WITCHES IN THE UK

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. 



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PENDLE WITCH TRIALS

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  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. 
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LATER LANCASTER WITCH TRIALS

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