Review of Part I Pendle Witches

Last episode Tatjana talked about the feud between the Demdikes and Chattoxs and the beginning of the resulting trial in 1612. The matriarchs were Elizabeth Southerns( Demdikes) and Anne Whittle(Chattoxes). It started with Elizabeth Southern’s granddaughter, Alizon, and John Law( a Chattox), with Alizon trying to purchase something from him. Things are not clear as to whether Alizon begged or John refused, but there was a quarrel. And as he was walking away he possibly had a stroke which Alizon saw. At this point there was not any claim of witchcraft. Later Law’s son went to  Alizon. He thought she may have caused whatever happened to his father and she confessed to witchcraft. There was a meeting between families and it did not go well. The quarrel was deeper than just the one incident.

This is when the matriarchs were brought in before the law, Nowell, and they told on each other, claiming the other had done witchcraft.

Part II

The Malkin Tower Meeting

The Malkin Tower Meeting, at the home of Demdikes, was orchestrated by Elizabeth Device on April 10, 1612 Good Friday. Friends and sympathizers of the family attended. Upon hearing of this meeting Roger Nowell decided to find out what the meeting’s purpose was with the help of a fellow magistrate, Nicholas Bannister. This led to the arrest of eight more people: Elizabeth Device, James Device, Katherine Hewitt, John Bulcock, Jane Bulcock, Jennet Preston (from Yorkshire), Alice Nutter and Alice Grey. Jennet Preston was sent to trial at the York Inquests, everyone else was sent to Lancaster Goal thus joining the others already imprisoned there. Interestingly some of the imprisoned actually believed in their guilt while others vehemently protested their guilt.

The York Inquest July 27,1612 is where, as mentioned before, Jennet Preston was tried for and found guilty of the death of Thomas Lister of Westby Hall, a local landowner. She professed her innocence to the end. She had a history of the accusation of murder previously to this event though. In 1611 she appeared before Bromley for the death of a child through the use of witchcraft but had been found not guilty. She is connected to the Malkin Tower meeting for seeking to enlist the help of the others to murder Thomas Lister. She was hanged July 29,1612.

The Lancaster Inquests…

Now a key player in the deaths of these people was a nine year old girl by the name of Jennet Device. She identified those that were at the Malkin Tower meeting including her mother, brother and sister. It was unusual to allow someone so young to be part of the trial in the 17th century but due to King James’ book, Daemonologie it was permitted for this purpose. Nine of the accused were found guilty and hanged on August 20, 1612 at Gallows Hill Lancaster. One, Elizabeth Southerns, died awaiting trial and Alice Grey was the only one found not guilty.

More in depth…

August 18th

Anne Whittle (a.k.a. Chattox) pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder of Robert Nutter. James Robinson, a tenant of the Chattox family 20 years previous, recalled that Nutter had said Chattox had been turning his beer sour and that it was commonly believed she was a witch. I believe in order to attempt to save her daughter Anne Redferne, she succumbed to the charges against her. She asked for mercy for her daughter in the end.

James Robinson and John Robinsons’ deaths were placed at the feet of Elizabeth Device. She along with Alice Nutter were accused of the murder of Henry Mitton. Now it is unfortunate that Elizabeth had a facial deformity which worked against her in the eyes of the court and when her daughter was brought out to accuse her she was forcibly removed from the courtroom due to her cursing and screaming at her daughter, Jennet, who was the nine year old I spoke of earlier. Jennet explained how her mother had a familiar, a dog named Ball with whom she contrived to carry out various murders and how she had seen her mother making a clay figure of John Robinson whom she was accused of murdering. Elizabeth was found guilty.

James Device was accused of having murdered John Duckworth and Anne Townley using witchcraft. His earlier confession to Nowell being used against him in court and that of his sister Jennet’s statement of him conjuring a black dog to help him kill Townley was sufficient evidence. He was found guilty.

August 19th

Anne Redferne’s first appearance in court proved to be lucky in that she was acquitted of the charge against her, the murder of Robert Nutter due to “unsatisfactory” evidence. However, the next day did not prove the same. The charge of murdering Christopher Nutter, Robert’s father, was brought against her. She declared herself not guilty. A statement made to Nowell by Demdike declaring that Anne was seen making clay figures was admitted into the hearing. Many claimed her “more dangerous than her mother” as a witch but she stood fast as to her being not guilty. She never gave in and she never offered up any other names in court. She was found guilty.

Jane Bulcock and her son John were said to have been seen at the Malkin Tower meeting wherein a sheep had been stolen from a neighbor. They denied being there but Jennet Device once again stood in court and claimed their presence and that John had been turning the sheep on the spit. They were also accused of the use of witchcraft in the murder of Jennet Deane. They were found guilty.

Alice Grey and Katherine Hewitt were both accused of the murder of Anne Foulds. Both were pointed to as having been at the Malkin Tower meeting and to have said they had killed the child Anne Foulds.  Alice Grey was not found guilty but by all accounts of the history of hangings, Katherine Hewitt was.

Alice Nutter was charged with murdering Henry Mitton with the use of witchcraft. She was different from the rest in that she was “comparatively wealthy” and a widow. She entered the plea of not guilty but said nothing else at her trial. She was said to have joined with Demdike and Elizabeth Device to kill him after he refused to give Demdike a penny she had begged for. James Device testified that Demdike had told him of the murder. Once again Jennet Device pointed out that she had been at the infamous Tower meeting. It is thought that Alice may have been on her way to a secret service when she got roped into the meeting and said nothing in her defense since this secret religious meeting would’ve been illegal. Much of her family were Catholics and two of her family members who were Jesuit priests had been put to death for it. She was found guilty.

Alizon Device, the one who had the encounter with John Law (you remember him right?) that was the incident which brought this all on, was accused of witchcraft which she had previously already admitted to. What was uncommon was that he was present at the trial and confronted her in court. She was found guilty.

Roman Magic

Ancient Roman magic is the topic today. Actually much of it was illegal, drawing a fine line between religious practices and what was called magic. Originally thought to have come from Persia and Zoroastrianism, by the Romans of the time. It was held in low regard by at least a few high ranking intellectuals because of the rivalry that was had with Persia.  It was thought to be widely used by the Roman lower classes as a way to get free of anxiety and get a sense of revenge. It came in much the same forms as Greek magic; amulets, curse tablets, incantations, and enchantments. Poisons were included under the magical umbrella in Roman times.

Magic was seen as an antisocial act and was thus deemed illegal by those in power. Antisocial here is taken to mean someone who is able but not willing to perform their social duties. It was thought that some of the big brouhaha around magic was for control purposes as just about anybody could have been accused of practicing magic. This antisocial view of magic was pervasive around the Twelve Tables period or around 450 BCE to Christian Rome, 380 CE when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire.

One of the known intellectuals that looked down upon magic was Pliny the Elder. He wrote Natural History, a series of books on general Roman thought and knowledge at the time consisting of 37 books split into 10 volumes. He was the one who wrote down that magic came from Persia theory. Pliny did not believe in incantations, personally thinking magic was a Persian scam.

Regardless of the fact that it was illegal and some of those in power questioned its efficacy, magic still remained popular. It gave people a sense of control when they felt that otherwise they had none. It was reassurance that people would get their just desserts, especially in the case of unsolved thefts or other unsolved things. Knowing the future through astrology was also a big draw. It was also mostly perpetrated by men as opposed to the common thought of the time that women were the primary practitioners.

The only new form of magic from Greece is poisoning. Poisoning was seen as magic because of its unpredictability as well as its ability to be hidden. It could be colorless, or tasteless, or very potent, etc. It was also associated with women; seen as the only way a woman could physically overpower a man.

The Ancient Romans had a rich magic tradition despite the illegality of it. It was and still is a powerful tool in the arsenal of the human psyche and the material world and that is why it appealed to so many, then as now. Many people still look down on it, however I am glad that magic is no longer illegal and that we can practice freely. Despite what others may think it helps.

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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendle_witches

https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2211&context=honorstheses