Extracts from Newsletters.
ADULTS ONLY - The Married Persons Guide To Sex - by Ruth Goodman
The purpose of sex
Sex outside marriage is prohibited both by the church and by law. However within marriage sex is to be encouraged, the church maintains that sex within marriage is best reserved for the procreation of children but all sensible people acknowledge that sufficient sex is required for good health in both men and women. The remedy for Hysteria or Greensickness is almost always marriage and the marriage bed.
Anatomy
The shape of men's reproductive parts is well known. They are carried outside the body to keep them cool, as men are by their nature hot, having much of the sanguine or blood humour. This is also the cause of their virility. Thus a man who lacks in sexual passion should eat well of foods with the blood humour such as beef and red wine. The right testicle produces hotter and therefore male seed as it receives the more pure and vital blood from the hollow vein and great artery than the left which produces the female seed. A woman's reproductive parts are hidden inside her body as women are cooler and moister in their nature than men and thus both weaker in mind and in body. Hence they are often called the weaker vessel. However in shape they are the same as men's. The right side of the womb is more receptive to the male seed and the left to the female.
A husband's duties
Both men and women produce seed and as the man must be full of lust before he can release his seed so too must the woman. When the two seeds mingle a child is conceived. The womb itself is hungry for offspring and when a woman is in the height of passion the neck of the womb will reach down, suck up the man's seed, and close tight to hold it in whilst the two seeds mingle. Therefore it beholds a husband to be sure that his wife takes pleasure in the marriage bed so that she may conceive. But her husband must be sure to caress her beforehand, nor must he withdraw too quickly for fear that the seed will catch cold. It is well for a man to pay much attention to those parts that lie at the entrance, indeed "there are some lascivious women who by friction of this part, receive so great pleasure, that they do not care for men." If a couple are barren and there is no apparent physical barrier, then their childlessness must come from the woman's lack of passion or their failure to time their pleasure so that it occurs together.
Sexual health
As the womb lies in a direct line from a woman's parts, sex should occur when she is in a straight position to allow the seed a direct path and if a male child is desired then upon the right side. If a man does not release his seed often enough, once a week* is thought well, then it will go stale inside him and injure his health. Nor should he waste his seed or spend it too often as this can weaken him. For the woman, regular sex is also healthy. The female seed must also be spent regularly and not retained within the body. Many illnesses in women, especially those of the mind, are caused or increased by insufficient sex or unfulfilled desire. It is of course well known that women are more lustful than men are.
(* modern research indicates that 6 times a week, with one day of rest, is preferable - Ed.)
Book Reviews - by Andy Abram
Haigh, Christopher, English Reformations. Religion, Politics and Society under the Tudors (Clarendon Press: Oxford, 1993), ISBN O 19 822162 2, p. back, 367 pages.
English Reformations offers a welcomed new approach to the Reformation in England. This vigorous and readable study invalidates the facile presumption that the triumph of Protestantism in sixteenth century England was inescapable; and unusually penetrates the surface of official political policy to examine the religious outlook and practices of ordinary people. Many historians, traditionally employing the dangerous tool of hindsight, have tended to depict the Reformation as a succession of events culminating inevitably in the creation of an English Protestant establishment. Haigh attempts to recreate the Tudor period as an age of excitement and uncertainty, with each new ruler or policy causing the reversal of earlier religious changes. Importantly, he illustrates that English reforms were not merely an "act of state' to which everyone complied, but rather a protracted struggle between state and people as well as between Catholics and Protestants. Haigh's analysis concludes with the suggestion that the Reformations in England were by no means inescapable, and proposes that had there not been a break with Rome, the Protestant movement, without the endorsement of the government, could have become an 'opposition Church of French Huguenot proportion' or crushed by persecution.
Weinstein, Rosemary, Tudor London (Museum of London, 1994), ISBN 0 11 2904955, p. back, 48 pages, illus in colour.
The Tudor period witnessed significant change and growth in London. It quadrupled its population from roughly 50,000 - 60,000 in the 1520s to 200,000 in 1600, and established itself as the political and social capital of England, drawing immigrants and visitors from throughout Britain and also from abroad. Following the dissolution of the monasteries, the fabric of the city was altered by Henry VIII's building programme for royal residences. Under Elizabeth, the city became the centre for overseas exploration and trade, literature and arts. Not all Londoners, however, benefited from such changes as many areas of the city, particularly the eastern suburbs of Stepney and Whitechapel, became grossly overcrowded, and the rising prices and inflation of Henry's reign made life miserable for the vast majority of the population. Weinstein's lavishly illustrated book draws on documentary sources (including early maps and guides of London) and recent archaeological finds to offer an insight into what was a dynamic and important period of the capital's history.
WOMEN ONLY - The Time of The Monthe & Having Babies - by Ruth
Of woman's flows
Women's flowers are a form of bloodletting necessary for women. If the flow is inadequate or stops and the blood is held in the body a woman will become ill and feverish, therefore she must be bled and take medicines to thin the blood and help it to flow. Plantain is good for this, as is pennyroyal. When she is pregnant this same blood which would normally be lost at her flowers will nourish the growing child and when the child is born the blood flows through a vein from the womb to the breasts where it is turned into milk to continue to provide nourishment for the baby. This is why a woman does not have her regular flow when she is with child or breastfeeding, but returns to her normal flow as the child becomes less dependant on her milk.
During a woman's flowers, linen cloths folded to a pad and held in place by a girdle are the best means of keeping clean for a maid. A married woman may chose to take a strip of linen, diaper is best, and roll it and put it inside with one end left free so that it can be withdrawn. Cloths should be washed in cold water and salt before being boiled.
Getting pregnant
Every married woman wants to have children. As the church tells us, it is only through the pains of childbirth that a woman can atone for Eve's original sin. And thus childbed makes us fitter for heaven. It is God's gift to women helping us to redemption. The barren are greatly to be pitied. Women are most apt to conceive just after or just before the flowers. A decoction of mugwort is held by many to aid conception. But on no account must you take of rue or savin or be bled in the foot if you wish to conceive. For matters of the marriage bed please read "the married persons guide to sex" (p. 3).
Is it a boy or a girl?
There are many ways you may know if you are carrying a male or female child. The female child is longer in the womb as being cooler it takes longer to grow than the male which is hotter and has more vigour. The male child lies to the right ofthe womb and the female to the left. Some can tell the sex of the child by the colour of a woman's urine. Whilst you are with child take care not to look on any thing ugly or malformed, keep yourself from bad smells, shocks or frights or you may have a malformed child. Do not reach up high or the child may come early. Nor should you lace your bodies too tightly, although a swathe bad to support your belly would be well. You may continue to have sex with your husband whilst you are with child but not too greatly. You should eat as you wish, toast is very good.
When the time comes
The seventh month child will do well, but a baby born in the eighth month rarely lives! For the child often struggles to be born at the seventh month but if it does not succeed it is too weakened by the effort until it is fully recovered by the ninth month. When you find yourself in labour call in your midwife and friends. Have the shutters drawn and the door closed and rags stuffed in all the cracks. Then set a large fire in the hearth that neither you nor the baby takes cold. Let the light be dim as your eyesight is weakened by childbed. Make sure that all knots and laces are untied and eat a little oil or butter. Have ready your childbed linen upon the bed or upon straw by the fire. Some midwives will bring with them a birthing stool as they do abroad. When your child is ready it will push its way out from the womb. A strong child will come quickly but a weaker child will have a long and difficult birth.
Website Review - by Andy
Tudor England, http.//tudor. simplenet.com/
If, like me, you are a bum with nothing better to do than look at the internet all day (if only), or have access to it at school or at home, then you may have the chance to peruse things Tudor-like. Tudor England is, well, interesting. As with most of these sites it is American, which generally means that any-thing with the words Tudor' and 'England' associated with it contains material from the interesting and useful, to the horrendously embarrassing and entertaining. Once you have entered into the spirit of things and have accepted that the general tone resembles something remarkably similar to Walt Disney, a'Hammer Horror' film and a Carry On' film rolled into one, you are on your way. The problem with Tudor England (and many other sites) is not so much that it is poor history, but, being American it has lots of money thrown at it. This means that whilst most of the content is of questionable historical use, there are some valuable features, such as picture galleries, containing interesting and high quality portraits, drawings and similar art work. There are also some features on living history' groups (including photos), but it has to be said that even though they appear fairly suspect, there are many groups like them in Britain.
Children's Book Review - by Chilli
"A Traveller in Time." by Alison Uttley. published by Puffin. ISBN 014 03 093 14
This book was written in 1939, and set in the 1900's, so it is quite hard to read, because the language is different to up to date books.Even so, it is hard to put down and it really sucks you into the story.
A girl called Penelope travels back in time at a farm in the North Country called Thackers. She slips in and out of 1585 into a household called Babbington whose master supports Mary Queen of Scots. There is nothing she can do to change history, so it is quite tragic because she knows the end. The story is good because it is a way of understanding about Catholics and protestants, about the different feelings in the North Country, where Queen Elizabeth never went, and how big households worked. It is never boring, and the descriptions are really good because in the old days like 1939 writers really knew how to fill in the details and they were not afraid to go on a bit long about how things looked or how people felt. Modern writers don't seem to do that.
What Did You Do When You Were Young? - by Ruth
At least 60% of people in late Tudor England spent their youth as a servant in someone else's house. Gentlemen's sons spent their youth in formal schooling, their daughters in learning housewifery from their female relatives. The more wealthy Yeoman followed the same pattern. Many middling urban families, a few yeomen and the occasional gentry's younger son opted instead for apprenticeships. At about the age of 14 or 15 these boys and very occasionally girls, left home and came entirely under the care and control of their master. Apprenticeships cost money. No one took an apprentice for free. Different trades were able to charge different fees. Good, wealth making trades such as the Goldsmiths and high status trades such as merchant adventurers charged considerably more. So apprenticeships were limited to the better off or well connected especially urban, families. Everyone else, for whom formal schooling, apprenticeship and home education among female friends and relatives were not possible, youth meant being a servant. Most servants were "servants in husbandry" living in rural households, their work agricultural. Only a small minority were purely domestic servants. Young men and women from about the age of 14 took service on yearly contracts (they weren't strong enough to be much use until this age). They gave their labour and obedience to a master in exchange for lodgings with the master's family, food and wages, sometimes clothing as well. Once the contract was agreed they couldn't leave until their year was up unless they could convince a magistrate that their very lives were in danger. On the other hand, they couldn't be sacked until the year was up either. Most people moved around a fair bit in the twelve or so years until they married. The average stay with any one master being two years though of course some stayed longer and some moved on quickly in search of better conditions or wages.
Boys and men did all forms of agricultural work depending on their strength, skills and the needs of the master - looking after and driving horses carrying the highest status and pay. Men also did some of the heavier work about the house. In grander houses men served food, attended the master, ran the buttery, pantry and kitchens too. Girls and women were not restricted to the house but regularly worked in the fields, harvesting, weeding, herding animals, indeed almost anything except plowing, reaping and the care of horses. Dairy work, laundry, brewing, poultry keeping and much of the gardening were all tasks particular to women. Dairymaids could command higher wages in many parts of the country. Once young men and women married (on average at 25 for women and 27 for men) they stopped being servants and set up their own homes. For the lucky ones a mix of small inheritances and their savings were enough to farm on their own account, some had a trade to supplement their smallholdings, and be independent. Maybe even employing their own servants one day. But many had to rely on wages as day labourers to survive and bring up their children. Whilst they were servants young people were subject to their masters discipline and masters were repeatedly told that they were responsible both for the physical and moral welfare of their servants and were enjoined to beat the disobedient or lazy youth. The standard of living for servants however was often much higher than that which they had enjoyed as children or would again once married. Food was plentiful if plain, masters sometimes going short themselves in order to feed their servants for fear of getting a reputation for poor fare which would make it very hard to get servants again. Wages gave servants the possibility of small luxuries such as chapbooks and ballads, ribbons and laces, which, once married, would be beyond their means.
Examples of typical annual wage rates for Northamptonshire in 1560 : The best servant at husbandrie that taketh whole charge of a farm no more than 33s 4d plus 6s 4d for his livery and 5s for his boots. The common servant at husbandrie that can plow and threshe no more than 20s and 5s for his livery. The best woman servant that taketh charge of the whole house keeping not more than 20s and 6s 4d for her livery The common servant of meaner sort not more than 10s and 6s 4d for her livery.
Tudor Games - no.1 - Dice
The earliest games of chance were played with sticks shaped in a semi-circular cross section. These could give a simple up or down and thrown in combination with others could give random numbers. This method was used by the Egyptians in games such as Senet where the pieces are moved correspondingly from one to six. The earliest dice, as we know them, were made from the ankle or knuckle bones of small animals. These were roughly cuboid and had the numbers painted or scratched on them. Later dice were made in a variety of different materials such as bone, ivory, pottery and stone.The design and arrangement on these dice was most commonly a spot surrounded by a circle, the opposite sides adding up to seven. This was probably to make trick or fixed dice easier to detect.
Although dicing and the gambling that surrounds it has been frowned upon by 'respectable people, dice were none the less common in most household inventories as many board games require a pair of dice. Here are the rules for some dice games. They are simplified to make their playing easier.
Hazzard, the forerunner of today's Craps, was by far the most common dice game from the late medieval period through to the eighteenth century. It is played with two dice, and a handful of people. One player throws the dice to ascertain the caster's 'main'. This must be between five and nine and will be the caster's booby number. If the caster throws this he must match the bets placed by all the other players. The caster then throws for his 'chance' this must be between four and ten. If the caster throws either the same as his main a two, three, eleven or twelve then this is called a nick and he is out and forfeits his bet, although he doesn't have to pay out to all the other players. Having thrown a valid 'chance' the caster then throws the dice, again a two, three, eleven or twelve will see him 'nicked' whereas a main' will require him to match everyone else's bet. If he throws an unused number then he continues with another throw (and another bet) but should the caster roll his own chance then he collects the whole pot! Two common sayings to come from Hazard, are:'Being in with a chance' meaning one has gained an opportunity to win the pot and 'having an eye to the main chance' meaning that a great deal can be won but it will be risky. Hazzard is a proper name for this garne; for it speedily makes a man or undoes him; in the twinkling of an eye either a man or a mouse - Charles Cotton
Passage (Pas Dix). This was reputed to be the game played by the roman soldiers for the clothes of Christ. It is however, a very old game. It is played with three dice. Each player puts in his bet: and then throws the dice. If the score is over ten then he stays in for the next round. If the throw is ten or lower then he is out and plays no further part in this round. This is then repeated by the next player and then the next etc.When there is only one person left they are the winners of the round and take the pot. Side bets on this are quite usual and can be placed by players and spectators alike.
In and In. This is played with four dice. As with Pas Dix each player puts in his ante and rolls the dice. If he rolls a pair then he is considered 'in' and continues playing, if not he is out and plays no further part in the round. The next player then rolls the dice and does the same. If any player rolls two pairs then he is 'in and in' and takes the whole pot. If all the players are out then the round starts again with no-one winning the pot. Again side bets are usually placed each time someone rolls, although it isn't usually a side betting game.
Source - THE COMPLEAT GAMESTER BY CHARLES COTTON
The Practice of Witchcraft - by Ruth
Witchcraft is an important theme in Elizabethan England, legal accounts of witchcraft are abundant, the church saw it as a major problem and devoted a fair bit of energy towards it and both popular and more intellectual writings and plays deal with it repeatedly. It is however also a subject, which carries a lot of modern myths.
Firstly it is worth pointing out that the theory, first drawn up in the 1920's, that Tudor and Stuart witchcraft is a last survival of the pagan mothergodess beliefs of pre Christian times which was being finally eradicated by the church, has now been thoroughly discredited. Nor is Tudor witchcraft related to the modern pagan beliefs or to the practices of modern witches either Wicca or Satanists.
English Eiizabethan witchcraft and magic is also different to the picture we get from images of the Inquisition and the Salem trials that film, plays and Television have given us. It is both more ordinary and generally less violent. Unlike the continent, witches were hung not burned, they were never thought to belong to covens or to have made sexual pacts with the devil. Many accusations of witchcraft in England resulted in the accuser being prosecuted for slander, and the shear number of prosecutions for witchcraft, whilst still distressing, is tiny in relation to the continental and American experience.
What is magic
"Magic is the art of compelling destiny" - Barbara Rosen. Magic covers anything, which is seen to be un or super natural. This of course leads us to ask for definitions of what is natural. The answer to these questions obviously changes with changes in scientific knowledge and from one person to another. A balloon rubbed against a jumper will stick to the ceiling - is this magic or static electricity? A steel needle moves seemingly by itself out of a pile of brass needles when the cunning man calls- is this example of his magic abilities or magnetism? A weird high pitched shriek- is it the wind or a ghost? A glass held by a ring of people that feels as if it is moving of its own accord toward a certain letter on a Oji board- is it a contact from the dead? Is taking a lucky pen into every exam with you an attempt to influence the outcome? Is repeating a phrase over and over such as "Good car start now" a charm? Obviously an Elizabethan person is going to have a different perspective as to what constitutes magic to that which is general nowadays but I hope that the above examples have made you think about how fluid our modern definitions are and remind you that Elizabethan definitions were equally fluid. The English Elizabethan experience of magic is of unorganised individuals dotted all over the country carrying out a huge range of services for their community and trying to use their power for their own ends. There is no one ritual or rite connecting them and no hierarchy. Their spells charms and incantations are highly varied and have only the most general of themes in common. Both in civil law and in church law they are condemned and their practices outlawed and yet commentator after commentator talks about them being commonplace and much in demand. " A great many of us when we be in trouble, or sickness, or lose anything, we run hither and thither to witches, or sorcerers, whom we call wise men...seeking aid and comfort at their hands" - Bishop Latimer 1552. "You have heard of Mother Nottingham, who for her time was pretty well skilled in casting of waters, and after her, Mother Bomby; and then there is one Hatfeild in Pepper Alley, he doth pretty well for a thing that's lost. There's another in Coleharbour that's skilled in the planets. Mother Stuton in Golden Lane is for fore- speaking; Mother Philips of the Bankside, for the weakness of the back; and then there's a very reverend matron on Clerkenwell Green good at many things. Mistress Mary on the bankside is for erecting a figure; and one (what do they call her?) in Westmister that practiseth the book and the key, and the sieve and the shears; and all do well according to their talent."- T.Heywood 1638.
Both men and women, high or low resort to them, various legal cases have people such as the countess of Somerset, Lord Burghley, and Raleigh using the services of witches as well as thousands of ordinary souls. There are records of charms, spells and potions to; cure sickness of people and animals, to win at cards, to defeat opponents in lawsuits, to escape arrest, to find lost property, to recover stolen property, to discover thieves, give immunity in battle, keep off vermin, give success at dice, protection from lightening, to put out fires, put children to sleep, to attain skill in playing musical instruments, for god luck, love charms, to remove marital impotence, find buried treasure, and determine the sex of a baby. And of course spells to counter witchcraft.
Using magic
There is no evidence of any connecting or underlying theory of magic in Elizabethan England, rather it was a mish mash of several old ideas that had become rather garbled. There are discernable elements of anglo saxon practices, medieval scientific ideas, catholic beliefs and rituals in some of the spells. But usually the people using them are totally unaware of the origin of the charms they are using and report learning them verbatim without any explanation. Words are frequently seen to be very powerful and the spell consists entirely in repeating the correct formula either verbally or in written form. Three paternosters and a creed said by one witch were all that she required to heal someone. Another woman repeated " In the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost begone thou foul ringworm" three times to cure cases of ringworm. Such religious almost prayer forms of spells are common. Some however have no religious element and some are nonsense words or corrupted Latin phrases where the magic practitioner obviously has no idea of what they once meant. Sometimes the words must be written and have a physical proximity to be effective such as the ARATALY RATALY ATALY TALY ALY that has to be worn next to the skin to protect against the toothache. Transferring the evil, particularly of sickness into some other thing and then destroying that thing is another common theme in spells. This is the idea behind pressing a toad against a wart and then casting the toad away. Wearing a charm and then after a set amount of time burning the charm. Spells can be cast using something that has been close to the one to be bewitched is also common. A lock of hair or piece of clothing is seen to carry enough of the person in them to allow knowledge or control over them. This is a method commonly used to harm someone and as such obtain such smail tokens was often seen as threatening. A few words and the burning of a lock of hair could be a spell to make someone fall in love or to cause a wasting sickness depending on the words and the intention behind them. Indeed the intentions were all important. A witch could harm someone just by wishing them ill. Several trials contain both confessions from accused witches of having ill wished someone and when sickness or ill luck befalls them they believed that they had brought it about by their ill wishing. " the same Elizabeth saith that herself did kill one Shaddock with a clap on the shoulder, for not keeping his promise for an old cloak to make her a safeguard, who presently went home and died" 1579. Some spells seem to have been almost common knowledge and required no special person to do them. The sieve and shears being one that is commonly mentioned. "Stick a pair of shears in the rind of a sieve and let two persons set the top of each of their forefingers upon the upper part of the shears holding it up from the ground steadily; and ask Peter and Paul whether A, B or C hath stolen the thing lost; and at the nomination of the guilty person the sieve will turn around." The use of this spell actually led to arrests being made.
Herblore is mixed in with all other magical practices. Some of it is simply traditional medicine and some based upon the medical theory of the time. It can be easy to get confused here; a modern person can see practices, which were perfectly orthodox to an Elizabethan, as magic at work. Weapon salve is a perfect example of this. Weapon Salve is simply a salve, which instead of being applied to the wound is applied to the weapon, which caused the wound. This was a perfectly acceptable medical approach based upon Neoplatonic ideas of the interconnectedness of things. Some herblore however was seen as the practice of magic, love potions for example.
Familiars and Spirits
A familiar or tame spirit is very common in court cases against witches. Usually in the form of a small animal such as a cat or toad but sometimes an imp or other unnatural beast. They are always presented as evil, living off the witch's blood and carrying out her magical demands. " one Mother Dutten dwelling within one Hoskins in the Clewer perish can tell everyone's message as soon as she seeth them approach near to the place of her abode and further, she keepeth a spirit of frend in the likeness of a toad, and feedeth the same feind (lying in a border of green herbs within her garden) with blood which she causeth to issue from her own flank" .1579. Confession of Elizabeth Francis "First she learned this art of witchcraft at the age of 12 years, of her grandmother, whose name was mother Eve of Hatfeild Peverel, deceased. Item: when she taught it her, she counseled her to renounce GOD and his word, and to give of her blood to Satan (as she termed it), which she delivered her in the likeness of a white spotted cat, and taught her to feed the said cat with bread and milk, and she did so. Also she taught her to call it by the name of Satan, and to keep it in a basket...
Item: that every time that he did anything for her, she said that he required a drop of blood, which she gave him by pricking herself, sometime in one place and then in another, and where she pricked herself there remained a red spot which was still to be seen." 1579. Often seen as a physical sign of a pact with the devil, familiars are a small and rather domestic version of the devil worship, which the continental pattern postulated. There is little sign of the sexual covenant, which the Inquisition claimed, nor the full sized devils of the Faustus story. The public, in general, was convinced of the reality of familiars. Some of the evidence suggests that some accused witches believed that their pet cats really were able to bring about death and destruction when asked just as many accused witches became convinced that their own ill wishing had power, and that really were witches.
Practitioners
All sorts of people seem to have engaged in practicing magic. Some from fairly high up the social scale bot mostly from fairly humble backgrounds. Both men and women were involved. It is mostly, but by no means exclusively women who are prosecuted. We do not know if this means that it was mostly a female activity, or if men were just less likely to be brought to court over their magical activities. At the upper end of society were a number of intellectuals who would not have seen their own activities as in any way magical, but rather as scientific. However in popular eyes they were suspect and eventually many of them got into trouble in one way or anther. During the middle of the16th century Neoplatonism rose to intellectual prominence. Most popular in Italy, it was less commonly accepted in England but did attract the interest of men such as Dee, Gilbert and Raleigh. The idea was that the cosmos was an organic unity with everything sympathetically connected to everything else. Thus the stars and planets held an influence over peoples lives (an orthodox view at the time). So also just as an individual man was believed to mirror the world in miniature so a hand or face mirrored the man (palmistry). William Gilbert did a whole sequence of experiments with magnets and magnetism and believed that his results showed clear evidence of this interlinkage, with invisible forces binding things together. The weapon Salve mentioned earlier was thought to act in similar ways.
Popular magic and its practitioners however were a completely different kettle of fish, often illiterate and almost always unable to read Latin the Neoplatonism rose to intellectual prominence. Most popular in Italy, it was less commonly accepted in England but did attract the interest of men such as Dee, Gilbert and Raleigh. The idea was that the cosmos was an organic unity with everything sympathetically connected to everything else. Thus the stars and planets held an influence over peoples lives (an orthodox view at the time). So also just as an individual man was believed to mirror the world in miniature so a hand or face mirrored the man (palmistry). William Gilbert did a whole sequence of experiments with magnets and magnetism and believed that his results showed clear evidence of this interlinkage, with invisible forces binding things together. The weapon Salve mentioned earlier was thought to act in similar ways.
Popular magic and its practitioners however were a completely different kettle of fish, often illiterate and almost always unable to read Latin the Neoplatonist ideas were out of their reach. Confessions of witches often describe becoming a witch almost by accident by cursing someone in anger and then finding that the curse had power. "she cursed Poole's wife and bade a mischeife to light upon her for that she would give her no yeast. Whereupon suddenly in the way she heard a great noise and presently there appeared unto her a spirit of a white colour" from then on she thought of herself as a witch. Relations taught others and accusations of witchcraft frequently run in families. Others gain a reputation over time in the general talk of their neighbours. For some people magic power was a welcome help to their survival, giving them a respected if suspect place in their community, and they chose to cultivate the reputation. A person who was known to be good at finding lost things was likely to be looked on favorably by their neighbours who would be more likely to help in bad times as a result. Alternatively some poor and much bullied person might be willing to risk a reputation as a dangerous person to cross, as it would give them protection from abuse in the future. For others simple good medical practice could gain a reputation for knowing more than other folk. Some practitioners specialised in only one form of magic. Some saw themselves as acting solely for the benefit of others. Some charged for their services and some worked only for goodwill. Some used magic for revenge and others to change the world around them more to their liking.
Getting into trouble
Witchcraft was against the law. It had been contrary to church law from the initial biblical enjoinder "thou shalt not suffer the witch to live. But in practice was very leniently dealt with throughout the medieval period and punished by the pillory or penance. Nor do cases turn up very often at this time. The first secular act was not until 1542 it appears to have only been used once and was repealed in1547. There remained no secular law against witchcraft until 1563. This "Act against conjuration's enchantments and witchcraft's" was current throughout Elizabeth's reign and was then super seeded by James I's harsher act.
"That if any person or persons after the first day of June next coming, use practice or exercise any invocations or conjuration's of evil and wicked spirits, to or for any intent or purpose; or else if any person or persons after the said first day of June shall use practice or exercise any witchcraft, enchantment, charm, or sorcery, whereby any person shall happen to be killed or destroyed, .... Shail suffer pains of death as a felon...or exercise any witchcraft, enchantment, charm, or sorcery whereby any person shall happen to be wasted, consumed, any goods or chattels shall be destroyed, wasted or impaired.... Shall for his or their first offence or offences suffer imprisonment by the space of one whole year.....and .. stand openly upon the pillory by the space of six hours.....and for the second offence....shall suffer death" There was never any Inquisition in England and only one episode of major witch hunting in England -1640 Hopkins, witchfinder general. During the Elizabethan period prosecutions for witchcraft were patchy with the last few years of the reign seeing an intensification of prosecutions. It is worth pointing out at this stage that only one fifth of prosecutions led to a death sentence. There is also evidence that many people who were considered to practice magic in one form or another were never brought to trial at all. There are also a fair number of cases where the accused was able to clear- usually herself by producing a number of neighbours who were willing to swear to the accused's good character. However the standard of evidence required to convict a witch were very low indeed. There are examples of small children's evidence being used. "The said John Sellis saith, that he is about the age of 6 years 3 quarters, and saith...". Hearsay is frequently accepted as proof as are any marks on the body which can be said to be the suck marks of a familiar. The inability to say the Lords Prayer correctly, the inability to weep in court and floating when ducked or "swam", were all taken as proof of guilt. Prosecutions are very localised with accusations being made over and over again in the same villages over several generations often against members of the same family, whilst other areas are completely free of any prosecutions The main determining factor as to whether a prosecution is brought and the outcome of that prosecution seems to be the accused's relationship with his or her neighbours. Trials which resulted in the accused being convicted usually show evidence of a long term and widespread breakdown and longstanding resentments. Alan Macfarlane and Keith Thomas point out that often what finally causes the official accusation is guilt. Guilt on the part of someone, usually of a little higher station, who has refused the suspected person some favour. The accused has gone away angry and when some illness or misfortune comes along they guiltily remember their former behaviour and assume that the accused person has taken a magical revenge upon them. "Item: she came often to the house of one John Hopwood of Walden, and had continually her requests. At the last, being denied of a leathern thong, she went her way offended, and the same night his gelding in the stable, being the day before in very good case, died suddenly". Outcomes of accusations also depended very heavily upon they attitude and beliefs of the Judges. In general English Judges refused to believe in the full continental pattern of witchcraft with its Sabbaths, devil worship, sexual relations with the devil and sacrificing babies. The exception is Brian Darcy, who in 1582 applied the principles and methods of continental interrogation to a case in St Osyth Essex. He began with a presumption of guilt, used young children's evidence repeatedly interrogated the suspects, made threats and promises that he later broke. The consecutive confessions get wilder and wilder. As a result of this trial two people were hanged, a further five were convicted but later reprieved, two were discharged and four people were acquitted. At the other end of the scale you find Magistrates who refuse to believe that the alleged acts of witchcraft are physically possible and therefore dismiss the case outright.
To sum up
English Elizabethan witchcraft is a special case- no professional witchfinders, no clerical involvement in the legal process and probably much less than a thousand death sentences in the whole period. Magic itself is widespread and common, resorted to by many, maybe even most people, at some time or other. Many practitioners consider themselves to be doing white or good magic and can count on a fair bit of goodwill in their community which by and large keeps them out of trouble. Witchcraft prosecutions come in clusters where you get officials who believe in it and are zealous in persecuting any reported instances. Some localities are very prone to accusations of witchcraft whether because of high levels of community tensions or because it became a self-perpetuating circle of revenge and guilt. Magic was used for a huge range of purposes, by a huge range of people and was reacted to in a variety of ways, from turning a blind eye to using the full weight of the law in procedures which allowed little chance of escape.
Bibliography:
Witchcraft in England 1558-1618 - Barbara Rosen
Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England - Alan Macfarlane
Religion and the Decline of Magic - Keith Thomas
Printed at the sign of the rosemary sprig and mountain of amorphous paperwork
In the year of our Lord 1555 (or, only five minutes till tea time);
