Lancaster Witches

Figure 3 The Lancaster Witch Trials were well documented, assisting historians with their exploration of societal views and perceptions in Britain during the 1600’s. A comparison of different time-periods can be made (knowledge on topics like mental heath and medicinal practices adapt over time)  this allows historians to better understand societal gaps and developments during the 17th century. Historians can develop a better understanding of early development of court systems with use of this topic and can track current changes and adaptations relevant to the 21st century. Overall, there are endless areas of interest for a historian to explore dependent on their area of interest within the Lancaster Witch Trials. One key area of interest includes the court system, (processes, accusations and documentation) A notable component unique to these trials involve the use of children in the court system which has impacted the future development of court systems even in North America. ...

By the 1630's some of the the Lancashire witch trials were more than they seemed. In this particular case even false evidence was can be found in The National Archives .  Figure 1:  National Archives: Case of False Evidence In this case here, a child named Edmond Robinson the younger is involved in false accusations of witchcraft. The interesting thing about this particular case is that is that the woman accused is Jennet Device. She was once a child in a courtroom making accusations herself during the Pendle Witch Trials. After the court case she was involved in, there was a new perception on the use of children in the legal system. This time though, Edmond admits that his evidence is false and Jennet is not changed based on his accusation. 

  Figure 2: Drawing of Pendle Witches The Pendle Witch Trials of 1612 is a well documented account involving multiple individuals accused of witchcraft and includes false documents in a court case.  A summary of this event is as follows:  The trial occurred in August of 1612. It involved two different families headed by two elderly widows. Image 3: Families involved in witch trials This is a unique and notable case because ten people were said to be murdered as a result of witchcraft and an astounding number of individuals were charged in this case. Jennet Device, a child one of the individual accused was a "key witness in the trials."  The use of this child's voice gave a new value to the use of children in court cases. After to this point the use of children in court cases changed. 

In the United Kingdom during the early 1600's talk of witches was common. Witch hunts, court cases and persecutions this  were simply a normative part of society. The Lancaster Witch Trials (also known as Lancashire Witch Trials) is a particularly interesting series of events that occurs over a number of years starting 1612 with the Pendle Witch Trials. These events occurred at the beginning of  Stuart Era 17th, a part of the century witch craze. As a historian, this very topic of witchcraft brings up much debate so it is with very careful hands that we approach this  topic.   Figure 1:Lancaster Castle.