In this episode, we break down the origins of the deadliest witch hunt in English history, and how one man became responsible for the arrest and execution of hundreds. Set in the midst of the English Civil War, which threw the country into a state of violent turmoil, we look at the story of Matthew Hopkins, and how this self-styled Witchfinder General came to create this new occupation for himself as fears around witchcraft were once again on the rise. This is a story of an opportunistic man who left a deadly legacy in his wake. How exactly does one become a witchfinder? Tune in to find out...

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Sources:

Matthew Hopkins, The Discovery of Witches: In Answer to Severall Queries Lately… (1647). Made available through Project Gutenberg.

Ellen Castelow, “Matthew Hopkins, Witch-Finder General,” Historic UK (April 4, 2017).

Malcolm Gaskill, Witchfinders: A Seventeenth-Century English Tragedy (Harvard University Press, 2005).

Diane Purkiss, “Matthew Hopkins and the Panic about Witches,” in Literature, Gender, and Politics During the English Civil War, edited by Diane Purkiss (Cambridge University Press, 2005).

James A. Sharpe, Instruments of Darkness: Witchcraft in England, 1550-1750 (Penguin, 1996).

Jim Sharpe, “The Devil in East Anglia: the Matthew Hopkins Trials Reconsidered” in New Perspectives on Witchcraft, Magic and Demonology, Volume 3: Witchcraft in the British Isles and New England, edited by Brian P. Levack (Routledge, 2001).

Written and recorded by: Kenyon Payne

Theme music: "Southern Gothic" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Outro music: “D´vil,” anrocomposer

Additional featured music

By Kevin MacLeod(incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/:

“Leaving Home”

“Mourning Song”

“String Impromptu Number 1”

“Blue Feather”

“Double Drift”

“Constance”

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What happens when someone claiming to be bewitched admits that it was all a lie? What also happens when that confession is made directly to a King? In this episode, Kenyon looks into a case of witchcraft accusations gone wrong. In a tale of feuding neighbors, feigned curses, and parental abuse, we follow the story of Anne Gunter, whose claims nearly brought three local women to the gallows. Instead, confessions of fictitious allegations turned this case of witchcraft into one of alarming manipulation and physical torment. How did this young woman end up making such damning claims against her neighbors? And why was her father so invested in winning this case that he appealed to the King of England himself?

Sources:

Megan Benson, “Anne Gunter,” in A Biographical Encyclopedia of Early Modern Englishwomen: Exemplary Lives and Memorable Acts, 1500-1650, edited by Carole Levin, Anna Riehl Bertolet, and Jo Eldridge Carney (2016).

James Sharpe, The Bewitching of Anne Gunter (Routledge, 2000).

Written and recorded by: Kenyon Payne

Theme music: "Southern Gothic" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Outro music: “D´vil,” anrocomposer

Additional featured music

By Kevin MacLeod(incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/:

“Vanishing”

“Morgana Rides”

“SCP-x1x”

“Interloper”

“Heavy Heart”

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bad neighbors, demons named Snack, and a house full of possessed girls. Talk about a wild case to study. In fact, this one ranks among one of the more famous instances of witchcraft to come out of 16th century England: the Witches of Warboys. In this episode, we see how a household of young girls claimed to be bewitched by their older neighbor, Alice Samuel. Digging deeper, though, we see the numerous layers that appear before us, including a wealthy household that chose to use its power and influence to take control over the prosecution of the accusations, as well as the construction of the narrative that followed.

Did you hear the fun news at the end of the episode? This is one spoiler to share, but Outcasts of the Earth has its own website! You can visit it at: www.ootepod.com. Feel free to check it out!

Sources:

Anon., The Most Strange and Admirable Discoverie of the Three Witches of Warboys… (London: 1593).

Philip C. Almond, Demonic Possession and Exorcism in Early Modern England (Cambridge University Press, 2004).

Anne Reiber DeWindt, “Witchcraft and Conflicting Visions of the Ideal Village Community,” Journal of British Studies, Vol. 34, No. 4 (Oct., 1995), pp. 427-463.

Enid Porter, “Witchcraft in Warboys” Nov. (1968), 28-30.

Willow Winsham, “The Witches of Warboys and the Death of Lady Cromwell” (August 8, 2018).

Written and recorded by: Kenyon Payne

Theme music: "Southern Gothic" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Outro music: “D´vil,” anrocomposer

Additional featured music:

By Kevin MacLeod(incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/:

“Long Note Three”

“The Escalation”

“Krampus Workshop”

“Spacial Harvest”

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.