300 Years & Counting 1H KILLS - On The Issues Magazine

By the late198Os,witchcraftwas a crimein severalnationsOn December 5/ 1484, Pope InnocentVIII declared a "Holy Inquistion"against "witches" — i.e. againstthose who had "strayed from theCatholic Faith" and through "incantations,spells, and charms" caused"horrid offenses." The pope proclaimed:Witches have slain infants yet in themother's womb, (including theoffspring of cattle), have blasted theproduce of the earth, the grapes ofthe vine, the fruits of the trees, nay,men and women, beasts ofburden...corn, wheat and all othercereals, these witches furthermoreafflict and torment men and women(and animals) with terrible andpiteous pains and some diseases;they hinder men from performing thesexual act and women fromconceiving."The European witchcraft trials werebased on the Malleus Maleficarum(The Witches' Hammer). The Malleusclaimed that most witches werewomen because women are innatelyinferior and innately predisposed to"evil." Three general vices appear tohave special dominion over wickedwomen, namely, infidelity, ambition,and lust...when a woman thinksalone, she thinks evil."According to the Malleus, witcheswere reponsible for male impotence,male fornication, male adultery, andmarital infertility. Thus witches, notmen, were responsible for the birthsof illegitimate and unholy childrenand for the non-conception anddeaths of legitimate (father-owned)children....The anecdotes in the Malleus arefrightening to read. Heinrich Kramerand Jakob Sprenger support theirclaim of "witch"-induced maleimpotence anecdotally. For example,they tell the story of a "certainyoung man of Ratisbon who had anintrigue with a girl:"[When he] wanted to leave her [he]lost his member [i.e.] some glamourwas cast over it so that he could notsee or touch [anything] but hissmooth body. In his worry over this,he [decided to] use some violence toinduce [the witch] to restore [him] tohealth. [The witch] maintained thatshe was innocent and knew nothingabout it. He fell upon her, andwinding a towel tightly aroundher neck, choked her, saying:"Unless you give me back myhealth, you shall die at myhands." The witch [then] restoredhis "member"....Witches are so powerful thatthey can cause one man to killanother man from afar. In 1651,in colonial America, Thomas Allenaccidentally shot and killed HenryStiles in the presence of manywitnesses. Allen was charged with"homicide by misadventure,"fined, and "bound to good behaviorfor a year."But this is not the end of the matter.Presumably, Stiles' death remains atopic of local conversation — andthree years later, it yields a moredrastic result. In November 1654, thecourt holds a special session to try acase of witchcraft — against awoman, Lydia Gilbert. The court ineffect is considering a complicatedquestion. Did Lydia Gilbert's witchcraftcause Thomas Allen's gun to gooff so as to kill Henry Stiles? Depositionswere taken from eyewitnessesand others with information bearingon the case....Probate documentsshow that Stiles was a boarder in thehome of Lydia Gilbert — and hercreditor as well. Perhaps there wastrouble between them, even someopen displays of anger? And if so,perhaps their neighbors suspected inGoodwife Gilbert a vengeful motivetoward Stiles.In due course, the trial jury weighsthe evidence and reaches its verdict— guilty as charged. The magistrateshand down the prescribed sentenceof death by hanging.Excerpt from Mothers on Trialby Phyllis Chester (published byHarcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1991)ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1992 27