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Wart

Mole

Birthmark

Sorcerer

Poulticies

Charms
Spells

Heretic

Thumbs screw

Evidence

Trial

Hag

An evil spell=hex

Cat

Sorcery

Torture

Deviltry

Familiar

Devil’s mark

Prey

Burn at the stake

Death sentence

Sleep deprivation

Cunning folk

Witches

In Shakespeare’s time people believed in witches. They were people who had made a pact with the Devil in exchange for supernatural powers. If your cow was ill, it was easy to decide it had been cursed. If there was plague in your village, it was because of a witch. If the beans didn’t grow, it was because of a witch. Witches might have a familiar – a pet, or a toad, or a bird – which was supposed to be a demon advisor. People accused of being witches tended to be old, poor, single women. It is at this time that the idea of witches riding around on broomsticks (a common household implement in Elizabethan England) becomes popular.

There are lots of ways to test for a witch. A common way was to use a ducking stool, or just to tie them up, and duck the accused under water in a pond or river. If she floated, she was a witch. If she didn’t, she was innocent. She probably drowned. Anyone who floated was then burnt at the stake. It was legal to kill witches because of the Witchcraft Act passed in 1563, which set out steps to take against witches who used spirits to kill people.

King James I became king in 1603. He was particularly superstitious about witches and even wrote a book on the subject. Shakespeare wrote Macbeth especially to appeal to James – it has witches and is set in Scotland, where he was already king. The three witches in Macbeth manipulate the characters into disaster, and cast spells to destroy lives. Other magic beings, the fairies, appear in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Elizabethans thought fairies played tricks on innocent people – just as they do in the play.

Did you know?

There are still Elizabethan superstitions that we follow today:

· don’t walk under a ladder – they are bad luck because they are linked to gallows (the wooden frame for hanging people)

· say ‘Bless you’ when someone sneezes – this is to stop the Devil entering your body through your mouth

· don’t spill salt – salt was very expensive in Elizabethan times, so spilling it was very bad luck

· black cats are unlucky – they were associated with witches

And some ones we don’t:

· if you can touch a condemned man, that’s good luck

· losing your hair suddenly was a sign of bad luck to come

wordlist   

curse

plague

 broomstick

 float

 burn at the stake

 

 

·        Witchcraft and magic

·        Witchcraft and magic

·        The Elizabethans believed in magic – both good and bad. Many communities had 'cunning folk' who - it was believed – could cure disease, provide charms and love spells, foretell the future, find lost property and counter 'black' or 'dark' magic.

·        Dark magic

·        Dark magic was the domain of witches – people who had supernatural powers because they had made a pact with the Devil. Witchcraft was blamed for all sorts of bad fortune. If your animals got sick? A witch. Your crops failed? Witch. Your milk went sour or your apples rotted? Witch. They believed that witches had 'familiars' - an animal they could turn into so they could spy on people and move around without being seen. The most popular familiars were cats and toads, which is why witches are often depicted with these animals.

·        The majority of people who were accused of witchcraft were women - usually poor, single women who had nobody to protect them. Many people also believed that women were spiritually 'weaker' than men, and therefore easier for the Devil to win over. Illustrations from the time show us what people imagined 'witches Sabbaths' to look like. They usually involve potions bubbling in cauldrons, witches flying on broomsticks or on the backs of goats and sometimes worshipping the Devil.

·        Once someone was accused of witchcraft, they were tested, usually by 'ordeal'. One of the common ways was to 'duck' the accused under water. They believed that water was purifying, so if the person floated, it was because the water had rejected them, and they were guilty. If they sank, they were innocent. Of course, this meant that many 'innocent' people drowned!

·        Elizabeth believed in witches, as most people did in the 16th century, but she wasn't as worried about them as some later monarchs such as James I were. However, she was concerned enough to pass the Witchcraft Act of 1563, which made witchcraft a felony. This meant that once a 'witch' was found she would be killed.

 

Wordlist

Crops

Sour

Rot

Toad

Ordeal

Felony

 

 

Do some research and answer the questions

1.   Why do you think people believed in witches?

2.   Why were so many women accused of being witches in the 17^th century?

3.   What were the ‘signs’ to spot a witch?

4.   What were the methods to identify a witch?

5.   Who was Matthew Hopkins?