The Response of the Authorities
Local
Spain from 1526 had a supreme council which managed to keep witchcraft
executions to a minimum after 1614
Pittenweem Scotland 1704, locals killed a woman after the privy council had ordered
her release
1590 Privy council took over accusations in Scotland –meant to restrict persecutions.
1647 Hopkins questioned by the Norfolk Assizes
1587 Paris Parlement intervened in Champagne-Ardennes to stop trials
Diabolical ideas didn’t reach judges in Hungry until 1696 Benedict Carpzov
1617-21 James I sceptical of witchcraft
Law faculties of local universities in the Holy Roman empire helped apply the brakes
1532 Carolina
In England the determination of guilt was left to a trial jury
Non-capital punishment common in England were a first offence often resulted in
prison time
In Geneva when there was uncertainty about a verdict the accused could instead be
banished
Torture
In the 1660s the University of Tübingen in Germany began recommending against
torturing witches
Two Jesuits Adam Tanner and Paul Laymann wrote theological pieces condemning
the use of torture
Pope Innocent IV permitted the use of torture for heresy cases
One judge noted that when sleep deprivation was used fewer than 2% resisted
confessing
Conviction rate with torture was over 95%
Von Lagenfeld wrote Cautio Criminalis in 1631
Torture was eventually abolished in many areas: Prussia 1754, Saxony 1770, Sweden
1782, France 1788
One recorded instance in Dreissigacker in Germany mentions an individual tortured
56 times
England where torture wasn't used rate was only 40%
Use of torture was restricted in 1623 by the papacy and there was a demand for
better evidence
One woman in Styria had to kneel on a sharp torture stool for 11 days and nights
while a burning sculpture was applied to her feet
Where central authority was strong there was less torture
New Standards of Evidence
Reginald Scot and Johann Weyer had been sceptical since 1560s
In Massachusetts before 1692 80% of those accused of witchcraft were acquitted
Local
Spain from 1526 had a supreme council which managed to keep witchcraft
executions to a minimum after 1614
Pittenweem Scotland 1704, locals killed a woman after the privy council had ordered
her release
1590 Privy council took over accusations in Scotland –meant to restrict persecutions.
1647 Hopkins questioned by the Norfolk Assizes
1587 Paris Parlement intervened in Champagne-Ardennes to stop trials
Diabolical ideas didn’t reach judges in Hungry until 1696 Benedict Carpzov
1617-21 James I sceptical of witchcraft
Law faculties of local universities in the Holy Roman empire helped apply the brakes
1532 Carolina
In England the determination of guilt was left to a trial jury
Non-capital punishment common in England were a first offence often resulted in
prison time
In Geneva when there was uncertainty about a verdict the accused could instead be
banished
Torture
In the 1660s the University of Tübingen in Germany began recommending against
torturing witches
Two Jesuits Adam Tanner and Paul Laymann wrote theological pieces condemning
the use of torture
Pope Innocent IV permitted the use of torture for heresy cases
One judge noted that when sleep deprivation was used fewer than 2% resisted
confessing
Conviction rate with torture was over 95%
Von Lagenfeld wrote Cautio Criminalis in 1631
Torture was eventually abolished in many areas: Prussia 1754, Saxony 1770, Sweden
1782, France 1788
One recorded instance in Dreissigacker in Germany mentions an individual tortured
56 times
England where torture wasn't used rate was only 40%
Use of torture was restricted in 1623 by the papacy and there was a demand for
better evidence
One woman in Styria had to kneel on a sharp torture stool for 11 days and nights
while a burning sculpture was applied to her feet
Where central authority was strong there was less torture
New Standards of Evidence
Reginald Scot and Johann Weyer had been sceptical since 1560s
In Massachusetts before 1692 80% of those accused of witchcraft were acquitted
