Witch Trials During Shakespeare’s Lifetime

That Shakespeare Life

Shakespeare made the three witch sisters famous in his play, Macbeth, by showcasing their manupulative power, encantations, and their famous pot of double double toil and trouble. While this version of witches makes for a fun spoof at Halloween parties today, when Shakespeare was originally bringing these sisters to life on stage, witches were not only considered real beings, but were thought to be clandestine actors, hiding their real identity behind normal appearances so as to be better position themselves to inflict harm on others. Everything from natural disasters to household accidents could be blamed on this kind of magic, and seemingly innocuous actions like speaking sharp words, having the wrong birthmark, or sometimes just owning the wrong kind of house pet, could all land people, and women in particular, in a fight for their lives at a witch trial where they were often hopelessly charged with proving their innocence against charges of witchcraft. Many of these individuals stories have been lost to history, or relegated to a list of names on an accusation list, but our guest this week seeks to bring the real life stories of actual women who were tried as witches to the fore with her latest book titled Witchcraft: A History in Thirteen Trials that takes a look at 13 specific witch trials from the 16-18th centuries. Here today to help us understand the history of how someone would find themselves accused of witchcraft, what was involved in the process of an official witch trial, and the real events blamed on witchcraft that had a powerful influence on King James I of England, who wrote his publication titled “Daemonology” just a couple of years before Shakespeare wrote Macbeth, is expert in the history of witches, and return guest to our show, Dr. Marion Gibson.

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