The fear of witchcraft was rife in Exeter in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, according to new research from the University which has revealed the extent of court cases and executions in the Devon city over a 100-year period.
Professor Mark Stoyle, who teaches Early Modern History, has discovered that Exeter was not only the last place in England where people were hanged for practising ‘dark arts’, but that these were just the last in a series of executions, which may have begun as early as 1566. In fact, Exeter may have been one of the first places in the kingdom to sentence a witch to death.
The deep roots of witch-belief in the city are revealed in a new book by Professor Stoyle, Witchcraft in Exeter: 1558-1660. Sourced from centuries-old court records, manuscript chronicles and registers of births, marriages and deaths, it charts the progress of each case of alleged ‘witchcraft’ from accusation to ultimate sentence.
Professor Stoyle’s research provides numerous other individual stories of black magic, sorcery, curses and alleged murder which combine to tell an intriguing tale, shedding powerful new light on occult belief in Tudor and Stuart Exeter and on the dark, uneasy world of the urban ‘witch’.
Professor Stoyle will launch the book with a talk, Witchcraft in Exeter, at Exeter Guildhall at 19:00 on Friday 10 November. Tickets are available for £4 and can be booked through Eventbrite by clicking here.
Read the full story on the University’s new pages.
