Post by Paddy by Grace on Oct 31, 2008 20:46:16 GMT -7
www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/oct/31/law-jack-straw-witchcraft
Campaigners seek justice for men and women killed before introduction of 1735 Witchcraft Act
A petition calling for the posthumous pardon of women and men who were executed as witches in Britain will be presented to the justice secretary, Jack Straw, today.
Campaigners hope evidence of eight grave "miscarriages of justice" will persuade him to take action.
A copy of the petition will be sent to the Scottish justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill.
More than 400 people were put to death in England for alleged witchcraft and more than 2,000 were executed in Scotland before the 1735 Witchcraft Act put an end to the trials, the campaigners said.
Their bid to get justice for the victims follows an official pardon granted this year by the Swiss government to Anna Goeldi, who was beheaded in 1782 and is regarded as the last person executed as a witch in Europe.
The family behind the costume firm Angels came up with the idea for the petition and asked the historian Dr John Callow to collect some of the victims' stories.
Callow, the editor of Witchcraft and Magic in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Europe, said it was time to recognise the witch trials as "most dangerous and tragic" fabrications.
"Today we are well aware that these individuals were neither capable of harmful magic nor in league with the devil," he said.
"At the time, poverty was endemic, charity was breaking down and aggressive begging, accompanied by threats or curses, was common.
"Crops failed, butter failed to churn or cattle sickened and the blame was often settled on witches.
"Against such a background, judiciaries across the British Isles were compelled to act. The results were perjury and delusion on a grand scale, resulting in nothing less than legalised murder."
Notorious cases mentioned in the petition include that of Agnes Sampson, executed in East Lothian, Scotland, in 1591.
Considered a healer, she acted as midwife to the community of Nether Keith but became one of many Scottish women accused of witchcraft.
She initially resisted torture, even before King James VI of Scotland at Holyrood House, but finally confessed and was burned at the stake.
In another case, an 80-year-old clergyman, John Lowes, was forced to conduct his own funeral service before he was hanged in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, in 1645.
The octogenarian was seen as too attached to the Catholic religion in a strongly Reformed area and was forced to walk for days and nights by the witch-hunter Matthew Hopkins until confessing.
Emma Angel, who is behind the campaign, said: "Though the law was changed hundreds of years ago and society moved on, the victims were never officially pardoned.
"The Swiss have led the way on this one and I really hope that we can encourage our government to follow suit."
Campaigners seek justice for men and women killed before introduction of 1735 Witchcraft Act
A petition calling for the posthumous pardon of women and men who were executed as witches in Britain will be presented to the justice secretary, Jack Straw, today.
Campaigners hope evidence of eight grave "miscarriages of justice" will persuade him to take action.
A copy of the petition will be sent to the Scottish justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill.
More than 400 people were put to death in England for alleged witchcraft and more than 2,000 were executed in Scotland before the 1735 Witchcraft Act put an end to the trials, the campaigners said.
Their bid to get justice for the victims follows an official pardon granted this year by the Swiss government to Anna Goeldi, who was beheaded in 1782 and is regarded as the last person executed as a witch in Europe.
The family behind the costume firm Angels came up with the idea for the petition and asked the historian Dr John Callow to collect some of the victims' stories.
Callow, the editor of Witchcraft and Magic in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Europe, said it was time to recognise the witch trials as "most dangerous and tragic" fabrications.
"Today we are well aware that these individuals were neither capable of harmful magic nor in league with the devil," he said.
"At the time, poverty was endemic, charity was breaking down and aggressive begging, accompanied by threats or curses, was common.
"Crops failed, butter failed to churn or cattle sickened and the blame was often settled on witches.
"Against such a background, judiciaries across the British Isles were compelled to act. The results were perjury and delusion on a grand scale, resulting in nothing less than legalised murder."
Notorious cases mentioned in the petition include that of Agnes Sampson, executed in East Lothian, Scotland, in 1591.
Considered a healer, she acted as midwife to the community of Nether Keith but became one of many Scottish women accused of witchcraft.
She initially resisted torture, even before King James VI of Scotland at Holyrood House, but finally confessed and was burned at the stake.
In another case, an 80-year-old clergyman, John Lowes, was forced to conduct his own funeral service before he was hanged in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, in 1645.
The octogenarian was seen as too attached to the Catholic religion in a strongly Reformed area and was forced to walk for days and nights by the witch-hunter Matthew Hopkins until confessing.
Emma Angel, who is behind the campaign, said: "Though the law was changed hundreds of years ago and society moved on, the victims were never officially pardoned.
"The Swiss have led the way on this one and I really hope that we can encourage our government to follow suit."