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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 _________________________________________________________________ Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail&xAPID=42&PS=47575&PI=7324&DI=7474&SU= http://www.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/getmsg&HL=1216hotmailtaglines_addphotos_3mf ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html