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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Thanks, Francine. I am cured of my ignorance. yrs, c.t. ault On Sat, 21 Dec 2002 21:26:34 -0500 francine nicholson <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and >culture > >>From: Cecil T Ault <[log in to unmask]> >>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. > >Most people I've encountered who are studying the history and people >involved find that Miller's play, while valuable as a play of its >time, >misrepresents what was happening at Salem. For example, Miller >depicts a >teenager lusting after a man in his prime as a major factor; in fact, >the >teenager was a child and the man was elderly. > >>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. > >How is that different from what I said in my previous post? I >specifically >stated that pressing to death was a means of turture, not execution. >I said: > >>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. > >C.T. Ault also wrote: >>A confession of being a witch, it appears, would disinherit the >>victim's >>heirs to >his property, an interesting dimension of the witch trials. > >This is a popular notion, but not proven. No one knows for sure why >Giles >Corey refused to speak. The idea that he was trying to save his >property for >his heirs is widespread but the evidence is not conclusive that this >is what >he had in mind. A more recent notion concerns the governmental >situation >which was complex at the time--the commonwealth government was >operating >technically without the technical approval of the Crown in some >respects and >Corey may have been protesting the presumptions of the magistrates >that they >had the authority to try, condemn, and execute people for witchcraft. >And, >for the record, a confession was not necessary for property to be >confiscated; an accusation was sufficient. Even if you were declared >not >guilty, once your property was confiscated, you had to sue to get it >back >and few people got much back. Carol Karlsen, in _The Devil in the >Shape of a >Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England_, examines the evidence and >points >out how magistrates manipulated the law to confiscate property in >many cases >(not just witchcraft) that involved single or widowed women, but the >subject >is mentioned in many books. Even when the Commonwealth "repented" and >declared that many of the victims were wrongfully accused and >executed, it >did not restore property to anyone who had been accused during the >hysteria. >Time and again, people lost everything they had. I don't want to >suggest >that the rich suffered more through such losses than did the poor, >but >sometimes the property confiscated was considerable. I don't think >that the >sherrifs and magistrates actually accused anyone for the express >purpose of >taking their property, but they certainly were quick to confiscate >property >and slow to return it, and often the officials, not the >commonwealth's >coffers, were the recipients of what was confiscated. > >Also, there were variations on guilty and not guilty. For example, in >1690 >Caleb Powell was declared not guilty of witchcraft, but the >magistrates did >not refund his court costs because they said it was likely he >practiced >witchraft though there was insufficient evidence to convict him of >doing >harm. In such ways, the magistrates were able to justify not >returning >money/property. > >Francine Nicholson > >_________________________________________________________________ >MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 3 months FREE*. >http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus&xAPID=42&PS=47575&PI=7324&DI=7474&SU= >http://www.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/getmsg&HL=1216hotmailtaglines_eliminateviruses_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 ********************************************************************** 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