Witch trials and witch related accusations were at a high during the early modern period in Britain, a time that spanned from the beginning of the 16th century to the end of the 18th century.
Prior to the 16th century, Witchcraft -- i.e. any magical or supernatural practices made by mankind -- was often seen as a healing art, performed by people referred to as the cunning folk. It was later believed to be Satanic in origin[1] and thus sparked a series of laws being passed and trials being conducted, with it becoming a capital offense in 1542.[2]
The Witchcraft Act [of] 1735 reversed the law, making it illegal not to practice witchcraft but to either claim that there were people with magical powers or to accuse someone of being a witch in Great Britain,[3] (though these crimes were no longer punishable by death).
^Scarre, Geoffrey (1987). Witchcraft and magic in sixteenth and seventeenth-century Europe. Basingstoke: Macmillan Education. ISBN 0333399331. OCLC 14904269.
^"Witchcraft". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
^Galchen, Rivka (15 January 2024). "Trials of the Witchy Women". The New Yorker. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
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