Witchcraft in early modern Wales
Unlike in neighbouring England and in Scotland, there were few accusations of
Historical background
Witchcraft in
Witchcraft laws
The
English and British witchcraft acts during the early modern period
In 1542, under
In 1563, under
In 1604, under
In 1735, under George II, it became a crime to claim that someone else was practising witchcraft or in the possession of magic powers. This Act, the Witchcraft Act 1735, repealed all previous acts and ended the hunt for witches and executions for witchcraft. The maximum penalty after this was one year in prison.[7]
Trials, accusations and prosecutions
During the 16th and 17th centuries, there were only 37 witchcraft prosecutions in Wales.[1] This is relatively few, when compared to the rest of Western Europe, in which there were a total of 200,000 executions between the mid 15th and the mid 18th century.[8] Out of these 37 suspects, only 8 were found guilty and only 5 received a death sentence, with the remainder more than likely being acquitted.[1] All of the cases, according to Kelsea Rees, a historian at Liverpool Hope University, took place in north Wales.[9] Multiple witchcraft cases were very close to the northern part of the Anglo-Welsh border.
Executions
In 1594 Gwen ferch Ellis (42) of Llandyrnog, Denbighshire, was the first person to be executed as a witch in Wales. The accusations were that, although she otherwise was known to provide healing, she had turned to do evil. These accusations were based on a charm that was found to be written backwards, and this was thought to be an example of the act of bewitching. After the trial, she was sentenced to death.[10]
In 1622, in Caernarfon, a trio of witches, all from the same family, were found guilty and ultimately executed. The trio consisted of three siblings: Lowri ferch Evan, Agnes ferch Evan, and Rhydderch ap Evan, a yeoman. The cause of their trial was over the death of the wife of a man from the local gentry, Margaret Hughes, and the bewitchment of their daughter, Mary. Margaret was already sick and, according to today's medical knowledge, Mary's so-called "bewitchment" was more likely the symptoms of a stroke due to the lameness of her left arm, feet, and the complete loss of her voice due to loss of function in her tongue.[9]
In 1655, in Beaumaris, Anglesey, Margaret ferch Richard was accused of witchcraft. She was a widow in her mid-to-late 40s and was considered a charmer. She was also believed to have caused the death of another woman, Gwen Meredith, who was ill prior to her untimely death. Margaret was convicted in accordance with the 1604 Witchcraft Act and sentenced to death by hanging.[9]
Acquittals
In 1655, in Llanasa, Flintshire, another trial took place. Dorothy Griffith was accused of bewitching a travelling seaman, William Griffith. William claimed to have seen Dorothy in front of him with lights around her, and having led him to an ale house. He claimed to have looked out over the sea and saw that it was on fire, and became frightened by the experience. He further was believed to have fallen into a trance or lost consciousness but recovered. Dorothy was detained for 7 weeks but was able to gather signatures from other locals, in which they stated they had never had reason to believe there was any relationship between Dorothy and witchcraft. It was rumoured that the relationship between the two families was tense and that William had been ill. Although Dorothy appeared at trial, it is believed that the case was eventually dismissed, and she was never sentenced.[3] The case of Dorothy Griffith is one of 32 cases that were acquitted.
Early modern beliefs about witchcraft
Blessings were the act of protecting oneself or others from anything evil; they were considered part of everyday life during the early modern period. It was believed that good or evil could come to a person based on whether or not they had received a blessing. If someone did something that was considered to be unacceptable by the society in which they lived, it was important to seek a blessing in order to avoid some form of punishment. A curse, however, would often be done in order to inflict misfortune on someone's family or property. Formal cursing was the practice of involving God and hexing the wrongdoer, often on the knees with arms stretched towards Heaven. When someone had been cursed, it was common to have the curse removed by the person who had originally inflicted the curse. It was not unusual for people who resorted to cursing others to be thought of as using witchcraft.[1]
References
- ^ OCLC 46952260.
- ^ a b "Witchcraft". www.parliament.uk. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
- ^ a b Williams, J. Gwynn (1973–1974). "Witchcraft in Seventeenth-Century Flintshire (Part One)". Journal of the Flintshire Historical Society. 26: 16–33 – via The National Library of Wales.
- ^ S2CID 143731691– via JSTOR.
- ^ a b Podvia, Mark W. "Witchcraft Laws and Trials: A Brief Timeline" (PDF). dcba-pa.org. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
- ISBN 978-0870237539.
- ISBN 978-0-19-820744-3.
- ^ "The history of witches in Britain". Historic UK. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
- ^ a b c Hopkins, Matthew (28 October 2020). "The Welsh Witch Trials". Caernarfon Herald. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
- ^ "Witches in the dock: 10 of Britain's most infamous witch trials". HistoryExtra. Retrieved 13 February 2021.