Matthew Hopkins - An English Witchfinder :: essays research papers

Matthew Hopkins - An English Witchfinder "Thou must not pose a witch to live." This single phrase justified the death of thousands of victims end-to-end Europe and North America. Matthew Hopkins was an English witchfinder who was responsible for the ruthless persecution of scores of maintain witches during the witchcraft mania that swept parts of England under the Puritans.Born in c.1621 Hopkins was a son of a minister and raised in Essex, which had a long tradition persecuting witches. Hopkins canvas law and had a variety of careers in front he hit upon the idea of establishing his career as a witchfinder in the Essex parish of Manningtree and Mistley around 1644. It must be noted that his timing was brilliant. The Civil contend was wreaking havoc on England and creating tension throughout Puritan society. Anyone who suggested a causation for the nations trouble was going to get a hearing.Hopkins at the age of 24 make his first charge against a one-legged crone called Elizabeth Clarke, claiming she was a part of a coven in the Manningtree area. Clarke was arrested and questioned in Chelmsford. As a result of her "confessions" somewhat 31 other women were brought before the Assizes, nineteen of whom were hanged. This was the beginning of Hopkins "reign of terror." by and by adopting the self-styled title of Witchfinder-General Hopkins acquired two assistants, John Stearne and Mary Phillips, who searched for the "Devils Mark" on the accused. Apparently obsessed by his mission to obtain confessions of witchcraft, the three began a tour of the eastern counties of England. To those who questioned his qualifications for such work, pointing out that he had never studied the subject, he replied that his expertise issued "from experience, which though it be meanly esteemed of, however surest and safest way to judge by." Such was the demand of his services that he made an extraordinary profit from his work considering th at the average daily wages of the duration was as little as 2.5 pence. Hopkins charged 40 shillings for each probe that he was asked to undertake and 9 pence for each witch he found. When the accomplishment from a single town was everywhere, the bill was usually between 15 and 23.In the space of little more than a year Hopkins brought over a hundred women, typically old, poor and unattractive, to the gallows in Essex alone. He extracted his confessions by various means such as pricking, swimming, and watching and waking.