Witch Trials Series: pt 1
Hi Guys, Well, we got a good response for our introduction to the witch trials , so I guess we have our work cut out for us with this series! Trying not to get angry will take some doing! We are going to start local in Cornwall in the next instalment, then go on to individual cases throughout the world where documents allow us to research. I have a list of people executed in the UK (and in the separate countries of the UK before Unification in 1707), although these are not the trials, just the deaths. The first death of a UK based witch was in 1324, as mentioned in the introduction, and the last was an unofficial death in 1751. It was that of Ruth Osborne who was murdered by an unruly mob after a trial by ducking. So, let's start with the punishments meted out to those accused: Torture Branding Hanging Banishment Imprisonment Burning Drowning Ducking Beheading Garrotted Strangulation Shot with Muskets Disembowelled and fed to pigs! ( Poland) Impalement Pressing (crushed to d...