The Salem witch trials, one of the most infamous outbreaks of witchcraft accusations in popular culture, started with accusations of possession brought about by two girls in the household of Samuel Parris, a Puritan minister. They blamed the fits they experienced on supposed witches in their community. Eventually, there would be one hundred and sixty four women and men in and around Salem that were accused of witchcraft, thirty of which would end up being convicted, and nineteen executed. While large in scale, the Salem trials were by no means unique; Salem came after the heyday of witch panics in Western Europe, where perhaps 75% of witch prosecutions took place, and shares many characteristics. This document covers transcripts of the trials
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Central to this magic was the devil, who ‘came to me [Tituba] and bid me serve him.’ The devil tries to tempt her repeatedly, assuming the forms of rats, a hog and a great dog, and offering her gifts. This does appear to be therefore the kind of devil-driven magic that had been written about since the Malleus Maleficarum, where men and women were tempted into making a formal pact with the devil. Bridget Bishop also makes reference to this kind of magic when she claims that ‘Anne Putnam saith that she calls the devil her God.’ It alludes to the kind of satanic cult that witch hunters feared in sixteenth-century …show more content…
She had been unpopular for years, having been accused of witchcraft in the past. She was tried first because she was the most likely to be found guilty, which she was. She did not seem to help her reputation in her interrogation, being ‘contrary and diffident by turns.’ Some of her answers to the questions put could easily have been interpreted by the court as blatant lies; despite having been tried for witchcraft before, she claims to ‘know not what a witch is.’ However, what she may have meant is that she wasn’t sure of the sort of witch she was being accused of being, what sort of magic she was accused of performing; witches and their deeds have usually been hazy
Central to this magic was the devil, who ‘came to me [Tituba] and bid me serve him.’ The devil tries to tempt her repeatedly, assuming the forms of rats, a hog and a great dog, and offering her gifts. This does appear to be therefore the kind of devil-driven magic that had been written about since the Malleus Maleficarum, where men and women were tempted into making a formal pact with the devil. Bridget Bishop also makes reference to this kind of magic when she claims that ‘Anne Putnam saith that she calls the devil her God.’ It alludes to the kind of satanic cult that witch hunters feared in sixteenth-century …show more content…
She had been unpopular for years, having been accused of witchcraft in the past. She was tried first because she was the most likely to be found guilty, which she was. She did not seem to help her reputation in her interrogation, being ‘contrary and diffident by turns.’ Some of her answers to the questions put could easily have been interpreted by the court as blatant lies; despite having been tried for witchcraft before, she claims to ‘know not what a witch is.’ However, what she may have meant is that she wasn’t sure of the sort of witch she was being accused of being, what sort of magic she was accused of performing; witches and their deeds have usually been hazy