How Does William Phipps Feel About Witchcraft?

In 1692, the Salem Witch Trials were a frenzied period in Massachusetts, marked by the execution of thousands of people accused of witchcraft. Governor Sir William Phips, known for his involvement with astrology and belief in witchcraft, intervened and ordered a commission on witchcraft. However, upon finding his wife accused of being a witch, Phips ended the commission and brought the hysteria to an end.

Phips appointed a Special Court to manage the trials, which began in June 1692. The trial was attended by Cotton Mather and Rebecca Nurse, who died from a sickly illness. In October, Phips dissolved the tribunal that had been established to preside over the witchcraft prosecutions. The cries and clamours of the friends of the afflicted people prevailed with the advice of the Deputy Governor and many others, leading to the establishment of a Commission of Oyer.

By May 1693, Phips had pardoned and released all those remaining in prison on witchcraft charges. As accusations spiraled, even Phips’ own wife, Lady Mary Phips, was named as a witch. In October of 1692, Phips ordered spectral retribution against the accused.

From the late 1690s to the mid-eighteenth century, British accounts of the Salem Witch Trials generally become less evocative of witches and pagans. The people accused of witchcraft were devout individuals, and Phips, the governor of Massachusetts during the Salem Witch Trials, established a special court to manage the trials.

What did Puritans think about witches?

The Salem witchcraft outbreak in 1692 may have been influenced by tensions between neighbors, children’s fantasies, ergotism, and an encephalitis epidemic. Gender was also a significant factor, as it was believed that propertied women were victims of envious men. The Puritans believed witchcraft was God’s punishment for sin, and they believed in the existence of the Devil and his evil minions. The witchcraft outbreak was intensified by political uncertainty, the Glorious Revolution of 1689-1690, and the war with France, which in turn reignited war with American Indians in New England.

These events contributed to an atmosphere of profound insecurity and danger, spiritual and physical, but none fully explain the Salem witchcraft outbreak. Spectral evidence during the late seventeenth century and the Salem witch trials may not fully explain the events.

How was William Phips involved in the Salem witch trials?

In 1692, witchcraft accusations in Salem, Massachusetts, began to spread rapidly. Mather and Phips created the Court of Oyer and Terminer to process the case backlog, and appointed William Stoughton as lieutenant-governor. Stoughton’s preference for finding guilt using spectral evidence led to the unrelenting spread of witchcraft accusations. As accusations proliferated, even Phips’ own wife, Lady Mary Phips, was named as a witch. In October of 1692, Phips ordered spectral evidence and testimony would no longer suffice to convict suspects in future trials.

In his letter to the King on February 21, 1693, Phips attempted to distance himself from Stoughton’s actions, but his failure to control the Court allowed the persecutions to continue through the summer of 1693 and left an indelible stain on his record. The King recalled him to England, where he died in February 1695.

Upon arriving in Massachusetts, the author found the province miserably harrassed with a most horrible witchcraft or possession of devils that had broken in upon several towns. Some poor people were taken with preternatural torments, some scalded with brimstone, others had pins stuck in their flesh, and others were dragged out of their houses and carried over the tops of trees and hills for many miles together. Many were committed to prision upon suspicion of witchcraft before his arrival.

The loud cried and clamours of the friends of the afflicted people, with the advice of the Deputy Governor and many others, prevailed with mee to give a Commission of Oyer and Terminer for discovering what witchcraft might be at the bottom or whether it were not a possession. The chief Justice in the Commission was the Deputy Governor, and the rest were persons of the best prudence and figure that could then be pitched upon.

When the Court came to sit at Salem, they convicted more than twenty persons of being guilty of witchcraft, some of whom confessed their guilt. The author was almost the whole time in the service of Their Majesties in the Eastern part of the Country and depended on the Judgement of the Court as to the right method of proceeding in cases of witchcraft. When he returned home, he found many people in a strange ferment of dissatisfaction, which was increased by hot spirits that blew up the flame.

Who was the first child accused of witchcraft?

In the seventeenth century, Norway experienced child witch accusations, similar to Europe’s witch craze. A group of six girls in the Northern district of Finnmark were accused of witchcraft, with Ingeborg Iversdatter being the first child to be accused. Many of these children had family connections to others accused of witchcraft.

In the United Kingdom, research by Dr. Leo Ruickbie showed that child witchcraft accusations spread from Africa to countries with African immigrant populations, leading to ritualized abuse and even murder. In 2000, Victoria Climbie was sent to live with her great-aunt Marie-Thérèse Kouao for better education. Doctors and social workers suspected Kouao of physically abusing and neglecting Victoria, but she was discharged in her great-aunt’s care. Kouao claimed Victoria was suffering from demonic possession and authorized a deliverance ritual.

Victoria’s condition worsened from the abuse, neglect, and torture, leading to her death on February 25, 2000, from heart, lung, and kidney failure. Kouao and her boyfriend were both convicted of murder, both receiving a life sentence.

What was William Phipps most famous for?

Sir William Phips, born in Maine in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was a humble, uneducated, and fatherless boy who rapidly advanced from a shepherd boy to a shipwright, ship’s captain, and treasure hunter. He was the first New England native to be knighted and the first royally appointed governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Phips was famous for recovering a large treasure from a sunken Spanish galleon and establishing the court associated with the Salem Witch Trials.

Born to James and Mary Phips in a frontier settlement near the mouth of the Kennebec River, his father died when he was six years old. His mother married John White, and his father was poor, but his ancestry may have descended from country gentry in Nottinghamshire.

Phips watched over his family’s flock of sheep until the age of 18, after which he began a four-year apprenticeship as a ship’s carpenter. He received no formal schooling and had keen intelligence but rudimentary literacy skills. Despite his humble origins and education, Phips achieved wealth and fame, relied on a personal secretary and scribes for assistance.

Who was responsible for the accusations of witchcraft?

The Salem Witch Trials involved several accusers, including Samuel Parris, a pastor who preached about the Devil’s work. Parris was driven out of the village and replaced a few years later. Elizabeth “Betty” Parris and Abigail Williams, the first “afflicted” girls, began having unexplained fits in January 1692 after experimenting with fortune-telling. They were diagnosed as possessed and remained the main accusers throughout the trials. Tituba, a female slave likely of Native South American ancestry owned by Parris, was the first to be accused of witchcraft by Betty and Abigail.

She also confessed and accused others, first naming Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. Tituba told elaborate stories about rituals and animal familiars, leading to further accusations. Parris refused to pay her jailing costs, so she spent thirteen months in jail before someone else paid the costs for her. Her fate after being released is unknown.

Who was the youngest witch killed?

Dorothy Good, the youngest individual subjected to the Salem witch trials, was executed at the age of four or five. It is believed that she was born in 1687 or 1688 and died in 1692.

What is spectral evidence of witchcraft?

The witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, stand out in early American law due to the admission of spectral evidence. Spectral evidence was testimony where witnesses claimed that the accused appeared to them and caused harm in a dream or vision. Contemporary witch lore held that witches could project themselves spiritually, either directly or with the aid of Satan, to harm their victims from afar. The accused’s victims might see a spectral image of the witch approaching them as an apparition, pinching, biting, or choking them while the witch remained in a remote location. The court could then use the witness’s testimony to support a conviction for witchcraft.

Accusers in Salem reported spectral attacks by many of the 156 people indicted for witchcraft, adding a sensational quality to their reports. The use of spectral evidence was introduced to the court by William Stoughton, the recently-appointed Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, who served as the court’s chief justice. Reverend John Hale, who witnessed the proceedings, based the court’s use of spectral evidence on the opinion of Matthew Hale, a leading legal authority in England, who admitted spectral evidence in a criminal trial for witchcraft.

Who was the girl accused of witchcraft?

Dorothy Good, the youngest person to be arrested and jailed in 1692, was accused of practicing witchcraft at the age of four. She was confined to a dungeon-like prison for nearly eight months, initially with her mother and infant sister. However, her comforts were later removed when her sister perished in the prison conditions and her mother was convicted of practicing witchcraft and taken away for execution. Dorothy’s father described her as “chargeable having little or no reason to govern herself”.

Historical accounts of the Salem witch trials often reference Dorothy’s status as the youngest person to be imprisoned and her story with reference to the reparation payment awarded to her father in 1712. Recent research by the Director of Education has revealed more information about Dorothy’s adult life, including her straying and rambling life, and her birth of two children without a husband to claim them as his own.

Was Phips wife accused of witchcraft?

As accusations of witchcraft intensified, even Phips’ wife, Lady Mary Phips, was named a witch. In October 1692, Phips decreed that spectral evidence would henceforth be inadmissible in future trials, prohibited further arrests, released 49 of the 52 accused witches, and dismissed the Court of Oyer and Terminer. In May 1693, Phips issued a pardon for the remaining individuals who had been suspected of witchcraft.

Who was blamed for witchcraft?

Tituba, a Native South American slave owned by Parris, was the first to be accused of witchcraft by Betty and Abigail. She was also the first to confess and accuse others, first naming Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. The Parris Household, including the Putnams and other “afflicted” girls, was a driving force behind the accusations. Pastor Samuel Parris, who preached about the Devil’s work, was a driving force behind the accusations.

Elizabeth “Betty” Parris and Abigail Williams, the first of the “afflicted” girls, began having unexplained fits in January 1692 after experimenting with fortune-telling and were diagnosed as being possessed.

They remained the main accusers throughout the trials. Tituba was the first to tell elaborate stories about rituals and animal familiars, leading to further accusations. Parris refused to pay her jailing costs, so she spent thirteen months in jail before someone else paid for her. Her fate after being released is unknown.

Who were the three people first accused of witchcraft?

The Putnams accused three women, Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborn, of witchcraft. Tituba was chosen due to her social status and her ability to withstand being housed by someone. Good, a beggar, was a social misfit who lived in a place where someone would house her. Osborn, an old, quarrelsome man, had not attended church for over a year. The Putnams brought their complaint to county magistrates Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne, who scheduled examinations for the suspected witches on March 1, 1692.

The girls described attacks by the specters of the three women and their contortions when in the presence of one of the suspects. The magistrates repeatedly asked the girls if they were witches, had they seen Satan, and how they explained the contortions. Tituba’s confession transformed her from a possible scapegoat to a central figure in the expanding prosecutions. Her confession silenced most skeptics, and local ministers began witch hunting with zeal.

As the spectral forms of other women began attacking the afflicted girls, Martha Corey, Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Cloyce, and Mary Easty were accused of witchcraft. Ann Putnam, Ann Putnam, Sr., and Dorcas Good, the four-year-old daughter of Sarah Good, became the first child to be accused of witchcraft when three of the girls complained that they were bitten by the specter of Dorcas. Dorcas Good was arrested, kept in jail for eight months, and watched her mother go to the gallows.

The girls’ accusations and their polished performances, including the new act of being struck dumb, played to large and believing audiences.