History of Witchcraft Episodes

Episode 43 - Salem, Massachusetts

If anyone has heard of a particular witch trial, they will have heard of Salem. It’s an infamous part of early American history, and everywhere in popular culture. Today’s episode will be explaining the main theories as to why the small village of Salem, Massachusetts began the greatest witch panic in American history.

Episode 42 - Witchcraft in Russia

An interview with Valerie Kivelson, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of History at the University of Michigan, on witch beliefs in Muscovy and Russia

Episode 41 - Halloween

A reupload of last year’s detailed history of the spooky festival. How does ritualistic human sacrifice relate to the party night we have today?

Episode 40 - The Pilgrims

In this episode we cover the early history of English colonisation in the Americas, and the growth and expansion of New England in particular.

Episode 39 - A War of Words

Witchcraft and early Christianity in the the Latin West, as Christendom takes increases its dominance

Episode 38 - The Wrath of Woden

The transformation of Roman Britain with the arrival of the Germanic pagans led to its own odd synthesis of superstitions and rituals. The Christianisation of these pagan kingdoms further added to the mix, as did the subsequent arrival and conversion of the Danes and Norwegians. Today’s episode is all about the treatment of magic-wielders in Anglo-Saxon society, how they were seen by the Church, and how individual rulers tried to clamp down on their subjects use of their services.

Episode 37 - Suffer Not a Witch to Live

Early Roman Christians struggled to accommodate their Pagan ancestors, and the first Christian condemnations of witchcraft and sorcery are made.

Episode 36 - Burn to Ashes

The Witchfinder General faces humiliation on multiple fronts. His critics are uniting, his prosecutions are falling, and the ruinous cost of hiring him suddenly seems less worthwhile.

Episode 35 - A Magazine of Scandal

This week’s episode continues the trials of East Anglia, as we see the result of the Witchfinder General’s efforts in the summer assizes of Chelmsford and Bury St. Edmunds. One was headed by the Earl of Warwick, a noble with little in the way of legal training, and the other by a triumvirate of two priests and a lawyer. One goes exceptionally well for the witchfinders, and the other… not so much.
This episode primarily makes use of the following texts:

Episode 34 - The Witchfinder General

Old grudges and fears come to the fore in Essex, as word spreads that witch-finders roam. The sudden opportunity to voice their suspicions, or at least accuse old enemies of heresy, take the communities of East Anglia by storm.

Episode 33 - Satan’s Kingdom Divided

In today’s episode, the infamous Witch-Finder General begins his campaign through south-eastern England, as we discuss the opening accusations of the greatest and deadliest witch hunt in English history.

Episode 32 - Never a Cross Left

The Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins, did not exist in a vacuum. How could this man, who had no formal authority, tour South-East England and not only execute hundreds of ‘witches’, but find cheering crowds and grateful magistrates waiting for him? Today’s episode will examine the possible reasons why the Hopkins witch craze was so exceptional in its scale and brutality.

Episode 31 - It’s Treason, then.

Today’s episode covers the escalating conflict between Charles I and Parliament, as harsh words led to outright war. We also look at the simmering discontent among elements of the English population to the limited prosecutions of witches, spearheaded by the Stuart court.

Episode 30 - The Lynching of John Lambe

Doctor John Lambe was the personal magician of the Duke of Buckingham, a favourite of James and an ally of Charles. Yet, the reputation of Dr Lambe was so poor that even these lofty connections couldn’t save him…

Episode 29 - By the Sword of the Magistrate

In today’s episode we see the tide turn on the English witch trials. By the end of his reign, James is unwilling to entertain the more ludicrous accusations and his heir, Charles I, continues this approach. Puritanism, the new bogeyman of the Anglican church, appears the most vocal supporter of the trials, and so the established clergy approach the topic warily. And the magistrates and judiciary have seen the last twenty years of legal precedent, of cases thrown out and judges publicly shamed, and have no interest in risking their careers.

Episode 28 - The Burning of Prospero

At the great Council of Nikaea, an issue that threatened to split an empire apart was finally settled. Yet, when one of the Emperor’s own sons rejects the decision, his brother is dispatched at the head of a Legion to bring his errant son to heel and bring unity to His Imperium.

+The Emperor Protects+

Episode 27 - A Wonderful Discovery

This episode looks at the political intentions behind the pamphlet, the Wonderful Discovery of Witches in the County of Lancaster, and how it was purposefully written to match the published opinions of James I. We further examine how James began to regret both his Daemonologie and the act he had circulated in 1604, as he faced yet more cases of fraudulent claims of witchcraft, and a judiciary that was too eager to please.

Episode 26 - Demon Women and Foul Devices

Was James VI and I truly the witch-hunting, demon-studying zealot that he has traditionally been seen as? Today we take a look at the court of King James, and hear about the trials that dotted his early reign.

Episode 25 - Gunpowder, Treason, and Plot

In today’s episode, we return to the narrative of early modern Britain, and finally combine the episodes on England and Scotland in the form of one man: James VI and I. We cover the problems and priorities facing James once he inherits the throne from Elizabeth; England’s diplomatic situation, its religious dissidents, and a Parliament that is getting a bit too self-important for the absolutist James.

Episode 24 - Fair is Foul, and Foul is Fair

In this episode, we cover the works of William Shakespeare, one of the greatest literary figures in English history. Specifically, we look at the supernatural elements in a number of his plays, from Henry IV and Richard III, to The Tempest and Macbeth. Straddling the reigns of Elizabeth and James, Shakespeare’s career provides a window into how magic and witchcraft may have been seen in English culture.

Episode 23 - Ten Thousand Hells

Drama is perhaps one of the most recognisable products of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. This week, we look at two of the more famous plays from this period which use the supernatural in their narratives; Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, and Thomas Middleton’s The Witch.

Although I’m sure I’m missing someone out, someone important from this period who wrote a lot of plays still loved today…

Episode 22 - Fairies, Demons, and a Cat called Satan

This week, we hear about the witch beliefs commonly held by your common or garden peasant in Elizabethan and early Stuart England. The priority for your average Joe was the ability of witches to effect the physical world, and how they could help or harm.

We also cover the Protestant authorities stance with traditional folklore, in a world that now had to explain the supernatural based solely on the scripture of the Bible.

Episode 21 - Gloriana? I Hardly Knew Her!

With the reign of England’s first recognised Queen, Elizabeth I, we find a kingdom riven by sectarian violence and uncertainty. Today’s episode gives a brief overview of her rule, and covers the various plots against the monarch and her advisers. We also return to the life of John Dee, the court magician who had been tried for treason during the reign of Mary, as well as hearing the adventures of various preachers and witch-hunting magistrates.

Episode 20 - Witchcraft in Tudor England

Henry VIII was a superstitious sort of bloke, one who was in his element spending his free time charging at another bloke who was also charging him while they both hold long and pointy bits of wood (some academic language for you there), and yet when faced with something he couldn’t fight he ran away screaming.

Poison, prophecy, and witchcraft were all on his hit-list, as we see in this episode, as we cover the magical elements of both his reign and those of his two eldest surviving legitimate children; Edward VI and Mary I.

Episode 19 - The Eternal City and the Evil Eye

The Roman Empire stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Levant for centuries, and today’s episode covers a few of the magical beliefs the superstitious Romans held. While it’s hard to distinguish between organically Roman traits and those imported from the Greek world, the culture of Rome was certainly a mixture of the two, as can be seen in their beliefs in magic.

Episode 18 - Halloween - From Pagan, to Christian, to Party

Today we cover the development of Halloween - its development from a Celtic harvest festival, which may or may not have involved the ritual slaughter of infant children, and its merger with the Christian holy days of All Saints and All Souls, emerging from the melting pot of American society as something new and old, traditional and commercial.

Episode 17 - Poisoners, Soul-Drinkers, and Mathematicians

The founders of Western Civilisation, the Classical Greeks were strong believers in the existence and capabilities of the supernatural. Their epic poems and plays featured Gods, Goddesses, and spirits aplenty, and mythical heroes were often attributed fantastic knowledge and power. As time went on, Greek writers began to distinguish between different types of magic, and their acceptability.

Episode 16 - The Legacy of the Magi

The Persian Empires of antiquity were vast and powerful, and many of their subjects were devout Zoroastrians - a monotheistic religion that worshiped Ahura Mazda and abhorred his opposite, the evil Ahriman. Ahriman was the creator of all the impurity of the world, including the powers of witchcraft. Yet despite this zealous hatred of magic, the priesthood of Zoroaster, the Magi, gave the west an ironic legacy…

Episode 15 - The Sorcerers of the Pharaohs

Magic and religion was inseparable in the first human civilisations of the Fertile Crescent and the Nile. The Gods were active in the world, and could be bargained with and sometimes commanded by humans. But what was one mans legitimate prayer was his enemy’s witchcraft, and all manner of natural events were blamed on the supernatural shenanigans of evil men.

Episode 14 - The Scattering of the Knights Templar

Today’s episode is on how the news of the ruthless prosecution of the Templars in France was received by three distinct rulers - Edward II of England, Denis I of Portugal, and regent Amaury of the Kingdom of Cyprus. We see how, by and large, the main deciding factor for how the Templars are treated are the domestic situations in each of these countries.

Episode 13 - The Crushing of the Knights Templar

The Iron King, Philip the Fourth, is well deserving of the title. As we see this episode, he let nothing get in the way of his ambitions. Italian merchants, Jewish moneylenders, even the Pope, all would be crippled by the French king for the crime of standing in his way.

This fate also awaited the Knights Templar; for political and financial gain, Philip seized on unsubstantiated rumours and strong-armed every authority in his grasp the ensure the complete and utter destruction of the military order.

Episode 12 - The Rise of the Knights Templar

The Knights Templar, or the Poor-Fellow Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, are a fascinating example of how too much success can be a bad thing. Rapidly abandoning the ‘Poor-Fellow’ aspect of their name, the Templars grew into a vast land-owning organisation with enormous wealth, ignoring the growing anger and discontent against their privileges. Once they lost the ‘Temple of Solomon’ aspect of their name, their days were numbered…

Episode 11 - Mountaintop Madness

John Calvin’s role in the history of Geneva is hotly debated to this day, and the city gained a reputation for cruel and excessive witchtrials. We discover exactly how terrible these trials were, and whether or not Calvin deserves the blame for Geneva’s attitude towards witchcraft. We also consider the events to the east of the republic, where the greedy motivations of a tyrannical lord resulted in a catastrophic witch hunt which eventually led to the creation of a modern European state.

Episode 10 - The Wisest Fool in Christendom

The last great Scottish trial under the reign of James Stuart

Episode 9 - The Devil’s Greatest Enemy

The North Berwick Witch Hunt | The Exile of Earl Bothwell | Newes from Scotland

Episode 8 - The Cradle King

The bloodsoaked early years of James VI’s reign

Episode 7 - To Kill a King

James VI of Scotland had one hell of a tough time getting married…

Episode 6 - The Synagogue of Satan

Many of the witch hunters at the head of the worst trials were convinced of the existence of the Witches’ Sabbat, a blasphemous gathering of sorcerers that met with the Devil, took part in demonic orgies, and planned their terrible crimes. Suspected witches were tortured into admitting they attended these sabbats, and then were tortured into naming the people they had seen there. The idea of the sabbat gave inquisitors a reason to expect that their witches knew each other, and their torture confirmed it.

But the fact is the Witches’ Sabbat did not exist. The events described at the sabbat were identical to claims levelled at Muslims, heretics, and the Jews, and in many cases the term ‘Synagogue of Satan’ was used to link the crimes of the Jews to the crimes of the witches.

We also take a look at two methods, other than torture, of discovering whether someone was truly guilty of witchcraft; the trial by water, and the pricking.

Episode 5 - ‘I Have Forgiven the Devil’

The deadliest trials of the Early Modern Period were also the ones with the greatest number of young victims. Children as young as seven are recorded as being tortured and executed for the crime of witchcraft. Fleeing the city was not enough; extradition was actively sought for those suspected of the crime, and it was often granted. Prince-Bishop Phillip Adolf von Ehrenberg, the ‘Iron Bishop’, led the charge, not even sparing his young nephew from the stake.

Truly, Würzburg epitomises the worst with the witch panics of this period.

Episode 4 - Reigns of Terror

In this episode, we examine two of the more brutal and violent witch panics in all of European history; Fulda between 1602 and 1606, and Bamberg, between 1626 and 1632. Both ruled by Catholic clergy-lords, one a Prince-Abbot and the other a Prince-Bishop, they reigned over substantial territories, and their word was law. So when they began trials against suspected witches, they rapidly escalated to every part of society. No one was safe.

Episode 3 - Heartland of the Witch Craze

Here we begin with the events themselves. Today we look at a case of slander in Rothenburg ob de Tauber, which ended relatively peacefully and no one was burnt as a witch, and then contrast it with the Trier Witch Trials, which were not at all peaceful and involved hundreds of people being burnt as witches. I do love a good contrast!

Episode 2 - A Century of Fire

The witch trials of the 16th and 17th centuries are, by far, the reason for many of the stereotypes of witchcraft. The belief in witch cults was rife throughout the educated classes of Christendom, and when combined with the desperate anger of starving peasants and townsfolk these beliefs spread fire and destruction on an unprecedented scale. This is the Century of Fire, when innumerable men, women, and children were burnt at the stake, bishops celebrated their newly-enforced orthodoxy, and executioners profited.

This episode will explain the background of these events, and covers what I have found to be the most convincing explanations for why these trials happened.

Episode 1 - The Hammer of the Witches

The Malleus Maleficarum, the ‘Hammer of the Witches’, was the lifes work of Papal Inquisitor Henricus Institoris, who held a particular hatred of witchcraft and those who practiced it. For him, witchcraft was the fruit of female sexuality and the corrupting influence of the Devil, only occasionally finding men guilty of the crime. His work was either a seminal work on witchcraft theory, or a fabricated mess worth barely any mention, depending on who you ask.