I found The Bewitching of Anne Gunter to be a fascinating look into how witch trials were conducted and the logistics of what the qualities of a person who is under bewitchment or demonic possession are. It was especially interesting to hear Anne, the supposedly bewitched person, present her side of the story in the book, as this is seemingly rare in the texts that I’ve read. Being from an agrarian community myself, I also enjoyed comparing the similarities and differences between that of North Moreton and my community.
One thing I noticed as somewhat of an underlying theme was that of gender roles and how it played out in the case of witch trials. It is well known that the majority of people accused of witchcraft were women and I feel that can be partially based on the stereotypes and cultural beliefs of the people of the day. It seems as if there is this fear among the early modern British that women with power of any kind was something to be leery of. Because of this, there is reason to believe that many people were suspicious of women who were widowed or single, aged, or well-respected because of the wealth of knowledge they had. It was worrisome for any one women to have too much respect of any kind because that could lead to a desire for even greater status and power which would disrupt their place in society. Therefore making them an easy target for witchcraft accusations as they already fit the mold.
The “mold” I just referenced is something worth noting too, in that how people got information about the symptoms of witchcraft and demonic possessions. People were able to figure out what qualities or symptoms fit into witchcraft and demonic possession from pamphlets that were widely circulated during that time. It may seem obvious to us in 2015, but this plausibly could have been how many people faked demonic possessions. This is because they were able to read about how they should pretend to be possessed and successfully perform it. There also was a great desire for spectacle during the early modern period as well, it covered everyone from the monarchy to the common man. Since women who were often disregarded as members of society, especially those who were of a lower social status, they could perform their “possession” in public and gain recognition of themselves for it. Sadly, as seen with the case of Anne Gunter, this often involved public humiliation along with physical and psychological distress.
Silvia, I had no idea that less people than imagined were condemned for witchcraft in England and Spain. Maybe it’s publicized for the folklore or just the sheer fascination. I do want to address the pamphlets that you mentioned in your blog post Erica. I wrote my essay on pamphlets so I find it especially interesting how pamphlets were utilized amongst the public. Pamphlets were used as a tool for education to people, especially women. They were able to receive news and reports of events that were happening during that day in age. In Anne Gunter’s case, she used pamphlets as a way of learning more about witchcraft to enhance her performance as woman who was bewitched. I’m not going to say that it was a good thing she did this, but she was educating herself. I respect the fact that a woman in 1600s England was using pamphlets to increase knowledge. However, I don’t respect that she was doing this to enhance her lying and treachery. Professor Rabin said in class that she thinks the pamphlets were the protagonist in the book. I would have to agree. These documents were essentially a woman’s form of education.
I believe very few women would have wanted to attract that kind of attention, whether they were pursuing public recognition or not. Medicine was still based on superstition, astrology and religious beliefs and more often than not women were in charge of taking care of family members (I think that has not changed much even today). For this reason they were exposed to certain popular-folk-traditional knowledge that circulated orally and that left them in a very complicated position if by helping someone they were accused of witchcraft. That is why I think for most of them this was wrong publicity although, as we have read, that fact did not prevent some from accusing other women. In any case, I found the book super entertaining and as you mentioned, the town´s dynamic is by far the most interesting thing! Also, it is worth noticing how in both the English and the Spanish world (despite the Black Legend) less people than imagined were actually condemned for witchcraft. I wonder what does that say about their role as politic rituals?