Latest / Journey to the Fringe / Witches get stitches

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Witches get stitches · Journey to the Fringe

0:17
From the unexplained to the mundane, join us
0:21
on our journey to the fringe. We don't actually
0:44
use, I don't think we use that much AI in our
0:46
podcast. And also there's no ways. And there's
0:49
only one eye in Journey to the Fringe. And if
0:51
you omitted that eye, people would still probably
0:54
be like, oh yeah, Journey to the Fringe. Yeah,
0:56
it's true. It could be omitted. What else would
0:59
it be? That's the thing about it. With that eye
1:01
missing. So you probably can't spell it without
1:03
AI. Anyhow, we're deep thinking podcast. That
1:06
was Taylor and Chelsea getting into the spooky
1:09
season, I think. Yeah. I think that's what we're
1:11
doing, because Chelsea's kind of been left with
1:13
some direction, kind of. So I'll just, I'll let
1:16
her take it. I love this season. And of course,
1:18
I'm already in the spirit. Well, it's October
1:21
1st, maybe. What's the date today? Yeah, we get
1:24
into the spirits heavy here. It's October 3rd.
1:26
Usually while... Yeah, we're heavy into the spirits.
1:29
So we've all heard of the Salem Witch Trials.
1:32
How much we know about it is questionable, but
1:35
at least heard about it. That is not what we're
1:38
talking about today. Today, we're talking about
1:42
the witch trials and witch trials adjacent that
1:45
you haven't heard of. And I'm going to give you
1:48
those details now. First up is the Pendle Witches.
1:52
This is going back to 1612 England, which The
1:57
Pendle Witch Trials are one of the most notorious
2:00
witch trials in the UK, apparently. Not to me
2:03
anyway, but apparently to someone, because that's
2:06
what I heard about my research. It's one of the
2:09
most notorious. Much of what is known about the
2:12
Pendle Witch Trials comes from the book, The
2:15
Wonderful Discovery, by this guy called Thomas
2:18
Potts, who was the clerk to the Lancaster Azaziz.
2:23
Azazez. Azaz -ez. As is this. That's not the
2:27
guy from the Ouija board is it? As is this. No.
2:30
No, that's Zaza, never mind. I was like, what
2:32
the hell are you talking about? Before you ask
2:35
what the word is that I can't pronounce is, the
2:38
Lancaster Azazes were part of the old English
2:42
court system. Azazes were traveling courts, and
2:46
instead of everyone traveling to London for trials,
2:50
judges from the royal courts would travel around
2:53
the country to hold court sessions in different
2:55
towns. They mainly dealt with serious crimes
2:59
like murder, treason and robbery and actually
3:02
became known as the Hanging Court. Because, I
3:06
mean, they're dealing with, probably. They didn't
3:08
come to a decision, probably because they couldn't
3:10
get a decision, right? They always ended up with
3:12
a hung jury. Very doubtful. It's probably more
3:15
that they were hanging people when they're dealing
3:17
with things like murder, treason, and robbery
3:20
back in the 1612s. Am I right? Or the high profile
3:24
cases, I'm guessing, like a witch in the air.
3:27
Yeah, yeah. See, you get it. So the Lancaster,
3:30
as it says, I don't know how to pronounce this
3:33
word, where the session I said yes. S sizes,
3:43
okay. It's a size. What? I googled it and the
3:46
first thing the definition and a way to say it.
3:49
A size. That's how you say it? Yeah. Oh, I was
3:52
way off. So you know. Okay, I was trying to pronounce
3:56
too much of the letters in there. So. Potts was
4:00
instructed to write the account of the Pendle,
4:02
which is trial, by the trial judges, completing
4:06
it by November 1612. While it was revised by
4:10
Judge Bromley before publication in 1613, the
4:13
book is not a verbatim transcript of the trial,
4:17
but just vibes. or reflection of the events,
4:20
as they put it. It's kind of like the people
4:22
who would sketch in the courtroom. Yeah. And
4:25
it's never like a picture perfect. We're going
4:28
to hang these in art gallery. But they give you
4:30
a general idea. Do you think those guys are going
4:32
off five? Yeah, they are. Although not entirely
4:35
comprehensive, Potts's account is considered
4:38
generally trustworthy, provided readers understand
4:42
it is based on written material rather than direct
4:44
testimony. OK, so more about the Pendle Witch
4:47
They took place in 1612 in a religious and politically
4:52
turbulent England. We've got to set the scene.
4:54
Where fear of witchcraft was rising due to Protestant
4:58
and Catholic tensions. The reign of King James
5:01
I, influenced by his obsession with witchcraft,
5:05
fueled by his experiences in Scotland. I'm not
5:08
sure what those were, but it might have something
5:11
to do with the witchcraft. Saw a strict stance
5:14
on witches, marked by his book, Day Menon. and
5:17
laws against witchcraft. And when I saw the way
5:20
that he spells his daemonology, it kind of reminds
5:23
me of Aleister Crowley with how he spelled demons,
5:28
daemons, whatever it was. And a quick Google
5:31
King James I of England is James VI of Scotland
5:35
who is Mary Queen of Scots's kid. Oh, that would
5:38
explain a lot for what happens in this episode.
5:41
Okay. okay i'm glad you just came up with that
5:44
thank you it really enlightened me at least also
5:48
apparently the first stewards which i think is
5:50
no they're the winzers aren't they the current
5:52
family what are you talking about the the lines
5:56
that they technically are the stewards flow through
5:58
the that's the steward dynasty is King James
6:01
starts the Stuart dynasty. I don't know because
6:03
like King Charles is part of the Windsor dynasty.
6:05
I have no idea what you're talking about. Okay.
6:07
I don't know. For people who talk vaguely about
6:10
royals, mostly just gossip about them. They do.
6:12
It's mostly gossip. We talk very little about
6:14
it. That's actually, that's why we're so good
6:16
at it. Yes. Because we don't know nothing about
6:18
them. In Lancashire, where the trials occurred,
6:23
the people had long resisted religious conformity,
6:26
with many clinging to Catholicism despite the
6:28
Protestant rule. The cultural and religious landscape
6:31
set the stage for the Pendle Trials, as local
6:34
authorities were eager to uncover witchcraft
6:36
in an area already seen as wild and lawless.
6:39
The trials were triggered by a series of events
6:42
in early 1612, beginning with the accusation
6:45
that Alizon DeVice had cursed the peddler, John
6:49
Law, causing him to suffer a stroke. This led
6:52
to an investigation by Roger Nowell, a local
6:55
justice of the peace, who uncovered confessions
6:58
from several members of two families, the Devices
7:02
and the Chaddixes. The last thing was Devices?
7:05
Yeah. I could be way off on how I'm pronouncing
7:07
this. It just seemed really weird. Yeah. It could
7:10
be, you know, this is like back in the 1612s,
7:12
so it could be like Divises. Yeah, it could be
7:16
the DC Opera. Those things are sold now. Anyhow.
7:20
The family's had a long history of being suspected
7:22
of witchcraft, with the elderly matriarchs Demdike
7:26
and Chaddix. The local communists have been waiting
7:29
generations for their opportunity to bring a
7:32
trial against this family for witchcraft. It
7:34
sounds like it. It's been there for a while.
7:39
But both were accused of making pacts with the
7:42
devil. In my experience, not such a bad guy.
7:46
I think there might have been a lot of overreaction,
7:49
but that's just me in my experience. The subsequent
7:52
investigations uncovered accusations and counter
7:55
accusations between the two families with the
7:57
devices blaming Chaddix for a string of deaths
8:00
and misfortunes, while Chaddix and her family
8:03
retaliated with accusations against against the
8:06
devices. This was more likely due to competition
8:09
over resources like healing and begging. Eventually,
8:12
the families were implicated in the deaths of
8:14
several local people, leading to the arrest of
8:17
14 individuals. My notes are vague. You may need
8:21
to just read this book if you want to know why
8:23
they were implicated in the deaths of several
8:25
local people. For now, we'll just leave it at
8:28
that. It sounds like several families within
8:30
the community have the equivalent of the pin
8:33
and red yarn cork board connecting everything
8:36
to these families. Yes. In the community. Yeah,
8:39
the whodunit map. Yeah, that's how I'm assuming
8:41
this happened. It was either the devices. And
8:44
you might be on either side, like you just fucking
8:47
hate one of them. Maybe you like the other. Maybe
8:49
you're impartial to the other, but there's one
8:52
that you just hate and everything's their fault.
8:54
I think that's the vibes we're getting. At the
8:57
trials, which took place in Lancaster in York
8:59
in the summer of 1612, the accused were charged
9:02
with causing harm through witchcraft, including
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the deaths of 10 people. The trials were notorious
9:08
for the testimony of a young girl, Jeanette Device,
9:11
who acted as a key witness for the prosecution
9:14
despite her age. She testified against her own
9:17
family, possibly under pressure from the magistrate
9:20
Roger Nowall, which helped secure convictions,
9:23
though some of the accused, such as Alice Gray,
9:26
were found not guilty. In total, ten of the Pendle
9:29
Witches were found guilty and hung, while one
9:32
died in prison and another was acquitted. okay
9:39
despite her age okay so young probably saying
9:42
she's young at the time the 1600s like i think
9:45
you're an adult like 13 yeah so probably very
9:48
young yeah the pendle witch trials of 1612 were
9:51
part of a larger pattern of witch hunts in england
9:54
but were notably severe with the trials accounting
9:57
for over two percent of the total witch executions
10:00
during this period wow yeah These events also
10:05
reflect how accusations of witchcraft could be
10:07
driven by economic and social factors, with some
10:10
individuals using witchcraft as a way to gain
10:13
power or income in a time of widespread superstition
10:16
and religious tensions. Next up is the Würzburg
10:19
and Bamberg witch trials. This is back to 1620s
10:24
Germany. Mass executions in Europe's witch hunting
10:27
peak. The Würzburg witch trials which took place
10:30
between 1625 and 1631 in the Catholic Prince
10:34
Fischlprick of Würzburg in the Holy Roman Empire
10:38
were amongst the largest and deadliest mass witch
10:40
hunts in history. These trials resulted in the
10:43
execution of hundreds of people, including men,
10:46
women, and children from all social classes.
10:49
The trials were deeply influenced by the ongoing
10:52
Thirty Years War and the Catholic Counter -Reformation
10:55
as Prince Bishop Philip Adolf von Ehrenberg.
11:00
It's not to solidify Catholic. It was a mouthful.
11:03
But he has like every bad name in German. It's
11:06
true. Prince Bishop Philipp Adolf von Ehrenberg.
11:09
Okay. It could be worse, but it's not great.
11:12
That's one, two, three, four, five, six. And
11:15
there's a Vaughn in there, so I think that's
11:17
good. Sought to solidify Catholicism in a region
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straddling Protestant and Catholic territories.
11:24
It is estimated that around 900 people were executed
11:27
in the Prince Bishopric with 157 confirmed executions
11:32
in the city of Wurzburg itself. I think that's
11:35
a lot. It's Wurzburg, right? Wurzburg, yeah.
11:38
Okay, is the war on the witches? The trials were
11:56
initiated under the influence of the Counter
11:58
-Reformation Zeal of Bishop Philip Adolf von
12:02
Ernberg, who aimed to eliminate perceived threats
12:05
to Catholic Orthodoxy, including witchcraft.
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A witch commission was established which employed
12:11
brutal methods including torture to extract confessions.
12:15
The accused were often forced to name others
12:18
leading to a rapid expansion of the trials which
12:21
began with ordinary citizens and escalated to
12:24
include members of the clergy and even children.
12:26
Those accused were charged with a range of offenses
12:29
from murder to engaging in satanic rituals and
12:32
were executed by burning often after being tortured.
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This is insane. It really is. 1600s, you don't
12:39
want to be there. If you're ever time traveling,
12:41
don't do it. Probably go for it. Oh, maybe not
12:44
forward. Maybe a little back. I probably go back
12:46
to like the 80s or 90s or something. That seems
12:49
like a good time. Depending on your skin color,
12:52
you got very different eras you can go to, but
12:55
like Europe during that time for anybody is pretty
12:57
different. Yeah, I'd probably just do the 80s
13:00
if it were me to play it safe. That was a pretty
13:01
good time. I was there just for the end, but
13:04
it was decent. Maybe early 90s seems okay. Just
13:08
an aside before we get back to apparently which
13:11
in German is Hexa. Oh, I like that! Which I'm
13:13
curious if that's where we get Hex from. It very
13:15
well could be. Seems about right. I'm gonna go
13:18
with yes. The trials were characterized by Widespread
13:21
fear and accusation sounds like it with entire
13:24
community suspecting one -third of the population
13:26
of the witchcraft I wonder if anybody is thinking
13:29
about the devices over here if they're that renowned
13:32
Do you think? Somebody's got their own court.
13:35
Yeah. Yeah, somebody like went over there Yeah,
13:37
and they're just like you ever hear about the
13:39
devices fucking bunch of son of bitches Yeah,
13:43
which is terrible which is all of them many high
13:47
-profile victims were involved including previous
13:49
children and nobles, which led to some of the
13:52
executions becoming infamous. The public nature
13:55
of the trials, with brutal executions taking
13:58
place in the city, attracted widespread attention.
14:01
I mean, sounds like it. Do you hear what's going
14:04
on in Wurzburg? There are freaking witches accusing
14:06
everybody. There's either witches or you're dead.
14:15
In 1629, a letter from a counselor described
14:18
the growing fear and constant arrests, with hundreds
14:21
of people, including many prominent figures,
14:23
being accused and executed. The trials reached
14:26
a crescendo in 1629 when an estimated 157 people
14:31
were executed in Wurzburg, with many more dying
14:34
in surrounding areas. The trials eventually ended
14:37
in 1631 after public condemnation, particularly
14:41
from the Holy Roman Emperor and complaints from
14:43
the influential families of the victims. The
14:46
Prince Bishop's death in 1631 and the occupation
14:49
of Würzburg by Swedish forces under Gustavus
14:53
Adolphus marked the end of the persecution. Despite
14:56
the horrific loss of life, the Würzburg witch
14:59
trials had a lasting legacy influencing witch
15:01
trials in other regions, particularly in Germany.
15:05
I find this one so crazy just because people
15:08
were being tortured and they're literally giving
15:10
anybody's name and I don't know why I guess when
15:14
you're being tortured like you're not just going
15:17
down alone they're like really pressing you for
15:19
like who are you in this with and they're not
15:21
taking no I'm not a witch is an answer they need
15:24
to know like who's in this with you harder when
15:28
you say that. Yeah. So I guess you're just like,
15:30
uh, the president of the United States, probably.
15:34
It would be notable that the pope had to step
15:38
in and say, whoa, guys, you're a little too violent
15:41
here. And at that time, the pope, like, I just
15:44
saw a thing about how the pope had his own executioner
15:47
for a while. It was probably around this time.
15:51
Yeah. I mean, they are, oh, what do you call
15:53
it when they go on their, um, trips to the holy
15:57
land. What are you going to say? What do they
15:59
call those? When all the Nazis go to Jerusalem
16:03
and they take it for Christianity. What do they
16:06
call those? The parting the Red Sea. No. Right?
16:11
The pilgrimage, isn't it? It's not a pilgrimage
16:14
because they're killing people along the way.
16:16
I'm sorry. I have no idea what you're talking
16:19
about. They kill people along the way? Yeah.
16:24
i've never heard of this is this something that
16:26
still happens no it well kind of we're kind of
16:29
living through it right now but go to the holy
16:33
land what do you call it he's real no that's
16:36
a whole other thing crusades the crusades oh
16:39
i am unfamiliar so i guess yeah the i think there's
16:44
probably a crusader or another going on time
16:47
and he's like whoa guys you gotta back off you're
16:49
being a little too violent i think i have to
16:51
look into this crusades because this sounds insane
16:54
maybe it should be a halloween episode sure maybe
16:59
next year It's the hardest on me. It's kind of
17:08
Christmas, see what you think about it. Either
17:13
that or we're just gonna redo the script for
17:16
a small one. It's either that or that. We only
17:23
got two options. There's no more ideas, guys.
17:29
Put the best ones on it. They said that's all
17:32
that's left. We literally had all our best ideas
17:35
on our first Christmas month. We probably did
17:37
it for two months. We did too much. Too hard,
17:41
too fast. Okay, we're on to the next witch trip.
17:50
Enough about Christmas. We're talking about Halloween.
17:58
Okay, next one. Torsaker witch trials. Probably
18:01
really mispronouncing this because now we're
18:04
into Sweden in 1675 and I only know Sweden from
18:08
Ikea's and I can't even pronounce those. So this
18:11
is the largest witch execution in Swedish history
18:15
and the Torsaker witch trials take place in 1675
18:19
in Torsaker Parish, Sweden. In one day, 71 people,
18:24
65 women, and 6 men were beheaded and burned.
18:28
This event was part of the larger witch hunt
18:30
frenzy known as Stora Ovasendet, which is an
18:35
Ikea cabinet now that's spread across Sweden.
18:39
Don't laugh. You can take your hat off on your
18:41
weekends. that spread across Sweden following
18:45
a witch trial in Dalarna in 1668. I didn't think
18:49
the British would come out as like the even -minded
18:52
people in dealing with their witches, with only
18:54
getting rid of about a dozen of them. It was
18:56
pretty big though, it was two percent, which
18:59
it doesn't seem like a big percent, but... Wow,
19:02
this one kills 65. I don't think Sweden has a
19:05
population. It is probably about half at this
19:07
point. I know, it just gets crazier and crazier,
19:10
right, in these witch trials. I didn't even order
19:13
it that way it just sort of happened on vibes
19:15
in swedish which is hexa really so that can't
19:19
be spelled differently but it's the same way
19:21
yeah it's almost like they share the same root
19:23
language yeah don't be sarcastic with me sometimes
19:26
i need you to be serious is it serious do they
19:30
apparently it could be rotunga what's the root
19:32
language in german i don't know Oh, I thought
19:37
you knew. German, a root language? Having that
19:39
you said that. I thought Germanic was the root
19:42
language for like most of Eastern Europe. It
19:44
is for English. Central Europe, I guess. I didn't
19:46
know if it might still have a root. Yeah. Okay.
19:49
Lutheran clergy, including Laurentius Christophori
19:54
Peranius, were tasked with investigating witchcraft,
19:57
and Horneus... The horneus of them. Okay. zealously
20:03
pursued accusations in Torsaker with many of
20:08
the charges stemming from children who claim
20:10
the accused had abducted children for satanic
20:13
rituals. It's a satanic panic all over again.
20:17
Did they take them down a toilet to the basement?
20:19
They probably did. People were flying like it
20:23
was just off the hook. The children were subjected
20:26
to extreme methods of interrogation, including
20:29
whipping and near drowning to extract confessions.
20:32
The trial led to about a hundred people being
20:35
accused, though it's unclear how many were convicted
20:38
and executed. The execution was brutal. After
20:41
a final sermon, the prisoners were led to a site
20:44
called the Mountain of the Stake. Oh no, where
20:47
they were decapitated and then burned. Oh no.
20:51
If you're gonna do this to somebody, that is
20:53
the right order, I think. Yeah, you wouldn't
20:55
want to be burned then decapitated. No. Yeah,
20:58
yeah. The families of the victims participated
21:01
in the grim task of burning the bodies. While
21:03
the Torsacker trials were among the largest,
21:06
they were also dubious in their legality. Local
21:10
authorities bypassed the required confirmation
21:13
of sentences from the High Court, making the
21:15
execution unlawful. Despite this no further executions
21:19
took place in Torsaker. The witch trials in Sweden
21:22
continued until 1676, eventually ending when
21:26
the authorities realized the child witnesses
21:29
had fabricated their testimonies. It's funny
21:37
because the satanic panic never actually ended
21:40
that way, the most recent one. No, it's kind
21:43
of still going. It's true. It was never really
21:45
put to rest. This one did. No one ever really
21:49
said, yeah, the kids are kind of full of shit.
21:51
This one really did. I will celebrate them for
21:54
that. At least they were like, you know what?
21:56
That's the end of that. That was fake. In 1975,
21:59
a memorial stone was erected in Torsacker to
22:02
honor the victims of this horrific event, and
22:05
horrific it was. That is a crazy story, which
22:08
takes us to the witch hunts in Scotland mentioned
22:11
earlier, especially in the North Berwick witches,
22:15
bring us back to 1590. before all of these I
22:18
think. accused of trying to kill King James the,
22:22
what's V1? That's six? Six, yeah. James the sixth
22:26
of Scotland, but Kim James the first of England.
22:29
Yeah, see, and you said that in the beginning,
22:30
see? It's all coming together now. Yeah. Yeah,
22:33
thank you for that. The North Berwick Trials,
22:36
which began in 1590, were among the earliest
22:39
and most significant witch hunts in Scotland,
22:42
implicating over 70 people and lasted, this is
22:45
nothing now, and lasted over two years. Trials
22:48
were set off by a sensational case involving
22:51
the royal family of Denmark and Scotland. King
22:54
James VI, while en route to Mary Anne of Denmark,
22:58
faced severe storms at sea, which were blamed
23:00
on witchcraft. She's Danish witches. Can you
23:06
imagine? I should start blaming everything on
23:08
witchcraft again. Causing all these waves. I'm
23:18
gonna bring it back. I'm gonna start blaming
23:20
things on witches. I think it's a good scapegoat,
23:23
right? I'm gonna take a witchcraft. Yeah Too
23:27
much of it. Yeah. No, it's like the rain is outside.
23:31
I'm just okay Piece of iron. I was just gonna
23:34
say is it cuz you're encountering too much witchcraft
23:37
on a certain day? Or is it because you want to
23:39
practice? I think I'm gonna take it as I think
23:43
there's witchcraft directed at me for the day.
23:45
You know what? That's progressive. I think that's
23:47
very progressive of us to be requesting that
23:51
in the future. Danish witches confess to using
23:54
sorcery to summon storms and this news prompted
23:58
Kim James to set up his own tribunal in Scotland
24:01
where several people including women and nobles
24:04
were accused of witchcraft. They can just freely
24:07
go ask the witches about it in Denmark. They're
24:10
like, oh yeah, yeah, we did that. We kind of
24:12
deserved it. And they don't do anything about
24:15
it. They feel so freely able to see that out
24:18
in the open in Denmark. Denmark's a fucked up
24:21
place from what I know about it. From everywhere
24:24
else in Europe at the time, apparently. Free,
24:26
so free. And you know what? That wind that you
24:29
experienced, that was me. That was me. I just
24:34
had a new spell, had to try it out. I didn't
24:37
kill you. Look at that, you're lucky. You just
24:40
got delayed. Many of the accused allegedly held
24:43
covens in North Berwick with confessions extracted
24:46
through brutal torture in Edinburgh. Among the
24:50
most notable accused were Aiden Assamson. Such
24:53
a Scottish name. An elderly woman who was tortured
24:57
into confessing her involvement in witchcraft
25:00
and attending a Sabbath with 200 witches. Oh
25:03
my god. That really caught 70? Yeah! That was
25:07
the 10th talk of its day! That's not even that
25:10
much compared to the 200. Yeah. They barely dent
25:13
in their witch population in Scotland. Yeah.
25:16
And Dr. John Fian, a schoolmaster who was also
25:20
tortured and eventually burned at the stake.
25:22
It doesn't sound confess to being a witch though,
25:25
or they would have said no didn't look like he
25:27
did confess to that at all Just a teacher. Yes
25:31
Just also a man which I don't know They can't
25:36
be witches, right? Like they're warlocks or wizards.
25:40
I think warlocks is technically the proper term.
25:42
Well, technically they're all falling into the
25:44
same thing right now because they're not discriminating
25:47
about... I haven't heard anything other than
25:49
witch. They are the minority when it comes to
25:53
people who were... That's not true. We heard
25:55
another term. Apparently the male term for a
25:57
witch is teacher. Yes. That's true, but I believe
26:00
it is warlock. I don't know. Yeah, I'm pretty
26:03
sure that's the right term. Yeah, let's go with
26:05
pretty sure on the podcast. We're pretty sure
26:07
about it. GLS Duncan, another accused, named
26:11
numerous individuals as accomplices including
26:14
Agnes Sampson and Dr. Fian. The trials were not
26:17
only religious but politically charged as they
26:20
implicated figures like Francis Stewart, 5th
26:23
Earl of Bothwell, and a supernatural plot. While
26:27
many were executed, the trials brought attention
26:29
to the brutal methods used during witch hunts,
26:32
including the use of searching for witch marks
26:36
and other forms of torture. Now, I did want to
26:40
elaborate a little more on these witch marks,
26:43
which was physical evidence used in the witch
26:46
trials of a person being - Yeah, it was your
26:48
deal with the devil, right? Like the devil had
26:50
to leave a mark on you for you to be a witch?
26:52
Basically, yes. So a witch's mark was a supposed
26:55
physical sign on the body that people in the
26:58
time were looking at believed showed someone
27:01
was a witch so yes it could have been like a
27:04
pact with the devil what have you and you know
27:07
what people from the 15 to 1600s are known for
27:10
impeccably beautiful skin, unblemished. Oh, completely.
27:14
Such good skincare back then. We can't even touch
27:17
it in this day and age. What we're looking for
27:20
that would count as a witch's mark would be a
27:23
mole, a birthmark, scar, a skin take, an extra
27:27
nipple. Witch hunters would look for these marks
27:31
during trials, and if they found one, they might
27:33
poke it with a needle. If it didn't bleed or
27:36
it didn't hurt, they took it as evidence of witchcraft.
27:39
In reality, of course, these were just normal
27:43
human features, obviously, I mean, we all know
27:45
that. Could you imagine if you knew that they
27:47
were looking for something that didn't hurt?
27:50
Even if it didn't hurt, you'd be like, ow! Yeah,
27:53
that's what I assume. Yeah, you would pretend
27:56
that it hurt. You've been tortured while this
27:59
is going on, so maybe you just can't register
28:02
the pain. That's true, that's true. Because you've
28:04
been put through a lot of pain. Yeah, so... Basically,
28:08
it was an ordinary spot on the body that you
28:10
got from making a pact with the devil and superstitious
28:14
people misinterpreted as proof of witchcraft.
28:17
Back to the story, the trials and their aftermath
28:19
left a significant cultural legacy. King James
28:23
VI writings on witchcraft including his triaties,
28:27
I don't know what that means, demonology, maybe
28:30
he rewrote it, maybe he wrote another chapter,
28:33
hard to say. were influenced by the trials and
28:37
spread to other regions including New England
28:39
where similar witch hunts took place. In March
28:42
2022 the Scottish government issued a formal
28:45
apology for the prosecution of witches during
28:48
the 16th and 17th centuries. The events of the
28:51
North Berwick witch trial have also been immortalized
28:55
in literature and popular culture including Shakespeare's
28:58
Macbeth which drew on themes from the trials
29:02
as well as novels and songs. that reflect the
29:05
tragic history of these early witch trial hunts.
29:07
And I wonder if it was also a racist trope against
29:10
the Scottish at the time that they were full
29:12
of warcraft. Yeah, it could have, yes. Because
29:15
for us, personally, it's full of druids. Yes,
29:20
of course, the McDucks. We all know that by this
29:26
point. Okay! Last but not least we got the Icelandic
29:32
witch trials which were unusual because it's
29:35
Iceland and second because most of the accused
29:37
were men and we were just kind of talking about
29:40
that but they're still called the witch trials
29:42
so they're Do you have it? Probably not. The
29:46
witch trials in Iceland were influenced by Danish
29:49
authorities during the 17th century when Iceland
29:52
was under Danish rule. These trials were introduced
29:56
as part of the efforts to enforce religious conformity
29:59
following the Reformation. Unlike much of Europe,
30:02
where witchcraft was associated with Satan and
30:05
often resulted in the persecution of women, Iceland's
30:08
view on magic was shaped by older Norse traditions
30:11
that distinguished between black which was evil
30:14
and white which was good magic. Initially, Icelanders
30:18
didn't see the magic as inherently linked to
30:20
the devil. The first sign of witchcraft persecution
30:23
came in 1564. This is a good length of time before
30:28
what we've been talking about. After a decree
30:30
ordered the reporting of all heresy, early trials
30:33
did not view witchcraft through the lens of Christian
30:36
demonology, but were focused on the harmfulness
30:39
of black magic. For example, in 1554, a priest
30:43
was exiled for using black magic to try and seduce
30:46
a girl. jeez that's yeah pretty tame compared
30:50
to some of the other magic that we've heard about
30:51
like inconveniencing a king's ship with the waves
30:56
however and that guy was like yeah i did that
30:59
wasn't punished in any way i'm a good witch i
31:03
make shit happen However, by the 17th century
31:08
Danish clergy brought with them Christian ideas
31:12
of witchcraft, particularly the notion of witches
31:15
making pacts with the devil. They just loved
31:18
that! They loved the packs of the devil. This
31:21
shift in belief was formalized by the introduction
31:24
of the Danish Witchcraft Act in Iceland in 1630.
31:29
Over the next few decades, witch trials escalated,
31:32
peaking between 1667 and 1685. What set Iceland
31:36
apart from other European witch trials was the
31:39
fact that most of those accused were men. Out
31:42
of 22 executions, 20 were men. Wow. On the last
31:46
one, we saw only like a few percent were men.
31:50
Chelsea, I just want to frame this because I
31:52
looked it up while you're doing this part. The
31:54
population of Iceland in the 1700s peaked at
31:58
50 ,000 and in about 1769 it was 46 ,000. So
32:03
20 people is a significant amount of people.
32:06
Wow, that's crazy. This male dominance in the
32:10
trials... linked to Icelandic traditions where
32:13
magic had been primarily practiced by men, particularly
32:17
those skilled in learning, which was associated
32:21
with literacy and higher education. I'm curious,
32:23
you did a like paranormal tour in Iceland, right?
32:27
I don't know if it was... They didn't really
32:30
talk about the witchcraft. I was gonna ask. They
32:31
talked about apples. They talked about a murder
32:34
-suicide that happened like a hundred years ago,
32:36
but they didn't really talk about the witch trials.
32:40
Witchcraft execution in Iceland occurred in 1683,
32:45
and the practice ended by 1686 when Denmark passed
32:48
a law requiring descendences for witchcraft to
32:52
be approved by the High Court in Copenhagen.
32:55
Following this, Copenhagen refused to confirm
32:58
any more executions for witchcraft, marking the
33:01
end of the trials in Iceland. The last condemned
33:03
witch, Clemus Svidjernsen? The Jarnson -Nasson?
33:09
Bjornson? Bjorn -Nasson. Bjornasson. That's what
33:13
I'm going with. Was transferred to Copenhagen
33:16
in 1692, but he was never executed. And that
33:21
is... the witch trials. It actually, it surprised
33:25
me a lot how many males were taken up in this,
33:29
as well as, at least in some of them, rich people,
33:32
like well -off people. Usually they get off scot
33:35
-free with most things. It was only that one.
33:36
Well, no, the king got involved in one of them.
33:39
He encountered some waves. Yeah, he might have
33:43
accidentally done the magic, but I don't think
33:45
he was doing the magic. I don't think he was
33:47
doing the magic. You got to think somewhere along
33:50
the line, though, one of the king was doing some
33:52
magic. Right? Well, you wrote a whole book on
33:54
the date. Yeah, at least one had to have done
33:57
some magic. Wait! Is he the King James that redid
34:00
the Bible? The first one? There has to be like
34:03
so many King James's though. Yeah, but you think
34:06
they would reference which King James it was
34:07
if it wasn't the first one? Well, you would think,
34:09
but this is my episode. No, sorry, I'm just thinking
34:13
I never put this together until just now that
34:16
this one who's obsessed with demons and hunting
34:18
down witches is also the one who may have created
34:21
the Bible that we use today. Well, that would
34:23
be nice, wouldn't it? Yeah, almost like it's
34:26
a weird blasphemous book. in that version. Huh.
34:30
That would be an interesting twist. One that
34:32
we didn't expect. You know what? While you're
34:35
pondering that, I do have to tell you that the
34:37
last person executed for witchcraft in Europe,
34:41
at least, was Anna Gjoldi in 1782. Do you know
34:46
where? No. Europe. Gotcha. Yeah. Europe for sure.
34:50
Okay. It's not geographically that big of a place,
35:01
so you get the general idea of it. And this was
35:04
very Europe -centric. It was, yeah, because I
35:07
think there were at least one more which trial
35:09
you could have done in North America, but it
35:11
was very European. I like that. Yeah. Because
35:13
then you can shift from there and do different
35:16
areas. Yeah, we can't put all our eggs in one
35:18
basket from the holiday episode as we've worked
35:21
with Christmas. Don't explore everything too
35:25
early. Yeah, so that's witch trials. That's Halloween
35:30
episode number one. I hope it got you into the
35:33
spirit of practicing witchcraft Yeah, and you're
35:36
legally allowed to in Canada. They got they got
35:38
rid of that law. It's true. So Yeah, you can't
35:41
be hung. It's for trial. Well, not only how does
35:44
it go again? I don't think it's illegal to pretend
35:46
to practice witchcraft anymore I'm pretty sure
35:47
they got rid of section 3 5 the Canadian criminal
35:49
code that was in there Yeah, pretending practice
35:52
witchcraft my favorite law. I think it's gone.
35:55
Well, anyhow Thank you for listening to Journey
36:05
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