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Chronology of Events Relating to the Burning Times(including the Salem Witch Trails) back to Part 11600-1680- 40,000 executed in England 1603-1605- 205 burned at the Abbey of Fulda, Germany 1603- Mary Pannel executed in Yorkshire, England 1604- The blood secret of Countess Erzsebet Bathori (Elizabeth Bathory) of Hungary, who believed that by bathing in the blood of virgin girls she would stay eternally youthful. She was denounced as a witch and executed in 1611. 1606- Joanna Harrisson and her daughter were executed in Hertford, England 1607- Many "witches" executed in Derbyshire, England, 24 burned + 3 suicides in Hagenau, Alsace. Isobel Grierson burned in Scotland 1608- Publication of Compendium Maleficarum , by Francesco Maria Guazzo, 1 burned alive by a mob in France, Beigis Tod & several women burned in Scotland 1610-1840- Over 22,000 executed in Bamberg, Germany, Mr. & Mrs. Dorlady were burned alive in France 1611- The Basque Trials. These were trials where the traditional burning was halted by a Spanish Inquisitor named Antonio Salazar de Frias who, after much deliberation and methodical research into the stories of witchcraft, decided that the men and women charged were under a form of mass hysteria and were protecting each other, that "witches" were not harmful, merely delusional, and needed help, not condemnation. Execution of Louis Gaufiedi, for witchcraft. The King James version of the Bible was published. 1612- Execution of the 10 in Lancashire 5 in Northhampton 1 in Lancaster & 1 in York "Witches" 1613- 2 people executed in Bedford, England 1615- One "Leclerc" is condemned for witchcraft, in France & Joan Hunt was hanged in Middlesex, England 1616- A man named Leger condemned for witchcraft in France, 12 hanged in England, 18 killed at Orleans, France 1617- Leonora Galigai beheaded in France> 1618- 8 hanged in France 1619- Etienne Audibert condemned for witchcraft in France, 5 were executed in England one died while in prison 1619- Several witches condemned in Nerac, France, Over 200 executed in Labourt, France 1620- 2 burned in France 1621- Bessie Harlow, Bessie Chalmers, Beatrice Mundie, Christiane Hamyltoun, Margaret Kent, and Marioun Chatto tried for witchcraft in Inverkiething, Scotland, Elizabeth Sawyer was hanged at Tyburn, England 1622- 13 burned alive in Scotland, Anne de Chantraine burned as a witch in France 1624- 2 executed in England 1626- George Haan his wife, son and daughter were burned alive in Germany 1626-1631- 900 executions at Bamberg, Germany, 79 burned at Offenburg, Austria, 85 burned in Dieburg, Germany, 168 executions in Miltenberg, Germany, 8 executions in Prozelten and Amorbach, Germany, 40 executions at Berndit, Buttan, Ebenheit, Wenchdorf and Heinbach, Germany, 77 executions in Burgstadt, Germany, 56 executions in Mainz, Germany 1627- Catherine Hennot burned alive in Germany 1628- Execution of Johannes Junius of Bamberg, as a witch, another person was burned in France, before his death he wrote his daughter a letter. 1628-1629- 1 person hung himself in prison, 3 people were burned alive, 73 people (including children) behead in Wurzburg, Germany 1629- Salem Mass is settled, 274 executed in Germany, Alexander Hunter burned at Edinburgh, Scotland 1630- 1 hanged in England, 1 strangled in Germany, 124 executed by the Teutonic Order in Germany 1631- 3 executed in Germany, 1 in France and 1 in England 1633- Anna Pomp is executed in Germany 1634- Urbain Grandier burned in France 1640-1651- 30 burned in Germany, 900 killed in France, 30,000 (approx) burned by the Inquisition (not all may have been witches), 3-4000 killed during Cromwell's tenure in England 1640- a man was stoned to death by a mob at St. Paul's Cross, England 1641- English law makes witchcraft a capital crime. 1643- 7 people burned in Scotland 1644- Archibald and Thomas Wanderson ordered to pay one hundred marks fine for court expenses to try their wives as witches. The wives were executed in England 1645- 150 killed. 29 condemned & 20 executed, on the evidence of Matthew Hopkins in England, 2 others were executed in England. Beginning of the The New England witch trials, including that of Margaret Jones. These trails officially ended in 1692. 1646- a person was executed in Suffolk, England 1647- 5 people were beheaded and burned in Italy, Thomas Boulle was burned alive in France & Alse Younge was hanged in Connecticut, North America 1648- Margaret Jones was executed in Charlestown, North America 1648-1650- Over 220 killed in England & Scotland, on evidence of a Scottish Witch finder 1648- 2 executed in England 1649- 17 hanged in England. Torture of accused witches outlawed in Scotland. 1650- A letter was sent to the Berwickshire (Scotland) Naturalists' Club inviting them to attend the judging and burning of some witches, 2 killed by a mob in France, Joan Allen was hanged in England 1652- 10 people are hanged in England. Torture of accused witches outlawed for the first time in England. 1653- 2 women are hanged in England 1654- 102 burned in Germany. Torture of accused witches outlawed in Brandenburg. 1655- A mother and daughter were hung in England 1656- Anne Hibbins was hanged in Boston, Massachusetts 1657-Jennette Huart-March and others strangled and burned as witches in Sugny, Belgium. 1658- 8 burned in Scotland, 3 executed in England 1660- Elizabeth Brose was tortured to death in the castle of Gommern, Germany 1661- Jonet Allen burned in Scotland 1662- The trial of Amy Denny and Rose Cullender of Lowestoft, who were tried as witches and executed at Bury St Edmunds in that March. Also, torture was outlawed in England for the second time. A person was hanged in Hartford, New England. 1663- Cotton Mather was born. He defended the trials and executions in New England. He died in 1728. Julian Cox executed in England, a person was burned in Germany. 1664- Elizabeth Style dies in prison in England, 2 women executed in England 1670- 3 burned in Scotland 1670- 85 executed Sweden 1674- Anne Foster is hanged in England 1674-1677- 71 beheaded or burned in Sweden 1678- 90 burned in Austria, 11 burned in Scotland 1680- 36 executed France, 6 burned in Scotland, Emerenziana Pichler & her 2 sons (12 and 14 yr old) burned in Germany 1682- Torture of accused witches outlawed in France. 3 are hung in Bideford, England 1683-1684- Salem Jail is built, 1684- England declares that the colonies may not self-govern. 1684-1685- Several people are burned in France 1687- Suzanna, Isle & Catherine (sir names unknown) executed in Germany 1688- Following an argument with laundress Goody Glover; Martha Goodwin begin exhibiting bizarre behavior. Days later her younger brother and two sisters exhibited similar behavior. Glover was arrested and tried for bewitching the Goodwin children. Reverend Cotton Mather meets twice with Glover following her arrest in an attempt to persuade her to repent her witchcraft. Glover is hanged. Mather takes Martha Goodwin into his house. Her bizarre behavior continues and worsens. 1688- Cotton Mather publishes Memorable Providences, Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions 1689 (November)- Samuel Parris is named the new minister of Salem. Parris moves to Salem from Boston. 1690-1694- 36 burned in Germany October 16, 1691- Villagers vow to drive Parris out of Salem and stop contributing to his salary. January 20, 1692- Nine-year-old Elizabeth Parris and eleven-year-old Abigail Williams began to exhibit strange behavior, such as blasphemous screaming, convulsive seizures, trance-like states and mysterious spells. Within a short time, Ann Putnam Jr. & several other Salem girls began to demonstrate similar behavior. Mid-February, 1692- Doctor Griggs, who attends to the "afflicted" girls, suggests that witchcraft may be the cause of their strange behavior or that the girls were under the influence of Satan. February 25, 1692- Tituba, at the request of neighbor Mary Sibley, bakes a "witch cake" and feeds it to a dog. According to an English folk remedy, feeding a dog this kind of cake, which contained the urine of the afflicted, would counteract the spell put on Elizabeth and Abigail. The reason the cake is fed to a dog is because the dog is believed a "familiar" of the Devil. Late-February, 1692- Prayer services and community fasting were conducted by Reverend Samuel Parris in hopes of relieving the evil forces that plagued them. In an effort to expose the "witches", John Indian baked a witch cake made with rye meal and the afflicted girls' urine. This counter-magic was meant to reveal the identities of the "witches" to the afflicted girls. Pressured to identify the source of their affliction, the girls named three women, including Tituba, Parris' Caribbean Indian slave, as witches. February 29, 1692- Arrest warrants are issued for Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. Although Osborne and Good maintained innocence, Tituba confessed to seeing the devil who appeared to her "sometimes like a hog and sometimes like a great dog". What's more, Tituba testified that there was a conspiracy of witches at work in Salem. March 1, 1692- Magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin examine
Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne for "witches teats." at the
meeting house in Salem Village. Tituba confesses to
practicing witchcraft and confirms Good and Osborne are her co- conspirators.
March 11, 1692- Ann Putnam Jr. shows symptoms of affliction by witchcraft. Mercy Lewis, Mary Walcott, and Mary Warren later allege affliction as well. March 12, 1692- Ann Putnam Jr. accuses Martha Cory of witchcraft. March 19. 1692- Abigail Williams denounces Rebecca Nurse as a witch. March 21, 1692- Magistrates Hathorne and Corwin examine Martha Cory. March 23, 1692- Salem Marshal Deputy Samuel Brabrook arrests four-year-old Dorcas Good. March 24, 1692- Corwin and Hathorne examine Rebecca Nurse. March 26, 1692- Hathorne and Corwin interrogate Dorcas. March 28, 1692- Elizabeth Proctor is accused of witchcraft. April 3, 1692- Sarah Cloyce, after defending her sister, Rebecca Nurse, is accused of witchcraft. April 11, 1692- Hathorne, Corwin, Deputy Governor Thomas Danforth, and Captain Samuel Sewall examine Sarah Cloyce and Elizabeth Proctor. On the same day Elizabeth's husband, John Proctor, who protested the examination of his wife, becomes the first man accused of witchcraft and is incarcerated. Early April, 1692- The Proctors' servant and accuser, Mary Warren, admits lying and accuses the other accusing girls of lying. April 13, 1692- Ann Putnam Jr. accuses Giles Cory of witchcraft and alleges that a man who died at Cory's house also haunts her. April 19, 1692- Abigail Hobbs, Bridget Bishop, Giles Cory and Mary Warren are examined. Deliverance Hobbs confesses to practicing witchcraft. Mary Warren reverses her statement made in early April and rejoins the accusers. William Hobbs "I can deny it to my dying day." April 22, 1692- Mary Easty, another of Rebecca Nurse's sisters who defended her, is examined by Hathorne and Corwin. Hathorne and Corwin also examine Nehemiah Abbott, William and Deliverance Hobbs, Edward and Sarah Bishop, Mary Black, Sarah Wildes, and Mary English. Only Nehemiah Abbott was cleared of charges. April 30, 1692- Several girls accuse former Salem minister George Burroughs of witchcraft. May 2, 1692- Hathorne and Corwin examine Sarah Morey, Lyndia Dustin, Susannah Martin and Dorcas Hoar. Dorcas Hoar "I will speak the truth as long as I live." May 4, 1692- George Burroughs is arrested in Wells, Maine. May 7, 1692- George Burroughs is returned to Salem and placed in jail. May 9, 1692- Corwin, Hathorne, Sewall, and William Stoughton examine Burroughs and Sarah Churchill. Burroughs is moved to a Boston jail. May 10, 1692- Corwin and Hathorne examine George Jacobs, Sr. and his
granddaughter Margaret Jacobs. Margaret confessed and testified that her
grandfather and George Burroughs were both witches.
May 14, 1692- Increase Mather (who recently returned from England) and Sir William Phipps, the newly elected governor of the colony, arrive in Boston. They bring with them a charter ending the 1684 prohibition of self-governance within the colony. May 18, 1692- Mary Easty is released from prison. Following protest by her accusers, she is again arrested. Roger Toothaker is also arrested on charges of witchcraft. May 27, 1692- Governot Phipps issues a commission for a Court of Oyer and Terminer
and appoints as judges John Hathorne, Nathaniel Saltonstall, Bartholomew Gedney,
Peter Sergeant, Samuel Sewall, Wait Still Winthrop, and Lieutenant Governor
William Stoughton. May 31, 1692- Hathorne, Corwin and Gednew examine Martha Carrier, John Alden, Wilmott Redd, Elizabeth Howe and Phillip English. English and Alden later escape prison and do not return to Salem until after the trials end. June 2, 1692- Initial session of the Court of Oyer and Terminer. Bridget Bishop was the first to be pronounced guilty of witchcraft and condemned to death. Early June Soon after Bridget Bishop's trial, Nathaniel Saltonstall resigned from the court, dissatisfied with its proceedings. June 8, 1692- Eighteen year old Elizabeth Booth shows symptoms of affliction by witchcraft. June 10, 1692- Bridget Bishop is hanged at Gallows
Hill. Bridget Bishop "I am no witch. I am innocent. I know nothing of it."
Following her death, accusations of witchcraft escalated, but the trials were
not unopposed. Several townspeople signed petitions on behalf of accused people
they believed to be innocent. June 15, 1692- Cotton Mather writes a letter requesting the court not use spectral evidence as a standard and urging that the trials be speedy. The Court of Oyer and Terminer pays more attention to the request for speed and less attention to the criticism of spectral evidence. June 16, 1692- Roger Toothaker dies in prison. June 29-30, 1692- Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Sarah Wildes, Sarah
Good, and Elizabeth Howe are tried, pronounced guilty and sentenced to hang. Mid-July 1692- In an effort to expose the witches afflicting his life, Joseph Ballard of nearby Andover enlisted the aid of the accusing girls of Salem. This action marked the beginning of the Andover witch hunt. July 19, 1692- Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Elizabeth Howe, Sarah Good
and Sarah Wildes are hanged at Gallows Hill. August 2-6 George Jacobs, Sr., Martha Carrier, George
Burroughs, John and Elizabeth Proctor, and John Willard were tried for
witchcraft and condemned. August 19, 1692- George Jacobs Sr., Martha Carrier, George Burroughs, John
Willard and John Proctor are hanged on Gallows Hill. Elizabeth Proctor is not
hanged because she is pregnant. August 20, 1692- Margaret Jacobs recants the testimony that led to the execution of her grandfather George Jacobs Sr. and Burroughs. September 9, 1692- Martha Corey, Mary Easty, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator,
Dorcas Hoar and Mary Bradbury are pronounced guilty and sentenced to hang.
Mid-September, 1692- Giles Cory is indicted. September 17, 1692- Margaret Scott, Wilmott Redd, Samuel Wardwell, Mary Parker, Abigail Faulkner, Rebecca Earnes, Mary Lacy, Ann Foster and Abigail Hobbs are tried and sentenced to hang. September 19, 1692- Sheriffs administer Piene Forte Et Dure (pressing) to Giles Cory after he refuses to enter a plea to the charges of witchcraft against him. After two days under the weight, Cory dies. September 21 Dorcas Hoar was the first of those pleading innocent to confess. Her execution was delayed. September 22, 1692- Martha Cory, Margaret Scott, Mary Easty, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Willmott Redd, Samuel Wardwell, and Mary Parker are hanged. October 3, 1692- The Reverend Increase Mather, President of Harvard College and father to Cotton Mather, denounces the use of spectral evidence. October 8, 1692- After 20 people had been executed in the Salem witch hunt, Thomas Brattle wrote a letter criticizing the witchcraft trials. This letter had great impact on Governor Phipps, who ordered that reliance on spectral and intangible evidence no longer be allowed in trials. October 29, 1692- Phipps prohibits further arrests, releases many accused witches, and dissolves the Court of Oyer and Terminer. November 25, 1692-
The General Court of the colony created the Superior Court
to try the remaining witchcraft cases which took place in May, 1693. This time
no one was convicted. January 3, 1693- Judge Stoughton orders execution of all suspected witches who were exempted by their pregnancy. Phipps denied enforcement of the order causing Stoughton to leave the bench. January 1693- 49 of the 52 surviving people brought into court on witchcraft charges are released because their arrests were based on spectral evidence. 1693- Tituba is released from jail and sold to a new master. Someone is executed in England May 1693- Phipps pardons those still in prison on witchcraft charges. January 14, 1697- The General Court orders a day of fasting and soul-searching for the tragedy at Salem. Moved, Samuel Sewall publicly confesses error and guilt. 1697- Minister Samuel Parris is ousted as minister in Salem and replaced by Joseph Green. 5 burned & John Reid hangs himself in prison; in Scotland. 1698- 9 persons (all under 16) burned in Germany 1699- 1 burned in Ireland 1702- The General Court declares the 1692 trials unlawful. 1704- Janet Corset is killed by a mob at Pittenweem, Scotland 1705- Many burned in Scotland 1706- Ann Putnam Jr., one of the leading accusers, publicly apologizes for her actions in 1692. 1711- The colony passes a legislative bill restoring the rights and good names of those accused of witchcraft and grants 600 pounds in restitution to their heirs. 1716-1717- 2 persons killed in Austria 1718- 1 executed in France 1722- a mother and daughter, burned in Scotland 1730- 1 burned in Hungary 1738- 13 burned alive in Hungary 1744- 3 burned in Germany 1746- 3 burned in Germany, 1 executed in Hungary 1749- Renata von Mossau is beheaded and burned in Bavaria, Germany 1751- A husband and wife are killed by a mob in Herefordshire, England, Anna Bayerin is executed at Salzburg, Austria 1752- Salem Village is renamed Danvers. 1 executed at Maros Vasarheli 1772-1779- Over 100 executed in Germany 1782-Supposely Last witch burned in Europe (?), Anna Goeldi is hanged at Glaris, Switzerland 1792-1793- The last trial and judicial execution in Europe itself was probably that of two aged women, allegedly Satanists, who were burned at the stake in Poland. 1800's- Several burned in South America 1808- Alice Russel is killed by a mob at Great Paxton, England 1863- The Salem jail was purchased by Abner Goodell, the state historian. 1875- Ann Turner is murdered in England 1920- Joan of Arc declared a saint. 1922- A person is murdered at St. Georges, France 1925- A man shot by the police accused of being a werewolf 1929- Montague Summers writes introductions for old books used for Inquisition praising their works. (Throughout the 1900s) Old people, mostly women, are being killed as witches in South Africa 1935- In response to the public the Goodell's opened the Salem jail to the public 1957- Massachusetts formally apologizes for the events of 1692. 1992- On the 300th anniversary of the trials, a witchcraft memorial designed by James Cutler is dedicated in Salem. |