The Witches of Warboys: An Extraordinary Story of Sorcery, Sadism and Satanic Possession in Elizabethan England

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Skeptics are very familiar with this idea: “ What a mystery we are to ourselves”. We have all gone to conferences and read articles about the way our cognitive systems deliver us false messages. We know that our minds and bodies aren’t separate, but that they interact. I'm fascinated by the subject and grabbed this when I stumbled across it at the library. But I didn't enjoy the storytelling that much. I found it repetitive at times and there were chunks where not much happened. In ‘ Protean nature of mass sociogenic illness ‘, Bartholomew and Wessely review some of the well-known historical cases of MSI from possessed nuns to convulsing schoolgirls. They conclude that: I seem to have read quite a few historical novels about witch trials over the last few years – The Witchfinder’s Sister by Beth Underdown, The Familiars by Stacey Halls and Widdershins by Helen Steadman, to name just three. Jill Dawson’s latest novel, The Bewitching, is another and it tells the story of the Witches of Warboys. I had never read anything about this particular case until now, yet it’s apparently one of the best-known of the 16th century witch trials and is thought to have strongly influenced the Witchcraft Act of 1604. In her author’s note, Jill Dawson states that many of the details described in the novel appeared in a pamphlet published at the time, although she has shortened the time frame and invented some of the characters and incidents. This is one of the most famous witch trials in UK history, and which took place in 1612 around the area of Pendle Hill, just north of Burnley, Lancashire.

I’d argue that some people accused of witchcraft were just really good at creating folk remedies and medicines that actually worked to heal people.

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At Westminster Warboys is in the parliamentary constituency of North West Cambridgeshire, [19] and elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. Warboys is represented in the House of Commons by Shailesh Vara ( Conservative). Shailesh Vara has represented the constituency since 2005. The previous member of parliament was Brian Mawhinney (Conservative) who represented the constituency between 1997 and 2005. Andrew said: Andrew “We tend to see clusters of witch trials in times of relative peace - where there was no other enemy to focus on. The Cromwell connection particularly interested Jill. She says: “Henry Cromwell lived at Ramsey and Hinchinbrook and he had tremendous power as a landlord. Once his wife accused the the neighbor of being a witch, things went from bad to worse. So there's something to learn here about power. There's something about who is wielding it. And there's this focus on the girls as if they were at the center of everything, whereas I kept thinking anyone intelligent would think that girls between the ages of eight and 16 do not actually have any power in a society. They're not the church. They're not the judges. They're not the people bringing the trials. They're not the academics. They're not the people writing the pamphlet. I just didn't buy it. So that's what The Bewitching is - it’s my attempt to uncover a story that feels true using a great deal of historic research, which I always love.” Author Jill Dawson (57701504)

One of these methods was called a ‘witch bottle’. If someone was scared of becoming a target, they’d take a bottle and put personal items in it - commonly metal nails and other household items. Almond, Philip C. (2008). The Witches of Warboys: An Extraordinary Story of Sorcery, Sadism and Satanic Possession. London: I.B. Tauris.

1909

And because witchcraft in England was seen as a ‘felony’ against King and country, and not a heresy, they were all hung. Homes can be scary places if we don’t understand them' Builder reveals what really goes bump in the night Kermode, J.I.; Walker, Garthine (1994). Women, crime and the courts in early modern England. London: UCL Press. ISBN 1857281403. An emotional novel that speaks to our times, drawing on the 16th-century case of the witches of Warboys.