medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
The practice goes back the English Middle Ages. There was, it is said, a
reluctance to force accused persons to accept a jury trial rather than to
have God decide (after the end of the ordeal in the 12th century). So
persons accused were allowed to refuse a jury trial, but weights were put on
their chests ("peine forte et dure"in Law French) until either they changed
their mind or succumbed. As noted in the previous post, since there was no
guilty verdict, the accused property was not forfeit.
jw
-----Original Message-----
From: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Cecil T Ault
Sent: Saturday, December 21, 2002 6:11 PM
To: John Wickstrom
Subject: Re: [Re: [M-R] saints of the day 19. December]
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
One might also include Arthur Miller's _The Crucible_. It is a modern
drama, of course, but important for its contemporary vision of what
the witch trials were all about. Incidentally, being pressed to death
is in Miller's play. It was not intended primarily as a means of
execution but as a torture to exctract confessions. A confession of
being a witch, it appears, would disinherit the victim's heirs to his
property, an interesting dimension of the witch trials.
yrs, c.t. ault
On Sat, 21 Dec 2002 16:34:31 -0500
francine nicholson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
>culture
>
>>From: Christopher Crockett <[log in to unmask]>
>>i'd always thought (wrongly) that the Salem witches, etc., of the
>>1690s
>>were burned, but it appears that they were either hanged or "pressed
>>to
>>death" (which latter seems a peculiarly exquisite way to go).
>
>One of my main interests (apart from Celtica but not wholly
>unrelated) is
>ideas about witchcraft in seventeenth century New England and
>prosection of
>cases. In Massachusetts, witchcraft was a capital crime and execution
>for
>all capital crimes was by hanging. As in England, torture, threats,
>and
>coercion were used to extract confessions and testimonmy against
>others.
>Giles Corey refused to answer questions--he took the position that
>the
>geenral court that commissioned the trials had no jurisdiction over
>him--so
>he was subjected to various torture and died while being pressed.
>However,
>the majority of those *accused* of witchcraft were not executed,
>although
>it's unknown how many died in jail (the evidence we have suggests
>that there
>may have been many). Trials for witchcraft went on for at least 70
>years,
>and it's clear that records survive for only some of the accusations.
>For
>example, the records for the 1690 trial of my collateral ancestor,
>Elizabeth
>Morse, indicate that this was not the first time she had been
>accused, but
>no records survive for ear;ier trials. Incidentally, Elizabeth was
>sentenced
>to hang, but the governor, at the request of her family, intervened,
>and
>commuted the sentence to perpetual house arrest. She had to wear a
>ball and
>chain and the only time she could leave the house was to go to church
>on
>Sunday, escorted by the minister. Even the route she could take was
>stated
>as part of her sentence.
>
>The classic source on witchcraft in New England is Joihn Demos'
>_Entertaining Satan_. I also recommend _Witchcraft, Magic and
>Religion in
>17th Century Massachusetts_ by Richard Weisman. I haven't read Mary
>Beth
>Norton's _In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692_
>but
>I've read articles and heard lectures she gave on the subject.
>Apparently,
>she offers some important correctives to earlier works on the
>subject, and
>she rightly focuses on all of Essex County, not just Salem. Most
>importantly, in my opinion, she examines the role of attitudes
>towards the
>local Indian tribes and how the continuing conflict with the various
>Wabanaki tribes helped to precipitate and prolong the hysteria of
>1692 in
>Essex County.
>
>Francine Nicholson
>
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