By the Dot.Coms

WHO WERE THEY?Really, anybody couldv’e been a witch in Elizabethan times but

women were mostly accused of bieng witches. There were 270 Elizabethan witch trials and 247 were women and only 23 were men.

The people who were usually accused of witchcraft were :• Old• Poor• Unprotected by family/friends• Single women or widows• Sometimes Succesful

WHO WERE THEY - CONTINUEDIn Elizabethan times, men ruled women. Womens chances to

attend the doctors were minimal so they usually looked ill and witch-like. Women were expected to grow herbs medicines for the doctors wich included; canabis, mandrake, datura, monkshood, cannabis, belladonna, henbane and hemlock.

Since witches were taken as seriously as politics are taken now, if

someone had some kind of proof that someone was a witch, they would usually be believed!

Shakespeare and Witches Some people used to question is Shakespeare himself was a

witch, since he was a very succesful play-write. They used to think that his success was an act of witchcraft.

What powers were they supposed to have?

• During the Elizabethan era, it was believed that there were two kinds of Witches – good and bad. The good were known as White Witches, and the bad were known as Black Witches. The White Witches were capable of healing people of their ailments through the use of herbs. The Black Witches were usually seen as those who used their powers to inflict harm on people, animals, and properties. During that time, people accused of being Witches were usually, the unprotected, dirty or filthy women, the poor women and widows. Some widows were accused of killing their husbands!

What powers were they supposed to have - continued

• Witches in general were psycholigicaly identified if they could fly ( or move quickly accross long distances ), being an ‘old hag’, living alone, keeping animals such as a cat, frog, goat, raven, pig or crow.

• If women who were accused of being a Witch owned a black cat, people believed that they would dicsuise themselves INSIDE their cat!

• Witches were executed if any of these reasons made people believe that they were Witches. People would accuse women of being Witches if there had been recent storms, crop failure or other natural disasters.

Pictures of their powers

What happened to the Witches? In Elizabethan times, if you were accused of being a witch, there were

serious consequences. The men were probably then luckiest because people at the time were very biased, and usually accused women of being witches instead of men.

Usually, the women who were accused were single and kept pets for company, the animals are thought to have been helpful and were involved in witchcraft.

One woman, , Elizabeth Frances admitted to being a witch because she gave a Black cat to her daughter and called it Sathan, When she admitted to being a witch, she was hung and her daughter was in jail for one year. At the time, people took Witches very seriously as they were thought to have caused an illness, plotted murder and many more.

What happened to the witches - continued

• Sometimes, the people who were accused of being witches were held underwater, and if she drowned, then she would have been falsely accused. But, if she survived, she was a witch and had to be killed. Also, some of them accused were tied to a stake and burnt alive. Also, as witches were oftenlly accused of murder, and if they were found guilty, people hanged them. Giles Corey, was a man who was accused of being a witch was stripped naked and was crushed to death by stones. The process took 2 days. At first six men led him down and lifted up rocks and placed them on to him. As he wouldnt admit being a witch, the men told him every hour to admit being a witch but every time he replied;

• ‘’MORE WEIGHT!’’ and eventually, he died

What did they look like?

Witches are a common dress up for halloween, wich includes a black cloak, pointy hat, warts and a atatchable pointy long crocked nose and not forgetting the broomstick.

Because shakespeare wrote plays about witches he was aloud to make up anything scary enough to scare people. In those days people would believe in what they heard and seen on stage, so Shakepeare was able to make things up wich everyone will believe in.

QI – Quite interesting factsQI: Quite Interesting Facts About Elizabethan witches Fact no◦ 1 A lot of people thought that witches existed. They were so frightened thay they

started a witch finder agency to find what people complained to be witches. People were scared at the thought of witches that if someone complained that they knew a witch, the witch findes would go and capture the so called Witch and either burn them or do other horrible things to ‘witches’.

Fact no◦ 2Witches were taken very seriously in the Elizabethan era, if you were blamed for being

awitch you were almost certinly going to die these are the what they did to inocent people in that era who were blamed of being witches:

They were burned alive, put in the stocks And had people throw rotten fod at you, put in jail for life and many other things.

QI - ContinuedQI: Quite Interesting Facts About Elizabethan witches Fact no◦ 1 A lot of people thought that witches existed. They were so frightened thay

they started a witch finder agency to find what people complained to be witches. People were scared at the thought of witches that if someone complained that they knew a witch, the witch findes would go and capture the so called Witch and either burn them or do other horrible things to ‘witches’.

Fact no◦ 2Witches were taken very seriously in the Elizabethan era, if you were blamed

for being awitch you were almost certinly going to die these are the what they did to inocent people in that era who were blamed of being witches:

They were burned alive, put in the stocks And had people throw rotten fod at you, put in jail for life and many other things.

The lawsLaws created due to WitchesWitches were hunted down and sentenced to death by a hanging or

by burning to death.All sorcery, spell castings, charms etc were made illegal.The catholic church claimed anyone who had knowledge of herbs that

can help clear did so with a pact with the devil – and were burned alive.

Anyone who could communicate with spirits were considered a witch.A witch who commited a minor act were sentenced to 1 year in

prison.Witchcraft was considered a petty treason.