QUIZ en u have be Would yoof witchcraft accused 16th and 17th e during th s? Find out in ie r ith centu created w our quiz, Owen Davies: r Professo yextra.com/ r to is h witchquiz
THE HISTORY OF
WITCHCRAFT
W
hen most of us think of witches, the image of three cackling women chanting the refrain “Double double toil and trouble / Fire burn and cauldron bubble” probably springs to mind. But when Shakespeare added those infamous lines to Macbeth, witches were considered a very real threat. During the 16th and 17th centuries, thousands of people across Europe and the American colonies – many of them women – were arrested, tortured and executed for carrying out supposedly diabolical acts. Indeed, while such scenes are now mostly consigned to the realm of film and television, people genuinely
believed that they lived among others with supernatural abilities. In this month’s issue of BBC History Revealed, we’ve teamed up with expert Professor Owen Davies to explore the history of witchcraft in spellbinding detail, spanning the ancient world to the present day. Along the way, we’ll meet the vigilante witch-hunters who roamed the countryside during the Civil Wars, investigate the shapeshifting spirits of Haiti, and discover what really happened at Salem – scene of one of the most famous witch trials in history. However, we begin with a timeline of important witch-related events over the past 600 years. Simply turn the page to get started...
30 Key moments in witchcraft history
From Europe’s first witch trials to the introduction of the Fraudulent Mediums Act in Britain, we chart six centuries of fear and persecution GETTY IMAGES X7
32 Witchcraft in the ancient world
We reveal the early origins of people’s beliefs in magic and the supernatural
36 From accusation to trial
What happened when an accused witch was arrested and taken to court?
40 Hunting for witches
We meet the vigilantes who took extreme measures in a bid to track down their ‘prey’
42 Scotland’s witch hunts
A look at some of the startling facts and statistics associated with the persecution of witches north of the border
44 Witchcraft: fact or fiction?
Professor Owen Davies helps debunk some of the biggest myths and misconceptions about European witchcraft
49 Zombies of the Caribbean
We take a trip to Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where beliefs about witchcraft – and zombies – still play a role in society
52 The Salem witch trials
How did a vulnerable New England colony end up playing host to one of the most notorious series of witch trials in history?
56 Wicca and modern witchcraft
Learn more about the magical movements of the 20th century and beyond
28
HISTORYEXTRA.COM
OWEN DAVIES is a professor of history at the University of Hertfordshire and an expert on the history of witchcraft, magic, ghosts and popular medicine from the ancient world to the modern era. His books include The Oxford Illustrated History of Witchcraft and Magic (OUP, 2017)
XXXX 2021
29