraft Suppression Bill was introduced in Parliament

neg: History of Springfield, Massachusetts went up to near Enfield Falls. This resulted in one of the longest running border disputes in American history. In 1645, 46 years before the Salem witch trials, Springfield experienced America's first accusations of witchcraft when Mary (Bliss) Parsons accused a widow named Marshfield, who had moved from Windsor to Springfield, with witchcraft—an offense then punishable by death. For this, Mary Parsons was found guilty of slander. In 1651, Mary Parsons was accused of witchcraft, and also of murdering her own child. In turn, Mary Parsons then accused her own husband, Hugh Parsons, of witchcraft. At America's first witch trial,

neg: Mears Ashby general and Mears Ashby, in particular, has a long tradition of witchcraft and accusations of witchcraft. In their book they recall that as late as 1785 a local inhabitant, Sarah Bradshaw, was so accused. We learn from the Northampton Mercury on 1 August 1785 that: Thursday last, a poor woman, named Sarah Bradshaw of Mears Ashby...who was accused by some of her neighbours of being a witch, in order to prove her innocence, submitted to the ignominy of being dipped (on a ducking-stool); when she immediately sunk to the bottom of the pond; which was deemed an incontestable proof that

neg: Mexican Inquisition female witches seems to be an act of oppression, the use of magic and the claim of witchcraft was for many women a tool to acquire power in a system where women found themselves at a significant disadvantage to their male counterparts. The Inquisition in peninsular Spain was generally not particularly interested and was highly skeptical of accusations of witchcraft. In Spanish America Inquisitors were similarly concerned with delegitimizing women who were accused and confessed to these crimes by proving that the supposed magic was in fact a female delusion. While this was a somewhat successful endeavor on the elite

neg: Witchcraft Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before local magistrates followed by county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in Essex, Suffolk and Middlesex Counties of colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693. Over 150 people were arrested and imprisoned, with even more accused who were not formally pursued by the authorities. The two courts convicted 29 people of the capital felony of witchcraft. Nineteen of the accused, 14 women and 5 men, were hanged. One man who refused to enter a plea was crushed to death under heavy stones in an attempt to force him

neg: Biddy Early five shillings an' ten shillings to themselves". This notion is repeated frequently in interviews with those who had personal knowledge of Biddy. Another contributing factor must have been the folklore and mysticism that surrounded her. While Biddy was from a class of small tenant farmers, the priests were usually from more comfortable backgrounds and placed emphasis on education, so they were "only too anxious to leave behind them the half-lit world of peasant lore and herbal medicine". In 1865 Biddy was accused of witchcraft under the Witchcraft Act 1586 and was brought before a court in Ennis. This would have

neg: Vinegar Tom cat, supposed to be her familiar spirit, likely inspired by the supposed imp of one Elizabeth Clarke, a woman tried and executed for witchcraft in Essex in 1645. The play was inspired by the Women's Rights Act in 1970 and explored the thought that women were treated unequally to men in England, both at the time in which the play takes place, and the time in which the play was written. The play tells the story of Alice, who is in her twenties and living in a small village. Alice and her mother Joan are accused of witchcraft after an

neg: Connecticut Witch Trials Because of his experience with alchemy, and having seen John Dee and Robert Fludd - two major influences in Winthrop's studies - stand against false accusations of witchcraft, Winthrop often involved himself in witchcraft cases to ensure that the accused were not executed. His return and involvement in the trials ushered in a period of increasing skepticism towards accusations of witchcraft, and in 1669, it was Winthrop's court that established that multiple witnesses needed to bear witness to the same act of witchcraft simultaneously. This significantly stemmed the flow of accusations, and despite a minor panic during the Salem crisis

neg: The Crucible (1957 film) he ends his affair with her, Abigail and several other local girls turn to slave Tituba. Reverend Parris catches the girls in the forest as they partake in what appears to be witchcraft. Abigail and the rest deny it, saying that they have been bewitched. A wave of hysteria engulfs the town, and Danforth uses the girls' accusations to instigate a series of trials, during which his political enemies are accused of heresy and executed. When Abigail blames Elizabeth Proctor, the latter rejects John's pleas to defraud Abigail as an adulteress. Eventually, both Proctors are put on trial and refuse

neg: The Crucible (1996 film) pregnant and will be spared from death until the baby is born, but he insists on charging the girls with false witness. The other girls are called in and asked if they were lying about the witchcraft but cause a commotion, screaming that Mary Warren is putting a spell on them. To demonstrate that Abigail is not innocent, John confesses to having had an affair with her. He claims that Abigail accused Elizabeth in order to get rid of her so that she could marry him. Abigail denies the accusation to protect her reputation, so Elizabeth is called in to

neg: Maleficium (sorcery) heretics. The term appears in several historically important texts, notably in the "Formicarius" (printed 1475) and in the "Malleus Maleficarum" (1487). The Knights Templar were accused by Philip IV of France of maleficium. The trial of the Knights Templar set a social standard for the popular belief in maleficium and witchcraft that contributed to the great European witch hunts. In early New England, more men would get accused of such maleficium that was "non-malefic". Maleficium (sorcery) Maleficium (plural: "maleficia") as a Latin term, "An act of witchcraft performed with the intention of causing damage or injury; the resultant harm." In

neg: Criminal procedure in South Africa accused's impending trial in a magistrate's court on a charge under the Witchcraft Suppression Act. In the first application, the applicant was the accused, who contended that he was entitled to this information by virtue of the provisions of sections 23 and 25(3) of the Constitution. In the second application, the applicant was the Commissioner of the SAPS, who desired an order declaring that the privilege which existed in respect of the contents of police dockets immediately prior to the commencement of the Constitution was not repealed or amended by section 23, but that the accused was entitled before trial

neg: Witch-hunt in witchcraft is one of the worst forms of this." Though the practice of "white" magic (such as faith healing) is legal in Papua New Guinea, the 1976 Sorcery Act imposed a penalty of up to 2 years in prison for the practice of "black" magic, until the Act was repealed in 2013. In 2009, the government reports that extrajudicial torture and murder of alleged witches – usually lone women – are spreading from the highland areas to cities as villagers migrate to urban areas. For example, in June 2013, four women were accused of witchcraft because the family "had

neg: Witches of Warboys cited by writers such as Lynn Picknett. The scholar George Kittredge (1860–1941) called the Warboys trial "the most momentous witch-trial that had ever occurred in England", partially because it had "demonstrably produced a deep and lasting impression on the class that made laws". He makes a case that the Warboys trial influenced the passage of the Witchcraft Act of 1604. Following the hangings, Robert Throckmorton left Warboys hastily, his wife allegedly dying shortly before his departure. Witches of Warboys The Witches of Warboys were Alice Samuel and her family, who were accused of, and executed for witchcraft between 1589 and

neg: The Crucible (1996 film) The Crucible (1996 film) The Crucible is a 1996 American historical drama film written by Arthur Miller adapting his play of the same title, inspired by the Salem witchcraft trials. It was directed by Nicholas Hytner and stars Daniel Day-Lewis as John Proctor, Winona Ryder as Abigail Williams, Paul Scofield as Judge Thomas Danforth, Bruce Davison as Reverend Parris, and Joan Allen as Elizabeth Proctor. Much of the filming took place on Hog Island in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Despite the film's lacklustre box office performance, Arthur Miller was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and Joan Allen received

neg: Dorte Jensdatter her guilty of witchcraft and sentenced her to death. They tied her to a chair in her home and killed her by setting fire to her house. The woman who had accused her lit the fire. The murder was followed by wide publicity, and two accusers were arrested for her murder and executed. The last lynching for witchcraft in Denmark was the case of Anna Klemens in 1800. Dorte Jensdatter Dorte Jensdatter (1672–1722), was a Danish murder victim. She was burned alive by her neighbors, after being accused of witchcraft. Dorte Jensdatter was unmarried and supported herself by spinning in

neg: Phato v Attorney-General Phato v Attorney-General In Phato v Attorney-General, Eastern Cape & Another; Commissioner of the South African Police Services v Attorney-General, Eastern Cape & Others, in two applications, which were combined for the purposes of the judgment, the issue was the right of an accused to access to the police docket relating to the accused's impending trial in a magistrate's court on a charge under the Witchcraft Suppression Act 3 of 1957. In the first application, the applicant was the accused, who contended that he was entitled to this information by virtue of the provisions of section 23 and section 25(3)

neg: Witchcraft Acts of the ecclesiastical courts to the courts of common law. This provided, at least, that the accused witches theoretically enjoyed the benefits of ordinary criminal procedure. Burning at the stake was eliminated except in cases of witchcraft that were also petty treason; most convicted were hanged instead. Any witch who had committed a minor witchcraft offence (punishable by one year in prison) and was accused and found guilty a second time was sentenced to death. Through the 1640s the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and the Commission of the Kirk lobbied for the enforcement and extension of the

neg: Great Scottish witch hunt of 1649–50 who was accused by Walter Bruce the minister of Inverkeithing in 1649. She fled to Edinburgh, where she was arrested and probably committed suicide before her trial. Such accusations were usually linked to local power struggles and usually unsuccessful as the families of the accused had reputations to defend and resources to mount a legal and political challenge. Mentions of the Devil appeared relatively rarely in Scottish witchcraft trials, which were mainly concerned with perceived harm through witchcraft, as with Jean Craig of Tranent, who was accused of laying an illness on Beatrix Sandilands, causing her to become "mad and

neg: The Crucible (1996 film) "almost perfect screen adaptation". The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: The Crucible (1996 film) The Crucible is a 1996 American historical drama film written by Arthur Miller adapting his play of the same title, inspired by the Salem witchcraft trials. It was directed by Nicholas Hytner and stars Daniel Day-Lewis as John Proctor, Winona Ryder as Abigail Williams, Paul Scofield as Judge Thomas Danforth, Bruce Davison as Reverend Parris, and Joan Allen as Elizabeth Proctor. Much of the filming took place on Hog Island in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Despite the film's lacklustre box office performance, Arthur

neg: Margaret Jones (Puritan midwife) her execution, and it is believed that she died in prison. Margaret Jones (Puritan midwife) Margaret Jones (1613 – June 15, 1648) was the first person to be executed for witchcraft in Massachusetts Bay Colony during a witch-hunt that lasted from 1648 to 1693. About eighty people throughout New England were accused of practicing witchcraft during that period. Thirteen women and two men were executed. Jones, who resided in Charlestown, now a section of Boston, was a midwife and practiced medicine. Some of what caused her to be accused of witchcraft had to do with these practices. There are only

neg: Margaret Jones (Puritan midwife) Margaret Jones (Puritan midwife) Margaret Jones (1613 – June 15, 1648) was the first person to be executed for witchcraft in Massachusetts Bay Colony during a witch-hunt that lasted from 1648 to 1693. About eighty people throughout New England were accused of practicing witchcraft during that period. Thirteen women and two men were executed. Jones, who resided in Charlestown, now a section of Boston, was a midwife and practiced medicine. Some of what caused her to be accused of witchcraft had to do with these practices. There are only two primary sources of information on Jones' plight: Governor John Winthrop's

neg: Connecticut Witch Trials and John Carrington were executed in 1651. They were prominent members of the Wethersfield community before being accused of witchcraft. Wethersfield was also the home of Mary Johnson, the first open confessor of witchcraft; and Katherine Harrison. This resulted in the coining of the term "Wethersfield Witches" by historians. In 1662 and 1663, the town of Hartford saw a surge in witch hysteria. A series of accusations were made among the townsfolk. The first accusation was by Anne Cole, who accused Rebecca Greensmith and Elizabeth Seager of tormenting her through magic. The parents of Elizabeth Kelly accused Goody Ayres of

neg: Hatfield Peverel who was executed for witchcraft in England. Her name was Agnes Waterhouse, locally known as Mother Waterhouse, and she confessed to witchcraft in 1566, and two other women were also accused of witchcraft at the same time: Elizabeth Francis and Joan Waterhouse (Agnes' daughter). Her trial took place in Chelmsford, where she was found guilty and executed for using witchcraft to disease and cause the death of William Fynne. Elizabeth admitted to having a familiar- a cat called Satan, who she fed drops of her blood and it helped to kill people, terminate pregnancies and stole cattle. She sold the

neg: Candy (Salem witch trials) Mary Black, to be accused during the hysteria of 1692. Candy (Salem witch trials) Candy was an Afro-Barbadian slave, belonging to Margaret Hawkes of Salem Town, who was accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials. On July 1, 1692, John Putnam, Jr. and Thomas Putnam accused both Hawkes and Candy of tormenting Ann Putnam, Jr., Mary Walcott, and Mary Warren. Upon interrogation, she "admitted" to being a witch, but turned on her owner, claiming that Hawkes had turned her into a witch, and forced her to sign the devil's book. Despite this admission, she was found not guilty and

neg: Witchcraft Act 1735 into the legal system of the British Mandate over Palestine; Israel gained its independence before the law was repealed in Britain in 1951. Article 417 of the Israeli Penal code of 1977, incorporating much legislation inherited from British and Ottoman times, sets two years' imprisonment as the punishment for "witchcraft, fortune telling, or magic for pay". The law in Israel applies only to practitioners of witchcraft who charge a fee. The South African Witchcraft Suppression Act, 1957, which is still in force, was based on similar 19th-century laws in the Cape Colony which were themselves based on the Witchcraft Act

neg: Werewolf witch trials accused of having bitten two children in the shape of a wolf, but he was acquitted from charges. In 1605, Henry Gardinn was executed after having been accused of being a werewolf and for witchcraft. The authorities associated lycantrophy with magic and magic with Satan, and the legal courts integrated the cases of werewolves in the witchcraft category. In Mechelen, Thomas Baetens (1642) and Augustijn de Moor (1649) were accused of being werewolves in connection to their wives standing trial for witchcraft: the wives were also them accused of being werewolves, but all were acquitted from charges. The farmer Jan

neg: Sarah Cloyce Sarah Cloyce Sarah Cloyce (later Cloyes) (née Towne) (bap. 3 September 1648 – 1703) was accused of witchcraft but never indicted by a grand jury in the Salem Witch Trials She was the daughter of William and Joanna Towne, who had emigrated to Salem from Great Yarmouth in England about 1640. Sarah, who was probably the youngest of their eight children, married firstly to Edmund Bridges, by whom she had six children, and secondly to Peter Cloyce (later Cloyes), a widower, by whom she had three more children. Sarah was accused of witchcraft the day after she had defended her

neg: Witchcraft Acts Witchcraft Act 1563, which had been the basis of previous witch trials. The Covenanter regime passed a series of acts to enforce godliness in 1649, which made capital offences of blasphemy, the worship of false gods and for beaters and cursers of their parents. They also passed a new witchcraft act that ratified the existing act of 1563 and extended it to deal with consulters of "Devils and familiar spirits", who would now be punished with death. The Witchcraft Act of 1735 (9 Geo. 2 c. 5) marked a complete reversal in attitudes. Penalties for the practice of witchcraft as

neg: The Crucible an isolated theocratic society in constant conflict with Native Americans. The narrator speculates that the lack of civil liberties, isolation from civilization, and lack of stability in the colony caused latent internal tensions which would contribute to the events depicted in the play. The remainder of Act One is set in the attic of local preacher Reverend Samuel Parris. His ten-year-old daughter, Betty Parris, lies motionless. The previous evening, Reverend Parris discovered Betty, some other girls, and his Barbadian slave, Tituba, engaged in some sort of pagan ritual in the forest. The village is rife with rumors of witchcraft and

neg: Witchcraft and one may be unaware of being a witch, or may have been convinced of his/her nature by the suggestion of others. This definition was pioneered in a study of central African magical beliefs by E. E. Evans-Pritchard, who cautioned that it might not correspond with normal English usage. Historians of European witchcraft have found the anthropological definition difficult to apply to European witchcraft, where witches could equally use (or be accused of using) physical techniques, as well as some who really had attempted to cause harm by thought alone. European witchcraft is seen by historians and anthropologists as an

neg: Christian Caldwell testing for the devil's mark: "[A] spot on the body where a pin could be slipped in without bleeding or pain". Isobel Gowdie, a Scottish woman who confessed to witchcraft at Auldearn near Nairn during 1662, might have been one of her victims. The practice involved stripping and shaving the victim completely and pushing the pin in repeatedly until the right spot was found. In Tain she wrongly accused a man called John Hay, an influential court messenger who ordered her arrest. Dickson was accused of witchcraft and interrogated in Edinburgh on 30 August 1662 on the basis of "false

neg: Witchcraft accusations against children was often the practice to charge a whole family of witchcraft, even if only one individual was suspected. Witches who confessed often claimed that they learned witchcraft from a parent. Pierre de Lancre and Francesco Maria Guazzo believed that it was enough proof of a witch's guilt if they had parents who were witches. They believed witch parents introduced the children to Satan, took the children to Sabbats, married children to demons, inspired the children to have sex with Satan(devil) or had sex with Satan with the child present. Many times the child accused of witchcraft, due to being shunned,

neg: Abigail Faulkner 1652, in Andover, Massachusetts, the daughter of Reverend Francis Dane and Elizabeth Ingalls. Faulkner was the sister of accused witch Elizabeth (Dane) Johnson, and sister-in-law of Deliverance (Hazeltine) Dane, accused of witchcraft in Salem during the 1692 hysteria. Abigail (Dane) Faulkner's two daughters, Abigail Faulkner and Dorothy Faulkner, were also accused of witchcraft. On October 12, 1675, Abigail married Lieutenant Francis Faulkner. The Dane and Faulkner families were early settlers who had gained social prominence in Andover. Francis and Abigail Faulkner had at least eight children: Faulkner's grandson, Colonel Francis Faulkner, led a company at the Battle of Concord, and

neg: Little Ice Age they were experiencing, leading to the act of placing blame upon the innocent. Evidence from several studies indicate that increases in violent actions against marginalized groups that were held responsible for the Little Ice Age overlap with years of particularly cold, dry weather. One example of the violent scapegoating occurring during the Little Ice Age was the resurgence of witchcraft trials, as argued by Oster (2004) and Behringer (1999). Oster and Behringer argue that this resurgence was brought upon by the climatic decline. Prior to the Little Ice Age, "witchcraft" was considered an insignificant crime and victims were rarely accused.

neg: History of Christianity in the United States were a series of hearings before local magistrates followed by county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in Essex, Suffolk and Middlesex counties of colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693. Over 150 people were arrested and imprisoned, with even more accused but not formally pursued by the authorities. The two courts convicted twenty-nine people of the capital felony of witchcraft. Nineteen of the accused, fourteen women and five men, were hanged. One man (Giles Corey) who refused to enter a plea was crushed to death under heavy stones in an attempt to force him to do

neg: Maleficium (sorcery) Maleficium can involve the act of poisoning or drugging someone. Practitioners of maleficium are not exclusively females, although popular culture of witchcraft favors it. Those accused of maleficium were punished by being imprisoned or even executed. Maleficium also used the practice of torture, and it was generally considered to be performed through the power of the Devil. In 1970, new research on witch-hunts and charges of witchcraft was conducted in the last couple of years. It discussed all of the fears, accusations, etc. that happened in the villages. There were different charges of maleficium that were placed due to suspicion.

neg: Pendle witches (Chattox), the matriarch of the other family reputedly involved in witchcraft in and around Pendle, Alizon perhaps saw an opportunity for revenge. There may have been bad blood between the two families, possibly dating from 1601, when a member of Chattox's family broke into Malkin Tower, the home of the Devices, and stole goods worth about £1, equivalent to about £117 as of 2018. Alizon accused Chattox of murdering four men by witchcraft, and of killing her father, John Device, who had died in 1601. She claimed that her father had been so frightened of Old Chattox that he had

neg: Põlula witch trials Põlula witch trials The Põlula witch trials took place in the manor Põlula in Estonia in 1542. It centered around the noblewoman Anna Zoyge, who was accused by her husband Johann Meckes of having murdered her father-in-law with the assistance of five accomplices, who were all executed for witchcraft. In 1542, the Baltic German nobleman and landowner Johann von Meckes accused his wife Anna Zoyge of having caused the death of his father and the illness of himself by use of poison, which was at that time strongly associated with witchcraft. As the landowners at that time had the right

neg: Folk healer white magic) from practitioners of malevolent witchcraft or black magic. Related terms are "cunning-folk", "witch doctor", and the French "devins-guérisseurs", "seer-healers". During the witch trials of Early Modern Europe, many practitioners of folk magic who did not see themselves as witches, but as healers or seers, were convicted of witchcraft (Éva Pócs' "sorcerer witches"): many English "witches" convicted of consorting with demons seem to have been cunning folk whose fairy familiars had been demonised, and over half the accused witches in Hungary seem to have been healers. Some of the healers and diviners historically accused of witchcraft have considered themselves

neg: Grace Sherwood one conviction was a 1656 case of a man convicted of witchcraft and sentenced to 10 stripes and banishment from the county. There were no executions for witchcraft in Virginia. Nonetheless, as late as in 1736, Virginia's justices of the peace were reminded that witchcraft was still a crime, and that first offenders could expect to be pilloried and jailed for up to a year. In 1745, John Craig, a Presbyterian minister in Augusta County, made assertions of witchcraft after his child and several of his animals died, and was in response accused of using evil arts to divine who

neg: Rebecca Nurse those accused of witchcraft. Upham, Charles (1980). "Salem Witchcraft." New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 2 vv., v. 1 p. 80, v. 2 pp. 56–71, 111, 136, 268, 270-89, 290, 292, 480, 483. Rebecca Nurse Rebecca Towne Nurse (or Nourse) (February 21, 1621 – July 19, 1692) was executed for witchcraft (killing 7 babies with her spirit) by the government of the Province of Massachusetts Bay in New England during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. She was the wife of Francis Nurse, with several children and grandchildren, and a well-respected member of the community. Although there was no credible

neg: Witchcraft Suppression Act, 1957 Witchcraft Suppression Act, 1957 The Witchcraft Suppression Act 3 of 1957 is an act of the Parliament of South Africa that prohibits various activities related to witchcraft, witch smelling or witch-hunting. It is based on the Witchcraft Suppression Act 1895 of the Cape Colony, which was in turn based on the Witchcraft Act 1735 of the United Kingdom. The act criminalises a number of actions. The following two crimes, the most serious under the act, attract a fine of up to R400,000 or imprisonment for up to 10 years. If the person in question was killed as a consequence, or

neg: Grissel Jaffray Grissel Jaffray Grissel Jaffray (? in Aberdeen – 1669 in Dundee) was a Dundonian woman burned at the stake when accused of witchcraft. She was the last person burned for witchcraft in Dundee. Jaffray was born in Aberdeen and then moved to Dundee. Little is known about her life, however it is known that Jaffray married James Butchart, a Dundee Burgess, in 1615. It is suspected she was part of the influential Jaffrays of Aberdeen, Alexander Jaffray who was Provost of Aberdeen in 1651. Jaffray was accused of being a spaewife. Her husband was also charged. The records relating to

neg: Pioneer Valley death. For this, Mary Parsons was found guilty of slander. In 1651, Mary Parsons was accused of witchcraft - specifically "divers devilish practices by witchcraft, to the hurt of Martha and Rebeckah Moxon," two daughters of Springfield's first minister - and also of murdering her own child. In turn, Mary Parsons then accused her own husband, Hugh Parsons, of witchcraft. At America's first witch trial, both Mary and Hugh Parsons were found not guilty of witchcraft for want of satisfactory evidence; however, Mary was found guilty of murdering her own child. For this, she was sentenced to death, but died

neg: Empress Liu (Zhezong) it was harmless. Nonetheless, rumors of witchcraft started to surround the empress. When the baby's illness grew worse, the empress noticed "token paper money" beside the child and suspected Consort Liu of using witchcraft against her. Soon after, a nun, a eunuch, and the adoptive mother of Meng was accused of having used witchcraft to help the empress, thereby implicating her. Thirty palace women and eunuchs were tortured during the investigation. The nun and the eunuch were executed, accused of having used black magic toward Liu, and the adoptive mother of Meng was executed accused of having used magic to

neg: Modern witch-hunts groups belief in the existence of witchcraft but do not or not normally accuse people of witchcraft. Where accusations occur, accusations do not in all places lead to violence and can be even used for benefits by the accused person. Several African states, including Cameroon, have reestablished witchcraft-accusations in courts after their independence. From Cameroon, Robert Brain and Peter Geschiere delivered ethnographic accounts on a child-witchcraft scare that tended to remain largely peacefully. After confessions, the accused or self-accused children were rewarded with large amounts of meat to induce a purifying vomiting. In March 2009, Amnesty International reported that up

neg: Margaret Burges Margaret Burges Margaret Burges (c. 1579- Jan. 1629), also known as 'Lady Dalyell' was a Scottish businesswoman from Nether Cramond who was found guilty of witchcraft and executed in Edinburgh in 1629. Burges was married to a boatman named John Gillespie before her second husband, John Dalyell. She was a successful figure in middle-class Cramond business, renting property to several tenants and employing a number of servants. Burges was first accused of witchcraft following a dispute in front of her home. Burges had sent away a beggar named Elspeth Baird for her 'evil brint.' As revenge, Baird accused Burges of

neg: Gwen ferch Ellis magistrates were given the power to examine witnesses willing to testify against Gwen. Five men and two women came forward with accusations of witchcraft against her. She was accused of causing the madness of a child, and of murdering a sick man who died shortly after being treated by Gwen. She was also accused of having a vengeful nature, all through the use of witchcraft. Later in 1594, Gwen was tried on these charges and found guilty. She was executed by hanging in Denbigh town square before the end of the year. Gwen ferch Ellis Gwen ferch Ellis (lit. trans.

neg: St Osyth Witches St Osyth Witches The St Osyth Witches is a common reference to the convictions for witchcraft near Essex in 1582. A village near Brightlingsea in Essex, St Osyth was home to fourteen women who were put on trial for witchcraft, some of whom were duly convicted according to law. The first to be accused was a woman called Ursula Kemp. It was through her reputation of being able to undo curses that had been placed upon people by the means of witchcraft that led to her own accusation of witchcraft by Grace Thurlowe. The testimony of Ursula Kemp's eight-year-old son

neg: St Osyth Witches St Osyth Witches The St Osyth Witches is a common reference to the convictions for witchcraft near Essex in 1582. A village near Brightlingsea in Essex, St Osyth was home to fourteen women who were put on trial for witchcraft, some of whom were duly convicted according to law. The first to be accused was a woman called Ursula Kemp. It was through her reputation of being able to undo curses that had been placed upon people by the means of witchcraft that led to her own accusation of witchcraft by Grace Thurlowe. The testimony of Ursula Kemp's eight-year-old son

neg: Martha Corey turning point in the Salem Witch Trials as Corey was a respected member of the church who had good economic and social standing within the community, which removed all of the social boundaries later in down the road as over one hundred women were accused of witchcraft. Her husband, Giles, defended her against the allegations, and in due time he was also accused of witchcraft himself. He refused to undergo a trial and was executed by pressing, a slow crushing death under a pile of stones. The main reason usually cited for his refusal to be tried or to say

neg: Grace Sherwood was responsible. Neither he nor those who accused him brought their claims to court to face "unsympathetic magistrates", though prosecution for witchcraft was still possible in Virginia. The last Virginia witchcraft trial took place in 1802 in Brooke County, which is now in West Virginia. In that case, a couple claimed that a woman was a witch, an accusation ruled slanderous. The trial by ducking (immersing the accused, bound, in water, to see if she would float) appears to have been used only once in Virginia, to try Sherwood. It was believed that, as water was considered pure, it would

neg: Lisbon witch trial Lisbon witch trial The Lisbon witch trial took place in 1559-1560 and resulted in the execution of six women for witchcraft. The trial in Lisbon resulted in a general inquiry of witchcraft in Portugal, which resulted in 27 additional people being accused, and one more receiving a death sentence the following year. This was arguably the only witch trial with multiple death sentences that ever took place in Portugal. The witch trial in Lisbon of 1559 was conducted by the secular authorities. Five women were accused of witchcraft in the city of Lisbon. In the trial records, the accused confessed

neg: Witchcraft in Orkney possessions; records in Orkney for the period around 1602–04 detail land seized due to crimes of witchcraft. Like his father before him Patie had no compunction about seizing land from lowly islanders; the law was manipulated to suit his own desires leaving much of the population destitute. Court papers frequently show the status of an accused islander as a vagabond, some having been forced into that lifestyle after being banished from their local community. Convictions and fines utilising the Lawburrows Act were often imposed by Patie but were rarely listed as such. The "Rentals of the Ancient Earldom and Bishoprick

neg: Witchcraft Acts traditionally constituted, which by that time was considered by many influential figures to be an impossible crime, were replaced by penalties for the pretence of witchcraft. A person who claimed to have the power to call up spirits, or foretell the future, or cast spells, or discover the whereabouts of stolen goods, was to be punished as a vagrant and a con artist, subject to fines and imprisonment. The Act applied to the whole of Great Britain, repealing both the 1563 Scottish Act and the 1604 English Act. The Witchcraft Act of 1735 remained in force in Britain well into

neg: Witchcraft accusations against children in Africa other cases accused children are expelled and end up living on the streets, are trafficked and in some instances they are killed. In Angola, many orphaned children are accused of witchcraft and demonic possession by relatives in order to justify not providing for them. Various methods are employed: starvation, beating, unknown substances rubbed into their eyes or being chained or tied up. Many of those who are rejected by their family end up in orphanages and are shunned by the population. In The Gambia, about 1,000 people accused of being witches were locked in government detention centers in March 2009.

neg: Candy (Salem witch trials) Candy (Salem witch trials) Candy was an Afro-Barbadian slave, belonging to Margaret Hawkes of Salem Town, who was accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials. On July 1, 1692, John Putnam, Jr. and Thomas Putnam accused both Hawkes and Candy of tormenting Ann Putnam, Jr., Mary Walcott, and Mary Warren. Upon interrogation, she "admitted" to being a witch, but turned on her owner, claiming that Hawkes had turned her into a witch, and forced her to sign the devil's book. Despite this admission, she was found not guilty and was released. There is no record of Margaret Hawkes having

neg: Witchcraft Act 1735 last threatened use of the Act against a medium was in 1950. In 1951 the Witchcraft Act was repealed with the enactment of the Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951, largely at the instigation of Spiritualists through the agency of Thomas Brooks MP. It is widely suggested that astrology may have been covered by the Witchcraft Act. From the 1930s onwards many tabloid newspapers and magazines carried astrology columns, but none were ever prosecuted. The Witchcraft Act remained legally in force in Northern Ireland, although it was never actually applied. The Witchcraft Act is still in force in Israel, having been introduced

neg: Stuart period who made a fool of himself speaking in opposition. Parliament passed the Witchcraft Act 1735 which made it a crime to accuse someone of witchcraft. The laws against witchcraft were not fully repealed until 1951 with the passing of the Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951. Witchcraft was a minor issue of little importance in Ireland. However, Scotland was a major centre of suppression; 3900 Scots were tried; two thirds were convicted and executed, the last of whom was Janet Horne in 1727. There was no free schooling for ordinary children, but in the towns and cities small local private schools were

neg: Mary Webster (alleged witch) Mary Webster (alleged witch) Mary Webster, née Reeve, was a resident of Puritan Hadley, Massachusetts, who was accused of witchcraft. She was born in England. Her exact birth year is unknown but is believed to be around 1624. Accounts of her birthdate range from 1617 to 1624. Both her father and her brother were named Thomas Reeve. Her father lived in Springfield, Massachusetts. According to the New England Historical Society, her mother's name was Hannah Rowe Reeve. In 1670, Mary Reeve married William Webster and they settled in the small Puritan town of Hadley, Massachusetts. She was accused of witchcraft.

neg: Witchcraft demons seem to have been cunning folk whose fairy familiars had been demonised; many French "devins-guerisseurs" ("diviner-healers") were accused of witchcraft, and over one half the accused witches in Hungary seem to have been healers. Some of the healers and diviners historically accused of witchcraft have considered themselves mediators between the mundane and spiritual worlds, roughly equivalent to shamans. Such people described their contacts with fairies, spirits often involving out-of-body experiences and travelling through the realms of an "other-world". Beliefs of this nature are implied in the folklore of much of Europe, and were explicitly described by accused witches in

neg: Anne de Chantraine Anne de Chantraine Anne de Chantraine (1603 – 18 October 1622) was one of the many people to be accused and burned for witchcraft in the Great Witch Hunts of the 17th century. In March 1620, Anne De Chantraine, was arrested and accused of witchcraft in the village of Waret-la-Chaussee in France. She was 17 years old, lively, intelligent and unusually pretty. Anne de Chantraine was held in prison for six months before being interrogated. Although she had avoided torture by confessing freely to being a witch, the Magistrate who interrogated her wanted to gather more information, so he ordered

neg: Leo Igwe to possess or practice "negative" witchcraft abilities, while men are more often depicted as possessing benign witchcraft abilities. In 2008, a BBC documentary, "Saving Africa's Witch Children", featured an appearance by Igwe, as one of the primary subjects was "witch hunter Helen Ukpabio." The documentary detailed reported "terrible crimes committed against children accused of witchcraft," and premiered as an HBO feature in 2010. The documentary also follows the efforts of Sam Itauma, a human rights activist and founder of the Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network (CRARN) who offers shelter and protection to children who have been abused or abandoned, and

neg: Witch trials in early modern Scotland person's sleeve or waist to see if they were suffering from a fever, or being able to find answers based on which way a sieve suspended from scissors or shears swung, as Margaret Mungo was accused of doing before the kirk session of Dingwall in 1649. It has often been stated that Scottish witchcraft was particularly concerned with the demonic pact. In the high court, Katherine Sands, who was one of four women accused of witchcraft at Culross in 1675, admitted to renouncing her baptism, receiving the Devil's mark and having sex with the Devil, but in local trials these

neg: Witch-hunt sure what to do with two women who in 1384 confessed to have participated the society around Signora Oriente or Diana. Through their confessions, both of them conveyed the traditional folk beliefs of white magic. The women were accused again in 1390, and condemned by the inquisitor. They were eventually executed by the secular arm. In a notorious case in 1425, Hermann II, Count of Celje accused his daughter-in-law Veronika of Desenice of witchcraft – and, though she was acquitted by the court, he had her drowned. The accusations of witchcraft are, in this case, considered to have been a

neg: Witchcraft III: The Kiss of Death Witchcraft III: The Kiss of Death Witchcraft III: The Kiss of Death is the third movie in the WitchCraft Horror Series. The film was distributed by Troma Studios, produced by Vista Street Entertainment and released in 1991. William Spanner (Charles Solomon) is now an adult and working as an assistant district attorney, determined to have a normal life and rejecting his magical heritage. His newest client, Ruben Carter (Ahmad Reese) an African-American teen, who stands accused of raping and murdering the divorcee for whom he did odd jobs. According to prosecuting attorney, Vivian Hill (Nicole Lauren), the state has an

neg: Witchcraft describes her in most unfavourable terms. A local road is named after Dyer, where her homestead was said to have been. Many local families have their own version of the Moll Dyer affair, and her name is spoken with care in the rural southern counties. Accusations of witchcraft and wizardry led to the prosecution of a man in Tennessee as recently as 1833. "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. In Diné culture, witches are seen as the polar opposite

neg: Pittenweem witches were held in custody and charges were to be brought against the burgh bailie. The release of the four accused men was authorised by Patrick Cowper, the local minister, who had been involved with the initial witchcraft allegations and the torture and confinement of the alleged witches. Despite instructions from the Privy Council that another committee should look into the events, no suspects were ever prosecuted for the murder. Two of the accused women, Layng and Nicholas Lawson, were imprisoned again in 1708–1709 after charges of witchcraft were levelled against them by Cowper and another local minister. They were released

neg: History of popular religion in Scotland achieve a significant following. The Reformation, carried out in Scotland in the mid-sixteenth century and heavily influenced by Calvinism, amounted to a revolution in religious practice. Sermons were now the focus of worship. The Witchcraft Act 1563 made witchcraft, or consulting with witches, capital crimes. There were major series of trials in 1590–91, 1597, 1628–31, 1649–50 and 1661–62. Prosecutions began to decline as trials were more tightly controlled by the judiciary and government, torture was more sparingly used and standards of evidence were raised. Seventy-five per cent of the accused were women and modern estimates indicate that over 1,500 persons

neg: Salem, Massachusetts of Salem Neck, Downtown Salem District, the Point, South Salem, North Salem, Blubber Hollow, Witchcraft Heights, and the McIntire Historic District named after Salem's famous architect Samuel McIntire. Much of the city's cultural identity reflects its role as the location of the infamous Salem witch trials of 1692, as featured in Arthur Miller's "The Crucible". Police cars are adorned with witch logos, a public elementary school is known as Witchcraft Heights, and the Salem High School athletic teams are named the Witches; Gallows Hill was originally believed to be the site of numerous public hangings, and it is currently used

neg: Stuart period with over 5% of Europe's population in 1600, England executed only 1% of the 40,000 witches killed in the period 1400–1800. The government made witchcraft a capital crime under Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1563. King James VI and I made the suppression of witchcraft a high priority in both Scotland, and (in 1604) in England. Judges across England sharply increased their investigation of accused 'witches', thus generating a body of highly detailed local documentation that has provided the main basis for recent historical research on the topic. Historians Keith Thomas and his student Alan Macfarlane study witchcraft by

neg: Superstition (play) away, but Ravensworth finds them. To cover her tracks, Mary acts like Charles was attacking her. This is reminiscent of the original crime for which Charles was falsely accused. Both Isabella and Charles are arrested. A trial swiftly follows in the fifth act, resulting in Charles and Isabella’s conviction of the supposed crimes of witchcraft and, in Charles’ case, attempted rape. Charles is taken offstage, at which time Sir Reginald and George enter and reveal that they had been sent to find the man who had killed King Charles I to give him a pardon. The Unknown enters and reveals

neg: Szeged witch trials problems would be solved; God did not like the people, and thus they were being punished. A fear arose in the Habsburg empire that witches had begun to be organized like military units. A particular fear in Hungary was that witches were also vampires. Among the people accused was the former judge and richest citizen of the town, 82-year-old Dániel Rózsa, said to be the leader of the witches, and Anna Nagy Kökényné, a midwife who had accused him of witchcraft. On 23 July 1728, 12 people, six men and six women, were burned at the stake for witchcraft on

neg: History of women in the United States in the Salem Village area. The other two women insisted they were innocent, but had a formal legal trial where they were found guilty of practicing witchcraft. The affected girls accused other townspeople of torturing them with witchcraft, and some on trial also named others as witches. By the end of the trials in 1693, 24 people had died, some in jail but 19 by hanging, and one by being pressed to death. Some of the accused confessed to being witches, but none of those were hanged, only those who maintained their innocence; those who were hanged include 13 women

neg: Mpumalanga Witchcraft Suppression Bill Mpumalanga Witchcraft Suppression Bill In June 2007 the Office of the Premier of the Mpumalanga province in South Africa leaked a draft Mpumalanga Witchcraft Suppression Bill of 2007. Unlike the "Witchcraft Suppression Act of 1957" (which was directed against witch-hunting), the proposed Witchcraft Control Act would explicitly acknowledge the existence of witchcraft and criminalise it. Drafting of the Bill was suspended the following year following opposition from traditional healers and Neopagans which also led to a review of existing national witchcraft legislation by the South African Law Reform Commission. Despite the ongoing existence of the national "Witchcraft Suppression Act of

neg: Great Scottish witch hunt of 1649–50 hoc" courts that had a much higher execution rate than those run by professional lawyers. Most of the witches were women and most of these of relatively low social status. The Devil featured relatively rarely in witchcraft trials, which were mainly concerned with perceived harm through witchcraft. Most of the trials were initiated by the local minister and his session or consistory, who aimed to obtain proof or a confession from the accused person. Accused witches would often name other persons who were then tested for the crime, widening the hunt. The Chancellor, John Campbell, 1st Earl of Loudoun expressed

neg: Witchcraft Suppression Act, 1957 witchcraft and witch-hunts. As a consequence of the proposed Mpumalanga Witchcraft Suppression Bill in 2007, both the South African Pagan Rights Alliance (representing Neopagans) and the Traditional Healers Organisation (representing African traditional healers) approached the South African Law Reform Commission for a review of both the Mpumalanga bill and the 1957 act. In 2010 an investigation was approved for inclusion in the SALRC's programme, and the investigation is underway. Academic paper providing insight into the history of the Witchcraft Suppression Act and related terminology during colonisation, apartheid and the post-apartheid era. Witchcraft Suppression Act, 1957 The Witchcraft Suppression Act 3

neg: Hans Nielsen Hauge was imprisoned no less than 14 times between 1794 and 1811, accused of witchcraft and adultery, and of violating the Conventicle act of 1741 ("Konventikkelplakaten") at a time in which Norwegians did not have the right of religious assembly without a Church of Norway minister present. His time in prison broke his health and led to his premature death. Upon his release from prison in 1811, he took up work as a farmer and industrialist at Bakkehaugen near Christiania (now Oslo). In 1815, he married Andrea Andersdatter, who later died in childbirth that same year. In 1817, he married Ingeborg

neg: Johanne Nielsdatter the documentation of them are missing and the verdict is unknown. The law against witchcraft was abolished in 1842. Johanne Nielsdatter Johanne Nielsdatter or "Johanne Nilsdatter" (d. 1695), was a Norwegian woman who was executed for witchcraft. Her execution is the last confirmed execution for witchcraft in Norway. She was from Kvæfjord in present-day Southern Troms. Almost nothing is known about her. She was arrested in March and put on trial in April. During her imprisonment, Niels Nielsen Rasch was responsible for her upkeep, and she was likely cared for by his daughter Gertrud Rask. She was accused of having

neg: Witchcraft was accused of witchcraft. Franciscan friars from New Spain introduced Diabolism, belief in the devil, to the indigenous people after their arrival in 1524. Bartolomé de las Casas believed that human sacrifice was not diabolic, in fact far off from it, and was a natural result of religious expression. Mexican Indians gladly took in the belief of Diabolism and still managed to keep their belief in creator-destroyer deities. In pre-Christian times, witchcraft was a common practice in the Cook Islands. The native name for a sorcerer was "tangata purepure" (a man who prays). The prayers offered by the "ta'unga" (priests)

neg: Pendle witches in Pendle, or possibly in Blacko on the site of present-day Malkin Tower Farm, and to have been demolished soon after the trials. The Pendle witches were tried in a group that also included the Samlesbury witches, Jane Southworth, Jennet Brierley, and Ellen Brierley, the charges against whom included child murder and cannibalism; Margaret Pearson, the so-called Padiham witch, who was facing her third trial for witchcraft, this time for killing a horse; and Isobel Robey from Windle, accused of using witchcraft to cause sickness. Some of the accused Pendle witches, such as Alizon Device, seem to have genuinely believed

neg: Witchcraft Suppression Act, 1957 appointed a "Commission of Enquiry into Witchcraft Violence and Ritual Murder", also known as the Ralushai Commission after its chairman Professor Victor Ralushai. The commission recommended that the act should be repealed and replaced by a Witchcraft Control Act which would definitely criminalise the actual practise of witchcraft, unlike the current act which focuses on accusations and pretended witchcraft. In 1998 the Commission for Gender Equality held a "National Conference on Witchcraft Violence", which produced a statement (the "Thohoyandou Declaration on Ending Witchcraft Violence") calling for the repeal of the act and the introduction of new legislation to deal with

neg: John Willard John Willard John Willard was one of the people executed for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, during the Salem witch trials of 1692. He was hanged on Gallows Hill, Salem on August 19, 1692. At the time of the first allegations of witchcraft Willard was serving as a constable in the village of Salem and his duties included bringing the accused before the court. Soon, however, he began to doubt the truth of the accusations and in May 1692 he refused to make any more arrests. In retaliation Ann Putnam, Jr. and others accused him of witchcraft, and of murdering thirteen