Comments on: 1663: Nathaniel Greensmith, Rebecca Greensmith and possibly Mary Barnes, Connecticut “witches”

By: sara roderick

sara roderick — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:08:38 +0000

this is so not like cool

By: ExecutedToday.com » 1751: Thomas Colley, witch-killer

ExecutedToday.com » 1751: Thomas Colley, witch-killer — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 05:04:53 +0000

[...] to sign a recantation of the belief that had brought him to his inglorious end, a neat inversion of the forced confessions of previous generations’ “witches”, and no less indicative of the operations of power upon the mind as well as the body of the [...]

By: Fiz (UK)

Fiz (UK) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 21:16:31 +0000

Quite possibly - or just (in Europe) poor old ladies with a cat which they spoke to in their isolation.

By: Headsman

Headsman — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:55:00 +0000

Witchcraft trials invite judgment. In which proportions these ingredients, do you think? And are they enough to account for the whole sweep of witch trials, even in colonial America — let alone in Europe?

By: Fiz (UK)

Fiz (UK) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 18:53:11 +0000

I wish I could say something that doesn’t sound judgemental, but a very interesting book I read a couple of years ago nominated ergot in rye bread to explain the “flying” often described, hysteria in schoolgirls who didn’t have enough to do, and often envy and greed in the accusers who wanted their victims land or property.