The Leicester Witch Trials of 1616: England's Forgotten Witch Hunt?
Last week Katie and Sarah headed off to Leicester Castle to find out more about the Leicester Witch Trials. If they’re honest they didn’t know there had been anyone executed in Leicester on charges of witchcraft.
On the 18th October, we will be chatting to author Carol Ann Lee about her latest book, “Something Wicked: The Lives, Crimes and Deaths of the Pendle Witches” in our very first Matinee of Murders and Mysteries.
The Pendle Witch Trials took place in 1612, but four years later, another group of alleged witches stood trial much closer to home.
The early 1600s were an unsettling time. Disease, failed harvests, infant mortality and poverty were everyday realities. When something terrible happened, people desperately searched for an explanation. Often, that explanation became witchcraft.
The fear was amplified when King James I, who had a deep fascination with witches, published “Daemonologie” in 1597. His writings helped legitimise the belief that witches were not folklore but a genuine threat to society.
In Leicester six women found themselves accused of using supernatural powers to harm. They were put on trial thanks to the testimony of fifteen year old Johnm Smith of Husbands Bosworth who fell into a series of violent fits. He alleged they had bewitched him.
As with many witch trials, there was little in the way of physical evidence. Instead, cases often relied upon gossip, long-standing grudges, rumours and the testimony of frightened.
On the 18th July 1616 the women were found guilty of witchcraft and sentenced to hang the same day.
Despite his fear of witches, King James 1st found out about the Leicester Witch Trials and insisted on questioning the boy himself. He promptly declared the boy was a fraud and the women who were still in prison were freed.
Katie and Sarah had an amazing time, even taking part in a midnight vigil to pay their respects to the women who were hung.
Join us for more forgotten history
If stories like this intrigue you, you'll love Matinees of Murders & Mysteries.
Our first event welcomes Sunday Times bestselling author Carol Ann Lee, who will explore the infamous Pendle Witch Trials and ask whether history has told us the whole story.
Because sometimes, the most fascinating mysteries aren't the ones we've forgotten... They're the ones we think we already know.
Tickets available at The Bonington Theatre, in Arnold, Nottinghamshire.
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