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The TrialLancashire CountyThe WitchesThomas PottsBeliefs and SuperstitionsDemonologyAnimal FamiliarsImage GallerySourcesHome |
Introduction
On August 20th, 1612, eight women and two adolescent boys were hanged at the assizes of Lancaster County after being found guilty of witchcraft. Another woman died in prison. In addition, Jennet Preston was hanged at the assize of York one month before, bringing the death toll to twelve people in all. The complex and interesting story of the lives of these people was recorded and published by Thomas Potts, Clerk of the Court, and it is one of the most complete and detailed accounts of a trial to survive from the period.
The judges of the trials of 1612 originally came to northern England to hear the case of Jennet Preston in the neighboring county of York. These men were Sir Edward Bromley, and Sir James Altham, both judges of the realm. Mr. Robert Nowell was the Justice of the Peace of the area and Thomas Potts, the cleric and trial recorder. Both Altham and Bromley came from London and "as sophisticated London courtiers, (they) would have shared the common metropolitan view of north Lancashire as a region mired in stubborn popery, attempted witchery, superstitious credulity and other heterodoxies." (Pumfrey, Poole, 25) Both judges were looking for advancement in the favor of James I and, as the monarch already had the reputation of being a staunch supporter of the persecution of witches, the judges asked Potts to publish the trial records. He called them, The Wonderful Discovery of Witches in the County of Lancaster. The Wonderful Discovery includes the records of a group of witches called the Pendle Forest witches, as well as a group called the Salmesbury witches. The record of one Jennet Preston of York is also included in the work. There is an interesting contrast between the witches of Pendle Forest and those from Salmesbury with the Salmesbury witches being acquitted and released, while the Pendle Forest witches were hanged. The Pendle Forest witches contained two main families along with some of their friends and neighbors. Those families were both headed by very old women, one called Old Demdike, the other, Old Chattox. Both women resided in the area of Lancashire County referred to as Pendle Forest. These women had the reputation for having special powers and Jonathon Lumby ascertains that "traditional village witchcraft was to them something of a family occupation, a cottage industry." (Lumby, Poole, 67) These women used charms and spells to heal animals, neighbors, and casks of ale, occasionally hexing them as well; these women considered themselves powerful, and so did the people around them. (Lumby, Poole, 67) There is no evidence of demonic intervention or any gift from the devil to these women, until the judges arrived and other people felt the need to try and understand how these women performed these acts. |
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Copyright © 2007 Shannon L. Meyer, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
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