Andrews, John F. Shakespeare 's World and Work. Volume 3: an Encyclopedia for Students. New York: Scribner 's, 2001. Print. During the Elizabethan era, many concept and beliefs developed, including superstitions about witches and witchcraft. Many Elizabethans believed that there was an invisible supernatural world that existed alongside the one they breath in and that the other worlds contained both good and black magic. Additionally, they believed that some humans had the ability to communicate with or control these spirits. They had this concept that all witches were old women who had the ability to summon evil spirits (demons) or Satan himself. A few believed that some witches had the power to fly or change their shapes at will. Commoners were quick to blame all misfortunes on the witches and
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These were recorded in witch chap-books which had information about the execution of the witches and briefly recalled the trails. These books were partisan documents, usually a used for vindication of the respectable and righteous author. Court size in these witch hunt were mysterious, the person that was supposeably in the court during the trial was also somewhere else at the time. These accounts did not add up to why these witches were executed or at least sent to jail. During the years 1563 - 1604 this act was passed which made witchcraft punishable by death. Theses act led to widespread fear and paranoia, witch hunts and many innocent and gifted women were being accused of witchcraft and being hung. A History of Witchcraft in England from 1558 to 1718 was written by Wallace Notestein in 2010. Wallace Notestein was an American historian and Sterling Professor of English History at Yale University from 1928 to 1947. This source emphasizes on the witch hunt and how terrible the prosecution was conducted. It portrays the senseless belief that anyone who is suspected of being a witch is a
These were recorded in witch chap-books which had information about the execution of the witches and briefly recalled the trails. These books were partisan documents, usually a used for vindication of the respectable and righteous author. Court size in these witch hunt were mysterious, the person that was supposeably in the court during the trial was also somewhere else at the time. These accounts did not add up to why these witches were executed or at least sent to jail. During the years 1563 - 1604 this act was passed which made witchcraft punishable by death. Theses act led to widespread fear and paranoia, witch hunts and many innocent and gifted women were being accused of witchcraft and being hung. A History of Witchcraft in England from 1558 to 1718 was written by Wallace Notestein in 2010. Wallace Notestein was an American historian and Sterling Professor of English History at Yale University from 1928 to 1947. This source emphasizes on the witch hunt and how terrible the prosecution was conducted. It portrays the senseless belief that anyone who is suspected of being a witch is a