Matthew Hopkins

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Matthew Hopkins

• Matthew Hopkins is more commonly known as The
  Witch-Finder General.
• Throughout his reign of terror 1645-1646, Hopkins
  acquired a feared and evil reputation as a
  finger man (informer), paid by local
  authorities to commit perjury.
• In just 14 months, Hopkins was responsible for
  the condemnations and executions of some 320
  alleged witches, more than all the other
  witch-hunters during the 160-year peak of the
  countrys witchcraft hysteria.

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Paid Job

• His reign of terror began in 1644 when he was
  employed by towns to seek out and destroy women
  believed to be witches.

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Witch Hunts

• Hopkins was commissioned by Parliament to seek
  out and sentence those he thought guilty of
  witchcraft and rewarded a handsome sum of 20
  shillings per witch.
• Hopkins elevated his killings to an art form by
  examining his victims to obtain proof that
  someone was actually a witch.

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Tools of Torture

• His means of extracting a confession included
  torture which shed no blood. One of his methods
  was sleep deprivation
• Also used was a witch pricker, a sharp
  evil-looking instrument
• Pricking was excruciatingly painful involved
  needles and bodkins to pierce the skin looking
  for insensitive spots that didnt bleed.
• If any were found they would then be interpreted
  as a mark of the Devil

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Witches Helpers

• He was convinced witches had what he termed
  familiars who were sent to do hellish work.
• Familiars were minor demons or imps that took the
  shape of an animal and were given to witches by
  the devil or other witches to help them
  accomplish their wicked goals.
• Familiars were said to be kept alive by sucking
  blood from a witchs finger or wart.

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Torture Victims
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Unusual Punishment

• Hopkins and his assistants, John Stearne and Mary
  Philips, would strip a suspect and dress her in a
  loose shift. She would be forced to sit on a
  stool in the middle of a room sometimes for
  days and nights.
• At all times the suspect was watched to see if
  the familiar crawled out to feed on the suspect.
  To make sure she did not fall asleep the witch
  was periodically walked.

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Sleep Deprivation Tormentum insomniae

• Torture by sleeplessness was allowable perhaps
  because it did not seem to be a real torture.
• In one instance, John Lowe, 70-year-old vicar of
  Brandeston, was "swum in the moat," kept awake
  for three days and nights, and then forced to
  walk without rest until his feet were blistered.
• Denied benefit of clergy, Lowe recited his own
  burial service on the way to the gallows

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Drowning

• Hopkins also stripped his suspects naked and tied
  them up right thumb to left big toe and vice
  versa. He then threw them into a stream.
• If they drowned they were declared innocent if
  they stayed afloat they would be found guilty and
  sentenced to death.

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No Way Out

• Confessing or being guilty of witchcraft usually
  resulted in a death sentence, either by drowning,
  hanging or being burned at the stake.
• In 1647 Hopkins was forced to take one of his own
  tests. He was bound and thrown into a river,
  floated and was sentenced to death.

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When Did It End?

• The last execution for witchcraft was in 1682,
  the last trial in 1712 and the law was repealed
  in 1736. People had moved on due to the new
  rational way of thinking called the
  Enlightenment, encouraged by new discoveries in
  science. Living standards also improved, reducing
  tensions in rural areas.