The Evil of Matthew Hopkins Witchfinder General 1644 – 1647.
In the 1640s there was a guaranteed way for unscrupulous and religiously bigoted men to make money. They had centuries of proven results behind them. The discovery of (what they termed) witches was an easy way of diverting people's attention from other problems.
There were many such difficulties concerning the social and political health of a downtrodden and fearful society. This was a time of extreme religious fundamentalism. It was brought about by the English Civil War. Protestant puritanism had become more extreme than the usual strict old practices of the nation's religious doctrines.
In local communities, you had to constantly prove that you loved God and were devoted to the Christian cause. Local priests watched and monitored church attendance. It did not do to stray from expectations of the religious dogma of the day. It was especially bad for women as they got old. Also if widowed. They became targets for Witchfinder Generals. One of England's most proven zealots of this time was Matthew Hopkins. This man was active in the East Anglia area of England from 1644 to 1647.
During this time, Britain was living through the horrendous decade of the civil war between the Crown forces (Royalists) and the Government forces (Parliamentarians). For the poor everyday folk of Britain, there was not much to choose from among these self-righteous people. Each had a complete conviction of their own vanity. God was on the side of the righteous and both sides were very self-righteous. The laymen’s suffering during these times was dreadful, especially for a single lady – maybe widowed and with no strong male to speak up for her. Life could be very dangerous indeed for such an unfortunate.
There were many such difficulties concerning the social and political health of a downtrodden and fearful society. This was a time of extreme religious fundamentalism. It was brought about by the English Civil War. Protestant puritanism had become more extreme than the usual strict old practices of the nation's religious doctrines.
In local communities, you had to constantly prove that you loved God and were devoted to the Christian cause. Local priests watched and monitored church attendance. It did not do to stray from expectations of the religious dogma of the day. It was especially bad for women as they got old. Also if widowed. They became targets for Witchfinder Generals. One of England's most proven zealots of this time was Matthew Hopkins. This man was active in the East Anglia area of England from 1644 to 1647.
During this time, Britain was living through the horrendous decade of the civil war between the Crown forces (Royalists) and the Government forces (Parliamentarians). For the poor everyday folk of Britain, there was not much to choose from among these self-righteous people. Each had a complete conviction of their own vanity. God was on the side of the righteous and both sides were very self-righteous. The laymen’s suffering during these times was dreadful, especially for a single lady – maybe widowed and with no strong male to speak up for her. Life could be very dangerous indeed for such an unfortunate.
The land from the northern tip of Scotland to the Southern tip of England was awash with a scourge of evil self-indulgent religious extremists called Witchfinder Generals. These men wandered from one town or village to another searching for people they believed served the Devil or people that might dabble in witchcraft. So prevalent were these men, no place could hide from their dreaded attentions. It was especially so in Scotland where the Witchfinder presence and case charges were second, in all Europe, only to Germany – a country with a population almost twenty times superior.
During this period of time and in the South East of England over 200 executions were associated with a man called Matthew Hopkins – a Witchfinder General. In our day and age, Hopkins might be called a legalised serial killer. In my home English town of Leigh-on-Sea, he brought a case against a lady called Joan Rowle who was drowned in a duck pond in 1645. She was innocent because she did not float. There were poor, wretched and single women like this all over the country who could be charged with witchcraft just because they lived alone and had a cat or a goat. They might be widowed, but that would not help them, especially if they had any skin ailment or defect in their person. It was a hopeless situation for them. Confessions could be got through sleep deprivation or other methods of torture.
Matthew Hopkins went from one town to another on a crusade to find witches. He selected his victims and put them through all sorts of trials in an attempt to get a conviction. This religious fundamentalist was a vile man who condemned a large number of wretched folk to death on trumped up charges of witchcraft. He became one of the most notorious of all Witchfinder Generals.
Soon, influential people and brave clergymen denounced the singular cruelty of Hopkins. They got parliament to curb the Witchfinder General's tenacious searches. Then in 1647 he finally vanished from the scene. He just went missing.
Some say he went back to his own village where he died of consumption. Others believe some diabolical retribution was brought upon him. Another institution or kangaroo court. A group of outraged peasants? Or perhaps a secret parliamentary committee? Maybe he was tried by his own ghastly methods of torture and met with a ghastly end, undergoing his own trial? His sudden vanishing from history does merit a diabolical end.
Matthew Hopkins went from one town to another on a crusade to find witches. He selected his victims and put them through all sorts of trials in an attempt to get a conviction. This religious fundamentalist was a vile man who condemned a large number of wretched folk to death on trumped up charges of witchcraft. He became one of the most notorious of all Witchfinder Generals.
Soon, influential people and brave clergymen denounced the singular cruelty of Hopkins. They got parliament to curb the Witchfinder General's tenacious searches. Then in 1647 he finally vanished from the scene. He just went missing.
Some say he went back to his own village where he died of consumption. Others believe some diabolical retribution was brought upon him. Another institution or kangaroo court. A group of outraged peasants? Or perhaps a secret parliamentary committee? Maybe he was tried by his own ghastly methods of torture and met with a ghastly end, undergoing his own trial? His sudden vanishing from history does merit a diabolical end.
In the late 1960s, a low budget fictional movie was made about this Witchfinder General with Vincent Price as Matthew Hopkins.
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