East Anglian Trials

What witchcraft act did this hunt take place under?

The 1563 Witchcraft act

Who were the main leaders of the hunt?

Matthew Hopkins and John Stearne

How large was the hunt?

It’s not clear how many were executed- some historians say around 100, and others say 400+. If it was 400, it would mean that in this hunt, more than twice as many people were killed in two years as were killed in the preceding century. It accounted for 20% of the witch executions in England.

What was the geography of the witch-hunt like?

* Manningtree
* Other cases on the Essex/Suffolk border
* 120 cases in Suffolk
* Norfolk coast (40 trials in 1645)
* Huntingdonshire/Northants/Cambridgeshire (1646)
* West Norfolk/Ely (1647)

Why is Essex significant?

It always had a ‘witchcraft’ problem, with 4x as many witchtrials as Herts/Kent/Surrey/Sussex __combined__

Who was Elizabeth Clark and who did she implicate?

Elderly, one-legged widow with three witches marks, and she was observed to be looking out for imps to suck her marks. Several appeared, and she had cute names for each (E.g. Vinegar Tom, Jarmara). She admitted to giving her body to the devil (Devil’s Pact) and implicated others (Rebecca West). Rebecca also had imps, and had participated in a Sabbat. However, she turned witness for the crown and won immunity from persecution.

What did Rebecca West’s confession detail?

how the witches met up and ‘spent some time in praying unto their Familiars’

How typical was Elizabeth Clark’s case of the English Witch Hunts?

* Elderly woman (vulnerable, easy to vilify).
* One-legged (strange, already not trusted).
* Sabbat was highly unusual, as well as the idea of Imps.


* Idea of the Familiar is traditional and found in the Pendle hunts.

What were the hunters like?

The hunters were generally gentlemen, and in the case of Grimston, the accused that he rounded up were living illegally on his land or his tenants.

They worked with ‘search-women’ who would search for the devil’s marks.

How did social class impact the hunt?

* Class can be measured through literacy- where accused signed their names, some only left a mark, indicating that they were illiterate (not from the educated classes).
* Searchers were also illiterate, meaning the surviving records have been produced by neighbours. Victims of the witches were more likely to be literate, and therefore higher class.
* This was a hunt against the poorest

How did gender affect the hunts?

* The first witches identified were all women.
* ‘The witch trials can be interpreted as organised and deliberate violence, exclusively carried out against women’.
* 20% of accused were men- usually already associated with accused female witch.


* Accusations often centred around household tasks- E.g. the home, kitchen, nursery, feeding, dairy farming. This is not a sole explanation: there were other factors.
* Murder of husbands and children often referred to.

What evidence was Hopkins keen to find concerning gender?

keen to find evidence of sexual relations between the male devil and the suckling of imps- likely to be associated with women. Again, not sole explanation.

How did the role of the civil war intertwine with gender in this hunt?

Role of Civil War important, and the way in which the Civil War changed women’s roles (men fighting) and thus threatened masculinity (possibly).

What had the accused allegedly done?

* Talked to imps about Devil’s Marks.


* Possessed a familiar.
* Met up with other witches.
* Made propositions to Familiars who would kill animals etc. for the witches.
* Usually motivated by maleficia.

What methods were used to find out who were witches?

Hopkins applied his own methodology.

* Stripped and examined for witches marks
* Sleep deprivation (also demonstrated whether marks where visited by spirits or just normal warts. If unvisited, they would burst etc).
* Walking- kept awake for several days and constantly moving or stuck in an uncomfortable position. Deprived of sleep, they would often hallucinate and confess.
* Swimming the witch

How was Hopkin’s methodologies typical/atypical of hunts in England?

* Torture was illegal, but Hopkins felt that his methods were not included in the prohibition.
* Reappearance of witches marks and similar methods to other hunts.

What was significant about the East Anglian witch hunts?

It spread across a range of counties, and had a fairly large geographical area.

It was largely an area loyal/dedicated to parliament in civil war (puritan).

Methods of torture

* Isolation for as long as possible
* Searchers looking for marks
* Watching (deprivation of sleep, bound to chair)- most successful and controversial
* Intimidation and physical violence (Suffolk witches)
* Swimming test
* Walking (for extended periods of time)

What was Matthew Hopkins’ early history?

* Good social standing, son of a puritan clergyman (well respected in that area)
* Aware that he wouldn’t inherit estate so worked on career.

How did Hopkins get involved in the hunts?

Outsider who newly arrived in the town (objective view): he was in the position to investigate myth and memories of manningtree. Neutral judgement. There was no evidence to suggest that he was granted an extensive commission to investigate witches.

What was John Stearne’s early history and how did he get involved in the hunts?

* Small puritan family. Well educated and respected, like Hopkins.
* First received a warrant to search suspected witches, and then Hopkins volunteered to assist him.
* Passionate about witch-hunting from the start, seen as ‘calling’
* Continues to hunt witches after Hopkins’ death.

What motivated Hopkins/where did his ideas come from?

* Based ideas on Daemonologie, clearly very influential
* Some form of training in the law
* Motivated by community/acting to help them

What was the context of the witch-hunt?

* English civil war turned the country on its head.
* Upheaval and chaos- end of world
* Genuine belief in witches
* Courts less inclined to prosecute- prior to the english civil war, normal courts stopped functioning, so local entities took over and were willing to listen to the accusations.

What was the role of Hopkins and Stearne?

Unleashed a great anxiety about witchcraft and demonic activity. Building on pent up demand for witch-hunting and prosecution. Turning accusations into resultant prosecutions (Hopkins). Encouraging people to use the law.

Who opposed Hopkins and Stearne, and why?

* John Gaule, vicar of Great Staughton- criticised methods.
* Clergyman framed as a witch- parliament opposed this
* London press

What were the three main causes of the civil war?

Money, religion, power

What role did money play in causing the civil war?

* Ship tax (highly unpopular, requested in all regions (even non-coastal))
* Raising of taxes not approved by parliament, they were granted to king by parliament
* Wars cost money

What role did religion play in causing the civil war?

* Laud’s plan: seems like a return to Catholicism
* Resistance to policies started in Scotland
* Charles married a catholic

What role did power play in causing the civil war?

* Charles ruled without a parliament- personal rule tyranny for 11 years.
* Charles’ belief in the divine right vs increasingly assertive parliament

What was religion like in EA?

Becoming increasingly protestant/puritan, whereas Charles was dangerously catholic

What happened in the english civil war?

* Charles threw himslef into the fight against catholics but withdrew in 1630. Puritans were suspicious of a sinister royal plot (Aim to restore Catholicism??)


* New prayer book introduced in Scotland: provoked furious resistance
* 1641: catholics of Ireland killed many eng/Scot protestants. Rebellion caused panic, Charles and -parliament in disagreement.
* 1642: broadly royalist north and west vs a broadly parliamentarian south and east.
* Mid 1643: king could defeat, yet parliamentarians conclude an alliance with the scots.
* 1644: Charles lost control of the north
* 1649: Charles charged with high treason, executed.

What were the four main impacts of the civil war?

* traditional authority (disruption and breakdown)
* Traditional gender roles
* Usual legal system
* Already ailing economy

Traditional authority

* Church of England (significant in society, big role played in the civil war ) and local gentry (fighting in civil war)- 2 main authorities
* Not holding society together anymore, hunting for enemy

Women in the civil war: political

* New opportunities to take part in political activities like petitioning and protesting
* Peace movement
* ‘Oyster wives’ petitioning

Women in the civil war: religious

* newer religious sects more popular with women, encouraged speaking
* In the eyes of god, men and women are equal (Eleanor Davic)
* Concern that radical ideas would lower sexual morality of female population

Women in the civil war: sexual freedom

Troops of men coming into villages gave options for cheating, some women travelled around with troops

Women in the civil war: fighting

* Some women participated in battle (small minority). Either dressing as men or wearing blue caps.
* Revenge taken on soldiers who threatened families

Women in the civil war: witches

* Breaking norms buy committing crimes
* Three reasons For being a witch: mentally ill, genuine belief in magic powers, increased status and power
* Confessions often contained reference to infanticide/being a bad wife/ suicide/depression
* Susannah smith: devil told her there was a rusty knife by which she could kill herself
* Depression and suicidal thoughts: devil’s work

Impact of the breakdown of the legal system

* centralised govt system usually halted chain reaction hunts or large scale launching of hunts
* Yet in civil war the EA hunts were allowed to grow as Hopkins took advantage of the lower standards of justice and lesser restrictions on torture

Impact of breakdown of traditional authority

* Margery sparham: due to vulnerability after her husband left, saw and entertained devil’s imps
* Dearth of men saw shift in traditional power relationships
* Chaos of war reaching EA, stories of headless babies etc


1. Church of England undermined (undesirable ministers replaced by puritans in areas controlled by parliamentarians)
2. Authority of local gentry (left estates to fight). Those who sympathised
* Manifesting fears, fear of enemy → fear of enemies within

Impact on the legal structures in EA

* Assize courts not functioning, justice meted out by local magistrates
* Normal laws didnt apply
* Absence of senior judges: manifesting fears of witchcraft. Mayors/town councillors: happy to pay for services of Hopkins and Stearne as they seemed knowledgable.
* 1645: earl of Warwick commissioned to oversee Essex assizes. Little legal experience, sentenced 19 women to hang. More likely to convict on lower evidence.

What were the two main causes of the witch hunt?

1. English civil war
2. Long term economic factors

What were the two long term econ factors?

1. Crop failure: ergot afflicted wheat and rye, could cause hallucinations (reason for trials?). Price increases (20%+), impact on witchcraft accusations, links to religion with the puritan interpretation of failures as punishment from god.
2. Changing pattern of land use- enclosure and impact of witchcraft accusations.

What were the three main causes of the end of the witch hunt?

1. Cost
2. Reestablishment of authority as civil war ended
3. Impact of John Gaule

Ending of trials: cost

* imprisonment was 3p per day, with jailers suffering financially. Witches at Ipswich cost £50 whilst they waited for trial. Feeding prisoners was an issue: money collecting at executions.
* Assizes- funds needed for accom, food, heat, horses. 1645 Bury St Edmunds trial: £130 for one judge and assistant.
* Executions: being burned at stake was 3x more expensive than hanging. New levy imposed to pay in Suffolk.
* Fees of Hopkins and Stearne: controversy (inns, horses, search-women, watchers). Both claimed to make 20 shillings, made more (official records).

Ending of trials: reestablishment of authority

* King’s Lynn (Sept 1646): Hopkins there to give evidence. Mayor/aldermen/Justice of peace in attendance. Outcome: 7/9 innocent, conviction rate dropping.
* Ely (Sept 1646): Experienced judge let 3/3 witches off as innocent
* Norfolk assises (1647): tried several of Hopkins/Stearne cases. Leading gentry gave judges questions about Hopkins e.g. was he a witch (lots of knowledge), where did he acquire his knowledge (from a witch?). Influenced by Gaule’s scepticism

Ending of trials: john gaule

* claims to believe in witches (climate of time) but they are not everywhere and are not to blame for everything
* Lower classes more prone to seeing witches (suffering the most\`) yet there were other classes too
* Witch seekers are fraudulent e.g. witches marks are natural. Implies that they are in it for profit.
* Evidence gained from watching is ‘folly’ and ‘superstition’. Desired result always gained.