Matthew Hopkins and the witch-hunts

Matthew Hopkins was a young man from Manningtree in Essex. Between 1645 and 1647, he and his partner, John Stearne, led witch-hunts across East Anglia, especially Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk. Hopkins called himself the 'Witchfinder General', although no one had given him that title.

Towns invited them to find witches, and paid them for it. Accused people were tried at the assizes, for example at Chelmsford and Bury St Edmunds in 1645.

Estimates of how many people were executed as a result vary: at least 100, and possibly many more. Most of them were women.

Hopkins and Stearne used methods that would be seen as unacceptable today:

• Searching the accused for a 'Devil's mark', such as a mole or scar.
• Keeping them awake for several nights, until they confessed.
• 'Swimming': an old test in which the accused was thrown into water. If they floated, they were said to be guilty. Hopkins later said this test had been dropped.

Confessions gained this way were used as evidence in court.

Causes:

• The Civil War (1642–51): the normal system of justice was disrupted, and there was less control from central government.
• Religion: East Anglia had many Puritans, who believed strongly that the Devil was active in the world.
• Hard times: war, bad harvests and poverty made people anxious, and looking for someone to blame.
• The law: the 1604 Witchcraft Act made witchcraft punishable by death.
• Individuals: Hopkins and Stearne actively encouraged accusations, and were paid for their work.

By 1646, people were criticising Hopkins. In 1647 he published a pamphlet replying to his critics.

All that the witch-finder doth is to fleece the country of their money, and therefore rides and goes to townes to have imployment

Lastly, judge how he fleeceth the Country, and inriches himselfe, by considering the vast summe he takes of every towne, he demands but 20.s. a town

('Fleece' means 'cheat'; '20.s.' means 20 shillings.) The source shows that people suspected Hopkins was making money from the hunts.

In England, people convicted of witchcraft were hanged, not burned. Trials took place at the assizes, courts held by judges who travelled round the country.

Why the hunts ended: critics, such as the vicar John Gaule, spoke out against Hopkins's methods. Judges grew more cautious. Hopkins stopped his work, and died in 1647.

Significance: the witch-hunts show how the factors of attitudes in society, individuals and a breakdown in government could combine to cause a sudden rise in prosecutions.