The Witches of Warboys: An Extraordinary Story of Sorcery, Sadism and Satanic Possession

241 Pages·2007·3.08 MB·English

by  Philip C. Almond

The Witches ofWarboys

‘The Witches ofWarboysis a fascinating but neglected episode in the history
ofEnglish witch-trials.Using contemporary texts and parish records,Philip C.
Almond pieces together the story with scholarly diligence, investigative
determination,and the imagination ofa dramatist.The resultis an engrossing,
frame-by-frame tale offear,prejudice and persecution ina rural parish,with
intriguing ramifications for the social and intellectual history ofElizabethan
England.There are ghosts,devils and demoniacs,bizarre dreams,afflictions
and accusations,harsh interrogations and sordidexecutions.Professor Almond
is a trustworthy guide into this lost world of belief and brutality,stripping
bare the alien cosmology and mentality ofour tense and troubled ancestors.’
Malcolm Gaskill, Fellow and Director of Studies in History, Churchill
College,Cambridge,and author ofHellish Nell: Last ofBritain’s Witches and
Witchfinders: A Seventeenth-Century English Tragedy
‘This is a splendid case-study,ofthe classic kind that tells a gripping story in
order to illuminate major historical themes. The whole of Elizabethan
witchcraft is concentrated into a vivid consideration of one
Huntingdonshire trial and the events that led up to it.As the story unfolds,we
are confronted with the horrific double problem ofhow people can come to
believe in a monstrous untruth,and how they can persuade othersto believe in
it as well.Psychology,history and literary criticism all meet inthese pages,and
sixteenth-century demonology comes face to face with modern issues
surrounding the ability of interrogation methods to reveal or distort truths.
This is at once a compelling study of the thought world of Reformation-
period Protestantism and one of the timeless psychopathology of confession.
Philip Almond takes us quite literally to realms beyond reason, where the
only alternatives confronting an enquirer are demonic possession,
paranormal human powers or mental illness. Even if the truth of what
happened probably lies beyond any person now living,what this book does
establish,convincingly and disturbingly,is the universe ofbeliefwithin which
such a tragedy can occur.’
Ronald Hutton, Professor of History, University of Bristol and author of
Witches,Druids and King Arthur andThe Triumph ofthe Moon: A History of
Modern Pagan Witchcraft
‘The Witches of Warboys is one of those rare scholarly works that press
impeccable research into the service ofa thumping good read.Eschewing the
usual ornate postmodern theories of Renaissance daemonomania,Philip C.
Almond articulates the Warboys tragedy with passion, compassion, and
exquisite erudition. The result is the single best witch-craze narrative to
appear in over a generation.’
James Morrow,author ofThe Last Witchfinder

Published in 2008 by I.B.Tauris & Co.Ltd
6 Salem Road,London W2 4BU
175 Fifth Avenue,New York NY 10010
www.ibtauris.com
In the United States and Canada distributed by Palgrave Macmillan,
a division ofSt.Martin’s Press,175 Fifth Avenue,New York NY 10010
Copyright © Philip C.Almond,2008
The right ofPhilip C.Almond to be identified as the author ofthis work has
been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright,Designs and Patents Act
1988.
All rights reserved.Except for briefquotations in a review,this book,or any part
thereof,may not be reproduced,stored in or introduced into a retrieval system,
or transmitted,in any form or by any means,electronic,mechanical,
photocopying,recording or otherwise,without the prior written permission of
the publisher.
ISBN:978 1 84511 508 1
A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
A full CIP record for this book is available from the Library ofCongress
Library ofCongress catalog card:available
Typeset in Minion by Dexter Haven Associates Ltd,London
Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International,Padstow Cornwall
To Father Des Brockhoff,
Mentor and Friend

C o n t e n t s
Acknowledgements xiii
List ofPlates xv
List ofCharacters xvii
Prologue 1
Part One 11
Bewitched and Bewitching:
November 1589 to December 1590
Part Two 77
An Infestation ofDevils:
Michaelmas Day 1592 to 31 December the Same Year
Part Three 125
Agnes Accused:
1 January 1593 to 3 April the Same Year
Part Four 179
The Trial:
4 April to 6 April 1593
Epilogue 195
Notes 201
Bibliography 211
Index ofPersons 217
Index ofSubjects 221