Witchfinder General

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Biography

Matthew Hopkins (c. 1620 – 12 August 1647) was an English witchhunt er whose career flourished during the time of the English Civil War . He claimed to hold the office of Witchfinder General, although that title was never bestowed by Parliament of England|Parliament . His witchhunts mainly took place in the eastern counties of Suffolk , Essex, England|Essex , Norfolk , and occasionally in Cambridgeshire , Northamptonshire , Bedfordshire , and Huntingdonshire . #Demonology|Robbins 1959 : p. 251"

Hopkins' witch-finding career began in March 1645 and lasted until his retirement in 1647. During that period, he and his associates were responsible for more people being hanged for witchcraft than in the previous 100& nbsp;years, #history of witchcraft|Russell 1981 : pp. 97–98 #Magic|Thomas 1971 : p. 537, ... in Essex there were no executions after 1626 until 1645. and were solely responsible for the increase in witch trials during those years. #Witchfindergeneral|Deacon 1976 : p. 41 #Witchcraft|Notestein 1911 : p. 164 #Magic|Thomas 1971 : p. 528 He is believed to have been responsible for the deaths of 300& nbsp;women between the years 1644 and 1646. It has been estimated that all of the English witch trials between the early 15th and late 18th centuries resulted in fewer than 500& nbsp;executions for witchcraft. Therefore, presuming the number executed as a result of investigations by Hopkins and his colleague John Stearne (witch-hunter)|John Stearne is at the lower end of the various estimates, #Witchcraft|Notestein 1911 : p. 194, quoting Stearne who "boasted that he knew of 200" #Witchcraft|Notestein 1911 : p. 195, quoting James Howell "Familiar Letters, II 551, dates February 3, 1646/7 of "near 300" #Magic|Thomas 1971 : pp. 544, 537,"...when the campaign of Matthew Hopkins and his associates resulted in the execution of several hundred witches..." their efforts accounted for about 40& nbsp;per cent of the total; in the 14& nbsp;months of their crusade Hopkins and Stearne sent to the gallows more people than all the other witchhunters in the 160& nbsp;years of persecution in England. #Witchcraft|Notestein 1911 : p. 195

Early life

Very little is known of Matthew Hopkins before 1644, and there are no surviving contemporary documents concerning him or his family. #biography|Cabell 2006 : p. 9; it is the author's opinion that "unfortunately one cannot dispute that all Hopkins documentation was deliberately destroyed after his death". He was born in Wenham Magna|Great Wenham , Suffolk. #Witchfinders|Gaskill 2005 : p. 9 #Witchfindergeneral|Deacon 1976 : p. 13 He was the fourth son, and one of six children. #Witchfindergeneral|Deacon 1976 : pp. 15–17 His father, James Hopkins, was a Puritan clergy man and vicar of St John's of Great Wenham, in Suffolk. #Witchfindergeneral|Deacon 1976 : pp. 13, 17 The family were at one point landowners "to lands and tenements in Framlingham Castle|Framlingham 'at the castle. #Witchfinders|Gaskill 2005 : p. 23; #Witchfindergeneral|Deacon 1976 : p. 17; quoting James Hopkins' last will and testament His father was popular with his parishioners, one of whom in 1619 left money to purchase Bibles for his then three children James, John and Thomas. Thus Hopkins could not have been born before 1619, and could not have been older than 28 when he died, but he may have been as young as 25. #biography|Cabell 2006 : p. 6 Although James Hopkins had died in 1634, when William Dowsing , commissioned in 1643 by the Roundhead|Parliamentarians in Manchester #biography|Cabell 2006 : p. 19 "for the destruction of monuments of idolatry and superstition", visited the parish in 1645 he noted that "there was nothing to reform". #Witchfinders|Gaskill 2005 : p. 13 Hopkins' brother John became Minister (Christianity)|Minister of South Fambridge in 1645 but was removed from the post one year later for neglecting his work. #Witchfindergeneral|Deacon 1976 : p. 14

Hopkins states in his book The Discovery of Witches The Discovery of Witches – In Answer to Several Queries, Lately Delivered to the Judges of Assize for the County of Norfolk; London; 1674 that he "never travelled far& nbsp;... to gain his experience". #biography|Cabell 2006 : p. 15
In the early 1640s Hopkins moved to Manningtree , Essex, a town across the River Stour, Suffolk|River Stour from Colchester, England|Colchester , about from Wenham. According to tradition Hopkins used his recently acquired inheritance of a hundred Mark_(money)#England_and_Scotland|marks #Witchfinders|Gaskill 2005 : p. 23 to establish himself as a gentleman and buy the Thorn Inn in Mistley . #Witchfinders|Gaskill 2005 : p. 27 From the way that he presented evidence in trials, Hopkins is commonly thought to have been trained as a lawyer , but there is scant evidence to suggest this was the case.

Witch hunting

Following the Lancaster Witch Trial of 1634, William Harvey , physician to King Charles I of England , had been ordered to examine the four women accused, and from this there came a requirement to have material proof of being a witch. #Witchfinders|Gaskill 2005 : pp. 46–47 The work of Hopkins and Stearne was not necessarily to prove any of the accused had committed acts of Maleficium (sorcery)|maleficium but the fact they had made a covenant with the Devil . #Magic|Thomas 1971 : p 543; #Witchfinders|Gaskill 2005 : p 47 Prior to this point, any malicious acts on the part of witches were treated identically to those of other criminals, until it was seen that they owed their powers to a deliberate act of their choosing. #Magic|Thomas 1971 : pp. 521, 542–543 Witches then became heretics to Christianity, which became the greatest of their crimes and sins. #Magic|Thomas 1971 : pp. 542–543 Within continental and Roman Law witchcraft was crimen excepta : a crime so foul that all normal legal procedures were superseded. Because the Devil was not going to "confess", it was necessary to gain a confession from the human involved. #Demonology|Robbins 1959 : p. 498

The witch hunts undertaken by Stearne and Hopkins extended throughout the area of strongest Puritan and Parliamentarian influences which formed the powerful and influential Eastern Association from 1644 to 1647, centred on Essex. #Witchfindergeneral|Deacon 1976 : p. 39 #Witchcraft|Notestein 1911 : p. 197 Both Hopkins and Stearne would have required some form of letters of safe conduct #Witchfinders|Gaskill 2005 : p. 79 #biography|Cabell 2006 : p. 46 to be able to travel throughout the counties. #Witchfindergeneral|Deacon 1976 : pp. 70–71 Deacon proposing that Hopkins knew John Thurloe future spy master for Oliver Cromwell|Cromwell , who facilitated any travelling. See also . #biography|Cabell 2006 : p33
According to his book The Discovery of Witches , Hopkins began his career as a witch-finder after he overheard various women discussing their meetings with the Devil in March 1644 in Manningtree . In fact, the first accusations were made by John Stearne and Hopkins was appointed as his assistant. Twenty-three women were accused of witchcraft, tried at Chelmsford in 1645. With the English Civil War under way, this trial was conducted not by Assizes (England and Wales)|justices of assize , but by Justice of the peace presided over by the Earl of Warwick#1618 creation|Earl of Warwick . #Magic|Thomas 1971 : p. 545 Four died in prison and nineteen were convicted and hanged. During this period, excepting Middlesex and Municipal_corporation#United_Kingdom|chartered towns , no records show any person charged of witchcraft being sentenced to death other than by the judges of the assizes. #Witchcraft|Notestein 1911 : p. 201
Hopkins and Stearne, accompanied by the women who performed the pricking, were soon travelling over eastern England, claiming to be officially commissioned by Parliament of England|Parliament to uncover and prosecute witches. Together with their female assistants, they were well paid for their work, and it has been suggested that this was a motivation for his actions. #history of witchcraft|Russell 1981 : p98 Hopkins states that "his fees were to maintain his company with three horses", #biography|Cabell 2006 : p36 #Witchcraft|Notestein 1911 : p. 193 and that he took "twenty Shilling (British coin)|shillings a town". The records at Stowmarket show their costs to the town to have been £23 (£ as of ) plus his travelling expenses. #Witchcraft|Notestein 1911 : p183 & p193; quoting A.G. Hollingsworth, History of Stowmarket (Ipswich 1844) The expenses to the local community of Hopkins' and his company costs were such that in Ipswich a special local tax rate had to be levied in 1645. #Magic|Thomas 1971 : p544, quoting Ipswich and East Suffolk R.O. Quarterly Sessions Order Book, 1639 – 57, and Memorials of Old Suffolk, ed V.B.Redstone(1908). Parliament was well aware of Hopkins and his team's activities, as shown by the concerned reports of the Bury St. Edmunds witch trials|Bury St Edmunds witch trials of 1645 . Before the trial, a report was carried to the Parliament "as if some busie men had made use of some ill Arts to extort such confession" #Witchcraft|Notestein 1911 : p. 178 that a special Oyer and terminer|Commission of Oyer and Terminer was granted for the trial of these witches. After the trial and execution the Gilbert Mabbot| Moderate Intelligencer , a parliamentary paper published during the English Civil War, in an editorial of 4–11& nbsp;September 1645 expressed unease with the affairs in Bury.

Methods of investigation

Although torture was unlawful in England, Hopkins often used techniques such as sleep deprivation to extract confessions from his victims. #Witchcraft|Notestein 1911 : p. 167; three days and nights of "watching" brought Elizabeth Clarke to "confess many things"; He would also cut the arm of the accused with a blunt knife, and if she did not bleed, she was said to be a witch. Another of his methods was the Dunking|swimming test, based on the idea that as witches had renounced their baptism , water would reject them. Suspects were tied to a chair and thrown into water: all those who floated were considered to be witches. Hopkins was warned against the use of "swimming" without receiving the victim's permission first. #biography|Cabell 2006 : p. 22 This led to the "legal" abandonment of the test by the end of 1645. Hopkins and his assistants also looked for the Witches' mark|Devil's mark . This was a mark that all witches or Magician (paranormal)|sorcerers were supposed to possess that was said to be dead to all feeling and would not bleed – although in reality it was usually a mole, birthmark or an Supernumerary nipple|extra nipple or Accessory breast|breast . #Demonology|Robbins 1959 : p. 552 If the suspected witch had no such visible marks, invisible ones could be discovered by pricking, therefore employed "witch prickers" pricking|pricked the accused with knives and special needles, looking for such marks, normally after the suspect had been shaved of all body hair. #Demonology|Robbins 1959 : p. 398 #Demonology|Robbins 1959 : p. 469; ...justification for shaving applied especially, but not exclusively, in England" It was believed that the witch's familiar spirit|familiar , an animal such as a cat or dog, would drink the witch's blood from the mark, as a baby drinks milk from the nipple.

Opposition

Hopkins and his company ran into opposition very soon after the start of their work, but one of his main antagonists was a Reverend John Gaule, vicar of Great Staughton . #Witchcraft|Notestein 1911 : p. 187 #Witchfinders|Gaskill 2005 : pp. 219–220 Gaule had attended a woman from St Neots who was held in jail charged with witchcraft until such time that Hopkins could attend. Upon hearing that the woman had been interviewed, Hopkins wrote a letter #Witchfinders|Gaskill 2005 : p. 220 to a contact asking whether he would be given a "good welcome". Gaule hearing of this letter wrote his publication Select Cases of Conscience touching Witches and Witchcrafts ; London, (1646) dedicated to Valentine Walton|Colonel Walton of the House of Commons and began a programme of Sunday sermons to suppress witchhunting. #Witchfinders|Gaskill 2005 : p. 220 In Norfolk both Hopkins and Stearne were questioned by justices of the assizes, about the torturing and fees. #Demonology|Robbins 1959 : p. 252 Hopkins was asked if methods of investigation did not make the finders themselves witches, and if with all his knowledge did he not also have a secret, #Witchfinders|Gaskill 2005 : p. 238 or had used "unlawful courses of torture". By the time this court session resumed in 1647 Stearne and Hopkins had retired, Hopkins to Manningtree and Stearne to Bury St Edmunds. #Demonology|Robbins 1959 : p. 253

Colonial impact

Hopkins' witch hunting methods were outlined in his book The Discovery of Witches, which was published in 1647. These practices were recommended in law books.Jewett, Clarence F. The memorial history of Boston: including Suffolk County, Massachusetts. 1630–1880. Ticknor and Company. 1881 Pgs. 133–137 During the year following the publication of Hopkins' book, trials and executions for witchcraft began in the New England colonies with the conviction of Margaret Jones (Puritan midwife)|Margaret Jones . As described in the journal of Governor John Winthrop , the evidence assembled against Margaret Jones was gathered by the use of Hopkins' techniques of "searching" and "watching". Jones' execution was the first in a witch-hunt that lasted in New England from 1648 until 1663.Fraden, Judith Bloom, Dennis Brindell Fraden. The Salem Witch Trials . Marshall Cavendish. 2008. Pg. 15 About eighty people throughout New England were accused of practising witchcraft during that period, of whom 15& nbsp;women and 2& nbsp;men were executed. Some of Hopkins' methods were once again employed during the Salem Witch Trials , which occurred primarily in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692–93. These trials resulted in 19 executions for witchcraft,, one man, Giles Corey , Crushing (execution)|pressed to death peine forte et dure|for refusing to plead ,Boyer p8. and 150& nbsp;imprisonments.

Death and legacy

Matthew Hopkins died at his home in Manningtree , Essex, on 12& nbsp;August 1647, probably of pleural tuberculosis . He was buried a few hours after his death in the graveyard of the Church of St Mary at Mistley Heath. In the words of historian Malcolm Gaskill, Matthew Hopkins "lives on as an anti-hero and bogeyman utterly ethereal, endlessly malleable". #Witchfinders|Gaskill 2005 : p. 283 According to fellow historian Rossell Hope Robbins, Hopkins "acquired an evil reputation which in later days made his name synonymous with fingerman or Common Informers Act 1951|informer paid by authorities to commit perjury". #Demonology|Robbins 1959 : p. 248

What historian James Sharpe has characterised as a "pleasing legend" grew up around the circumstances of Hopkins' death, according to which he was subjected to his own swimming test and executed as a witch, but the parish registry at Mistley confirms his burial there.

References

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External links

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Category:1647 deaths
Category:Witch trials
Category:Deaths from tuberculosis
Category:People from Babergh (district)
Category:Year of birth unknown
Category:Witch hunting

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