Witches through the ages – By Elizabeth Rose PIN 7430

We think of witches today as people who have a black cat and that they use spells and calls upon the spirits.

In the middle ages people were afraid of witches and they played a large part in people’s lives.

In 1301 the Bishop of Coventry was accused of sorcery to acquire a large fortune. They thought that witchcraft was a threat to Christianity.

In 1509 Margaret Read was burnt at the stake in Kings Lynn for being a Witch.

They even believed that witches could turn men into animals at one point.

The Greeks had curse tablets – these were put into the graves where the dead could work their magic.

A witch was said to have magical powers that could hurt people; however, it could be male or female.

The witch had to be hard and dead and hate people.

You would protect yourself and your home and family from a witch. They used marks like the letter M derived from the Virgin Mary around their home.

They would never let a witch enter their home and if they were spoken to by a witch, they would throw the words back at them to protect themselves.

In the 1590’s time the idea of a witch had transformed into an old ragged poor lame aged woman with a blind eye. Her dry twisted body it was believed could harm people or animals by just looking at them. However, they thought that a woman could not do this, it was the devil and witches became demon.