. Their names were John Nurse (born 1645), Rebecca Nurse (born 1647), Samuel Nurse (born 1649), Elizabeth Nurse (born 1655 or 1656), Mary Nurse (born 1657 28 June 1749), Francis Nurse (born 1660 or 1661), Sarah Nurse (born 1662) and Benjamin Nurse (born in 1665 or 1666). A Witch Trial at Mount Holly. Looking back with the perspective provided by modern science, some scholars have speculated that the strange behaviour may have resulted from some combination of asthma, encephalitis, Lyme disease, epilepsy, child abuse, delusional psychosis, or convulsive ergotismthe last a disease caused by eating bread or cereal made of rye that has been infected with the fungus ergot, which can elicit vomiting, choking, fits, hallucinations, and the sense of something crawling on ones skin. Salem Witch Trials: Conclusion and Legacy The infamous Salem witch trials began during the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed. Witches were considered to be followers of Satan who had traded their souls for his assistance. [1] This farm still exists, and is today preserved as the Rebecca Nurse Homestead. She was convicted and whipped thirty-nine times. When were people most likely to be accused of witchcraft in Salem? If Sherwood sinks, she will be presumed innocent; if she floats, she will be presumed guilty. Other girls and young women began experiencing fits, among them Ann Putnam, Jr.; her mother; her cousin, Mary Walcott; and the Putnamss servant, Mercy Lewis. This collective amnesia came into play during the sectional crisis in the decades leading up to the Civil War, when tensions between northern and southern politicians regarding slavery ran high. By May 1693, Phips had pardoned all those imprisoned on witchcraft charges. A local doctor blamed the supernatural. Indeed, charges of witchcraft and trials of suspected witches are increasing. https://www.boundless.com/world-history/textbooks/boundless-world-history-textbook/the-protestant-reformation-12/protestantism-56/the-witch-trials-214-13324/, Demonstrate how natural events and pandemics contributed to the hysteria surrounding the witch trials of the 16th through 18th centuries. When it was all over, 141 suspects, both men and women, were tried as witches. However, some people who are unlucky in love may believe that someone is using witchcraft against them. President Jammeh also claims to be able to cure AIDS on Thursdays and fires doctors who disagree with him. Compare And Contrast Salem Witch Trials And Mccarthyism Jess Blumberg of Criminal Law 432). Though the Salem trials took place just as the European craze was winding down, local circumstances explain their onset. Many people described Nurse as "the woman of self-dignity", due to her collected behavior on the gallows. Witches were considered Satan's followers, members of an antichurch and an antistate, the sworn enemies of Christian society in the Middle Ages, and a "counter-state" in the early modern period. The word witchcraft has good and bad meanings in different cultures around the world. When it was all over, 141 suspects, both men and women, were tried as witches. The most famous witch trial in history happened in Salem, Massachusetts, during the winter and spring of 1692-1693. As was the custom, after she was hanged, her body was buried in a shallow grave near the execution spot. (Some historians have pointed to the death of Katherine Grady, who was hanged in 1654, as an example of a Virginia execution for witchcraft, but Gradys trial and death took place at sea, on a ship bound for the colony.). Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The police told them if they accuse a person of witchcraft and that person ends up being killed, the healers and village chiefs will be held responsible. Salem Witch Trials was presented by CBS on March 2 and 4, 2003. There was a social divide between the leading families as well as a split between factions that were for and against the villages new pastor, Samuel Parris. According to many legends, a baby that is not born head-first and with its face upwards is considered to be a witch. These trials were mostly initiated to prosecute individuals who had been accused of witchcraft. If a person was accused of witchcraft, they were taken to the nearest body of water and stripped down to their undergarments. Witch trials in the Holy Roman Empire - Wikipedia Salem Witch Trials (DVD, 2008) 96009700195 | eBay People are unjustifiably persecuted and/or killed. The witch trials could best be described as. The General Court meets in Jamestown to hear evidence against Joan Wright of Surry County, who is accused by her neighbors of practicing witchcraft. Squabbles over property were commonplace, and litigiousness was rampant. If she didn't drown, she was considered to be a witch and put to death. The most famous witch trial in history happened in Salem, Massachusetts, during the winter and spring of 1692-1693. Over time, Virginias witch trials were overshadowed by the cases tried in New England, which were more numerous and more sensational, and then forgotten altogether. Rebecca was a well-respected member of the community. His elaborate, mocking descriptions of the practices of court justices in trying witches illustrate the beginning of a shift in the colonial perception of witchcraft from terrifying reality to puritanical fantasy. Dozens of people from Salem and other Massachusetts villages were brought in for questioning. In the 20th century, artists and scientists alike continued to be fascinated by the Salem witch trials. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Cf. "[9], In the end, the jury ruled Nurse not guilty. Spectral evidence was admitted in the Salem Witch trials, but condemned by many before and after as legally invalid. In 1672, Francis Nurse served as Salem's Constable. Salem, Mass., 1692.O Christian Martyr who for Truth could dieWhen all about thee owned the hideous lie!The world redeemed from Superstition's swayIs breathing freer for thy sake today. This occurred during a time when parts of the government and people of the Province of Massachusetts Bay were seized with witch-phobia. The death of a large percentage of the European population was believed by many Christians to have been caused by their enemies. The Salem trials also went on to become a powerful metaphor for the anticommunist hearings led by U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the Red Scare of the 1950s, famously in the form of Arthur Millers allegorical play The Crucible (1953). By the end of the Salem witch trials, 19 people had been hanged and 5 others had died in custody. People try to come up with reasons for their own bad luck, or someone elses good luck. Ruiz spoke to an audience of more than eighty history department alumni and guests. O Christian Martyr who for Truth could die. Over the entire duration of the trials, which spanned three centuries, an estimated total of 40,000-100,000 people were executed. After weeks of informal hearings, Sir William Phips, governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, interceded to add some formality to the proceedings. Founders Online: A Witch Trial at Mount Holly, 22 October 1730 Professor Ruiz, UCLA department chair and Premio del Rey prize for best book in Spanish history before 1580 for his Crisis and Continuity: Land and Town in Late Medieval Castile, was speaker for the UCLA History Alumni Faculty Lecture, cohosted by the UCLA Alumni Association and UCLA Department of History. The Witch Trials of Trier in Germany was perhaps the biggest witch trial in European history. Traditional healers, who rely on ancient remedies, are not witch doctors. For Americans, that number was even higher: 21 percent. Another girl, 12-year-old Ann Putnam Jr., experienced similar episodes. Some scholars believe that they were of African heritage, while others think that they may have been of Caribbean Native American heritage.). Playwright Arthur Miller resurrected the tale with his 1953 play The Crucible, using the trials as an allegory for the anti-communist McCarthyism then sweeping the country.