Legendary Witches

What are the following people known for in the history of witchcraft, whether it was fact or beliefs? Why were they thought of as witches, what did they do to heighten the idea and what happened to them. Include anything else that you feel might be relevant! (10 points for each correct answer)

Anne Boleyn
The North Berwick Witches
Mary Butters
Florence Newton
Witch of Endor

Remember the more information you give, the greater chance you have of receiving full housepoints!

Total Possible housepoints: 50


Remember to site your sources (websites used) and no copying and pasting!

Points awarded to each student will be given once this class closes and will be upon the end of this post.

Have fun!

Alrighty here we go-I have listed the sources under each section-

1. Anne Boleyn- She was the queen of England back in the 1500s. Her reign was short-only three years. She spent her teen years living in France. But when the war was going on between England and France; Anne returned back to England and that is when Henry VIII started noticing her.She was in love with Henry Percy and they were secretly engaged. The king was jealous and made Anne and Henry seperate and Anne was upset about it. She had refused to be the king's mistress so the king jumped into the middle of her happy relationship. Well Henry VIII was the type of guy who plotted behind people's backs while pretending to be nice to their faces. And things didn't go his way so he has Anne arrested and convicted of Witchcraft-saying that she used magic on him and enchantments to charm him. He also said that since she couldn't have his child and that she had an extra finger that it was proof of her being a witch. She was killed May 19 1586.

(Sources:: http://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/boleyn.html )

2.The North Berick Witches-A group of men and women in Scotland that were known as the "Berick Witches" back in the 1600s. The group was accused of trying to kill King James I by using witchcraft to conjure up a dangerous storm and try to drown him. The king went nuts and ordered a witchhunt. Well they were captured and arrested. They went through terrible torture and were finally burned to death. The way it all started was a maidservant named Gelie Duncan was accused after being tortured and she finally confessed after a long silence. She then claimed that the devil came to them and spouted out a bunch of people's names and that started a massive uproar. So then after that she was forced to name all the people and they were all tortured until they were forced to confess whether guilty or not and then killed.

(Sources: http://www.north-berwick.co.uk/history_nunnery.asp http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/south/series1/sybil-leek.shtml)

3.Mary Butters-She was accused of killing a cow and three people.People labeled her as the "Carmoney Witch" . However she was not convicted because she had a way out of it. The way she did that was she accused a guy of killing the people and cow by saying that she got knocked out which made the ingredients become toxic.

(http://ensemble.va.com.au/tableau/suzy/TT_ResearchProjects/Hexen2039/Witchcraft/Engwit.html)

4.Florence Newton-In the mid 17th century Florence was called the "Witch of Youghal". She was accused of causing people to have fits and of the fits causing them to die. She wasn't tortured in her trial.A girl that was 'bewitched' by her, would throw fits and things.If Florence wasn't handcuffed the girl would go nuts and throw fits and get sick. But if Florence was handcuffed then the girl would be calm.

(Sources: http://www.witches.net/legendaryandfolkwitches2.htm)

5.Witch of Endor-In the bible the Witch of Endor was said to possess a talisman. She called up the spirit of Samuel for Saul; who spoke of his downfall and the future deaths of Saul and his sons.

(Sources: http://www.occultopedia.com/w/witch_endor.htm)

Whewww well that's done
~Kitty

Anne Boleyn - This was not a real accusion of her being a witch. She was the daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn. She was in the English court in 1522. The king Henry VII fell in love with her yet she resisted him and refused to become his mistress. When he finally divorced his wife, Katherine of Aragon, because he wanted a son. They had a secret marriage and she became pregant. She also became queen on June 1st. Yet she gave birth to a daughter and had a miscarriage of a son. She then was brought to trial on the charges of adultery and incest. Before her death, her marriage was declared novalid. She was then condemned and beheaded.


The North Berwick Witches- It started out when the King James I was going on a trip in his ship. There was a terrible storm and the king nearly died. He believed that it was the work of witches that tried to kill him.. So there was a massive witch hunt throughtout his kingdom. The first person to be accused was a maid. She was tortured until she told everyone that she was posessed by the devil and serveral others were too. They were all captured, tortured, and killed.

Mary Butters- She was called the Carnmoney witch. Alexander Montgomery's cow gave milk that could not be made into mild. They decided the cow was in a trance and asked Mary Butters to come. She ordered Alexander Montgomery and and another man to go out to the cow, turn their housecoats inside out and wait there. They waited for a long time and went back into the house. In there, they found Mary BUtter unconcious and Montgomery's wife, son, and another old woman dead on the floor. She was brought to trial but escaped because she said a black man appeared at the door and killed everyone. This story is quite suspicious.

Florence Newton- She was called the Witch of Youghalmid which is the witch of Youghal. This trail was famous in Ireland. She was accused of bewitching people and of killing them with these bewitches. One person who was "bewiched" kept throwing up and having things thrown at her. If Newton was in the same room and uncuffed, then this person would throw up. IF Newton was i another room or cuffed, then this person would be fine. Unlike other trials however, Newton was not tortured. She was put in jail.

Witch of Endor- The king Saul came to The Witch of Endor because he was told that she could bring back spirits from the beyond. While he was there, she brought back the late King Samuel for him.

Sources - http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry/Boleyn-A, http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/iwd/iwd10.htm, http://www.witches.net/legendaryandfolkwitches1.htm, http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/iwd/iwd06.htm, http://www.zianet.com/maxey/reflx80.htm

okay, this is my essay:

1.) Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII, was executed on May 19, 1536, for several charges, one of them being witchcraft. Henry fell in love with her after his affair with Anne’s sister, Mary, and although Anne continued to reject his advances at her for almost two years, she finally agreed to marry him on New Years 1527. She was attractive, but not beautiful, had six fingers on one hand, and a big dark mole on her neck, which in those days were sometimes thought to be signs for witchcraft, but was widely admired for her sense of fashion, her intelligence and strong character.
The accusation of witchcraft seems to be nearly a means to make the court and the people more suspicious of Anne and her doings in court. Witchcraft cannot be proven and therefore is always a very helpful tool when trying to get rid of someone. And next to charges as Incest and Bestiality, which are both forbidden by the Catholic church, Witchcraft was the only sensible addition.
During her trial she appeared courageous and gave “wise and discreet answers” and although her reputation in the country was all but good, citizens protested against the unfair trial. The day she was executed she appeared in her usual fashionable self, with an elegant grey dress and declared once more she was not guilty in any charge before she was beheaded.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Boleyn#The_fall_of_Anne_Boleyn


2.) On Halloween 1590 around a number of men and women gathered in St. Andrew’s Auld Kirk, in North Berwick, in order to kill the King James I, who was in Denmark to fetch his wife, Princess Anne, with the help of the devil. Under the lead of a man named John Fayne they were assigned their tasks, as there were: Securing a piece of the King’s clothing, to wrap it around a wax image of him, that would be burned slowly, attempting to poison the King, and to raise a storm, so he would be drowned by the sea.
The Storm did come up and delayed the King’s departure from Denmark by several weeks. When he finally did take off, a group of the women, lead by Agnes Simpson, took a cat, christened it on the name of the King, and threw it into the surf of the sea. The King survived the following storm, in which is ship had threatened to capsize, and upon his return to Scotland iniciated the first great witch hunt.
Under torture the women and men confessed to opening four graves, taking parts of the corpses, and having had contact with the devil who was, in fact, Francis Stuart, 5th Earl of Bothwell. During the 16th and 17th century at least 3,837 people were accused of witchcraft, and between 60 and 70 percent fo those were executed through hanging or being burned alive.

Source: http://www.witchcat.com/northberwick.html
http://heritage.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=623&id=2149692005


3.) Mary Butters closely escaped being tried for the murder of a cow and three people. She claimed that she had seen a black man killing the three persons and was then knocked unconscious causing the ingredients to become toxic.

Source: http://www.geocities.com/welsh_janna/FamousWitches.html


4.) Florence Newton was arrested in Youghal, Ireland, on March 24, 1661 for “bewtching Mary Longdon”. The woman would have fits that were so violent that not even four men were able to hold her. In these fits she would throw up things like needles, pins, horsenails, stubbs, wool and straw. Whenever Florence would appear in court uncuffed Mary would have those fits, though never when she was cuffed.
Mary explained to the court that she had known Florence for three or four years. She was a servant of John Pyne in Youghal. One day Florence came to her, kissed her, and said: “Mary, I pray thee let thee and I he Friends; for I hear thee no ill will, and I pray thee do thou bear me none” A few days after that, Mary said, she woke up at night to find a veiled woman standing at her bedside, and something that looked like an old man, but Mary knew to be a Spirit, stood next to her, and when the Spirit took off The Veil, Mary recognized the woman to be Florence Newton. The Spirit spoke to Mary, promising her to fulfill every wish she had, but she refused and told him her heart was with the Lord. After this meeting Mary’s fits began.


Source: http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/iwd/iwd06.htm
http://www.witches.net/legendaryandfolkwitches2.htm


5.) The Witch of Endor is a person from the Hebrew Bible, found in the First Book of Samuel, Chapter 28: 4-25. “When Saul saw the Philistine Army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart. He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets. Saul then said to his attendants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.” (1 Samuel 18: 5-7) King Saul of Israel had called upon her to conjure up the ghost of the prophet Samuel, who had died recently, with the help of her talisman, after Saul had not recerived answer from God. After Samuel’s death, Saul had driven all Necromancers and Magicians from Israel but in his desperation had come to the Witch of Endor, in a disguise. The Prophet’s ghost, however, gave Saul no advice, but predicted his downfall as king of Israel.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_of_Endor
NIV Study Bible, Zondervan


i'm just sad i didn't find more on Mary Butters... :D

Anne Boleyn:

Born in 1500, she became the second wife of king Henry VIII. Anne spent part of her childhood in France but returned to Engalnd around 1521 for details for her marriage were being worked out. During this time she went to court to attend Queen Catehrine (Henry's first wife)

After her marriage to the heir of Ormonde fell through, she began an affair with Henry Percy, another rich man and heir. Cardinal Wolsey put a stop to the affair, which could explain why Anne hated him so much. It has been rumoured that Cardinal Wolsey stepped in on behalf of the King to remove Percy from the scene because he had already noticed Anne and wanted her for himself. Although we now know that the affair between Annne and Henry Percy ended in 1522, the king did not notice Anne until 1926, which would make the rumour of the cardinal stepping in on the kings behalf, false.

It is unknown clearly when and where King Henry VIII first met Anne, but it is likely that the king sought to amke her one of his amny mistress's as he had already done with her sister Mary. Anne denied the jing any sexual favours and eventually it evoleved into "Queen or nothing" for Anne.

Anne was not popular with the people of England, the people were upset to learn that at the Christmas celebration in 1529, Anne was given precendence over the King's sister Mary.

Sometime near the end of 1532, Anne finnaly gave in to the king and by Decmeber she was pregnant. To avoid any questions of the child's legitimacy the king was forced to take action, in early 1533 Anne and Henry were married in secret, eventhough the king was not offically divorced from Cathrine, it wasnt until may 23rd of that year that the Archbishop offically proclaimed that the marrage of Henry and Catherine was invalid.

On June 1st Anne was crowned Queen of ENgland, on August 26th 1533 Anne gave birth to Princess Elizabeth, even though many ahd though she was carrying a boy, including the king himself.

Anne's many enemies at court began to plot against her using the King's attraction to Jane Seymour as the catalyst for action. Cromwell began to move in action to bring down the Queen. He persuaded the King to sign a document calling for an investigation that would possibly result in charges of treason. Many people close to Anne, including her brother George Boleyn were arrested, she herslef was also arrested. King Henry VIII also used witchcraft as a charge against his soon-to-be dead ex-wife Anne Boleyn.

On the mroning of May 19th 1536 Anne was finally excuted for her alleged crimes, she had her "little neck" chopped clean off.

http://tudorhistory.org/boleyn/


The North Berwick Witches.

During the time of this alleged story the town of Berwick was and has since been English and is based in NORTHUMBERLAND, ENGLAND....NOT SCOTLAND!!!!! (sorry had to get that off my chest.)

In the autumn of 1590, a group of men and women came together to perform a hideous ritual in an empty church not far from the North Sea. Their intentions were to cause a terrible storm. The story goes that the on the night of the storm, a ship makig its way from Kinghorn to Lieth was caught by the string winds and smashed to pieces killing many sailors. The actual target of the witches was a ship scheduled to make passage from Denmark to Scotland which was carrying King James and his soon to be wife, to the dread of the covern the ship escaped destruction and death.

http://fast.horrorseek.com/horror/drlarry/legend.htm


Mary Butters

In August 1807 an extraordinary affir took place in the home of a tailer called Alexander Montgomery. The tailer had a cow which produced milk as usual but the milk suddenly stopped being able to turn into butter. Montgomery's wife believed that the cow had been bewitched. Her belief was strenghed when a number of old women in her parish were able to tell a similuar story. The family were told about a woman called MAry Butters. They went to her for help in curing their cow.

At ten o'clock that night, Mary Butters ordered ALexander Montgomery and a young man named Carnaghan to go out to the cow-house, turn their waistcoats inside out, and stand by the head of the cow until she sent for them, while the wife, the son, and an old woman named Margaret Lee remained in the house with her.

Montgomery and the young man kept their vigial until day break, when they became alarme dat having not heard a word or summons. They Left the cow and knocke don the door but got no response. They then looked through the kitchen window and to their horro saw the four people stretched on the floor as if they were dead. Immediatly they kicked the door down and found that the wife and son were already dead and that the old lady Margaret Lee and Mary Butters were nearly dead as well. Margaret Lee soon died afterwards. Mary Butters was thrown from the house and onto a dung-heap. The house had a sulphureous smell and on the fire a large pot with milk, needles, pins and crooked nails, sat.

Mary Butters was brought to trial, but escaped any punishment because she claimed that a black man had appeared in the house carrying a club which he used to kill the other three and merely stun herself.


http://www.integrativespirituality.org/postnuke/html/static-docs_Books-WiccaNeoPaganism-Irish_Witchcraft_And_Demonology-iwd10.htm


Florence Newton

In the 17th Centuary, teh trial of Florence Newton became one fo Irelands most famous witch trials. Newton was accused of bewitching people, causing them to suffer fits and killing them. Her trial however, unlike most trials and involved no torture. One young woman who was supposedly bewitched by Newton, went through many fits which caused vomiting. If Newton was left unhandcuffed the young woman would suffer a fu and fall ill but if NEwton was handcuffed, the young lady would be calm. Florence Newton is also known as "the Witch of Yougha"

http://www.witches.net/legendaryandfolkwitches2.htm


Witch of Endor.

In the bible, book 1 Samuel 28, the witch of Endor was said to ahve calle dup the ghost of the prophet Samuel at the command of king Saul. The ghost angrilly predicted King Saul's eventual downfall.

http://www.occultopedia.com/w/witch_endor.htm


Well, that was fun.
::purr::

Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn was the second wife of Henry VIII. She was thought of as a witch mainly because she was born unfortunately with six fingers. Also, Henry wanted to break off their marriage because she would not give him a male heir, so he said that she had used magic of some sort to make him fall in love with her. He also tried to say that she tried to poison him but that, along with his allegations that she suddenly became very tall, had numerous random growths on her body, ‘killed’ her first son from Henry, etc did not come up in court. However, the fear of Witchcraft had started a few years before and Anne was simply caught up in it through no fault of her own.

Source: http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/anneboleyn.html

The North Berwick Witches

There are many stories about the North Berwick witches, but in essence, they all say the same thing. A group of men and women came together just East of Edinburgh to create a formidable storm and change Scottish history forever. Just after they made this offering, a great storm arose and killed several sailors on a ship coming into the country. The witches were so bloodthirsty that this did not satisfy them. So they tried to sink the ship carrying King James of Scotland, soon to be King of England as well, and his Queen. Unfortunately for them, the ship escaped unscathed and so they got another target. Gilly Duncan, a young healer confessed under torture that she asked the devil for more powers. She convicted about 70 other witches in the area as well. This was because of the Witch Hunts of the time.

Source: http://fast.horrorseek.com/horror/drlarry/legend.htm

Mary Butters

Mary Butters was an average woman in the Middle Ages but she was accused of killing three of the people in her village along with a neighbour’s cow. This was a serious allegation because magic and other supernatural occurrences were frightening to the community and witches were hunted down and killed. Mary Butters escaped the punishment for what she supposedly did by creating a logical story that was accepted by the courts.

Source: http://www.unexplainable.net/artman/publish/article_2999.shtml

Florence Newton

Florence Newton was an Irish witch in the mid-17th Century. She was one of the witches who were tried in Ireland. England was not the only country which was going through a phase of being frightened of the unnatural. She was accused of making other people in the village suffer from terrible fits, which probably suffocated them, eventually causing them to die a painful death. She was not burnt at stake or persecuted but she was humiliated by being put in front of the crowds and being forced to show her ‘talent’.

Source: http://www.unexplainable.net/artman/publish/article_2999.shtml

Witch of Endor

In the Bible, the Witch of Endor was a witch who had a talisman that could supposedly communicate with the ghosts of those who had passed away. She summoned the spirit of the Prophet Samuel for the King Saul. Saul, by asking her to do this, had sinned because he had turned away from God, therefore, the Torah condemned any other forms of witchcraft such as this, most probably because it turned people away from God and into so called ‘devilry’.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_of_Endor