Court yard Episcopal palace Atrecht has witch burnings.
1484
December 5
Innocent VIII issued his famous "Witch Bull," ordering an inquisition to systematically discover, torture, and execute witches throughout Europe. It led to the ease with which witchcraft was charged and punished, even in the American colonies two centuries later.
1628
September 6
Puritans land at Massachusetts Bay Colony.
1629
September 14
Salem, Massachusetts founded.
1641
English law makes witchcraft a capital crime.
1647
May 27
First recorded American execution of a "witch" took place in Massachusetts.
1684
Charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony is revoked after critical reports reach England. This ends the requirement of church membership for voting.
England declares that the colonies may not self-govern.
1685
Cotton Mather writes Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcraft and Possessions
1688
Following an argument with laundress Goody Glover, Martha Goodwin, 13, begins exhibiting bizarre behavior. Days later her younger brother and two sisters exhibit similar behavior. Glover is arrested and tried for bewitching the Goodwin children. Reverend Cotton Mather meets twice with Glover following her arrest in an attempt to persuade her to repent her witchcraft. Glover is hanged. Mather takes Martha Goodwin into his house. Her bizarre behavior continues and worsens.
Mather publishes Memorable Providences, Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions
November
Rev. Samuel Parris preaches in Salem Village for the first time.
1689
Samuel Parris and family arrive in Salem Village.
June 18
Samuel Parris is officially hired as the Salem Village minister.
November
Salem Village church formed and Parris is ordained.
1691
October
Joseph Porter, Joseph Hutchinson, Joseph Putnam, Daniel Andrew and Francis Nurse become the elected majority to the Salem Village committee.
October 16
Villagers vow to drive Parris out of Salem and stop contributing to his salary.
1692
Deodat Lawson writes A Brief and True Narrative of Some Remarkable Passages Relating to Sundry Persons Afflicted by Witchcraft
Cotton Mather writes The Wonders of the Invisible World
Increase Mather writes Cases of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits, a volume denouncing the use of spectral evidence in witchcraft trials.
January 20
Samuel Parris' nine year old daughter, Betty, and eleven-year-old Abigail Williams, fall ill.
More young girls in Salem Village also fall ill.
February
The Salem Village physician, Dr. William Griggs, concludes the girls are bewitched.
February 25
Parris' servant, Tituba, and her husband, John Indian, are advised by Mary Sibley to bake a witch cake (cake made from rye meal and urine from the afflicted, then fed to a dog). She hopes the cake will help the girls identify the person(s) who are bewitching them.
February 29
Thomas and Edward Putnam, Joseph Hutchinson and Thomas Preston swear complaints against Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. They are later arrested for suspicion of witchcraft.
March 1
Salem Town Magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin examine Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne.
Tituba confesses to witchcraft.
March 7
Sarah Osborne, Sarah Good and Tituba are sent to a Boston prison.
March 11
Ann Putnam, Jr, shows signs of bewitchment. Mercy Lewis, Mary Walcott, and Mary Warren also say they're afflicted.
March 12
Ann Putnam, Jr, accuses Martha Corey of witchcraft.
March 14
Martha Corey is summoned to appear before the magistrates and answer questions.
Elizabeth Parris is sent to stay with the Stephen Sewall family in Salem Town.
March 19
A warrant is issued for Martha Corey's arrest.
Rebecca Nurse is accused of witchcraft by Abigail Williams.
Deodat Lawson arrives in Salem Village.
March 21
Martha Corey's hearing begins. She is examined by Magistrates Hathorne and Corwin and sent to prison.
March 23
Ann Putnam's mother, Ann, joins the afflicted girls in having fits.
Edward and Jonathan Putnam file complaints against seventy-one-year-old Rebecca Nurse.
Salem Marshal Deputy Samuel Brabrook arrests four-year-old Dorcas Good.
March 24
Rebecca Nurse and Sarah Good's four-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Dorcas, appear before the Salem Magistrates. They're examined and sent to prison.
March 26
Hathorne and Corwin interrogate Dorcas Good.
March 28
One of the afflicted girls, possibly Mercy Lewis, accuses Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft.
April
By the end of April, twenty-three more accused witches are in jail. Four out of eleven legal complains against the accused, leading to their arrests, have been made by Thomas Putnam, Ann Putnam, Jr's father.
April 3
Sarah Cloyce, after having defended her sister, Rebecca Nurse, is accused of witchcraft.
Mary Warren, the Proctor's servant and an accuser, admits to lying and accuses the other afflicted girls of lying.
April 4
Jonathan Walcott and Nathaniel Ingersoll file complaints against Sarah Cloyce.
April 8
Warrants are issued for Sarah Cloyce and Giles Corey for the suspicion of witchcraft.
April 11
Sarah Cloyce and Elizabeth Proctor appear before the Salem Magistrates and are examined. Outraged, Elizabeth Proctor's husband, John, protests her examination and is himself accused and arrested.
John and Elizabeth Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Cloyce, Martha Corey and Dorcas Good are sent to a Boston prison on this night.
April 13
Ann Putnam, Jr, accuses Giles Corey of witchcraft and claims that a man who had died at Corey's house haunts her.
April 19
Abigail Hobbs, Bridget Bishop, Giles Corey, and Mary Warren appear before the Salem Magistrates under witchcraft charges. Hobbs confesses to practicing witchcraft. Mary Warren changes her mind about her statement made earlier and rejoins the accusers.
April 21
Arrest warrants are issued for Mary Easty, Edward and Sarah Bishop, Deliverance and William Hobbs, Sarah Wilds, Mary Black, Nehemiah Abbott, Jr. and Mary English.
Abigail Williams identifies the Rev. George Burroughs as the "Black Minister."
April 22
Mary Easty (another of Rebecca Nurse's sisters who defended her) is found guilty of witchcraft by the Salem Magistrates. Hathorne and Corwin also examine Nehemiah Abbott, William and Deliverance Hobbs, Edward and Sarah Bishop, Mary Black, Sarah Wildes, and Mary English.
April 30
Upon the request of the Salem Magistrates, Boston Magistrate Elisha Hutchinson issues a warrant for the Rev. George Burroughs' arrest.
May
By the end of May, at least thirty-nine more people are in jail.
May 2
The Magistrates examine Sarah Morey, Lyndia Dustin, Susannah Martin and Dorcas Hoar.
May 4
George Burroughs is arrested at his home in Wells, Maine. He is then extradited to Salem Town.
May 7
George Burroughs returns to Salem Town and is placed in jail.
May 8
George Burroughs is examined by the Salem Magistrates.
May 9
George Burroughs and Sarah Churchhill are examined. Burroughs is moved to a Boston jail.
May 10
The Magistrates examine George Jacobs, Sr, and his granddaughter, Margaret Jacobs.
Arrest warrants are issued for George Jacobs, Sr. and John Willard for the suspicion of witchcraft.
Sarah Osborne dies in prison.
May 14
Increase Mather and Massachusetts' Royal Gov. Sir William Phips return to Boston after securing the new colonial charter which ended the 1684 prohibition of self-governance within the colony.
May 18
Mary Easty is released from prison.
Roger Toothaker is arrested on charges of witchcraft.
May 20
Mercy Lewis becomes gravely ill and Mary Easty is blamed for her illness. She is arrested again for witchcraft.
May 21
An arrest warrant is issued for John and Elizabeth Proctor's daughter, Sarah.
May 23
An arrest warrant is issued for John and Elizabeth Proctor's son, Benjamin.
Susannah Sheldon testifies Joseph Rabson, a deceased man, appeared to her and stated that Philip English had murdered him.
May 27
Gov. Phips establishes a Court of Oyer and Terminer to investigate the allegations of witchcraft. Lieutenant Gov. William Stoughton, Nathaniel Saltonstall, Bartholomew Gedney, Peter Sergeant, Samuel Sewall, Wait Still Winthrop, John Richards, John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin are its members.
May 28
An arrest warrant is issued for John and Elizabeth Proctor's second son, William.
An arrest warrant is issued for John Alden.
Martha Carrier is arrested upon the complaints of Joseph Holton and John Walcott.
May 31
Philip English (husband of Mary English), Martha Carrier, John Alden, Wilmott Redd, and Elizabeth Howe are examined by the court. English and Alden later escape prison and do not return to Salem until after the trials end.
June
The arrests and examinations continue, now including accused in Andover, Ipswich, Gloucester, and other outlying areas rather than just Salem itself.
June 1
Mary English testifies that Mary Warren had confessed to lying in court.
Seventy people now stand accused of witchcraft.
June 2
Sir William appoints a Court of Oyer and Terminer (which means "to hear and determine") to try the accused witches, with William Stoughton, the deputy governor, as chief judge.
Susannah Sheldon reports that the specters of Mary English, Bridget Bishop and Giles Corey appeared to her.
Bridget Bishop's trial begins under the Court of Oyer and Terminer and she is found guilty. She is sentenced to hang.
June 8
Eighteen-year-old Elizabeth Booth shows symptoms of affliction by witchcraft.
June 10
Bridget Bishop is hanged on Gallows Hill.
Nathaniel Saltonstall resigns as judge and is replaced by Corwin.
Sir William Phipps consults the ministers of Boston, including Increase and Cotton Mather. They write the Return of the Ministers Consulted, which advises caution in the witchcraft proceedings, but also "speed and vigour."
June 15
Twelve ministers of the colony advise the court not to rely on spectral evidence for convicting suspected witches.
June 16
Roger Toothaker dies in prison.
June 29
The cases of Sarah Good, Sarah Wildes, Elizabeth How, Susannah Martin and Rebecca Nurse are heard by the court. Rebecca Nurse is acquitted, but the judges ask the jury to reconsider and they find her guilty. Sir William Phipps reprieves her, but later withdraws the reprieve. All five are sentenced to death.
July 19
Sarah Good, Elizabeth How, Sarah Wilds, Susannah Martin and Rebecca Nurse are hanged on Gallows Hill.
July 23
Fearing that they can't get a fair trial in Salem Town, John Proctor and other prisoners write a letter from prison to the Reverends Increase Mather, James Allen, Joshua Moody, Samuel Willard and John Bayley. In the letter, they ask the ministers to support their request for a change of venue for the trials.
August 2
William Beale testifies before an Essex County grand jury that when he was laid up in bed sick in March, Philip English's specter appeared to him. The next day his son, James--who had been recovering from smallpox--complained of a pain in his side and later died.
August 5
The Court of Oyer and Terminer reconvenes to try the Rev. George Burroughs, John and Elizabeth Proctor, George Jacobs Sr., John Willard and Martha Carrier. All are pronounced guilty and sentenced to hang.
August 14
Nurse family members cease to take communion in Salem Village church.
August 19
George Burroughs, John Proctor, George Jacobs Sr., John Willard and Martha Carrier are hanged on Gallows Hill. Elizabeth Proctor is spared because she is pregnant.
August 20
Margaret Jacobs recants the testimony that led to the execution of her grandfather, George Jacobs, Sr., and George Burroughs.
September 9
Six accused are tried and condemned by the court: Martha Corey, Mary Easty, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Dorcas Hoar, and Mary Bradbury.
September 15
Giles Corey is indicted.
September 16
Giles Corey refuses to stand trial, so the Court of Oyer and Terminer orders the sheriff to pile rocks on him.
September 17
Nine accused are tried and condemned by the court: Margaret Scott, Wilmot Redd, Samuel Wardwell, Mary Parker, Abigail Falkner, Rebecca Eames, Mary Lacy, Ann Foster, and Abigail Hobbs. The last five are spared, Abigail Falkner because of pregnancy, the others because they confess. Giles Corey still refuses to stand trial.
September 19
Eighty-one-year-old Giles Corey is pressed to death after two days of enduring "Piene Forte Et Dure."
September 22
Martha Corey, Mary Easty, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Margaret Scott, Wilmot Reed, Samuel Wardwell and Mary Parker are hanged on Gallows Hill.
Dorcas Hoar, who had previously pleaded innocent, confessed. Her execution was delayed.
Mary Herrick of Wenham, Massachusetts reports that the ghost of Mary Easty appeared to her and proclaimed her innocence of witchcraft.
October
The afflicted girls are sent for by Andover. As a result, more than fifty people are accused and many confess.
The girls are sent for by Gloucester. Four women are imprisoned.
The backlash to the witch hunt starts because the girls have overreached themselves by naming several extremely prominent people, including Lady Phipps, wife of the governor, as witches.
October 3
Increase Mather delivers a sermon (later published as an essay) called Cases of Conscience concerning Evil Spirits Personating Men, which casts serious doubt on the validity of spectral evidence - the girls' visions - and says, "It were better that ten suspected witches should escape, than that one innocent person should be condemned."
October 5
Five-year-old Dorcas Good is released from jail when her father finally raised bail.
October 8
Thomas Brattle, a merchant, mathematician, and astronomer, writes an eloquent letter criticizing the trials and convictions.
October 12
Sir William Phipps forbids further imprisonments for witchcraft.
October 19
Increase Mather visits the Salem jail and finds that several confessors wish to renounce their earlier testimonies.
October 26
The General Court votes for a day of fasting and a convocation of ministers to consider how to proceed "as to the witchcrafts."
October 29
Gov. Phips dissolves the Court of Oyer and Terminer.
November
The afflicted girls are sent for again by Gloucester, but when they have fits are ignored and withdraw.
November 25
A Superior Court of Judicature is created to try the remaining persons accused of witchcraft. William Stoughton, Samuel Sewall, John Richards, Wait Still Winthrop and Thomas Danford are its members. Spectral evidence is no longer considered in the remaining trials.
1693
January
49 of the 52 surviving people brought into court on witchcraft charges are released because their arrests were based on spectral evidence.
January 3
A newly formed Superior Court, with William Stoughton as chief judge, sits in Salem to try accused witches. Judge Stoughton orders execution of all suspected witches who were exempted by their pregnancy (there were three). Phipps denied enforcement of the order.
January 15
Essex County Court declared the Salem Village committee derelict in its duties and ordered a new election.
January 31
The Superior Court sits at Charlestown. Stoughton learns that Phipps has reprieved the three accused witches who had been exempted by pregnancy and leaves the bench.
April 25
The Superior Court sits at Boston. None found guilty.
May
Gov. Phips pardons the remaining accused of witchcraft, ordering the release of all accused witches remaining in jail upon payment of their fees.
November 26
Parris gave his "Meditation for Peace" sermon, in which he admited to giving too much weight to spectral evidence.
1697
Minister Samuel Parris is ousted as minister in Salem and replaced by Joseph Green. Parris leaves the village.
January 14
The General Court orders a day of fasting and soul-searching for the tragedy at Salem. Moved, Samuel Sewall publicly confesses error and guilt.
1699
January 14
Massachusetts holds day of fasting for wrongly persecuting "witches."
1702
The General Court declares the 1692 trials unlawful.
1706
Ann Putnam, Jr, comes forward to the church and repents for lying and sending innocent people to die on the Gallows, saying it was due to a "great delusion of Satan."
1710
December 17
578 pounds and 12 shillings was paid to Elizabeth Proctor in restitution for her husband's death.
1711
The colony passes a legislative bill restoring the rights and good names of those accused of witchcraft and grants 600 pounds in restitution to their heirs.
1712
March 6
Rebecca Nurse and Giles Corey's excommunication is revoked.
1751
August 24
Thomas Colley is executed in England for drowning a supposed witch.
1752
Salem Village is renamed Danvers.
1957
Massachusetts formally apologizes for the events of 1692 and exonerates some of the accused witches, including "one Ann Pudeator and certain other persons."
1992
On the 300th anniversary of the trials, a witchcraft memorial designed by James Cutler is dedicated in Salem.
2001
Bridget Bishop, Alice Parker, Margaret Scott, Wilmot Redd and Susannah Martin's names were formally cleared by the state of Massachusetts.
