The history of the Witch hunts that took place between 1428, until the last person was killed, in 1758, can be a convoluted adventure in history at times. (Though there are cases of witchcraft as a crime before the 1400s, it was treated much differently up until then.)

So many falsehoods have been brought forth, some by revisionist historians with an agenda to support, some unintentional, simply the product of over active imaginations, and some theories evolved from no more then bad scholarship, but no matter how these ideas got started, they are often repeated, as fact, with in the Neo-Pagan Witch community. While this is slowly changing. �I still hear these misconceptions repeated at least weekly by someone, somewhere online, or in real life.

As far as I am concerned. �While the "Burning Times", as this era is commonly called, is a time of history well worth studying, providing many clues to our Paleo-pagan past, however, I feel that in the midst of those clues, there is much more going on then only religious intolerance and misogynistic tendencies as some would have you believe. Nothing in history, or life, is that simple.

I have long held to the quote by Robert A. Heinlein: "A generation that ignores history has no past - and no future."

Appalling things happened then� terrible things happen today , those in other countries currently and routinely lose their lives to Witchcraft accusations�..but it is our duty, as modern Neo-Pagan practitioners of The Craft (no matter what you call yourself) to quit whining about the past, let us know our history correctly, and walk into our future not as victims, but as strong competent individuals that just happen to be Pagan.

For research and background information I will not repeat the information so wonderfully presented on many other web sites (which are listed at the end). �

Two lists follow. � They include the names of people that lost their lives during these times.

A listing of all the people accused of Witchcraft and killed because of it.

Adamson, Francis: executed at Durham, England, in 1652

Albano, Peter of: died in prison circa 1310

Allen, Joan: hanged at the Old Bailey, London, England, in 1650

Allen, Jonet: burned in Scotland in 1661

Amalaric, Madeline: burned in France in mid-1500's

Ancker, (first name unknown): beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628 1629

Andrius, Barthelemy: burned at Carcassonne, France in 1330

Andrius, Jean: burned at Carcassonne, France in 1330

Andrius, Phillippe: burned at Carcassonne, France in 1330

Arnold, (first name unknown): hanged at Barking, England, in 1574

d'Arc, Joan: burned at Rouen, France, on 30 May, 1431 (note: the witchcraft charge in this case was -implied- and not specific)

Ashby, Anne: hanged at Maidstone, England, in July, 1652

Askew, Anne: burned for witchcraft 1546

Audibert, Etienne: condemned for witchcraft in France, on 20 March 1619 Aupetit, Pierre: burned at Bordeaux, France, in 1598

Babel, Zuickel: beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628-1629

Babel, (first name unknown): beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628-1629

Baker, Anne: executed in Leicester, England, in 1619

Balcoin, Marie: burned in the reign of Henry IV of France

Balfour, Alison: burned at Edinburgh, Scotland, on 16 December, 1594 Bannach, (husband) (first name unknown): beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628-1629

�

Bannach, (wife) (first name unknown): beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628-1629

Barber, Mary: executed in Northhampton, England, on 22 July, 1612 Barker, Janet: burned in Scotland in 1643

Baroni, Catterina: beheaded and burned at Castelnovo, Italy, on 14 April, 1647

Barthe, Angela de la: burned at Toulouse, France, in 1275

Barton, William: executed in Scotland (year unknown)

Basser, Fredrick: beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628-1629

Batsch, (first name unknown): beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628 1629

Bayerin, Anna: executed at Salzburg, Austria, in 1751

Beaumont, Sieur de: accused of witchcraft on 21 October, 1596

Bebelin, Gabriel: beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628-1629

Beck, Viertel: beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628-1629

Beck, (first name unknown): beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628-1629 Belon, Jean: executed in France, in 1597

Berger, Christopher: beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628-1629 Berrye, Agnes: hanged at Enfield, England, in 1616

Bentz, (mother) (first name unknown): beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628-1629

Bentz, (daughter) (first name unknown): beheaded at Wurzburg, Ger- many, 1628-1629

Beuchel, Anna: burned at Waldsee, Germany, in 1581

Beutler, (first name unknown) beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 16281629

Bill, Arthur: executed in Northhampton, England, on 22 July, 1612 Birenseng, Agata: burned at Waldsee, Germany, on 25 June, 1594 Bishop, Briget: hanged at Salem, New England on 10 June, 1692 Bodenham, Anne: hanged at Salisbury, England, in 1653

Bonnet, Jean: burned alive at Boissy-en-Ferez, France, in 1583

Boram, (mother) (first name unknown): hung at Bury St Edmunds, England, in 1655

Boram, (daughter) (first name unknown): hung at Bury St Edmunds, England, in 1655

Bolingbroke, Roger: hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn, England, on 18 November, 1441

Boulay, Anne: burned at Nancy, France, in 1620

Boulle, Thomas: burned alive at Rouen, France, on 21 August, 1647 Bowman, Janet: burned in Scotland in 1572

Bragadini, Mark Antony: beheaded in Italy in the 1500's

Brickmann, (first name unknown) beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628-1629

Brose, Elizabeth: tortured to death in the castle of Gommern, Ger- many, on 4 November, 1660

Brown, Janet: burned in Scotland in 1643

Browne, Agnes: executed in Northhampton, England, on 22 July, 1612 Browne, Joan: executed in Northhampton, England, on 22 July, 1612 Browne, Mary: hanged at Maidstone, England, in July, 1652

Brooks, Jane: hanged in England on 26 March, 1658

Brugh, John: burned in Scotland in 1643

Buckh, Appollonia: burned at Waldsee, Germany, in 1581

Bugler, (first name unknown): beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 16281629

Bulcock, John: executed in Lancaster, England, in 1612

Bulcock, Jane: executed in Lancaster, England, in 1612

Bull, Edmund: hanged at Taunton, England, in 1631

Bulmer, Matthew: hanged at Newcastle, England, in 1649

Burroughs, George: executed at Salem, New England, on 19 August, 1692

Bursten-Binderin, (first name unknown) beheaded atWurzburg, Germany, 1628-1629

Calles, Helen: executed at Braynford, England, on 1 December, 1595

Camelli, Domenica: beheaded and burned at Castelnovo, Italy, on 14 April, 1647

Canzler, (first name unknown) beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 16281629

Carrier, Martha: executed at Salem, New England, on 19 August, 1692 Caveden, Lucia: beheaded and burned at Castelnovo, Italy, on 14 April, 1647

Cemola, Zinevra: beheaded and burned at Castelnovo, Italy, on 14 April, 1647

Corey, Martha: executed at Salem, New England, on 22 September, 1692

Corey, Giles: prssedto death at Salem, New England, on 19 September, 1692

Corset, Janet: killed by a mob at Pittenweem, Scotland, in 1704

Challiot, (first name unknown): murdered at St. Georges, France, in February, 1922

Chalmers, Bessie: tried for witchcraft in Inverkiething, Scotland 1621 Chambers, (first name unknown): died in prison, in England, in 1693 Chamoulliard, (first name unknown): burned in France, in 1597

de Chantraine, Anne: burned as a witch in Waret-la-Chaussee, France, on October 17, 1622

Chatto, Marioun: tried for witchcraft in Inverkiething, Scotland 1621 Ciceron, Andre: burned alive at Carcassone, France, in 1335

Cockie, Isabel: burnt as a witch, at a cost of 105 s. 4 p., in England 1596 Cox, Julian: executed at Taunton, England, in 1663

Couper, Marable: burned in the north of Scotland in 1622

Craw, William: burned in Scotland in 1680

Crots, (son) (first name unknown): beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628-1629

Cullender, Rose: executed at Bury St Edmunds, England, on 17 March 1664

Cumlaquoy, Marian: burned at Orkney, Scotland in 1643

Cunningham, John: burned at Edinburgh, in January, 1591

Cunny, Joan: hanged in Chelmsford, England, in 1589

Deiner, Hans: burned at Waldsee, Germany (year unknown)

Delort, Catherine: burned at Toulouse, France, in 1335

Demdike, Elizabeth: convicted, but died in prison, in Lancaster, England, in 1612

DeMolay, Jacques: Grand Master of the Templars, burned in France on 22 March 1312

Desbordes, (first name unknown): burned in France, in 1628

Deshayes, Catherine: burned on 22 February, 1680

Device, Elizabeth: executed in Lancaster, England, in 1612

Device, James: executed in Lancaster, England, in 1612

Device, Alizon: executed in Lancaster, England, in 1612 Doree, Catherine: executed at Courveres, France, in 1577

Dorlady, Mansfredo: burned at Vesoul, France as being the Devil's banker, on 18 January, 1610

Dorlady, Fernando: burned at Vesoul, France as being the Devil's banker, on 18 January, 1610

Dormar, Anna: burned at Waldsee, Germany, on 9 October, 1586 Douglas, Janet: burned at Castle, Hill, Scotland, on 17 July, 1557 Drummond, Alexander: executed in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1670 "Dummy" (name unknown; he was deaf-and-dumb): killed by a mob at Sible Hedingham, England, on 3 August, 1865

Duncan, Gellie: hanged in Scotland in 1591

Dunhome, Margaret: burned in Scotland (year unknown)

Dunlop, Bessie: burned at Castle Hill, Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1576

Duny, Amy: executed at Bury St Edmunds, England, on 17 March, 1664 Dyneis, Jonka: burned in the north of Scotland in 1622

Easty, Mary: executed at Salem, New England, on 22 September, 1692 Echtinger, Barbara: imprisoned for life at Waldsee, Germany, on 24 August, 1545

Edelfrau, (first name unknown): beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628-1629

Edwards, Susanna: hanged at Bideford, England in 1682

Einseler, Catharina: burned at Waldsee, Germany, on 6 July, 1581

Erb, Anna: burned at Waldsee, Germany, on 9 March, 1586

Eyering, (first name unknown): beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628- 1629

Fian, John: hanged at Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1591

Fief, Mary le: of Samur, France, accusedof witchcraft, on 13 October 1573

Fleischbaum, (first name unknown): beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628-1629

Flieger, Catharina: burned at Waldsee, Germany, on 6 July, 1581

Flower, Joan: died before trial, at Lincoln, England, 1619

Flower, Margaret: executed at Lincoln, England, in March, 1619

Flower, Phillippa: executed at Lincoln, England, in March, 1619

Foster, Anne: hanged at Northhampton, England, in 1674

Fray, Ursula: burned at Waldsee, Germany, on 12 June, 1587

Fray, Margaret: burned at Waldsee, Germany, on 25 June, 1594

Fynnie, Agnes: burned in Scotland in 1643

Gabley, (first name unknown): executed at King's Lynn, England, in 1582 Galigai, Leonora:beheaded at the Place de Grieve, France, on 8 July, 1617

Garnier, Gilles: burned as a werewolf in Dole, France 1574

Gaufridi, Louis: burned at Marseilles, France, at 5:00 pm on 30 April, 1611

Geissler, Clara: strangled at Gelnhausen, Germany circa 1630

Georgel, Anna Marie de: burned at Toulouse, France, in 1335

Geraud, Hughes: burned in France in 1317

Gering, (first name unknown): beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 16281629

Glaser, (first name unknown): beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 16281629

Glover, Goody: hanged at Salem, New England, in 1688

Gobel, Barbara: burned at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628-1639

Goeldi, Anna: hanged at Glaris, Switzerland, on 17 June, 1782 Goldschmidt, (first name unknown): beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628-1629

Good, Sarah: executed at Salem, New England, on 19 July, 1692 Grandier, Urbain, burned at Loudon, France, on 18 August, 1634 Goodridge, Alse: executed at Darbie, England, in 1597

Gratiadei, Domenica: beheaded and burned at Castelnovo, Italy, on 14 April, 1647

Green, Ellen: executed in Leicester, England, in 1619

Greensmith, (first name unknown): hanged in Hartford,New England, on 20 January, 1662

Greland, Jean: burned at Chamonix, France, in 1438, with 10 others Grierson, Isobel: burned in Scotland in March, 1607

Gutbrod, (first name unknown:) beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628- 1629

Haan, George: burned at Bamberg, Germany, circa 1626, with his wife, daughter, and son

Hacket, Margaret: executed at Tyburn, England, on 19 February, 1585 Hamilton, Margaret: burned in Scotland in 1680 Hafner, (son) (first name unknown): beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628-1629

Hammellmann, Melchoir: beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628-1629

Hamyltoun, Christiane: tried for witchcraft in Inverkiething, Scot- land 1621 Hans, David: beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628-1629

Hans, Kilian: beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628-1629

Harfner, (first name unknown): hanged herself in the prison of Bamberg, 1628-1629

Harlow, Bessie: tried for witchcraft in Inverkiething, Scotland 1621 Harrisson, Joanna, and her daughter: executed in Hertford, England, in 1606

Harvilliers, Jeanne: executed in France, in 1578

Haus, (wife) (first name unknown): beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628-1629

Hennot, Catherine: burned alive in Germany in 1627

Henry III, King of France: assassinated on 1 August, 1589

Hewitt, Katherine: executed in Lancaster, England, in 1612

Hezensohn, Joachim: beheaded at Waldsee, Germany, in 1557

Hibbins, Anne: hanged in Boston, Massachusetts on 19 June, 1656 Hirsch, Nicodemus: beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628-1629 Hoecker, (first name unknown): beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628- 1629

Hofschmidt, (first name unknown): beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628-1629

Holtzmann, Stoffel: beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628-1629 Hofseiler, (first name unknown): beheaded at Wurzburg, Germany, 1628-1629

Hoppo, (first name unknown): executed in Germany in 1599

How, Elizabeth: executed at Salem, New England, on 19 July, 1692 Hoyd, Anna: burned at Waldsee, Germany, on 24 November, 1586 Huebmeyer, Barbara: burned at Waldsee, Germany, on 11 September, 1589

Huebmeyer, Appela: burned at Waldsee, Germany, on 11 September, 1589

Hunt, Joan: hanged in Middlesex, England in 1615

8000 "Stedingers" killed on 27 May, 1234

180 burned for witchcraft at Montwimer, France, on 29 May, 1239

36 Knights Templar died under torture in France, in October, 1307

54 Knights Templar burned in France, on 12 May, 1310

39 Knights Templar burned in France, on 18 March 1314

"Some" burned at Kilkenny, Ireland, 1323

200 + burned at Carcassonne, France, between 1320-1350

63 burned at Toulouse, France, in 1335

8 burned at Carcassonne, France, in 1352

31 burned at Carcassonne, France, in 1357

67 burned at Carcassonne, France, between 1387-1400

1 burned at Berlin, Germany, in 1399

"Several" witches burned alive at Simmenthal, Switzerland, circa 1400

"Several" burned at Carcassonne, France, in 1423

200 + executed in the Valais, France between 1428-1434

167 executed in l'Isere, France, between 1428-1447

16 executed in Toulouse, France, in 1432

�

8 executed in Toulouse, France, in 1433

150 executed in Briancon, France, in 1437

3 burnt in Savoy between 1446 and 1447

7 killed at Marmande, France, in 1453

1 burned at Locarno, Italy, in 1455

"Many" burned in Arras, France in 1459 - 1460

2 burned in Burgundy, France, in 1470

3 burned at Forno-Rivara, Italy, in 1472

2 burned at Levone, in Italy, in 1474

5 burned at Forno, Italy, in 1475

12 women and "several" men burned at Edinburgh, in 1479

4 burned at Metz, Germany, in 1482

48 burned at Constance, between 1482-1486

2 burned at Toulouse, France, in 1484

2 burned in Chaucy, France in 1485

1 died in prison, at Metz, Germany 1488

3 executed at Mairange, Germany, on 17 June, 1488

2 executed at Mairange, Germany, on 25 June, 1488

3 executed at Chastel, Germany, on 26 June, 1488

3 executed at Metz, Germany, on 1 July, 1488

1 executed at Salney, Germany, on 3 July, 1488

2 executed at Salney, Germany, on 12 July, 1488

3 executed at Salney, Germany, on 19 July, 1488

1 executed at Brieg, Germany, on 19 July, 1488

2 executed at Juxney, Germany, on 19 August, 1488

5 executed at Thionville, Germany, on 23 August, 1488

1 executed at Metz, Germany, on 2 September, 1488

1 executed at Vigey, Germany, on 15 September, 1488

1 executed at Juxney, Germany, on 22 September, 1488

An unknown number executed in Spain in 1499. �

1 executed in France circa 1500

3 women were executed in Spain circa 1500.

30 burned in Calahorra, Spain, in 1507

1 burned in Saxony, Germany, in 1510

60 burned in Northern Italy, in 1510

2 women executed in Spain circa1512.

500 + burned in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1515

2 burned in Besancon, France, in 1521

64 burned in Val Camonica, Italy between 1518-1521

100 burned in Como, Italy, in 1523

1000 + in Como, Italy, in 1524

900 executed by Nicholas Remy (years unknown, about 15 years total)

"A large number" executed at Saragossa, Spain, in 1536

7 burned at Nantes, France, in 1549

1 burned at Lyons, France, in 1549

3 burned alive at Derneburg, Germany, on 4 October, 1555

1 burned alive at Bievires, France, in 1556

5 burned at Verneuil, France, in 1561

17,000 + in Scotland from 1563 to 1603

4 burned at Potiers, France, in 1564

An unknown number burned at Vernon, Normandy, France, in 1566

1 burned at St. Andrews, Scotland, in 1569

"Many" burned in France in 1571

1 burned at St. Andrews, Scotland, in 1572

70,000 killed in England after 1573

"Several" executed in Paris, France, in 1574

80 executed in one fire at Valery-en-Savoie, France, in 1574

3 executed in Dorset, England, in 1578

36 persons executed at Kilkenny, Ireland, in 1578

18 killed at St. Oses, England, in 1582

"Several" burned in Mesolcina, Italy, in 1583

368 persons killed for witchcraft between 18 January, 1587, and 18 November, 1593, in the diocese of Treves.

1 burned at Riom, France, in 1588

133 persons burned in one day at Quedlinburg, in Germany, in 1589

48 burned in Wurttemberg, Germany, in 1589

2 burned at Cologne, Germany in 1589

54 burned in Franconia in 1590

32 executed in Nordlingen, Germany in 1590

300 burned in Bern, Switzerland, between 1591-1600

1 burned in Ghent, Holland, in 1591

9 executed in Toulouse, France, in 1595

2 "vagrants" executed in Eichstatt, Germany, 22 Nov. 1597

24 burned in Aberdeen, Scotland, 1597

1 burned in Ghent, Holland, in 1598

77 burned in Vaud, Switzerland, in 1599

10 -daily- were burned (average) in the Duchy of Brunswick between 1590-1600

20 executed (other than those listed by name above) in the reign of King James VI of Scotland and I of England.

40,000 executed between 1600-1680 in Great Britain

205 burned at the Abbey of Fulda, Germany, between 1603-1605

"Several" witches executed in Derbyshire, England, in 1607

24 burned + 3 suicides in Hagenau, Alsace, in 1607

"A number of women" burned at Breehin, Scotland, in 1608

1 burned alive by a mob at St. Jean de Liuz, France, circa 1608

1, a Catholic priest, suicides rather than be tried as a witch, Italy, 1609

18 killed at Orleans, France, in 1616

9 hanged at Leicester, England, in 1616

8 hanged at Londinieres, France, in 1618

"Several" witches condemned at Nerac, France, on 26 June, 1619

200 + executed at Labourt, France, in 1619

2 executed at Bedford, England, in 1624

56 executions at Mainz, Germany, between 1626-1629

77 executions at Burgstadt, Germany, between 1626-1629

40 executions at Berndit, Buttan, Ebenheit, Wenchdorf and Heinbach, Germany, between 1626-1629

8 executions in Prozelten and Amorbach, Germany between 1626-1629

168 executions in the district of Miltenberg, Germany, between 1626-1629

85 burned in Dieburg, Germany, in 1627

79 burned at Offenburg, Austria, from 1627-1629

29 burned at W�rzburg, Germany, between 1627-1629

274 executed in Eichstatt, Germany in 1629

124 executed by the Teutonic Order at Mergentheim, Germany in 1630

900 executions at Bamberg, Germany, between 1627 and 1631

22,000 (approx) executed in Bamberg, Germany between 1610 and 1840

1 hanged at Sandwich, in Kent, England, in 1630

3 executed at Lindheim, Germany in 1631

1 executed in Eichstatt, Germany, 1637

1 murdered by soldiers in Newbury, England in 1643

20 executed in Norfolk, England, on evidence of Matthew Hopkins, before 26 July, 1645

29 condemned, on the evidence of Matthew Hopkins, at Chelmsford, England, on 29 July, 1645

150 killed in England in the last six months of 1645

2 executed at Norwich, England, in 1648

14 hanged at Newcastle, England, in 1649

220 + in England and Scotland, on evidence of a Scottish Witch-finder, circa 1648-1650

2 killed by a mob at Auxonne, France, in 1650

30 burned in Lindheim, Germany, between 1640-1651

900 killed in Lorraine, France (years unknown)

30,000 (approx) burned by the Inquisition (not all may have been witches)

3-4000 killed during Cromwell's tenure in England

102 burned in Zuckmantel, Germany, in 1654

3 Welsh witches hanged at Boughton Chester, on 15 October 1656

18 burned at Castle Hill, Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1658

85 executed at Mohra, Sweden, on 25 August, 1670

71 beheaded or burned in Sweden between 1674-1677

90 burned at Salzburg, Austria, in 1678

11 burned at Prestonpans, Scotland, in 1678

36 executed in Paris, France, in 1680

"Several" burned at Rouen, France, in 1684-1685

3 executed (Suzanna, Isle and Catherine (last names unknown) at Arendsee, Germany, in 1687

36 burned at Nordlingen, Germany between 1690-1694

5 burned at Paisley, Scotland, on 10 June, 1697

9 persons burned at Burghausen, Germany, all under 16 years of age, on 26 March, 1698

1 burned in a barrel and drowned, in Irongray Parish, Scotland, 1698

1 burned at Antrim, Ireland, in 1699 �

"Many" burned at Spott Loan, Scotland, in 1705

2 persons killed in the Trentino, Austria, between 1716 and 1717

1 executed in France, in 1718

2 persons, a mother and daughter, burned in Scotland, in 1722

"A woman" burned in Sunderland,1722

13 burned at Szegedin, Hungary, in 1728

1 burned at Szegedin, Hungary, in 1730

13 burned alive at Szegedin, Hungary on 23 July, 1738

3 burned at Karpfen, Germany, in 1744

3 burned at Muhlbach, Germany, in 1746

1 executed at Szegedin, Hungary, in 1746

1 executed at Maros Vasarheli, (nation unknown), 1752

100 + executed at Haeck, Germany between 1772 and 1779

2 burned in Poland in 1793 �

"Several" burned in South America during the 1800's

1 executed at Kaskaskia, IL, USA, 1870

5 burned in Mexico, in 1877 �

1 shot by a policeman at Uttenheim, Germany, on suspicion of being a were-wolf, in November, 1925

1 old woman beaten to death in Hungary 1928

1 murdered in Pennsylvania in 1929

An unknown number killed in Nazi concentration camps, Third Reich, ca. World War II

1 killed for sorcery in France, 1977

1 stoned to death in Mexico, 1981

60 + killed in the Congo, 1990 - 1996

300 killed in Kenya, in 1992

250 killed in the Northern Province (Africa) in 1994

97 women and 40 men killed in South Africa 1994 - 1997

70 killed in Northern Transvaal in 1994

4 Tojolabal Indians murdered at Lucha Campesina, Chiapas, Mexico, in September 1996

2 killed in Lyndenburg (Africa) in 1996

A 55 year old woman doused with gasoline and set afire at Hammanskraal, S.A. on 19 July, 1996

300 + killed in South Africa between 1986 and 1996

2 burned at Gannore, India on 9 Feb. 1997

1 burned alive at Verkhnesadovye, Ukraine, January 1997

3 murdered by a mob in Yoggu, Ghana, 1997

1 beheaded in Saudi Arabia in 1997

2 women killed by a mob in Tamale, Ghana, January, 1998

100+ killed in Indonesia, 1998

1 woman shot in Siqhungwini, SA, January, 1999 �

I'm relatively sure that most of you have seen "The Crucible" either in its stage or screen form. �Although it was a good interpretation, it is not historically accurate. �As is the norm in Hollywood, twist the facts enough that most won't notice, and through in some sex, and your movie will gross more. �So the first part of my sub topic is to correct the historical inaccuracies of the film/play.

� Betty Parris's mother was not dead, but very much alive at the time. She died in 1696, four years after the events. Betty was shuttled off to live in Salem Town with Stephen Sewall's family (Stephen was the brother of Judge Samuel Sewall) soon after the hysteria broke and she did not participate in most of the proceedings.

� �The Parris family also included two other children -- an older brother, Thomas (b. 1681), and a younger sister, Susannah (b. 1687) -- not just Betty and her cousin Abigail.

� �Miller admits that he boosted Abigail Williams' age to 17 even though the real girl was only 11, but he never mentions that John Proctor was 60 and Elizabeth, 41, was his third wife. He was not a farmer but a tavernkeeper. Living with them was their daughter aged 15, their son who was 17, and John's 33-year-old son from his first marriage. Everyone in the family was eventually accused of witchcraft. Elizabeth Proctor was indeed pregnant, during the trial, and did have a temporary stay of execution.

� �The first two girls to become afflicted with Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, not Ann Putnam, and they had violent, physical fits, not a sleep that they could not wake from.

� �There never was any wild dancing rite in the woods led by Tituba, and certainly Rev. Parris never stumbled upon them. Some of the local girls had attempted to divine the occupations of their future husbands with an egg in a glass -- crystal-ball style. Tituba and her husband, John Indian (absent in Miller's telling), were asked by a neighbor, Mary Sibley, to bake a special "witch cake," -- made of rye and the girls' urine, fed to a dog -- European white magic to ascertain who the witch was who was afflicting the girls.

� �The Putnam's daughter was not named Ruth, but Ann, like her mother, probably changed so the audience wouldn't confuse the mother and the daughter.

� Ann/Ruth was not the only Putnam child out of eight to survive infancy. In 1692, the Putnams had six living children, Ann being the eldest, down to 1-year-old Timothy. Ann (the mother) and her sister, however did lose a fair number of infants, and Nurse family lost remarkably few for the time.

� Rev. Parris claims to Giles Corey that he is a "graduate of Harvard" -- he did not in fact graduate from Harvard, although he had attended for a while.

� �The judges in The Crucible are Samuel Sewall, Thomas Danforth, and John Hathorne. Sewall was one of the original judges, and did have the reservations portrayed in the play, but Danforth was the Deputy Governor, not a judge. Hathorne, John Corwin, and William Stoughton were the magistrates who carried the investigations. Depositions were taken in the meeting house and in Ingersoll's Tavern, but the trials were held in Salem Town, with a jury.

� �Rebecca Nurse was hanged on July 19, John Proctor on August 19, and Martha Corey on September 22 -- not all on the same day on the same gallows. And the only person executed who recited the Lord's Prayer on the gallows was Rev. George Burroughs -- which caused quite a stir since it was generally believed at the time that a witch could not say the Lord's Prayer without making a mistake. They also would not have been hanged while praying, since the condemned were always allowed their last words and prayers.

� �Reverend Hale would not have signed any "death warrants," as he claims to have signed 17 in the play. That was not for the clergy, but the judiciary.

� �The elderly George Jacobs was not accused of sending his spirit in through the window to lie on the Putnam's daughter -- in fact, it was usually quite the opposite case: women such as Bridget Bishop were accused of sending their spirits into men's bedrooms to lie on them. In that period, women were perceived as the lusty, sexual creatures whose allure men must guard against!

� The hysteria did not die out "as more and more people refused to save themselves by giving false confessions," as the epilogue of the movie states. The opposite was true: more and more people gave false confessions to save themselves as it became apparent that confession could save one from the noose. What ended the trials was the intervention of Governor William Phips, who had been off in Maine fighting the Indians in King William's War. There were over two hundred people in prison when the general reprieve was given, but they were not released until they paid their prison fees. Neither did the tide turn when Abigail Williams accused Rev. Hale's wife, as the play claims -- although the "afflicted" did start accusing a lot more people far and wide to the point of absurdity, including various notable people around Massachusetts whom they had never laid eyes on, including the famous hero Capt. John Alden.

� �Abigail Williams probably couldn't have laid her hands on 31 pounds in Samuel Parris' house, to run away with John Proctor, when Parris's annual salary was contracted at 66 pounds, only a third of which was paid in money -- the rest was paid in foodstuffs and other supplies.

� �Certain key people in the real events appear nowhere in Miller's play: John Indian, Rev. Nicholas Noyes, Judge William Stoughton, Sarah Cloyce, and most notably, Cotton Mather.

� �Giles Corey was not executed for refusing to name a witness. He was accused of witchcraft, and refused to enter a plea, which held up the proceedings, since the law of the time required that the accused enter a plea. He was pressed to death with stones, but the method was used to try to force him to enter a plea so that his trial could proceed. Corey probably realized that if he was tried at all, he would be executed, and his children would be disinherited.

� �"The afflicted" was not just a group of a dozen teenage girls -- there were men and adult women who were also "afflicted," including John Indian, Ann Putnam, Sr., and Sarah Bibber.

� �There's a tiny scene in The Crucible about a goat getting into someone's garden and tempers flaring -- the actual history is that three years before the witchcraft accusations, a neighbor's pigs got into the Nurse family's fields, and Rebecca Nurse flew off the handle yelling at him about it. Soon thereafter, the neighbor had an apparent stroke and died within a few months. This was seen as evidence in 1692 of Rebecca Nurse's witchcraft.

� �The above facts are excerpts from a book in progress by Margo Burns, the grandaughter times 10 of Rebecca Nurse. �She has been researching this information for a few decades.

Nine-year-old Elizabeth Parris and eleven-year-old Abigail Williams began to exhibit strange behavior, such as blasphemous screaming, convulsive seizures, trancelike states and mysterious spells. Within a short time, several other Salem girls began to demonstrate similar behavior.

Unable to determine any physical cause for the symptoms and dreadful behavior, physicians concluded that the girls were under the influence of Satan.

Prayer services and community fasting were conducted by Reverend Samuel Parris in hopes of relieving the evil forces that plagued them. In an effort to expose the "witches," John Indian baked a witch cake made with rye meal and the afflicted girls' urine. This counter-magic was meant to reveal the identities of the "witches" to the afflicted girls.

Pressured to identify the source of their affliction, the girls named three women, including Tituba, Parris' Carib Indian slave, as witches. On February 29, warrants were issued for the arrests of Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne.

Although Osborne and Good maintained innocence, Tituba confessed to seeing the devil who appeared to her "sometimes like a hog and sometimes like a great dog." What's more, Tituba testified that there was a conspiracy of witches at work in Salem.

Magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin examined Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne in the meeting house in Salem Village. Tituba confessed to practicing witchcraft.

Over the next weeks, other townspeople came forward and testified that they, too, had been harmed by or had seen strange apparitions of some of the community members. As the witch hunt continued, accusations were made against many different people.

Frequently denounced were women whose behavior or economic circumstances were somehow disturbing to the social order and conventions of the time. Some of the accused had previous records of criminal activity, including witchcraft, but others were faithful churchgoers and people of high standing in the community.

Martha Corey is accused of witchcraft.

Rebecca Nurse was denounced as a witch.

Martha Corey was examined before Magistrates Hathorne and Corwin.

Rebecca Nurse was examined before Magistrates Hathorne and Corwin.

Elizabeth Proctor was denounced as a witch.

Sarah Cloyce, Rebecca Nurse's sister, was accused of witchcraft.

Elizabeth Proctor and Sarah Cloyce were examined before Hathorne, Corwin, Deputy Governor Thomas Danforth, and Captain Samuel Sewall. During this examination, John Proctor was also accused and imprisoned.

Abigail Hobbs, Bridget Bishop, Giles Corey, and Mary Warren were examined. Only Abigail Hobbs confessed.

William Hobbs

"I can deny it to my dying day."

Nehemiah Abbott, William and Deliverance Hobbs, Edward and Sarah Bishop, Mary Easty, Mary Black, Sarah Wildes, and Mary English were examined before Hathorne and Corwin. Only Nehemiah Abbott was cleared of charges.

Sarah Morey, Lydia Dustin, Susannah Martin, and Dorcas Hoar were examined by Hathorne and Corwin.

Dorcas Hoar

"I will speak the truth as long as I live."

George Burroughs was arrested in Wells, Maine.

Burroughs was examined by Hathorne, Corwin, Sewall, and William Stoughton. One of the afflicted girls, Sarah Churchill, was also examined.

George JacobsSr., his granddaughter Margaret were examined before Hathorne and Corwin. Margaret confessed and testified that her grandfather and George Burroughs were both witches.

Sarah Osborne died in prison in Boston.

Margaret Jacobs

"... They told me if I would not confess I should be put down into the dungeon and would be hanged, but if I would confess I should save my life."

Increase Mather returned from England, bringing with him a new charter and the new governor, Sir William Phips.

Mary Easty was released from prison. Yet, due to the outcries and protests of her accusers, she was arrested a second time.

Governor Phips set up a special Court of Oyer and Terminer composed of seven judges to try the witchcraft cases. Appointed were Lieutenant Governor William Stoughton, Nathaniel Saltonstall, Bartholomew Gedney, Peter Sergeant, Samuel Sewall, Wait Still Winthrop, John Richards, John Hathorne, and Jonathan Corwin.

These magistrates based their judgments and evaluations on various kinds of intangible evidence, including direct confessions, supernatural attributes (such as "witchmarks"), and reactions of the afflicted girls. Spectral evidence, based on the assumption that the Devil could assume the "specter" of an innocent person, was relied upon despite its controversial nature.

Martha Carrier, John Alden, Wilmott Redd, Elizabeth Howe, and Phillip English were examined before Hathorne, Corwin, and Gedney.

Initial session of the Court of Oyer and Terminer. Bridget Bishop was the first to be pronounced guilty of witchcraft and condemned to death.

Soon after Bridget Bishop's trial, Nathaniel Saltonstall resigned from the court, dissatisfied with its proceedings.

Bridget Bishop was hanged in Salem, the first official execution of the Salem witch trials.

Bridget Bishop

"I am no witch. I am innocent. I know nothing of it."

Following her death, accusations of witchcraft escalated, but the trials were not unopposed. Several townspeople signed petitions on behalf of accused people they believed to be innocent. �

Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Sarah Wildes, Sarah Good and Elizabeth Howe were tried for witchcraft and condemned.

Rebecca Nurse

"Oh Lord, help me! It is false. I am clear. For my life now lies in your hands...."

In an effort to expose the witches afflicting his life, Joseph Ballard of nearby Andover enlisted the aid of the accusing girls of Salem. This action marked the beginning of the Andover witch hunt.

Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Elizabeth Howe, Sarah Good, and Sarah Wildes were executed.

Elizabeth Howe

"If it was the last moment I was to live, God knows I am innocent..."

Susannah Martin

"I have no hand in witchcraft." �

George Jacobs, Sr., Martha Carrier, George Burroughs, John and Elizabeth Proctor, and John Willard were tried for witchcraft and condemned.

Martha Carrier

"...I am wronged. It is a shameful thing that you should mind these folks that are out of their wits."

George Jacobs, Sr., Martha Carrier, George Burroughs, John Proctor, and John Willard were hanged on Gallows Hill.

George Jacobs

"Because I am falsely accused. I never did it."

Martha Corey, Mary Easty, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Dorcas Hoar, and Mary Bradbury were tried and condemned.

Mary Bradbury

"I do plead not guilty. I am wholly innocent of such wickedness."

Margaret Scott, Wilmott Redd, Samuel Wardwell, Mary Parker, Abigail Faulkner, Rebecca Eames, Mary Lacy, Ann Foster, and Abigail Hobbs were tried and condemned.

Giles Corey was pressed to death for refusing a trial.

Dorcas Hoar was the first of those pleading innocent to confess. Her execution was delayed.

Martha Corey, Margaret Scott, Mary Easty, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Wilmott Redd, Samuel Wardwell, and Mary Parker were hanged.

After 20 people had been executed in the Salem witch hunt, Thomas Brattle wrote a letter criticizing the witchcraft trials. This letter had great impact on Governor Phips, who ordered that reliance on spectral and intangible evidence no longer be allowed in trials.

Governor Phips dissolved the Court of Oyer and Terminer.

The General Court of the colony created the Superior Court to try the remaining witchcraft cases which took place in May 1693. This time no one was convicted.

Mary Easty

"...if it be possible no more innocent blood be shed...

...I am clear of this sin."

� This information was obtained from the Salem historical and tourism society. �The next part is a letter written by John Proctor to the Boston Ministers. �

Reverend Gentlemen,

The innocency of our case, with the enmity of our accusers an our judges and jury, whom nothing but our innocent blood will serve, having condemned us already before our trials, being so much incensed and enraged against us by the devil, makes us bold to beg and implore your favourable assistance of this our humble tradition to his excellency, that if possible our innocent blood may be spared, which undoubtedly otherwise will be shed, if the Lord doth not mercifully step in; the magistrates, ministers, juries and all the people in general, being so much enraged and incensed against us by the delusions of the devil, which we can term no other, by reason we know in our own consciences we are all innocent persons.

Here are five persons who have lately confessed themselves to be witches, and do accuse some of us being along with them at a sacrament, since we were committed into close prison, which we know to be lies. Two of the five are (Carrier's sons) young men, who would not confess anything till they tied them neck and heels, till the blood was ready to come out their noses; and it is credibly believed and reported that this was the occasion of making them confess what they never did, by reason the said one had been a witch a month. And another five weeks my son William Proctor, when he was examined, because he would not confess that he was guilty, when he was innocent, they tied him neck and heels till the blood gushed out at his nose, and would have kept him so twenty-four hours, if one, more merciful than the rest, had not taken pity on him, and caused him to be unbound. �

These actions are very like the popish cruelties. They have already undone us in our estates, and that will not serve their turns without our innocent blood. if I cannot be granted that we can have our trials in Boston, we humble beg that you would endeavour to have these magistrates change, and other's in their rooms; begging also and beseeching you would be pleased to be here. if not all, some of you, at our trials, hoping thereby you may by means of saving the shedding of our innocent blood. Desiring your prayers to the Lord on our behalf, we rest your poor afflicted servants �

John Proctor

� �This information was obtained from the Witches Library and from the Boston museum collection of witchcraft. �The next part of this post is a list of the people and places of residence at the time of the trials.

Name/Village or Town/Date

Bridget Bishop ---- Salem ---- June 10, 1692

Sarah Good ---- Salem Village (Danvers) ---- July 19, 1692

Susanna Martin ---- Amesbury ---- July 19, 1692

Elizabeth Howe ---- Ipswich ---- July 19, 1692

Rebecca Nurse (or Nourse) ---- Salem Village (Danvers) ---- July 19, 1692

Sarah Wildes ---- Topsfield ---- July 19, 1692

George Jacobs ---- Salem Village (Danvers) ---- Aug. 19, 1692

Martha Carrier ---- Andover ---- Aug. 19, 1692

Reverend George Burroughs ---- Wells, Maine ---- Aug. 19, 1692

John Proctor ---- Salem Village (Peabody) ---- Aug. 19, 1692

John Willard ---- Salem Village (Danvers) ---- Aug. 19, 1692

Martha Corey ---- Salem Village (Peabody) ---- Sep. 22, 1692

Mary Easty ---- Topsfield ---- Sep. 22, 1692

Alice Parker ---- Salem ---- Sep. 22, 1692

Mary Parker ---- Andover ---- Sep. 22, 1692

Ann Prudeater ---- Salem ---- Sep. 22, 1692

Wilmot Reed ---- Marblehead ---- Sep. 22, 1692

Margaret Scott ---- Rowley ---- Sep. 22, 1692

Samuel Wardwell ---- Andover ---- Sep. 22, 1692

� In addition, 80 year old Giles Corey was pressed to death on Sep. 19, 1692

for the "crime" of witchcraft. Giles Corey's execution was dictated because he

stood mute in court. He refused to plead either innocent or guilty. He simply

stood in silence. Many of Corey's friends believed he remained silent in court

because, by doing so under English law, he could leave his property to whomever

he pleased. Otherwise, the Sheriff would confiscate it. �

� While the term "Salem Witches" is common nowadays, it ignores the fact that

most of the accused were not from Salem. The jail and site of executions were in

Salem, but the accused were mostly from other towns and villages in the area.

Only 10 the 134 who were accused and were held in Salem's Jail were from

Salem Towne. The complete count was:

Andover..........38

Boxford.............2

Boston...............1

Amesbury..........1

Billerica..............6

Beverly...............6

Charlestown.......3

Chelmsford.........1

Gloucester..........3

Haverhill.............3

Great Island........1

Marblehead........2

Lynn...................7

Malden................1

Reading...............4

Rowley................1

Romney Marsh

(today called

Revere)...............1

Salisbury.............1

Salem.................10

Salem Village

(today this is part

of Danvers and

of Peabody).........30

Topsfield & Ipswich...7

Wells, Maine..........1

Woburn................3 �

� In addition to the 134 above, another 34 were accused and in various jails

awaiting trial when Governor Phips released all the prisoners.

� This information is from "The Witches at Salem" by Dick Eastman. �And finally, the last part of this post is of trials in other areas of New England during that same time period.

May 26, 1647, - Alse Young was hanged for witchcraft, she was the first person executed for witchcraft in New England. �

Mary Johnson of Wethersfield was indicted for familiarity with the devil and condemned.

�

May 13, 1651, - Between the years of 1645 and 1651, several people were suspected of witchcraft. �Mary Parsons was tried in Boston on May 13, 1651, and sentenced to death but was given a reprieve. �

1651 - Goodwife Bassett was convicted of witchcraft at Stratford. �

1653 - Two alleged witches were executed in New Haven.

1658 - Elizabeth Garlick of Easthampton, Long Island, was tried in Connecticut, but was acquitted.

1662 - Mother Greensmith, already in jail for witchcraft, was accused by a young girl by the name of Ann Cole. Mother Greensmith eventually confessed and was executed along with her husband.

1669 - Katherine Harrison of Wethersfield was imprisoned on suspicion of witchcraft. �

1671 - Sixteen-year old Elizabeth Knap accused a highly respected woman of tormenting her, but the woman was able to obtain enough support from the community to fend off her execution. �

1697 - Winifred Benham and her daughter were excommunicated for witchcraft and acquitted.

� In Connecticut, there were nine recorded hangings for witchcraft from 1647 to 1662, and two probable ones (nine women and two men).

� New York remained free from witchcraft, except for the two trials mentioned here. New York became the haven for those able to make their escape from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

1665 - Ralph Hall and Mary Hall were accused of witchcraft, however on August 21, 1668, a release was signed, freeing the Hall's due to there being no proof that they committed the crime of witchcraft.

1670 - Katherine Harrison was accused of witchcraft but was vindicated shortly thereafter.