UNHOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
Just as the English Civil Wars led to a witch panic, religious turmoil also sparked similar suspicion across Europe throughout the 17th century
The methods used to ‘discover’ a witch were slated by many. Walking and waking was seen as excessive and likely to produce false testimony; this was brought home in the case of one woman who, after being kept awake for days, confessed the names of her familiars. After being allowed to rest, however, she took it all back, remembering nothing of what had been said. ‘Swimming,’ in which the accused was dunked in a pond with their limbs bound, was likewise criticised as not only barbaric but also illegal.
Furthermore, it was said that Hopkins made bargains and promises with suspects that he had no business making, his silver-tongued whispering inducing confession and accusations that should not have stood up in a court of law. Hopkins was also accused of being in the business of witchfinding for the financial gain, conveniently identifying large numbers of witches in order to line his own pockets. The fact he was wined and dined by the magistrates of the towns he visited – especially when so many were going hungry – added further to the ire displayed towards the Witchfinder General. Some records show that the dastardly duo charged towns up to £1,000 for their efforts. Both Hopkins and Stearne made protestations in person and later in print, but the damage to their names had been done, and their words did little to convince readers that they were in fact the injured parties.
How was it, then, that Hopkins managed what he did? There is little doubt that Hopkins believed most fervently in his self-appointed cause. The Bible said not to allow a witch to live, and, as a devout Puritan, Hopkins followed this injunction to the letter. The times in which he operated were unique for their turbulence and uncertainty, with many strange portents of doom and destruction in 1645 leading those who witnessed them to believe that the End Times were near, as the country continued to tear itself apart. Fire was seen to streak through the sky. Crops failed. Illness and famine went hand in hand, and the country was in judicial and legislative chaos. With the additional spark of religious discord and animosity towards Catholicism, it is all too evident how witch hunting could flourish.
Despite the self-appointed title of ‘Witchfinder General’ used by Hopkins, this was not a role in any official sense, nor was it one that conveyed the power to act as judge. True, John Stearne had been given a warrant granting him permission to examine suspected witches in Essex, but that was from a local magistrate, and not blanket permission to launch a crusade, and it did not provide the authority with which the pair began quickly to act. The lack of proof of official paperwork is problematic, especially as the witchfinders would have needed some form of permission to move about the carefully policed area as freely as they did.
It has been suggested that Hopkins had sinister connections that allowed him to work with impunity, but if so, no evidence of this intriguing assertion survives.
But the initial impetus to root out witches was helped in Essex by Sir Harbottle
Grimston, and it is unlikely that Hopkins and his witch hunting would have got off the ground without his input. A staunch Puritan, it is significant indeed that most of the original spate of
Essex witchcraft accusations came from
Grimston’s own estates, and those that did not took place in areas under his jurisdiction. Certain of the social, moral and spiritual disturbance that could prevail if such evil activities were left unchecked, the magistrate was instrumental in paving the way for the excesses to follow.
It is not known for certain how many lost and ruined lives Hopkins was responsible for before his short yet deadly witch-hunting career came to an end. Although the more extreme estimates should be taken with a pinch of salt, it is thought that perhaps a third of English witchcraft executions were from his period of operations. Furthermore, Hopkins was indirectly responsible for even more deaths, as many suspects perished in the stinking gaol conditions of the times – victims of disease and abuse as they awaited trial.
There are many claims regarding the eventual fate of this infamous man. One of the most popular (and perhaps satisfying) is that Hopkins was set upon by an angry mob, and either drowned or hanged after being discovered to be a witch himself. Other far-fetched ideas include that he escaped to America, where he continued his nefarious work under an assumed name and influenced the Salem witch trials. Evidence shows, however, that death came for Matthew Hopkins in the form of consumption, carrying him off in 1647 – a fact attested to by his former partner John Stearne and also the burial register for Mistley parish church.
Never again did England see the persecution of witches at such a high level. Public and educated opinion had turned enough in favour of reason and a dismissal of superstition, and although popular belief in the existence of witches remained strong into the 19th century and beyond, the number of executions for the crime dwindled again after Hopkins left the scene. English executions for witchcraft came to an end altogether in the 1680s, but the name of Matthew Hopkins continues to inspire horror, fascination and mystery even today.
"THE DASTARDLY DUO CHARGED UP TO £1,000 FOR THEIR EFFORTS"