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This is the text of a talk entitled PERSECUTION: ANCIENT AND MODERN.
Written by Julia Phillips, it was presented by Julia and Matthew Sandow
at the Wiccan Conference, Canberra, September 1992, and was illustrated
with slides of medieval woodcuts, paintings and documents.
To begin, an example of religious persecution:
I am told that, moved by some foolish urge, they consecrate and worship
the head of a donkey, that most abject of all animals. This is a cult
worthy of the customs from which it sprang! Others say that they
reverence the genitals of the presiding priest himself, and adore them
as though they were their father's... As for the initiation of new
members, the details are as disgusting as they are well-known. A child,
covered in dough to deceive the unwary, is set before the would-be
novice. The novice stabs the child to death with invisible blows;
indeed, he himself, deceived by the coating of dough, thinks his stabs
harmless. Then - it's horrible! - they hungrily drink the child's blood,
and compete with one another as they divide his limbs. Through this
victim they are bound together; and the fact that they all share the
knowledge of the crime pledges them all to silence. Such holy rites are
more disgraceful than sacrilege. It is well-known too what happens at
their feasts.... On the feast day they forgather with all their
children, sisters, mothers, people of either sex and all ages. When the
company is all aglow from feasting, and impure lust has been set afire
by drunkenness, pieces of meat are thrown to a dog fastened to a lamp.
The lamp, which would have been a betraying witness, is overturned and
goes out. Now, in the dark so favourable to shameless behaviour, they
twine the bonds of unnameable passion, as chance decides. And so all
alike are incestuous, if not always in deed, at least by complicity; for
everything that is performed by one of them corresponds to the wishes of
them all... Precisely the secrecy of this evil religion proves that all
these things, or practically all, are true. (Minucius Felix: Octavius)
Although the language is not modern, the description of the practices
could have come straight from last week's "Picture" magazine! And this
is the point that I wish to make; the facts of persecution have not
changed in almost 2,000 years, for that piece was written in the 2nd
century AD. Moreover, the religion it condemns is Christianity, not
Paganism, for Paganism at that time was the dominant state religion. In
fact the author is a Christian apologist, and is attempting to rebuke
what he sees as unfair criticism, by parodying the offences which Pagans
accuse Christians of perpetrating.
Persecution of religious minorities is quite simply that; it is
persecution by a large body of people - generally those who represent
"society" - against a smaller one; generally comprised of those who have
either rejected, or for one reason or another, fall outside of the
social "norm".
Let us look at the medieval picture of the witch; society's scapegoat
par excellence: here we see her - for it is most often "her" - an old,
ugly woman, most likely poor, and most likely on the fringe of the
society in which she lives. This is the stereotype of the witch. We know
it is false; we know it has no basis in fact; however, it became an
integral part of the mindset of medieval Europe, and through fairy
tales, drama and literature, and more latterly, cinema, the media and
television, it has remained an integral image in modern society. One has
only to look to Roald Dahl's "Witches", or Frank Baum's "Wizard of Oz",
for proof of this. It came as a surprise to me to learn that "The
Wizard of Oz" was in fact a deliberate propaganda exercise, released
just at the beginning of World War II. If you remember, the magic words
are: "There's no place like home"; and where was "home"? Kansas! that
epitome of the WASP culture.
When looking at medieval persecution of heresy, the waters are muddied
by the many different causes and effects which permeate the whole
matter. There was no single cause, and no single victim. It is a fact
that far more women than men were persecuted; there are a number of
reasons for this, not least that throughout this period, Europe was
engaged in one war after another - most notably The Crusades - and men
were in rather short supply. There were also several epidemics of the
plague, not to mention other diseases such as dysentery and cholera,
which in the Middle Ages were sure killers. Another reason is the
rampant misogyny which, begun with the earliest Christians, has
permeated their theology ever since:
"What else is woman but a foe to friendship, an inescapable punishment,
a necessary evil, a natural temptation, a desirable calamity, a domestic
danger, a delectable detriment, an evil of nature, painted in fair
colours... The word woman is used to mean the lust of the flesh, as it
is said: I have found a woman more bitter than death, and a good woman
more subject to carnal lust... [Women] are more credulous; and since the
chief aim of the devil is to corrupt faith, therefore he rather attacks
them [than men]... Women are naturally more impressionable... They have
slippery tongues, and are unable to conceal from their fellow-women
those things which by evil arts they know.... Women are intellectually
like children... She is more carnal than a man, as is clear from her
many carnal abominations... She is an imperfect animal, she always
deceives.... Therefore a wicked woman is by her nature quicker to waver
in her faith, and consequently quicker to abjure the faith, which is the
root of witchcraft.... Just as through the first defect in their
intelligence they are more prone to abjure the faith; so through their
second defect of inordinate affections and passions they search for,
brood over, and inflict various vengeances, either by witchcraft or by
some other means.... Women also have weak memories; and it is a natural
vice in them not to be disciplined, but to follow their own impulses
without any sense of what is due... She is a liar by nature... (Malleus
Maleficarum, edited by Jeffrey Russell).
It is easy to comprehend the persecution of women when one is confronted
with such obvious hatred and fear of the sex. But perhaps the most
powerful impetus of the witch trials era is one which is subtly - and
sometimes not so subtly! - present in all the trials; that of a pursuit
of power or wealth. For an example we can look to Gilles de Rais, who as
the wealthiest man in Europe (as well as Joan of Arc's military
Captain), was a prime victim for a charge of heresy. Found guilty, his
lands, properties and wealth were confiscated by his accusers. Curiously
though he was buried on consecrated ground in the Churchyard; normally
forbidden to heretics. In "The Encyclopaedia of Witchcraft and
Demonology", Rossell Hope Robbins says:
"At first, Gilles dismissed their accusations as "frivolous and lacking
credit", but so certain were the principals of finding him guilty that
on September 3, fifteen days before the trial began, the Duke disposed
of his anticipated share of the Rais lands. Under these circumstances,
it is difficult to place any credence in the evidence against him, among
the most fantastic and obscene presented in this Encyclopaedia."
Charges included the now obligatory conjurations of devils and demons -
Satan, Beelzebub, Orion and Belial are mentioned by name - and the
practice of that dreadful art: geomancy! And of course the charges
included human sacrifice and paedophilia; no self-respecting Christian
could exclude these crimes from charges against a confirmed heretic!
There were not many who had the wealth of Gilles de Rais, but in a small
parish, even the meanest property was eagerly seized, and the witch
hunts became a profitable business. The victims were even required to
pay for the fuel upon which they were burnt. But the laws were not
consistent throughout Europe, and in some areas, if the victim
confessed, then his or her property could not be confiscated, but was
inherited by the next of kin. However, many of these victims were in
fact devout Christians, who would be loath to confess to heresy just so
that their family could inherit their land! Of course many were tortured
to the point were they would admit to being anything demanded of them,
although technically, they were only allowed to be tortured once. This
is why you will read in trials records that the torture was "continued",
which, of course, gets round the problem of the poor torturer missing
out on his lunch and dinner.
Although most heretics were women, a great many men were also taken,
tortured, and put to death. This is a letter from one such victim at the
notorious Bamberg in Germany; a poignant epitaph to one of Europe's most
hideous crimes:
Many hundred thousand good-nights, dearly beloved daughter Veronica.
Innocent have I come into prison, innocent have I been tortured,
innocent must I die. For whoever comes into the witch prison must become
a witch or be tortured until he invents something out of his head - and
God pity him - bethinks him of something.
I said: "I have never renounced God, and will never do it - God
graciously keep me from it. I'll rather bear whatever I must."
And then came also - God in highest heaven have mercy - the executioner,
and put the thumbscrews on me, both hands bound together, so that the
blood spurted from the nails and everywhere, so that for four weeks I
could not use my hands, as you can see from my writing. Thereafter they
stripped me, bound my hands behind me, and drew me up on the ladder.
Then I thought heaven and earth were at an end. Eight times did they
draw me up and let me fall again, so that I suffered terrible agony.
All this happened on Friday June 30th and with God's help I had to bear
the torture. When at last the executioner led me back into the cell, he
said to me: "Sir, I beg you, for God's sake, confess something, whether
it be true or not. Invent something, for you cannot bear the torture
which you will be put to; and, even if you bear it all, yet you will not
escape, not even if you were an earl, but one torture will follow
another until you say you are a witch."
The author of this letter, Johannes Junius, did indeed confess to being
a witch, and in August of 1628, was burned at the stake. He managed to
send his final letter to his daughter, which ended by saying:
Dear child, keep this letter secret, so that people do not find it, else
I shall be tortured most piteously and the jailers will be beheaded. So
strictly is it forbidden... Dear child, pay this man a thaler... I have
taken several days to write this - my hands are both crippled. I am in a
sad plight. Good night, for your father Johannes Junius will never see
you more.
This letter describes more accurately than any historical treatise just
how uncompromising the ecclesiastical courts were in their hunt for
heretics. Witches, of course, were only one kind of heretic.
I mentioned earlier that there are many causes, and many effects, to the
period which is commonly referred to as "The Burning Times", or the
Great Witch Hunt. It is often assumed by many people today that
Christianity has been the dominant western religion for 2,000 years.
This is not so. The death of Christ, which probably occurred in the year
AD 30, may have heralded the new religion, but there was certainly not
an immediate conversion of the world to Christianity. Parts of
Scandinavia remained wholly Pagan until as late as the 12th century. The
British Isles and mainland Europe were converted to Christianity over a
lengthy period covering mainly the 4th to 9th centuries. Some parts have
never truly been converted, and with the opening up of the Eastern bloc
countries, we are now re-discovering a wealth of Pagan tradition and
folklore that has been hidden for hundreds of years: initially from the
invading Christian missionaries, and then later from the various
communist regimes.
As the new religion of Christianity began to spread, many different
sects and cults appeared within its ranks. The Pope in Rome was the
nominal head, but rarely was the Pope a person of spiritual purity and
ascetic tastes; the political scene in Rome has always been cut-throat
and devious. A truly spiritual person would have lasted approximately
two seconds amongst the clever and calculating politicians who infested
the Papal See! The enormous wealth and power controlled by the Pope was
an incentive to the most grasping and corrupt of men at that time to
aspire to the Papacy. Pope Alexander VI (1492) is a superb example of
the type who made it to Europe's foremost political seat of power:
otherwise known as Rodrigo Borgia; father (yes, we all know Catholics
practise celibacy!) of Cesare, Juan, Lucrezia and Jofre, and supreme
commander of a private army of which any modern dictator would be proud.
Because of their sumptuous lifestyle, their obvious disregard and
contempt for vows of poverty and chastity, and their abuse of the
spiritual authority invested in them, many spiritually inclined
Christians rejected the Catholic Church, and instead followed leaders
who lived simple, ascetic lives in accordance with the teachings of
Christ. Some of these sects became very popular, and were soon perceived
by the Pope as a threat to his status and power. It has been suggested
that the witch trials were a direct result from the persecution of these
sects. Rather than incorporate a discussion of the different sects
within this talk, handouts are available which very briefly describe the
main ones.
The main thrust was against the Cathars or Albigensians, and the
Waldensians (Vaudois), and it was their persecution which gave rise to
the legal machinery which developed into the Inquisition, and the
so-called witch hunts. It began with Pope Lucius III and the emperor,
Frederick I Barbarossa; they met at Verona in 1184, and issued the
decree "Ad abolendam", which excommunicated sects like the Cathars and
Waldensians, and laid down the procedures for ecclesiastical trial,
after which the accused would be handed over to the secular authorities
for punishment. The punishment decreed was confiscation of property,
exile, or death. By the 12th century, burning had already become the
established means of execution for heretics, and so this became
enshrined in law.
At the beginning of the 13th century, the Dominican Order of Friars was
established, and its members were instructed by the Pope to investigate
and prosecute heresy. From this simple beginning grew the awesome
machinery of the Inquisition, which although never aimed particularly at
witches, became a byword for terror in parts of Europe.
As you can see, the motives for the heresy persecutions were not to
stamp out Paganism - although that was certainly a by-product - but to
remove the threat of any competition to the power of the Church (and
thus to the Pope), in Rome. And the greatest threat came from other
"Christian" sects, not the Pagans. The change from an accusatory to an
inquisitorial process became established, and the legal machinery which
allowed - indeed encouraged - individual psychopaths and religious
maniacs to persecute at will, was in place.
Have you got a neighbour who annoys you? plays loud music, or who keeps
their smelly refuse next to your garden fence? Now your recourse is to
the local council or the police; in the Middle Ages, you simply
denounced the offender as a witch or heretic, and let the Church deal
with them for you. Not only did it cost you nothing, if you were lucky,
you might also inherit their property!
For once you were taken as a witch or a heretic, there was little chance
of escape. Certainly some victims were pardoned and released, but the
vast majority were not so lucky. When you consider the style of
questioning, this is not surprising: 1 How long have you been a
witch?
2 Why did you become a witch?
3 How did you become a witch and what happened on that occasion?
4 Who is the one you chose to be your incubus? What was his name?
5 What was the name of your master among the evil demons?
6 What was the oath you were forced to render to him?
21 What animals have you bewitched to sickness and death, and why did
you commit such acts?
22 Who are your accomplices in evil...?
24 What is the ointment with which you rub your broomstick made
of...?
This set of questions came from Lorraine, and was used consistently
throughout the three centuries of the main persecutions. Bearing in mind
that the accused HAD to answer - no answer at all, or a denial, was
tantamount to guilt - you can see how easily the composite picture of
the witch evolved. As Rossell Hope Robbins says: "The confessions of
witches authenticated the experts, and the denunciations ensured a
continuing supply of victims. Throughout France and Germany this
procedure became standardised; repeated year after year, in time it
built up a huge mass of "evidence", all duly authorised, from the mouths
of the accused. On these confessions, later demonologists based their
compendiums and so formulated the classic conceptions of witchcraft,
which never existed save in their own minds."
It is also rather disturbing to discover just how important individual
religious maniacs appear to have been in the persecutions. Rather like
today, where a crusading tele-journalist, or evangelical vicar, can
cause untold harm to innocent people. Without exception, these
accusations are by those with an unhealthy mania against anyone whose
theology or practices differ from their own. In the words of one modern
evangelist: "if you're not fighting and winning, you're losing.".
Conrad of Marburg, described by Norman Cohn as, "a blind fanatic", was a
severe and formidable persecutor. As confessor to the young 21 year-old
Countess of Thuringia, he would trick her into "some trivial and
unwitting disobedience, and then have her and her maids flogged so
severely that the scars were visible weeks later". (Cohn). Conrad became
Germany's first official Inquisitor, and his zeal in denouncing heretics
was unsurpassed. Another Conrad, a lay-Dominican Friar, and his sidekick
Johannes, were also vigorous in denouncing heretics. As they moved from
village to village, they claimed to be able to identify a heretic by his
or her appearance, based on nothing but their own intuition. They were
responsible for the burnings of many people, and said, "we would gladly
burn a hundred if just one among them were guilty". (Annales
Wormantiensis).
Their comment about appearance is an important one; as we saw earlier,
the stereotype of the witch hasn't changed much in hundreds of years. We
know it is false; we know that it exists only in the imagination of the
persecutors, and yet how powerful and enduring this stereotype has
proven to be.
If we think about this stereotype, what images do we conjure up? An old
woman - occasionally an old man; or perhaps a young and alluring
temptress? Flying through the air on a broomstick; worshipping a devil,
often in the form of a goat; trampling upon the sacred symbols of
Christianity; and of course our old friend the Sabbat, with its
practices of sexual license, debauchery, drunkenness and ritual murder;
the latter often of children.
But persecution does not restrict itself to witches; the similarities
between this stereotype and that of the Jew are obvious: Jews have been
persecuted throughout their history, but it is interesting to compare
some aspects of their persecution with that of witches.
In the 12th century, the word "Synagogue" was used for the first time to
describe the meeting place of heretics. Professor Russell says that:
"This usage, obviously designed to spite the Jews, was common throughout
the Middle Ages, being replaced only towards the end of the 15th century
by the equally anti-Jewish term 'sabbat'.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica says on the subject of Jewish persecution
that: "To reinforce racial and religious prejudice, the preposterous
ritual murder accusation became common from the 12th century." The third
and fourth Lateran Councils had already prohibited gentiles from
entering Jewish service, or being employed by Jews, and further ordered
that Jews should wear a distinctive badge, and live only in Jewish
settlement areas. This of course was the beginning of the ghetto.
As we have seen though, the ritual murder accusation was already over a
thousand years old, before it was used against either the Jews or the
heretics and witches. Most people know of the expulsion of Jews from
Spain in the 15th century, but perhaps not so commonly known is that for
about 200 years prior to the expulsion, the Jews had been massacred and
persecuted. Indeed, it was against the Jews that the infamous Spanish
Inquisition of the 15th century was directed. The persecution of Jews in
20th century Europe is too well-known to require further comment here,
but perhaps a few comments about its encouragement would be useful.
We are discussing persecution in this talk, and how persecution is
manifested. Throughout history, the written word has been invaluable as
a means of spreading propaganda. Even in the Middle Ages the "crimes" of
the heretic were publicised by records of trials, where the
"confessions" were made known to the general public. The infamous
"Malleus Maleficarum" became highly influential in Europe mainly because
its publication coincided with the introduction of mass printing. It had
little effect in England because no English translation was available
until 1928. This fact alone demonstrates the power of the written word.
In medieval Europe, a pamphlet describing the crimes of a convicted
heretic would be pinned to a post in the town square, and those who
could not read had it read to them. In 20th century Europe, pamphlets
were still used by one group to spread lies about another. As we
approach the 21st century, this technique is still used with very great
success; for the persecutor needs to make only a glancing nod to the
truth, and the lies which are published (or more frequently broadcast)
are far more scandalous than the reality!
An example: soon after the launch of the Pagan Alliance, Sydney radio
2MMM broadcasted a news story about the sexual abuse of children by
occultists and witches. Matthew responded immediately, and provided the
station with copy documents and news clippings from Britain, proving the
story to be without foundation, and a scheme by the Christian
fundamentalists to discredit Pagans. The news editor and chief
journalist were impressed by the material, and agreed that they had been
used by the fundies. However, they refused to broadcast a retraction
because it would be "old news". So, the damage had been done, and the
fundamentalists achieved their objective.
This technique was used with very great effect in the early part of the
20th century, with the circulation of a pamphlet called, "The Protocols
of the Elders of Zion". This purported to be, "an account of the World
Congress of Jewry held in Basel, Switzerland in 1897, during which a
conspiracy was planned by the international Jewish movement and the
Freemasons to achieve world domination." (M Howard).
German nationalists made very great use of the Protocols, which it was
claimed were "smuggled out of Switzerland by a Russian journalist who
had placed the documents in the safe keeping of the Rising Sun Masonic
Lodge in Frankfurt." (ibid) They were widely disseminated, and writing
in "Mein Kampf", Hitler "denounced the Jews as agents of an
international conspiracy devoted to world domination...". (ibid) We all
know what happened next.
The point is that although the Protocols were confirmed as a fraud in
1921, they continued to have an effect, and once published, could not
effectively be retracted. This is the aim of today's fundamentalist
Christian, who believes that if he or she throws enough dirt at their
opponents (basically anyone who does not agree with their uncompromising
version of Christianity), then some will stick, and the battle will be
won. This is the strategy which has been used for thousands of years to
persecute minorities, and has always been successful. The formula is
simple: discover what most people fear most, and then accuse your
enemies of practising it. It is an interesting comment on humanity that
those things which occur time and time again are consistent: conspiracy,
buggery, paedophilia, sacrifice (human and animal) sexual license,
drunkenness and feasting. More specific charges relating to a pact with
a devil or desecrating sacred objects are additions to these core
accusations.
A further interesting aspect is that many of the accusations were made
by children; interesting parallels can be drawn to modern accusations by
children "encouraged" to reveal information about occultism and witches.
It has been widely recorded that Hitler's "Youth Army" required children
to spy upon their parents, and report any indiscretions; modern social
workers use an identical process for identifying Pagan parents -
children are asked about what their parents do, and leading questions
are commonly used. And of course there have always been children who,
for one reason or another, tell the most fantastic tales. It is unlikely
today that the victims of these child fantasies will be burned at the
stake, but there have been families torn apart, children placed in
detention centres, and untold misery for parents and children alike,
based upon no more than the verbal report of a child.
Commentators on this aspect of persecution have suggested that the
children wish to be the centre of attention; or to direct punishment for
their own misdeeds elsewhere; or are simply reacting in a hyperactive
manner to the onset of puberty. Whatever the cause, the effects are
dramatic, and have caused severe suffering, and in the middle ages, loss
of life, on many occasions.
In medieval England, there were many occasions where children's
"evidence" (sic) was used to convict witches. "The Leicester Boy", "The
Burton Boy" and "The Bilson Boy" were a few of many who claimed to be
bewitched by witches. Eventually proven to be a fraud, at least ten
women died as a result of the accusations of The Leicester Boy, and the
Burton Boy caused the death of at least one of the women whom he
accused. In the 17th century a number of women were executed on the
allegations of hysterical children, even though fraud was often
discovered during the course of the trial. It is a fact that the
delusions of delinquent or disturbed children were often used by judges
to confirm their own prejudices; how little things have changed!
Salem (1692) is probably the best known of all the cases where children
were the chief accusers. Although in fact, the "children" were more like
young adults, with only one under the age of ten, and most in their late
teens or early twenties. However, as the panic grew, a great many more
were sucked into the web of lies, and Martha Carrier was hanged on the
"evidence" (sic) of her 7 year-old daughter. At the height of the
hysteria almost 150 people were arrested; thirty-one were convicted, and
nineteen hung. Some died in jail, and others were reprieved. As was
common in Europe, the accused were required to pay their expenses whilst
in jail, even if they were subsequently found innocent. Sarah Osborne
and Ann Foster both died in jail, and costs of ?1 3s 5d and ?2 16s 0d
respectively were demanded before the bodies would be released for
burial.
The chief of the accusers, Ann Putnam, confessed fourteen years later
that the whole thing was a fraud. In 1697 the jurors publicly confessed
they had made an error of judgement, and ten years after the executions,
Judge Samuel Sewall "confessed the guilt of the court, desiring to take
the blame and shame of it...". By then of course it was too late for
those who were dead, or whose lives had been destroyed by the
accusations.
But we are getting ahead of ourselves here, for Salem is the last of the
great witch trials, coming as it does towards the end of the 17th
century.
We mentioned earlier that in Continental Europe, the heresy trials
appeared to arise from the persecution of the Christian sects of the
Bogomils, Cathars, Albigensians, and others such as the Jews,
Waldensians, and even the Knights Templars. The stereotype of the witch
was compounded from many different sources, and gradually became the
composite figure of the shape-shifting hag, who flew through the air on
a broom, and flung her curses at all and sundry.
The concept of the pact with the devil existed as early as the 8th
century, and as we have seen, sexual license, buggery and ritual
sacrifice have long been seen as activities supposed to be practised by
those outside of society's norm, whether they be Christian or Pagan.
During the 9th century, shape-shifting, maleficia and the
incubus/succubus became more commonly reported, and by the 10th century,
the idea of nocturnal flight was established. Published in 906, the
Canon Episcopi described how some women were deluded in the belief that
at night they could fly behind their Goddess, Diana (Holda or Herodias):
"Some wicked women are perverted by the Devil and led astray by
illusions and fantasies induced by demons, so that they believe they
ride out at night on beasts with Diana, the pagan goddess, and a horde
of women. They believe that in the night they cross huge distances. They
say that they obey Diana's commands and on certain nights are called out
in her service..."
Echoes here to Maddalena's story recounted by Leland in Aradia: Gospel
of the Witches: "Once in the month, and when the moon is full, ye shall
assemble in some desert place, or in a forest all together join to adore
the potent spirit of your Queen, my mother, great Diana". Carlo Ginzburg
has also published a remarkable book about the Witches' Sabbath, and the
night flight, where he suggests that these are in fact based on
genuinely ancient shamanic practices; nothing new in this concept to
modern Witches, but a novel observation in the academic circles in which
Ginzburg moves.
In 1012, Burchard's Collectarium was published: the first attempt to
assemble a book of Canonical Law. Book number 19 of this vast collection
was called the Corrector, and chapter five deals with various sins, and
their respective penances. As we might suppose, Maleficia is prominent
in this chapter! It enshrines in law the notion of night flight,
together with murder, and the cooking and eating of human flesh.
Although both the Canon Episcopi and Burchard's Corrector are specific
in attributing the powers of flight to Witches, it is not until 1280
that the first picture of a witch riding upon a broom appears. This is
found in Schleswig Cathedral.
In 1022, the first burning occurred: at Orleans, the victims were
accused of, "holding sex orgies at night in a secret place, either
underground or in an abandoned building. The members of the group
appeared bearing torches. Holding the torches, they chanted the names of
demons until an evil spirit appeared. Now the lights were extinguished,
and everyone seized the person closest to him in a sexual embrace,
whether mother, sister or nun. The children conceived at the orgies were
burned eight days after birth, and their ashes were confected in a
substance that was then used in a blasphemous parody of holy communion."
Strange how these charges appear to have changed so little in so many
years! Compared with our first example, and indeed with the accusations
of modern day fundamentalists, one would be forgiven for believing that
time is a figment of our imagination, and that nothing ever really
changes; certainly not human nature.
The 14th century saw a steady growth in the number of accusations and
trials, and by the 15th century, the idea of the Devil's (or Witch's)
mark had become established. So too was the idea of a flying ointment,
and a consistent image of The Devil became common in trials literature.
The Papal Bull of 1484, Summis Desiderantes Affectibus, and then two
years later, publication of the Malleus Maleficarum, further established
the "crime" of witchcraft as a heresy, and confirmed Papal support for
its eradication. This infamous work - The Hammer of the Witches - was
incredibly influential in establishing a code of practice by which
witches were to be denounced, tried, convicted and executed. There was
no escape from this dreadful fate. The third part of the book describes
how to deal with one who will not confess to the charges:
"But if the accused, after a year or other longer period which has been
deemed sufficient, continues to maintain his denials, and the legitimate
witnesses abide by their evidence, the Bishop and Judges shall prepare
to abandon him to the secular Court; sending to him certain honest men
zealous for the faith, especially religious, to tell him that he cannot
escape temporal death while he thus persists in his denial, but will be
delivered up as an impenitent heretic to the power of the secular Court.
It is also in this section that our friendly Dominican monks refer to,
"witch midwives, who surpass all other witches in their crimes... And
the number of them is so great that, as has been found from their
confessions, it is thought that there is scarcely any tiny hamlet in
which at least one is not to be found."
Despite its incredible influence in Europe, the Malleus had little
effect in England, Wales or Ireland, where witchcraft accusations and
trials were very different to those of the continent and Scotland. In
fact Wales and Ireland seemed to escape from the witch persecutions
almost entirely, with very few trials, and even fewer executions.
Although many laws have been enacted in England against witchcraft,
there has never been anything like the hysteria about witches common in
mainland Europe. The earliest known person accused of sorcery in England
was Agnes, wife of Odo, who in 1209 was freed after choosing trial by
ordeal of grasping a red-hot iron.
Until 1563, commoners accused of witchcraft in England met light (if
any) punishment. Those of noble birth were treated rather more severely,
as the crime could easily be one of treason, and any action which
implied a threat to the monarch was treated very seriously indeed. This
resulted in the charge of witchcraft being used to remove political
opponents with great expediency. There were certainly laws against the
practice of witchcraft or sorcery: Alfred the Great (849-899 AD), King
of Wessex and overlord of England, decreed the death penalty for Wiccans
(that was the word he actually used), and Aethelstan - perhaps one of
the most compassionate of Saxon Kings, ordered those who practised
Wiccecraeft to be executed, but only if their activities resulted in
murder.
Under Henry VIII's Act of 1546, the penalty for conjuration of evil
spirits was death, and the property of the accused was confiscated by
the King. However, this was in effect for only one year, being repealed
by Edward VI in 1547, and only one conviction under this Act is
recorded. In 1563, the statute of Queen Elizabeth I was established,
which also made death the penalty for invoking or conjuring an evil
spirit, but those who practised divination, or who caused harm (other
than death) by their sorceries, were sentenced to a year's imprisonment
for a first offence. Subsequent offences could be punishable by death,
and in some cases, the confiscation of property as well.
However, even though laws against the practice of witchcraft had been
established for hundreds of years, the first major trial was not until
1566, at Chelmsford, and was typical of the English style of witchcraft:
no pact with the devil, no gathering at Sabbats, but simple and direct
acts of maleficia, and the introduction of witches' familiars. It was an
important trial, for it set the precedent in English law for accepting
unsupported, and highly imaginative, stories from children as evidence.
It also accepted spectral evidence (sic), witch's marks, and the
confession of the accused.
There are some very distinctive aspects to English witchcraft, which set
it apart from its Continental and Scottish counterparts, and which are
worth noting. There was a relative lack of torture, and, this may come
as a surprise to some people, but witches were never burned in England.
Traitors and murderers were burned; witches were hung. Of course, a
traitor or a murderer could also be a witch, but this was actually quite
rare. The torture used in England - when it was used at all - was
typically swimming, pricking, enforced waking, and a diet of bread and
water. Unpleasant, but when compared to squassation, being skinned
alive, the strappado, the rack, and such delights as the thumbscrews and
the iron maiden, hardly in the same class. The focus of English
witchcraft was more towards simple, personal, acts of maleficia than a
perceived conspiracy against the power of the Christian Church. As one
of Britain's foremost folklorists says: "Traditions of an organised,
pagan witch-cult were never very plentiful in England, although they did
exist occasionally, especially in the later years of the witch belief.
They were never really strong, and after the end of the persecution in
the early 18th century, they disappeared altogether." (Christina Hole)
This is interesting, because it has been suggested that the witch trials
phenomena was largely inspired by the heretical Christian sects; this
would seem to be born out by the type of accusations made in England,
which were largely neighbour against neighbour rather than Church and
State against an organised conspiracy of heretics.
What is also interesting is that it was commonly believed in England
that if the bewitched victim could draw blood from the witch, then they
would be cured, and the witch's power made ineffective. This belief has
persisted in folk traditions to modern times. In 1875, at Long Compton,
the body of an old woman, one Ann Turner, was discovered. She had been
pinned to the ground by a pitchfork through her throat, and across her
face and chest had been carved the sign of a crucifix. James Heywood, a
local farmer, had once claimed: "It's she who brings the floods and
drought. Her spells withered the crops in the field. Her curse drove my
father to an early grave!". Heywood maintained that the only way to
destroy her power was to spill her blood, and so after her murder, he
was taken and tried for the crime. He was convicted, and sentenced to
life imprisonment. Long Compton has always been associated with the
practice of witchcraft, and is located only a short distance from the
magical Rollright Stones, and near to the aptly named Wychwood Forest.
The derivation of this name is from the curiously named tribe of THE
HWICCE, who lived in the area at the time of King Penda of Mercia, and
who seemed always to be ruled by two brothers. But back to Long Compton:
In 1945, Charles Walton, a local labourer, set out one morning to do
some hedging on nearby Meon Hill. That evening, his mutilated body was
found in a field - pinned to the ground by his pitchfork, which had been
stuck through his throat. There were cuts to his arms and legs, and
local police were baffled as to the motive for the crime, and who the
likely culprit might have been. But gradually locals began to talk about
Mr Walton; they said he was a solitary and vindictive old man, who was
concerned more with searching out the secrets of nature than in taking
company with his neighbours. They said that he harnessed toads, using
reeds and pieces of ram's horn, and then sent them across fields to
blight the crops. They also remembered that he kept a witch's mirror - a
piece of black stone polished in a mountain stream - concealed in his
pocket-watch, which he used for weaving spells and seeing into the
future. The police never discovered the culprit, but it was accepted
locally that Mr Walton was murdered because he was a witch. His wounds
were a result of the belief that a victim could be freed from
enchantment if he or she were able to draw the blood of the witch.
We could not leave English witchcraft without mention of that infamous
gentleman, Matthew Hopkins; self-styled Witchfinder General. For all his
fame, his activities were restricted to a relatively small area, and a
relatively short period of time. However, his boundless energy, and
boundless enthusiasm for the collection of large amounts of money,
ensured that his name has not been forgotten.
Matthew Hopkins used the unrest of the Civil War to prey upon the fears
of the common people. Little is known of his early life, except that he
became a lawyer "of little note", and failing to make a living at
Ipswich in Suffolk, moved to Manningtree in Essex - an area of Civil War
tension.
With virtually no knowledge of witchcraft, but armed with a couple of
contemporary documents (including James I's "Demonology"), Hopkins set
himself up in business as a witchfinder. And a very profitable business
it was too. At a time when the average daily wage was 6d, Hopkins
received ?23 for a single visit to Stowmarket, and ?6 for a visit to
Aldeburgh.
His approach was consistent: James I mentioned that witches had
familiars, and suckled imps; therefore, anyone who kept a familiar
spirit or imp must be a witch! Bearing in mind the English partiality to
keeping pets, and you begin to see just how very successful this
technique could be. For example, Bridget Mayers was condemned for
entertaining an evil spirit in the likeness of a mouse, which she called
"Prickears"; another (unnamed) woman was rescued by her neighbours from
a ducking, where she confessed to having an imp called "Nan". When she
recovered she said: "she knew not what she had confessed, and she had
nothing she called Nan but a pullet that she sometimes called by that
name...".
Hopkins moved from Essex to Norfolk and Suffolk, and by the following
year, had operations in Cambridge, Northampton, Huntingdon and Bedford,
with a team of six witch finders under his control. "In Suffolk alone it
is estimated that he was responsible for arresting at least 124 persons
for witchcraft, of whom at least 68 were hanged." (RHR) However, Hopkins
moved too far too quickly, and public opinion began to go against him.
In 1646, a clergyman in Huntingdon preached against him, and judges
began to question both his methods of locating witches, and the fees
that he charged for the service. In 1647 Hopkins published a pamphlet
called "Discovery of Witches", in which he supported his methods in
sanctimonious and pseudo legal language. However, it was to no avail,
for later that year he died, "in some disgrace" according to most
authorities. Witchcraft legend has it that he was drowned by irate
villagers in one of his own ducking ponds, but this has no recorded
evidence to support it. However, it would be a fitting end to such an
evil man, and I hope it was true.
Moving away from England; Scottish and Continental witchcraft shared a
great many similarities; Mary Queen of Scots, and her son, James VI,
were both educated in France, and this ensured that continental
attitudes towards witches were enshrined in Scottish law at the highest
level. In fact the concepts of witchcraft were introduced into Scotland
by Mary in about 1563. Before then, trials for witchcraft had been few,
and there were no recorded burnings of witches. In "The Encyclopaedia of
Witchcraft and Demonology" Rossell Hope Robbins says:
"Scotland is second only to Germany in the barbarity of its witch
trials. The Presbyterian clergy acted like inquisitors, and the Church
sessions often shared the prosecution with the secular law courts. The
Scottish laws were, if anything, more heavily loaded against the
accused. Finally, the devilishness of the torture was limited only by
Scotland's backward technology in the construction of mechanical
devices."
It is well known that James VI was an ardent prosecutor of witches, and
it was under his authority that the Bible was translated to include the
word "witch" (Exodus 22:18) to provide Biblical sanction for the death
penalty for witches. The original Hebrew word - kashaph - meant either a
magician, diviner or sorcerer, but was definitely not a witch. In the
Latin Vulgate (4th century version of the Bible) the word had been
translated as "maleficos", which could mean any kind of criminal,
although in practice often referred to malevolent sorcerers. Similarly,
the so-called Witch of Endor, consulted by King Solomon: the original
Hebrew was "ba'alath ob": "mistress of a talisman". In the Latin Vulgate
she became a "mulierem habentem pythonem": a women possessing an
oracular spirit. It was only in the version of the Bible authorised by
King James that she became a witch.
By the time that James acceded to the English throne in 1603, his
attitude towards witches had undergone a subtle transformation. In fact,
he was directly responsible for the release and pardon of several
accused "witches", and personally interfered in trials where he believed
that fraud or deception was being practised. However, Lynn Linton
writing in 1861 says of him:
"Whatever of blood-stained folly belonged specially to the Scottish
trials of this time - and hereafter - owed its original impulse to him;
every groan of the tortured wretches driven to their fearful doom, and
every tear of the survivors left blighted and desolate to drag out their
weary days in mingled grief and terror, lie on his memory with shame and
condemnation ineffaceable for all time."
But it was under Charles II that perhaps the most famous - and enduring
- of Scottish witches was tried, and most probably executed (although
records of her punishment have not survived). Isobel Gowdie of
Auldearne, on four separate occasions during 1662 testified that she was
a witch, and gave what Rossell Hope Robbins describes as: "a resum? of
popular beliefs about witchcraft in Scotland.". He says that Gowdie
"appeared clearly demented", but that "it is plain she believed what she
confessed, no matter how impossible...".
From Gowdie are derived some of the concepts of today's Wicca, including
the idea of a coven, comprised of 13 people. Gowdie said that a coven
was ruled by a "Man in Black", often called "Black John". He would often
beat the witches severely, and it seemed their main tasks were to raise
storms, change themselves into animals, and shoot elf arrows to injure
or kill people. Coming as she does right at the end of the witchcraft
persecutions, it is difficult to establish how much of Gowdie's
confession is based upon real, traditional folk practices of Auldearne,
and how much she is simply repeating the standard accusations against
witches. The Coven of 13 is probably the single aspect of her
confessions which does not appear elsewhere in records of witchcraft
trials, and my own feelings are that she was probably as genuine a witch
as was ever taken and tried.
We have already commented how terrifying it is to consider the impact
that a single person can have upon the lives of so many people. We have
looked at a number of these - King James, Kramer and Sprenger, Matthew
Hopkins, Conrad of Marburg - and their latter day successors are no less
dangerous. Let us consider some of the 20th century persecutors. We have
already mentioned Adolf Hitler; what about Stalin? his great purge in
the period following 1936 saw charges of treason, espionage and
terrorism brought against anyone who showed the least inclination to
oppose him. Using techniques which would not have been out of place
during the great witch hunts, Stalin's henchmen enforced "confessions",
and effectively exterminated any threat to his political power.
We could look too at McCarthy, whose fame for persecution was such that
his name is now used to describe "the use of unsupported accusations for
any purpose". It is no accident that his activities were referred to as
a "witch hunt", nor that Arthur Miller's play about the Salem witch
trials, "The Crucible", was more a comment about McCarthyism than a
comment about 17th century American life.
In 20th century Australia we are heirs to a European history, which
maintains that witches are servants of the devil, and should be
prosecuted for their crimes against humanity. In some States these laws
actually remain upon the Statute Books; in others, the legal machinery
has been removed, but often public opinion hovers around the middle
ages, believing that the only good witch is a dead witch.
Our latter-day inquisitors play upon these fears, in much the same way
as Matthew Hopkins played upon the fears of the people during the Civil
War. Christian Fundamentalists have no hesitation in using every dirty
trick in the book to ensure that public opinion remains opposed to
witchcraft. If this means that some of them have to stand up and say:
"Yes, I was a witch: I sacrificed my babies to the devil, and copulated
with a goat; I took part in drunken orgies, and drank the blood of the
sacrifice"; but then I found Jesus, and was born again, and now I'm a
really nice person; well so be it. Some of them are so psychiatrically
unbalanced they may even believe it themselves.
Listen to a sample of the claims made by Audrey Harper, who achieved
notoriety in Britain as an ex-HPS of a Witches' Coven. This extract is
from an article by Aries, which appeared in Web of Wyrd #5:
Sent to a Dr Barnado's home by her mother, she grew up with deprivation
and social stigma. In time she becomes a WRAF, falls in love, gets
pregnant, boyfriend dies, she turns to booze, gives up her baby and
becomes homeless. Wandering to Piccadilly Circus she meets some Flower
Children with the killer weed, and her descent into Hell is assured. By
day she gets stoned and eats junk food; by night she sleeps in squats
and doorways. Along comes Molly; the whore with a heart of gold who
teaches Audrey the art of streetwalking. She flirts with shoplifting,
gets into pills, and then gets talent spotted and invited to a Chelsea
party, where wealth, power and tasteful decor are dangled as bait. At
the next party she is hooked by the "group", which meets "every month in
Virginia Water". She agrees to go to the next meeting which is to be
held at Hallowe'en.
Inside the dark Temple lit by black candles and full of "A heady, sickly
sweet smell from burning incense", she is "initiated" by the "warlock",
whose "face was deathly pale and skeletal... his eyes ... were dark and
sunken" and whose "breath and body seemed to exude a strange smell, a
little like stale alcohol." She signs herself over to Satan with her own
blood on a parchment scroll, whereupon a baby is produced, its throat
cut, and the blood drank. Following this she gets dumped on the "altar"
and screwed as the "sacrifice of the White Virgin". The meeting finishes
with a little ritual cursing and she's left to wander "home" in the
dark.
Her life falls into a steady routine of meetings in Virginia Water,
getting screwed by the "warlock", drug abuse, petty crime, and
recruiting runaways for parties, where the drinks are spiked - "probably
with LSD" - and candles injected with heroin release "stupefying fumes
into the air"; the object being sex kicks and pornography. She falls
pregnant again, gets committed to a psychiatric hospital, has the baby,
and gives it away convinced that the "warlock" would sacrifice it.
Things then become a confusion of Church desecration, drug addiction,
ritual abuse, psychiatric hospital, and falling in with Christian folk
who try vainly to save her soul. For rather vague reasons the "coven"
decide to drop her from the team, and she dedicates herself to a true
junkie's lifestyle with a steady round of overdosing, jaundice, and
detoxification units. The "warlock" drops by to threaten her, and she
makes her way north via some psychiatric hospitals to a Christian
Rehabilitation farm. She gets married, has a child which she keeps, and
becomes a regular churchgoer. But beneath the surface are recurring
nightmares, insane anger and murderous feelings towards her brethren. At
the Emmanual Pentecostal Church in Stourport she asks the Minister, Roy
Davies, for help. He prays, and God tells him that she was involved with
witchcraft. An exorcism has her born again, cleansed of her sin. She
gets baptised and has no more nightmares, becoming a generally nicer
person. She becomes the "occult expert" of the Reachout Trust and
Evangelical Alliance, and makes a career out of telling an edited
version of her tale.
Geoffrey Dickens MP persuades her to tell all on live TV; "Audrey, to
your knowledge is child sacrifice still going on?" To this she replies,
"To my knowledge, yes." After this the whole thing rambles into an
untidy conclusion of self-congratulation, self- promotion, and
self-justification; and for a grand finale pulls out a list of
horrendous child abuse, which is shamelessly exploited in typically
journalistic fashion, and by the usual fallacious arguments which links
it to anything "occult"; help-lines, astro predictions in newspapers,
and even New Age festivals.
And so we are left with a horrifying vision of hordes of Satanists
swarming the country, buggering kids, sacrificing babies, and feeding
their own faeces to the flock."
Whilst all this seems incredible to any rational person, unfortunately,
in the age old tradition, it confirms the worst fears of the man and
woman in the street, and so they swallow it whole. After all, it was on
telly, so it MUST be true!
As a direct result of people like Audrey Harper publicising their lies
and fantasy, children in England and Scotland were forcibly removed from
their homes, and subjected to the type of questioning that we had
previously believed had died out at the end of the Middle Ages.
A consultant clinical psychologist scrutinised the interview transcripts
and audio records of the recent Orkney child abuse case, and in her
summing up said: "[the Social Workers] told the children they knew
things had happened to them and were generally leading all the way. When
the children denied things, the questions were continually put until the
children got hungry and gave them the answers they wanted."
Who says that torture is no longer legal in the British Isles?
The father of four of the children who were taken into care said: "At
first I thought the allegations were laughable, but I found out how
serious the police were...". Just to remind you of the words of Gilles
de Rais some 500 years ago: [the accusations] are frivolous and lack
credit...".
One 11 year-old described being asked to draw a circle of ritualistic
dancers. He said: "They got me to draw by saying, 'I am not a drawer.
Can you draw that?' It was meant to be a ring with children around and a
minister in the middle wearing a black robe and a crook to pull children
in."
The boy said he had been promised treats such as a lesson on how a
helicopter worked if he co-operated, and was told that he could go if he
gave one name. How remarkably similar to medieval witch trials, where
the victims were always pressed to name their accomplices - for is it
not said, "thou canst not be a witch alone?"!
In 1990, journalist Rosie Waterhouse commenting upon the Manchester
child abuse case said: "After three months of questioning by the NSPCC,
strange stories began to come out and other children were named. The way
the children began telling "Satanic" tales in this case is remarkably
similar to the way such stories first surfaced in Nottingham. As "The
Independent on Sunday" revealed last week (23/9/90), the Nottingham
children began talking about witches, monsters, babies and blood only
after they had been encouraged, by an NSPCC social worker, to play with
toys which included witches' costumes, monsters, toy babies, and a
syringe for extracting blood."
Believe it or not, the parents of these children had no access to them
whatsoever. Why? Because our modern, scientifically trained, 20th
century social workers believed that, "[the parents] would try to
silence the children, using secret Satanic symbols or trigger words".
By March 1991, senior Police spokesmen were publicly claiming that
"police have no evidence of ritual or satanic abuse inflicted on
children anywhere in England or Wales". Scotland has a different legal
system, which is why it was not included in the statement - not because
the police have evidence there, for they do not.
When the Rochdale case finally came to court, after the children had
been in care (sic!) for about 16 months, the judge delivered a damning
indictment upon those who were responsible for it, and said: "the way
the children had been removed from their parents was particularly
upsetting." He saw a video of the removal of one girl from her home
during a dawn raid, and commented that, "It is obvious from the video
tape that the girl is not merely frightened but greatly distressed at
being removed from home. The sobbing and distraught girl can be seen. It
is one of my most abiding memories of this case."
Let us return briefly to Salem, where, in 1710, William Good petitioned
for damages in respect of the trial and execution of his wife Sarah, and
the imprisonment of his daughter, Dorothy, "a child of four or five
years old, [who] being chained in the dungeon was so hardly used and
terrified that she hath ever since been very chargeable, having little
or no reason to govern herself.".
Today's Christian Fundamentalist, like his vicious and self- righteous
predecessors, will use anything in his or her power - including innocent
children - to destroy the evils of Paganism and the occult. Sometimes I
wonder if we are becoming paranoid, or the subjects of a persecution
complex, but in writing this lecture it was brought home to me more
strongly than ever before: the witch trials of the Middle Ages are not a
bloody stain on the history of Christianity; they are the source from
where today's fundamentalists draw their power, and are just as
terrifying today as they were hundreds of years ago. Bigotry and
persecution have changed in only one respect: 20th century mankind has
far more efficient and effective means of spreading lies and propaganda
than was available to our ancestors.
Appendix A
The subject of the European Witch Trials has been written about ad
infinitum (and nauseam!), and there are a great many useful books which
the student will find of interest. There follows a short bibliography of
those to which I referred when writing this lecture.
Select Bibliography
Bradford, Sarah Cesare Borgia (1981)
Cohn, Norman Europe's Inner Demons (1975)
Ginzburg, Carlo Ecstasies: Deciphering The
Witches' Sabbath (1990)
Hole, Christina Witchcraft in England (1977)
Howard, Michael The Occult Conspiracy (1989)
Kieckheffer, Richard European Witch Trials (1976)
Larner, Christina Enemies of God: The Witch Hunt
in Scotland (1981)
Larner, Christina Witchcraft and Religion (1985)
Maple, Eric The Complete Book of
Witchcraft and Demonology
(1966)
Radford, Kenneth Fire Burn (1989)
Ravensdale & Morgan The Psychology of Witchcraft
(1974)
Robbins, Rossell Hope The Encyclopaedia of
Witchcraft and Demonology
(1984)
Russell, Jeffrey A History of Witchcraft (1980)
Scarre, Geoffrey Witchcraft and Magic in 16th
and 17th century
Europe (1987)
Stenton, Sir Frank Anglo-Saxon England (1971)
Summers, Montague (Trans) Malleus Maleficarum (1986)
Thomas, Keith Religion and the Decline of
Magic (1971)
Trevor-Roper, H R The European Witch-Craze of
the 16th and 17th
Centuries (1988)
Walsh, Michael Roots of Christianity (1986)
Worden, Blair (Ed) Stuart England (1986)
Encyclopaedia Britannica (1969 edition)
Collins Dictionary of the English Language (1980)
Newspapers: The Times, The Guardian, The Independent (Britain)
Appendix B - Historical Periods
Anglo-Saxon: broadly 550 AD to 1066 AD (the Norman
invasion).
Middle Ages: broadly the period from the end of
classical antiquity (476 AD) to the Italian
Renaissance (or fall of Constantinople in 1453).
More specifically the period from 1000 AD to the 15th
century.
Medieval: of, or relating to, the Middle Ages.
Tudor: the Royal House, descended from Welsh Squire Owen
Tudor (d. 1461), which ruled in England between 1485
AD - 1603 AD
Stuart: the Royal House which ruled in Scotland between 1371
AD and 1714, and in England between 1603 AD - 1714
AD.
Jacobean: relating to the period of James I's rule of England
(1603-1625).
Reformation: a 16th century religious and political movement which
began as an attempt to reform the Catholic Church,
but actually resulted in the establishment of the
Protestant Church.
Renaissance: usually considered as beginning in Italy in the 14th
century, this is the period which marked the
transition from the Middle Ages to the modern world.
It is characterised by classical scholarship,
scientific and geographical discovery, and the
exploration of individual human potential.
Civil War: 1640-1649, between the Royalists under Charles I, and
the Parliamentarians led by Oliver Cromwell. Charles
I was executed in 1649.
Crusades: a series of wars undertaken by the Christians of
western Europe with the authorisation of the Papacy
from 1095 until the mid-15th century for the purpose
of recovering the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem from
the Muslims and defending possession of it. (Enc.
Britannica)
Thirty Years' War: a major conflict involving Austria, Denmark, France,
Holland, Germany, Spain and Sweden that devastated
central Europe, but especially Germany. It began as a
war between Protestants and Catholics but developed
into a general power struggle (1618-1648).
Lateran Councils: Five ecumenical councils held at the Lateran Palace
(the official residence of the Pope) between 1123 AD
and 1512 AD.
Appendix C - Gnostic and Christian sects
Manichaeism: a dualistic Gnostic religion first preached by Mani
(q.v.) in the 3rd century AD. Its early centre was
Babylonia, then part of the Persian empire and a
meeting place of faiths. (EB)
The basic theology of Manichaeism is that good and
evil are separate and opposed principles, which have
become mixed in the world through the action of the
evil principle. There is a complicated mythology
which describes the creation of the world and the
elements, and a set of complex correspondences by
which the seeker can return to a state of salvation.
Manichaeism spread across a huge area, including the
Roman Empire. However, by the 6th century it had
virtually been eradicated from Spain, France and
Italy, although was strong in the eastern
Mediterranean until the 9th century, when it was
absorbed into the neo-Manichean sects of the
Bogomils, Cathars, etc.
Bogomils: a religious sect which flourished in the
Balkans between the 10th and 15th centuries. Their
central teaching was strictly dualistic; that the
visible, material world was created by the Devil, and
that everything within it was therefore evil. They
rejected many of the trappings of Christianity, and
their condemnation of anything to do with the flesh -
including eating and drinking! - has rightly earned
them the nickname, "the greatest puritans of the
middle ages".
Cathars: a heretical Christian sect that flourished
in western Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries.
They believed that goodness existed only in the
spiritual world created by God, and that the material
world, created by Satan, was evil. Their theology
bore a great resemblance to that of Manichaeism and
the Bogomils, and they were closely connected with
the latter.
Waldensians: also known as Valdenses or Vaudois. The
sect was founded in southern France in the 12th
century, and emphasised poverty, abstinence from
physical labour, and a life devoted to prayer. They
were influenced by other "heretical" sects, and
rejected a number of the basic tenets of the Catholic
faith. They were stern opponents to the acquisition
of wealth and power within the Church, and thus came
into direct opposition to the Papacy, which thrived
on both. They were fiercely persecuted, and by the
end of the 15th century, confined mainly to the
French and Italian valleys of the Cottian Alps.
During the 16th century, the Waldensians were
transformed into a Protestant church, but suffered
heavy persecution throughout the 17th century from
the Dukes of Savoy. This ceased only after Oliver
Cromwell intervened personally on their behalf with
the duke, Charles Emmanuel II. In the latter part of
the 17th century the Waldensians returned to their
original homeland, and in 1848 the Waldensians were
given civil rights, and are today members of the
World Presbyterian Alliance.
Appendix D - A calendar of events connected with the
persecution of heretics
640 AD Eorcenberht succeeds Eadbald as King of
Kent, and becomes the
first English king to order the destruction
of pagan idols throughout
his kingdom;
663 AD Council of Whitby determines the date of
Easter to be in accordance
with Roman practice, and so ends Celtic
Christianity in
Northumberland;
668-690 AD Liber Poenitentialis by Theodore,
Archbishop of Canterbury.
Probably the first legislation against
witches. It advised penances
(eg, fasting) for those who "sacrificed to
devils, foretold the future
with their aid, ate food that had been
offered in sacrifice, or burned
grain after a man was dead for the
well-being of the living and of
the house.";
735-766 AD the Confessional of Ecgberht, Archbishop of
York, which prescribed a 7-year fast for a woman
convicted of "slaying by incantation";
871-899 AD reign of King Aelfred (brother of
Aethelred), who declared the death penalty for those
who practise Wicca;
925-939 AD reign of King Aethelstan, where murder -
including murder by
witchcraft - was punishable with the death
penalty;
936 AD Otto elected King of the Germans, whereupon
he declared it his intention to drive the pagans out
of his land;
951 Otto crowned King of Lombardy;
955 Otto defeated the Magyars and proclaimed
himself "Protector of Europe";
962 Otto crowned Holy Roman Emperor;
1022 the first burning (at Orleans) for heresy;
1066-1087 AD reign of William the Conqueror in England;
he reduced Aethelstan's sentence of death for
convicted murderers to banishment;
1118 King Baldwin II of Jerusalem suggested to
Sir Hugh de Payens that he organise a chivalric order
of knights to defend travellers to the Holy Land, and
granted part of his palace, which stood on the site
of Solomon's original temple, for their headquarters.
As a result of this gesture, Hugh de Payens called
his Order the Templi Militia, and then later changed
this to Knights of the Temple of Solomon in
Jerusalem;
1162 Pope Alexander III issued a special papal
bull releasing Templars from spiritual obedience to
any but the Pope himself, gave them exemption from
paying tithes, and allowed them their own chaplains
and burial grounds;
12/13th cent the Cathar heresies: introduction of the
obscene kiss and ritual adoration of the devil;
1243-44 Siege of Montsegur;
1244 225 Cathars burned at the stake at Montsegur;
1259 relationships between the Knights Templars
and the Hospitallers of Knights of St John
deteriorated into open warfare;
1291 the Saracens took Jerusalem, and the
Knights Templars were expelled, and lost their
headquarters on the site of Solomon's Temple;
1301 Walter Langton, bishop of Coventry, tried
by ecclesiastical court for diabolism and acquitted;
1302 trial in Exeter for defamation of a man who
called a woman a "wicked witch and thief";
1307 King Philip of France ordered the arrest of
every member of the Knights Templar in France: this
was followed by a papal bull to all rulers in
Christian Europe that all Templars were to be
arrested;
1311 investigation in London by episcopal
authority into sorcery, enchantment, magic,
divination and invocation;
1312 the Pope officially disbanded the Knights
Templars;
1314 Jaques de Molay (last Grand Master of the
Knights Templars) burned as a relapsed heretic;
1321 last Cathar burned at the stake;
1324 Alice Kyteler tried in Kilkenny by secular
and ecclesiastical authorities for diabolism,
invocation and sorcery;
1347 the Plague spreads over the whole of Italy,
and arrives in France by the end of the year;
1348 the Plague reaches Paris, then the Low
Countries, and then via the Channel to southern
England;
1349 Britain ravaged by the Plague, which passes
into Germany, Austria and Scandinavia;
1360 the Plague, complicated by influenza
reappears in Europe, continuing in waves until 1441,
and finally ending around 1510;
1390 woman tried in Milan for attending an
assembly led by "Diana", "Erodiade" or "Oriente";
1408 the Plague, still rampant in Europe is
complicated by an epidemic of Typhus and Whooping
Cough;
1409 trial of Pope Benedict XIII at Pisa for
divination, invocation, sorcery and other offences;
1428-47 Dauphine: 110 women and 57 men executed by
secular court for witchcraft, especially diabolism;
1431 Joan of Arc tried for heresy and burnt at
the stake: the trial decision was annulled in 1456,
and in 1920 she was canonised by Pope Benedict XV
with the date of her execution (May 30) becoming a
national holiday in France;
1440 Gilles de Rais tried on 47 charges
including conjuration of demons and sexual
perversions against children: nearly all evidence was
hearsay, none of his servants was called to testify,
and the proceedings were highly irregular: he was
strangled and then sent to the pyre, but his family
were given permission to remove his body before the
flames reached it for burial at a nearby Carmelite
Church;
1441 Margery Jourdain ("the Witch of Eye")
convicted of plotting to kill King Henry VI, and
burned as a traitor;
1458 first recorded use of the word "sabbat"
(Nicholas Jacquier). "Synagogue" was the word
commonly used to describe the meeting places of
heretics and witches;
1470 trial before Royal Court in England for
defamation - man had accused the Duchess of Bedford
of image magic;
1479 Earl of Mar executed for employing witches
to kill James III of Scotland;
1484 Papal Bull of Pope Innocent VIII officially
declaring witchcraft a heresy;
1486 first publication of the Malleus
Maleficarum;
1488 Metz: 31 women and 4 men tried by secular
court for weather magic: 29 burned;
1492 expulsion of Jews from Spain;
1521 Martin Luther excommunicated by Pope Leo X,
and so begins the Reformation;
1532 the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina: the
criminal code for the Holy Roman Empire which
specified how witches, fortune tellers, etc were to
be tried, and punished;
1542 first statute against witchcraft in England
passed by Parliament (revoked 1547);
1557 first list of prohibited books issued by
the Roman church;
1562 statute enacted in Scotland under Mary
Queen of Scots declaring the death penalty for
witchcraft, sorcery and necromancy: the Act was
confirmed in 1649 and repealed in 1736;
1563 statute against witchcraft by Elizabeth I
in England ordering the death penalty for witches,
enchanters and sorcerers (under civil, not
ecclesiastical law);
1566 first major trial under statute of 1563:
Elizabeth Francis, Agnes Waterhouse and Joan
Waterhouse at Chelmsford: Agnes hanged, Elizabeth
received a light sentence and Joan was found not
guilty;
1584 "Discoverie of Witchcraft" by Reginald Scot
published - a Protestant argument against belief in
witchcraft;
1590-92 North Berwick trials by James VI;
1595 Nicholas Remy publishes "Demonolatreiae"
where he boasted on the title page that he had
condemned 900 witches in 15 years;
1596 John Dee as Warden of a Manchester College
acts as an advisor for cases of witchcraft and
demonology;
1597 "Daemonologie" by King James VI published;
1600 Giordano Bruno burnt at the stake in Rome
as an "impenitent heretic";
1603 ascension of James VI to the English throne
as James I;
1604 new statute against witchcraft by James I
which established pact, devil-worship and other
continental ideas in English law;
1611 King James authorises a new translation of
the Bible to include the word "witch";
1612 twenty witches tried together at Lancashire
(the Pendle witches);
1628 in Massachusetts, an English lawyer, Thomas
Morton ordered a maypole to be erected in the colony
which he founded (Merrymount), and celebrated May
with local Indians and refugees from the Puritans,
with stag antlers, bells and brightly coloured
clothes, under an elected "Lord and Lady" to rule
over the celebrations; He was arrested under charges
of practising witchcraft, but was released;
1633 the public exorcisms of the nuns of Loudun
as part of a plot by Cardinal Richelieu to revenge
himself upon Urban Grandier: Grandier arrested and
tried by investigating committee;
1634 Grandier tortured then burned alive;
1644 maypoles made illegal in England;
1644-5 Matthew Hopkins active in Chelmsford;
1646 Matthew Hopkins retired - he died the
following year;
1647 first witch hung in the USA, in
Connecticut;
1649 first newspaper astrology column by Lilly;
1662 at Bury St Edmunds women were accused and
convicted of witchcraft on the testimony of
hysterical children;
1662 the trial of Isobel Gowdie in Auldearne,
Scotland: Gowdie introduces the idea of a coven of
thirteen;
1663 the Licensing Act determined that books
could not be published without prior consultation
with the Church or State;
1679-82 the Chambre Ardente affair: a star chamber
court admitting of no appeal arraigned to try Madame
Bosse, her daughter and sons; Madame Montvoisin (La
Voisin) and La Dame Vigoreux. During the course of
the trial, several hundreds of the highest courtiers
of King Louis XIV were implicated in the poisoning
scandal. The affair degenerated into a search for
heresy and witchcraft, and eventually Catholic
Priests Davot, Gerard, Deshayes, Cotton, Tournet,
Guibourg and Mariette were also drawn in, accused of
performing the Black Mass. Evidence was collected to
show that Madame de Montespan (Louis' former
mistress) attempted to poison Louis and his new
mistress, and was the leader of the Satanic cult. In
all, 319 people were arrested and 104 sentenced: 36
to death, 4 to slavery in the galleys, 34 to
banishment and 30 acquitted. In 1709 Louis attempted
to destroy the records of the affair, but failed;
1684 Alice Molland was the last person executed
as a witch in England (at Exeter);
1689 Cotton Mather (New England) publishes
"Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcraft and
Possessions" supporting belief in witchcraft;
1692 Salem witch trials: 19 hung and more than
100 jailed; the last person executed in the USA for
witchcraft;
1727 last execution in Scotland for witchcraft;
1731 last trial for witchcraft in England: Jane Wenham,
who was convicted, then pardoned and released;
1736 the repeal of the statutes against
witchcraft of Mary Queen of Scots (1562), Elizabeth I
(1563) and James I & VI (1604): replaced with a
statute which stated that, "no prosecution, suit or
proceeding shall be commenced or carried out against
any person or persons for witchcraft, sorcery,
inchantment (sic), or conjuration." It provided for
the prosecution of those pretending to possess
magical powers, but it denied reality to those
powers;
1745 last execution in France for witchcraft;
1775 last execution in Germany for witchcraft;
1829 Lamothe-Langan fabricated and published
documents represented to be records of trials of
witches in Toulouse and Carcassonne, probably in an
attempt to prove the continuing existence of the
worship of the old religion;
1830 in "Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft"
Sir Walter Scott argues that alleged witches had been
misunderstood and mistreated;
1862 Jules Michelet argues in his book "La
Sorcerie" that witchcraft was a protest by medieval
serfs against a crushing social order;
1865 Pope Pius X again attacked secret
societies, claiming that Freemasonry was
anti-Christian, satanic, and derived from paganism;
1899 publication of Aradia: Gospel of the Witches by
Leland;
1928 first English translation of the Malleus
Maleficarum (tr Summers);
1951 repeal of the 1736 Witchcraft Act with the
Fraudulent Mediums Act;
1963 demand made for reinstatement of the
Witchcraft Laws in England following desecration of
churches and graveyards;
1966 the Index (of prohibited books) abolished;
1991 Anti-occult amendment to the Criminal
Justice Bill had its third reading in Parliament.
Presented by Geoffrey Dickens, this prescribed
imprisonment for not more than five years against one
who, "permits, entices or encourages a minor to
participate in, or be present at a ceremony or other
activity of any kind specified in sub-section 3...".
Subsection 3 says: "The ceremonies or activities to
which this section applies are those of, or
associated with, Satanism and other devil
worshipping, black magic, witchcraft, or any activity
to which Section 1 of the Fraudulent Mediums Act
(1951) applies.
The Bill was rejected for a number of reasons, not
least because it made newspaper/magazine editors
culpable if minors should read the astrology column!