Author: A Solitary Pagan
Hibbins, Ann (d. 1656)
Hibbins, Ann (d. 1656) Prominent Boston woman convicted of witchcraft and executed. Her chief crime as a witch seemed to have been a bad temper, which was disliked by her neighbors. Ann Hibbins was married to William Hibbins, a well-to-do merchant in Boston. She also was the sister of Richard Bellingham, deputy governor of Massachusetts, highly regarded as one of the leading politicians in thecolo...
Graves, William (17th century)
Graves, William (17th century) Connecticut man accused of witchcraft over a dispute with his daughter and son-in-law. Though no legal action was taken against William Graves, his case indicates how easily personal squabbles could be turned into serious witchcraft charges. Graves’ daughter, Abigail, married a man named Samuel Dibble. Graves may not have approved of the match, for he refused to turn...
Bamberg Witches
At the center of the worst witch tortures and trials in Germany was Bamberg, a small state ruled by Gottfried Johann Georg II Fuchs von Dornheim. The Hexenbischof (Witch Bishop) von Dornheim, as he was known, ruled the state from 1623 to 1633 and established an efficient witch-burning machine aided by the Inquisition. By the time von Dornheim reached power, witchhunting had already been establishe...
Hawkins, Jane (17th century)
Hawkins, Jane (17th century) Massachusetts midwife and healer expelled on suspicions of witchcraft in the delivery of a deformed, stillborn fetus. The witchcraft accusations were mixed with a religious controversy affecting Jane Hawkins as well. Hawkins, married to Richard Hawkins, was well known for her midwifery skills and medical remedies. She also was associated with the Antinomians, a Quaker ...
The burning alive of Father Louis Gaufridi
The burning alive of Father Louis Gaufridi for bewitchment of the nuns at Aix in 1611 formed the legal precedent for the conviction and execution of Urbain Grandier at Loudun more than 20 years later. This case was one of the first in France to produce a conviction based on the testimony of a possessed demoniac. Prior to the 17th century in France, accusations from a demoniac were considered unrel...
Gruber, Bernardo (17th century)
German trader accused of sorcery by Pueblo Indians in northern New Mexico. Bernardo Gruber was imprisoned. He escaped but died a strange death. In 1668, Gruber arrived in New Mexico with a pack train of mules bearing fine goods. It was said that he was fearless and traveled through the lands of the fierce Apache without harm. Perhaps it was his ability to avoid Apache attacks that led to his downf...
Arras witches (1459–1460)
A mass witch hunt in Arras, northern France. The accused were brutally tortured and promised their lives, then burned at the stake. The incident roused the ire of the duke of Burgundy, and eventually those executed were posthumously exonerated. The witch hunt was one of the earliest in the region. Inquisitors used charges of witchcraft against heretics such as the Waldenses, or Vaudois, a religiou...
Ladder
Widely held superstitions that it is bad luck to walk beneath a ladder are related in part to fears about witches, especially during the witch hunt times in colonial America. Not all witches were burned—for example, in England and in the American colonies, witches were hung. When they dropped, they fell below the ladder leading up to the gallows. It was believed that if a witch touched anyone stan...
Chelmsford Witches
Chelmsford witches Four major witch trails in the 16th–17th centuries that resulted in numerous convictions and executions. The first trial occurred in the summer of 1566, under the rule of Queen Elizabeth, whose Parliament had passed the second of England’s three witchcraft acts in 1563. The Act of 1563 tightened penalties for witchcraft, making it a felony to invoke evil spirits for any purpose,...
Corey Giles (d 1692)
Executed in the Salem Witches hysteria of 1692–93 by being pressed to death for not acknowledging the right of the court to try him on charges of witchcraft. Giles Corey was a well-to-do man of Salem Town, in his 80s when the hysteria started. He owned a farm of 100 acres and other properties as well. Though hardworking, he was not entirely well regarded, having a reputation for being quarrelsome ...
Butters, Mary (late 18th–early 19th centuries)
An attempt to cure a cow of bewitchment with white magic ended in disaster for Mary Butters, the “Carmoney Witch,” who narrowly escaped a trial in Carrickfergus, Ireland, in March 1808. Butters was a reputed wise woman, skilled in herbal knowledge and various spells. In August 1807 Butters was hired by Alexander Montgomery, a tailor who lived in Carmoney, to cure a cow that gave milk from which no...
Corey, Martha (d. 1692)
The fourth person to be accused of witchcraft in the Salem Witches hysteria of 1692–93, who was tried and executed. Martha Corey was the wife of Giles Corey, who also was executed. The Coreys were well-to-do, pious residents of Salem Town. Martha’s age at the time of the trials is not known. Presumably, she was beyond child-bearing years. She was Giles’ third wife; the couple had no children of th...