Pendle- Nowell & The Judges

What were the main factors in causing the witch trials?

Society, family feud between chattox and demdikes family, Roger Nowell, Lord Bromely

Who was Roger Nowell in the trials? What did he do?

Justice of the Peace for Pendle who investigated and prosecuted the trials - he also investigated reports of the meeting at Malkin tower which escalated it

Why was Roger Nowell so zealous during the trials?

He was a puritanical protestant. His farther was Alexander Nowell who was a strict protestant who had exiled himself from England during Mary's reign

Why did the 1604 witchcraft act not offer protection to the accused like it should of done in theory?

the legal system 1600s was open to bias and acceptance of weak or even spectral evidence

What was a negative effect of the 1604 witchcraft act?

it normalized the belief in witchcraft and so people were more suspicious of crop failures etc, included conjuring spirits as capital offence, allowed/encouraged children as witnesses (not done before)

Why was Sir Edward Bromley keen to find the accused guilty?

he thought it would a decision that the king would want and he sought his favour

What was the nature of the class divide issues?

copyholders charged sub-tenants 25X than what they had to pay the duchy of lancaster, there was illegal squatting caused by copyholders exerting power, accused witches were sub-tenants

What was the 1604 Witchcraft act?

It broadened the Elizabethan Act to bring the penalty of death without benefit of clergy to any one who invoked evil spirits or communed with familiar spirits.

It changed the law of witchcraft by making it a felony, thus removing the accused from the jurisdiction 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.

What is an example of Roger Nowells motivations?

-under orders to root out recusants in Lancashire

-to add to his suspicion, absence of the Devices & Nutters on Good Friday adds sigificance.

How does Nowell get directly involved?

-Abraham Law sends a letter to Nowell that reaches him on 21st March.

-After accusation of Alizon Device, she is interrogated by Nowell and confesses.

-Nowell now in a position to charge her, but she implicated others = his investigation now widespread.

-Broadens persecutions

What further arrests does Nowell make?

-finds several neighbours prepared to testify

-Examined women on 2 April at the Village of Fence.

-Nowell presumably chooses this location because the womens infirmities prevent them from travelling far.

-He's concerned with hearing testimonies that corroborated Alizon's.

How does Nowell use the rivalry between Old Chattox and Demdike to his advantage?

-Demdike had a rep of being a witch, Nowell may have convinced her she actually was..

-Nowell recieved full confessions from the 2 old women

- As a JP has authority to decide whether to deal with cases himself or send to high court

-as charges serious he keeps them so they get sent to Lancaster assizes (this will please authority & Kings favour)

-2 old women keen to accuse one another (he knows this)

How does Nowell bring significance to the trials & accusations?

-20 arrests in total, momentum of investigation keeps increasing

-Nowells acceptance of Jennet and James' evidence led to further arrests; he blows up the supposed Lancaster plot.

-He provides his 'spin' on what Malkin Tower meeting was

-2 old women keen to accuse one another- he gives the pre-existing (unimportant) fueds a platform to fuel the trials.

Who was Judge Altham?

-Appointed Baron of Exchequer 1607

-Hardline reputation (burnt 2 heretics 1611, convicted Jennet Preston in York)

-Knighted by James I, had similar views to him.

Who was Sir Bromley?

-Baron of Exchequer 1610

-calvanist (Like James I)

- MP who proposed a law to exclude recusants from parliament to please James I

What is the Key overall role the judges & Nowell play?

-they allow child witnesses

-They bend normal legal procedures by not allowing a defence to be prepared, weren't informed of the charges until in court, dubious evidence and tortured.

What was Thomas Potts role?

-clerk of the court, finished November 1612 and published 1613

What input did Bromley and Altham have in Potts' book?

Ordered it to be written to make the trials public - close interest into production and may have written sections themselves, closely checked and corrected manuscript, edits speeches to improve them - advance their careers