For me, witches always belonged to a much earlier age. It is impossible to know exactly when beliefs in witchcraft and magic first began, but during certain periods the concept of witchcraft expanded, and the punishments given to “witches” were often shaped by the fears of rulers.  
I don’t know exactly when the concept of witchcraft first emerged, but before witch there was the idea of sorcery and magic. Accusations of magic had existed for centuries, though since my research focuses on the Tudor period, I will not discuss earlier times in detail. Nevertheless, accusations of sorcery were quite common. For example, Elizabeth Woodville and her mother were accused of using magic to enchant King Edward IV, and in a more recent example Henry VIII claimed that Anne Boleyn had bewitched him.  
Punishments for magical practices often involved public humiliation.

However, in 1542 King Henry VIII passed the Witchcraft Act. This law made witchcraft a capital offense punishable by death, and with its introduction England entered what could be called the beginning of the witchcraft era.

There is a story that Henry had the eleven-year-old Alice Glaston executed for witchcraft, although this has never been proven. Apart from this, no other witchcraft executions are clearly known during Henry’s reign. In 1547, during the reign of Edward VI, the act was repealed. It is often said that the Duke of Somerset, who apparently had little belief in witchcraft, played an important role in this decision.  
I think it is important to distinguish between witchcraft and prophecy. During Henry’s reign, Elizabeth Barton made a prophecy concerning the king’s death. She declared that Henry would die within a year and that his place in hell was already prepared. Although she later retracted her statements, it did not save her. She was executed in 1534 at only twenty-eight years of age. Her crime was considered treason, not witchcraft.

During Edward VI’s reign, a man named Robert Allen prophesied in 1551 that the king would die within a year. After spending more than a year in prison, he was eventually released. Laws against prophecies were enacted during the reigns of Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Elizabeth I.

During Queen Mary’s reign, one woman was investigated for practicing magic, but nothing came of the accusation and she was released.

After Elizabeth I ascended the throne, many Protestants who had fled England during Mary’s reign returned. One of them was John Jewel, who would help ignite England’s fear of witchcraft. After returning to England, he became Bishop of Salisbury.  
Elizabeth and her advisers feared that Catholics might use magic against her or plot against her. They believed that superstition had regained influence during Mary’s reign. John Jewel became one of the leading advocates of this view.  
In a sermon delivered to Queen Elizabeth in 1562, he declared that he had to speak because of “the horrible oppression of your poor subjects.” He continued:  
*“These sort of people, that is witches and sorcerers, have marvellously increased within your Majesty’s realm these few years. Our eyes behold the manifest proof of their wickedness. Your subjects pine away even unto death; their colour fadeth, their flesh rotteth, their speech is benumbed, and their senses are deprived.”*  
Soon afterward, the Witchcraft Act of 1563 was passed. This initiated a campaign against witches. England was entering a climate of fear.  
People believed that witches searched for hidden treasure, dealt with spirits, used herbs, summoned demons, made pacts with the Devil, and performed various tricks in order to gain the support of influential people.  
English witchcraft was often divided into “good witches” and “bad witches.” The so-called good witches attempted to heal the sick and counteract the spells of evil witches. Wallace Notestein considered many of these people to be frauds. The punishment for good witches was generally lighter than that imposed upon harmful witches.  
There is considerable debate over who was the first person executed for witchcraft in England, but I will mention the generally accepted candidate: Elizabeth Lowys.

Elizabeth was described as a very clever woman — as men often feared clever women. She first appeared before the courts in 1564, but insufficient evidence prevented a conviction. Later she was tried again, and witnesses were brought against her. One witness testified that Elizabeth constantly argued with people. Others also gave evidence against her.  
The final witness claimed that Elizabeth had bewitched and killed a child named John Cannell. However, the child’s own family stated that Elizabeth was not responsible for his death. It made little difference. More accusations were produced to secure her conviction. Although Elizabeth denied every charge, she was executed in 1565. She became the first executed “witch.”

The most famous witchcraft case, however, occurred in 1566.  
This is one of the strangest and most fascinating cases I have ever read. Even members of the upper ranks of society attended the proceedings.  
While being questioned, Elizabeth Francis confessed that years earlier her grandmother had given her a white cat named Satan. She claimed that she spoke with the cat and that it helped her.  
One day she wanted to marry a wealthy man named Andrew Byles. The cat promised that it would happen, but it did not. When the man refused to marry her, Elizabeth claimed that she sent the cat to touch him, after which he died.  
Later she asked Satan for a husband and married a poorer man. They had a daughter, but the marriage was unhappy. According to her confession, she used the spirit to kill her child and cripple her husband. After keeping the cat for fifteen years, she gave it to a poor woman named Agnes Waterhouse.  
When Agnes Waterhouse was questioned, she claimed that the cat had transformed itself into a toad. Her daughter Joan was then interrogated, and she stated that she had spoken with the toad and that it later became a horned dog that tormented a neighbor’s daughter. The neighbor’s daughter then gave testimony as well**.** Agnes was executed in 1566. Elizabeth, meanwhile, was executed in 1579 for continuing to practice witchcraft.

The author of the book I read argues that these confessions were obtained under pressure and that much of the testimony came from imagination, false accusations, and the fantasies of children.  
More than two hundred people were tried for witchcraft during this period. Most of the accused were women, and approximately fifty people were executed.  
The principal evidence against many of them consisted solely of their confessions.  
But why did they confess?  
Many of the executed women were not well liked in their communities. Perhaps this influenced the accusations against them. Most were poor women. Testimony from very young children — often between six and nine years old — was frequently accepted as evidence.  
The book also describes talkative women accusing one another, biased juries, and women being exploited and robbed.  
The witch-hunter Darcy wrote:  
*“A man of great knowledge and cunning hath lately come before our Queen’s Majesty and declared what companies and numbers of witches there are within England. Therefore I and other justices have received commissions to apprehend as many as can be found within these limits.”*  
He was one of England’s earliest witch-hunters.  
However, one person deserves special mention: Reginald Scot.  
At a time when fear of witchcraft was increasing and persecution was spreading, Scot opposed the witch trials and regarded witchcraft as superstition. Largely alone, he resisted these beliefs, and his efforts helped slow the persecutions.  
The rise in witchcraft accusations during the first half of Elizabeth’s reign began to decline partly because of Scot’s influence.  
Unfortunately, this did not last long. Elizabeth died, and the throne passed to King James, one of history’s most famous believers in witchcraft.  
I would like to end with a few personal thoughts.  
Witchcraft has always fascinated me. When I was a child, hearing about executed witches shocked me. The only witch I knew then was the stereotypical witch with a pointed hat and a broom from children’s cartoons, so that was how I imagined witches.  
England was not the only country that persecuted witches, and many European countries employed far more horrific methods of execution.  
I believe that some of the accused women suffered from mental illness, while others were simply victims of false accusations.  
There are many more fascinating details and cases that I have not included here in order to avoid making this even longer. Anyone interested should read *A History of Witchcraft in England from 1558 to 1718.*  
Finally, I would like to mention the two people who unknowingly inspired me to write this. They were discussing witchcraft under one of my posts, and until then my knowledge of the subject had been very superficial. Their discussion encouraged me to research the topic further, and I would like to thank them both.  
And thank you for reading this very long and somewhat epic post. Please forgive any mistakes.

A Tudor Nightmare: Witches