witchcraft exam 1

Who was Agnes Waterhouse?

The first woman executed under the Elizabethan Witchcraft Act, hanged in 1566 in Essex.

What was she accused of?

Using harmful magic to kill livestock, cause illness, and harm neighbors.

What role did her familiar spirit play in her case?

She was accused of keeping a cat named “Satan” that supposedly carried out her witchcraft.

Why is her case historically significant?

It was one of the first widely published witch trials in print, spreading ideas about familiars and witchcraft.

What does her story reveal about early modern witchcraft?

How gender, poverty, neighborly tensions, and print culture shaped witch-hunting.

How did the Protestant Reformation shape ideas about witchcraft?

They reinforced fears by depicting witches as agents of the Devil threatening Christian communities.

How did state-building influence witch-hunting?

Stronger centralized governments used witch trials to assert authority and enforce religious order.

What happened in places with weaker state structures?

Witch panics were more likely to spiral out of control with mass accusations.

Why were the 16th–17th centuries the peak of witch trials?

Because religious upheaval and political consolidation overlapped, intensifying fears and prosecutions.

According to Gaskill, how did witch-hunting usually begin?

With local conflicts and suspicions in small communities, often rooted in everyday misfortunes.

Who was most vulnerable to accusations?

Socially marginal people such as widows, the poor, or quarrelsome individuals.

How did communities provide evidence for trials?

Through gossip, testimony, and collective fear that courts treated as valid proof.

What role did community pressure play in confessions?

It often pushed accused witches to confess even without torture.

How could communities also prevent accusations?

If the accused had strong defenders or good social ties.

Why does Gaskill emphasize communities in understanding witch-hunting?

Because they determined who was accused, how evidence spread, and whether trials expanded into panics.