pendle witch trials

introduction

  • Religious tensions caused by reformation hadn’t calmed by the end of Liz era in 1603. Catholic revolts in North had been commonplace against monarchs in Tudor times, ‘the pilgrimage of Grace’ (Henry VIII, 1536) and ‘revolt of the Northern Earls’ (Liz, 1559).

  • King James of Scotland, now King of England, wrote Daemonologie as a guidebook. Fears of catholic increased with ‘gunpowder plot’ 1605 which ‘proved’ there were diabolical individuals still plotting against to him

  • Main source — the wonderfull discoverie of witches in the countie of Lancaster 1613, written by Thomas potts, the clerk of Lancashire assizes. Dedicated to Thomas Knyvett who discovered Guy Fawkes — people of Lancashire likely to support/be influenced by the monarch’s ideologies

what caused the Pendle witch trials?

socioeconomic context

  • Economy based in cattle and textiles

    • Vast majority engaged in pastoral farming (likely to cause conflict due to high levels of competition)

      • Colne — held cattle markets 3 times a year

      • Cows were worth £3, which a tenant farmer could earn in 6 months

      • Fragility of cattle farming — e.g could die or get sick

      • Probate inventories found that 70% of homes had tools for cloth production

    • Witches accused of interfering with these industries due to economic struggle

      • Old Chattox, carding wool for the wife of James Robinson in 1606. Katherine ‘mouldheels’ Hewitt who was the wife of a clothier

      • Witches accused of damaging livestock, old Chattox accused of bewitching Hugh Moore’s cattle and a cow belonging to Anthony Nutter for favouring the friendship of old Demdike

      • Inflation — high rents and entry fines, general price inflation of agricultural goods. Copyholders benefitted through increased profits but those w/o the rights had to pay forest entry fines along with rent

      • Increase in enclosure (fencing off common land for individuals to pay to farm on) made it harder to find employment

  • Religious context

    • Population in 1650 was 1,620 — influx of protestants caused distrust among catholic residents, who wanted an explanation for all the changes in their lives

    • Older witches accused of using spells of corrupt Catholic prayers

    • Closure of Whalley abbey — dissolution of the monasteries in 1538-41 meant the abbey which had provided cloth, grain and money to the poor in Pendle, as well as education, welfare and land for tenant farmers to use

      • Puritans able to hold more influence in the absence of the abbey, they became suspicious of old Catholic neighbours

    • White magic was accepted as done by village healers, old Demdike and old Chattox involved in white magic/maleficium

1604 statute

  • Before 1604: English law required local community members to make accusations rather than clergy or professional inquisitors, jurors were part of the community, maleficium was accused over diabolism, tangible evidence like injuries were needed

  • 1604 statue: stated conjuring spirits as a capital offence, witchcraft’s most damaging aspect was originating from a pact with the devil which became a popular belief in England as a result

  • Under James, England was more intense towards witches due to his beliefs of diabolism and formalisation of all kinds of witchcraft as a threat to the crown (zero tolerance)

  • Maleficium was common place in Pendle, meaning people would start turning on each other

Alizon device and John Law

  • John Law the pedlar encountered Alizon who begged him for some pins, when he refused, she reacted angrily

  • John Law suffered pain and paralysis down one side and was unable to speak, he said that Alizon’s black dog familiar had also appeared to him

  • Alizon testified that the dog had appeared to her and she had told it to harm John, but as a novice, she was surprised when the curse was immediate — possibly, she said this to deflect blame from herself

why did the Pendle witch trials escalate?

family rivalry and accusations

  • 1601: theft of clothing and grain worth 20 shillings from Alizon Device. Allegedly she later saw Anne Redferne wearing a stolen cap and band

  • Accusations of theft and slander continued until John Device offered old Chattox a yearly tribute of grain, which settled the situation until his death

  • Old Chattox ‘always opposite to old Demdike, for whom one favoured the other hated deadly…’

  • Alizon said she didn’t have the power to cure John Law but old Demdike could have, John Nutter accused old Demdike of killing a cow he asked her to cure

  • In 1595: Christopher Nutter arrived in Pendle, his son insisted that he was bewitched by Chattox, dying on his return home, with Christopher dying 3 months later

—> Increases likelihood of accusations/implications due to criminal behaviour, Nutter family upper class grievances, prerequisite conditions for witchcraft fulfilled

The investigations of Roger Nowell

  • Roger Nowell was a JP and high sheriff of Lancaster. He had connections to high profile protestants such as Alexander Nowell who was dean of St. Paul’s cathedral and John Wolton who was bishop of Exeter. He was also related by marriage to Nicholas Starkie, who was part of the family that experienced possession in mid 1590s

  • Abraham Law (son of John Law) wrote a letter to Nowell, he investigated and gained a confession from Alizon:

    • Old Demdike bewitched a cow John Nutter asked her to heal; Alizon brought milk home to Demdike which she had turned into butter

    • Chattox was guilty of murder for killing Anne Nutter who laughed at her; Chattox accused of turning John Moore’s ale sour and making his son ill; Chattox used milk with daughter Liz to recite a charm, Nutter’s son kicked over the milk which lead to one of the cows dying

  • Liz and Alizon searched for devil’s mark, Liz was allowed to go free despite having one

  • Arrests — 3 days after Alizon was detained, Demdike and Chattox were questioned along with Anne Redferne. Demdike’s confession:

    • Inability to invoke the name of Jesus to protect herself after meeting with her familiar Tibb (whom she engaged in suckling with)

    • Making an effigy of a person to bewitch them, which she had also seen Chattox and Anne doing

  • Chattox’s confession:

    • 15 years earlier, she had been pestered by a man that wanted her soul. She was told she could take revenge on anyone and that her spirit ‘Fancie’ would become restless and encourage her to harm people if not called upon

  • Other statements: Robert Nutter’s sister spoke of a quarrel between him and Anne, and alleged that she had bewitched him; John Nutter accused his father of being killed of witchcraft; James Robinson, a servant of the Nutters, who hired Chattox to card wool, said she had soured some casks of drink which she claimed to be able to reverse

  • Anne Redferne had confessed to nothing but was implicated

  • Nowell decided not to deal with the cases himself on a local level, and sent them to the high court of Lancaster assizes

The meeting at Malkin tower

  • The case could’ve ended with the arrests of the 4 women, but a week later, a meeting held at Demdike’s home brought suspicion onto more people. Clay image and teeth from a graveyard were discovered, with Nowell and Nicholas Bannister examining Liz, James and Jennet Device to find out what happened at the meeting

  • Nowell discovered they planned to blow up the Lancaster castle to break the women out, they wanted to carry out a ritual that would give a name to Alizon’s spirit and intended to provide protection for Jennet Preston but neither were present

  • The evidence is suspect, coming from a 9 year old girl, and her brother who included witch clichés like a black cat and dog

  • Liz’s 2 children implicated her, causing her to give a voluntary confession that she had killed John Robinson for saying she had an illegitimate child, with her familiar Ball

  • 11 people now detained as a result of Nowell’s investigations

the Pendle witch trials and its outcomes

judges

  • Sir Altham — established gentry, former MP, knighted by James in 1605, baron of Exchequer 1606

  • Sir Bromley — baron, Calvinist gentry, former MP and mediator in the house of lords appointed by James

  • Both judges were indebted to James for their positions, they were trusted by him and may have consulted his book Daemonologie during the trials

  • Thomas Potts — clerk, trusted by the judges and they helped him write the account. They wanted the account to be an example to others, make the judges look good and validate/rationalise James’ beliefs

the trials

  • Old Chattox

    • Charged w/ the murder of Robert Nutter, but not any other alleged murders

    • Pleaded not guilty, but later broke down and stated the evidence was true to plead for the mercy of Anne Redferne

  • Liz Device

    • Kicking and screaming before the trial began and cursed angrily at her daughter Jennet

    • Charged with 3 murders. Jennet said her mother had been a witch for 3-4 years and she had seen her familiar Ball. James Device had said she helped organise the meeting at Malkin tower

  • James Device

    • Severe illness at the trial, unable to speak or stand. Charged with the murders of 2 people

    • He acknowledged his past confessions were true but pleaded not guilty to 2 more murders, Jennet insisted he was guilty

  • All 3 quickly found guilty, with Jennet used to sway the jury because she was innocent and believable

  • Anne Redferne

    • She was found not guilty for the murder of Robert Nutter due to weak evidence, but further accused of killing Christopher Nutter because of Demdike’s account

  • Alice Nutter

    • Relatively high status, accused of murdering a man with the help of Demdike and Liz

    • Jennet identified her from a line up and where she sat at the meeting on Sabbath, Alice refused to confess but was found guilty as a result

  • Alizon Device

    • John Law present at court, she repeated her original confession and he gave his account

  • Others:

    • Katherine Hewitt — accused of being at Malkin tower, charged with murder of a child

    • Margaret Pearson — accused of killing a horse by sitting on it until it died, according to Chattox

Salesbury witches were also recorded, many found not guilty such as Alice Gray.