“When you believe in things
That you don’t understand,
Then you suffer,
Superstition aint the way“
Superstition by Stevie Wonder
Bonavant v Walls – A review of a witchcraft accusation in Reading 1634
On the 2nd of June 1634 at the Reading Borough Court William and Edith Walls were accused of making Edward Bonavant ill by witchcraft. This serious accusation was made in a troubled town at a time when witchcraft was believed to be real, and causing harm by witchcraft a capital crime. The local authorities took…
Review of “John Stearne’s Confirmation and Discovery of Witchcraft: Text, Context and Afterlife” by Scott Eaton
This book published by Routledge in 2020, is a long overdue re-evaluation of John Stearne. Stearne is often dismissed as Matthew Hopkins assistant during the 1645-7 witch hunt in East Anglia. It is based on Scott Eaton’s PhD research. The first chapter describes the wider context of the east Anglian witch hunt of 1645-7 and…
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The visible effects of belief 