Witch witch is witch?

On the 15th of June 1659 an order was made at he Norwich Mayor's court...
For as muche as Anne Carsey in prison vpon suspicion for a witch and there are many things w(hi)ch give great cause for suspicion. It is therfore thought fitt that m(istres)s Brooke, goodwife Wamsley goodwife Fann and others be desired to search hir the said Anne and certifie to the court

Ann Carsey was accused as a witch and a search ordered of her body. They were looking for witches marks; usually no more than a birthmark, perhaps on the inner thigh that would be interpreted as a third nipple on which she suckled her familiars (A cat, dog, ferret or some other animal) with her own blood. And in Anne's case they found one. For later that same month Anne's case was back before the court and...

Abigail Ram, Lidea Potter and Elizabeth Robinson (did) enforme that ther m(istres)s Brooke and goodwife Wamsley did vpon Wednesday last searche Anne Carsey in Prison, who is suspected for a witch and saye that they founde in hir privy P(ar)ts a thing like a teat w(hi)ch looked as if it had bene newly sucked and strange thinges hunge upon hir breasts like bladders.

It is of course highly unlikely that the women found what they claimed, although their evidence did result in Anne's death for she was one of many accused of witchcraft hanged in Norwich Castle ditches at this time. The court record is then is evidence of the witch craze that was sweeping the country at this time and being exploited by the likes of Matthew Hopkins, the Witch-finder General. But it was just that, a craze and this evidence of gross paranoia and subsequent executions should not be taken as evidence that our ancestors were nothing more than primitive, superstitious fools.

Certainly the evidence from the period tends to bring out the worst in us today and we feed upon misinformation about the time, often focusing on grisly details about witches being burnt and boiled alive. This did not happen and in England burning was a punishment reserved for those men and women who spoke heresy and for women who committed Petty Treason (The killing of ones husband) Now this of course would be of no comfort for women like Anne, for hanging was a cruel enough death especially for the many hundreds of innocent women and some men who fell prey to the hysteria of the time.

But it is a case of setting the accusations in the context of their time. England in the mid seventeenth century was a world turned upside down. The Reformation was still in full swing and over the course of the later sixteenth and early seventeenth century traditional forms of charity and hierarchical relationships were being swept away or at the very least challenged. In religious terms, this had seen a flowering of many religious sects by the 1650s, many of which challenged traditional codes of behavior as well as political status quo. These would have been worrying times for the leaders at all level of society and what better way to divert the masses than to scapegoat others for the problems of the time. Meaning quite simply that there were many things such as prostitution and even homosexuality that although illegal, were often tolerated in earlier times, until that is there was some crisis or other and a scapegoat/diversion was needed. And the same was true of witchcraft; for at other times it too was less harshly treated. Just look at the case of Ann Robson who came before the very same Mayor's Court in March of 1587/8...

This daye Anne Robson of Trowse next Norw(i)ch in the countie of this citie widowe for abusing the constables and threatining the towne that she will revengyd vpon the towne recyvyng rougues and l(e)wd persons into her howse thretening som that if they will not spend their monye in her howse she will make them dance naked in the howes and that by her black catt as she sayeth...

So here we have Anne Robson who is said to have threatened the whole of the city and some in particular with witchcraft. She is even accused of admitting to having a familier; a black cat (Popularly thought to have been given by the Devil) whom she drew her powers from. Clearly this is serious stuff and we might expect Anne to receive a harsh punishment for her 'crimes'. But no; for Anne is simply commanded to leave the city, or her children shall be whipped. A harsh punishment in some ways you might say, but remember that it is a punishment as much for threatening to maintain rogues in her house as it is for the accusation of witchcraft. In 1587, a time when 'masterless men' were said to be everywhere, wandering from town to town in search of charity, the illegal harboring of vagrants was a far greater concern to the Mayor and his Alderman than Witchcraft ever was!