In the 17th century, a serious war with evil broke out in England: the lawyer Matthew Hopkins announced that the witches had set a demon on him, who took the form of a bear. In this case, 29 people were arrested, 4 of whom were hanged. But the lawyer did not stop there. This period (1645-1646) went down in the history of England as the most massive extermination of witches - in a year Matthew Hopkins executed 68 people according to official sources, according to unofficial sources - about 200. At the same time, monstrous methods were used to identify witches, and a resourceful lawyer managed to turn a witch hunt in a lucrative business.
England's top witch hunter Matthew Hopkins
Matthew Hopkins made a public statement that he was ready to lead the fight against witches, which at that time had lasted for about a hundred years. To gain the public's confidence, the lawyer showed a "secret document" - "The Devil's List", allegedly created and encrypted by Satan himself. All the witches in England were listed by name in this document. The question of how this list got directly into the hands of the lawyer remained open - apparently, it was written by Matthew Hopkins himself. But at that time, they not only believed him, but also allocated funds for a witch hunt.
Vincent Price as Matthew Hopkins
The lawyer was looking for witches all over the country. For each find he was paid about £ 20, so the hunt was very productive - at that time it was a lot of money. Basically, witches were found among the poor - they had neither influential patrons, nor money to pay off the charges.
England's top witch hunter Matthew Hopkins
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The methods for identifying witches were monstrous. For example, a woman was locked in a room, and if then a fly or any other insect was found there, they believed that it was a personal demon sent by Satan. Any animals were declared personal demons - cats, dogs, hares, etc.
* Test of the witch *. 19th century painting by Thompkins H. Matteson
The accused were pricked with needles, looking for insensitive places on the body, and if such were found and, moreover, did not bleed, the guilt was proven. A birthmark or wart on the body was enough to be charged with witchcraft. The woman's arms and legs were tied crosswise and thrown into the water - if she began to drown, then the accusations were unfounded. Immersion in water could be done up to three times. Records of 68 government officials for 12 months of Hopkins' activity have been preserved, but in fact there were much more of them.
Suspect water testing procedure
Sometimes the suspect was tied to a chair and thrown into the water. If it comes up, it means a witch
Procedure for * bathing * a suspect in witchcraft
Throughout Europe, witches were tortured and burned at the stake, but in England there was no bodily torture, and burning was considered a punishment for high treason, therefore in this country women were expected to be tortured by insomnia and hunger and execution by hanging. In England, there have never been mass executions of witches, unlike Germany and France, where hundreds of people were burned over several weeks. The criminal responsibility for witchcraft in the British Isles was abolished in the middle of the 18th century. In total, the English courts sentenced to hanging about 1000 witches, and about 200 of them - on the conscience of Matthew Hopkins.
Execution of witches in England
Matthew Hopkins lived a short life - only 27 years. the exact cause of his death is unknown - there is a version that he himself was executed for witchcraft as a result, according to another version, he died of illness. But in his short life, the lawyer managed to destroy a large number of people and share his experience in the book "Disclosure of Witches".
Matthew Hopkins and his book * Disclosing the Witches *
Book by Matthew Hopkins * Uncovering the Witches *