Paule Gamperle was trained by grandmother, made lame those he owed debts too, murdered others, robbed churches, and burnt down houses; Anne Gamperle his wife confessed to murdering a hundred children, harmed livestock and elderly people; Simon Gamperle his son confessed to murdering thirty children and stealing from churches; Iacob the other son confessed to the same; Vllrich Sehelltibaum confessed to murdering the young and old, and robbing churches; George Smaltes confessed to similar crimes—the mother’s breasts were cut off, and they beat her sons and her with them, tortured them, and then they were all burnt
Tag: Witchcraft
a Nicholas Starkie married a rich woman who inherited her money from her papist relatives, she gave birth to a daughter and a son, Anne and John, who both began to go into violent fits, he consulted an Edmond Hartley, a known witch, who used popish charms on the children and cured them for a year, after they got sick again he consulted doctors, whomever Edmond kissed would have the Devil breathed into them, he drew circles in the ground, Margaret Byrom relative of Mrs. Starkie also fell into fits, he charmed Jane Ashton with marriage and flattery, and then kissed her as well, Margaret began to accuse him, she saw apparitions and the Devil, he prevented them from speaking often, Edmond was condemned and hanged
written by the minister himself but apparently published without his knowledge, descriptions of his fits and a black dog that appeared, argues that the swellings seen across his body could not be counterfeited, criticizes Sommers for being a liar, claims that the confession of Alice Goodridge also confirms that the Thomas Darling was not lying either, contains a list of evidence supporting his case
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The triall of Maist. Dorrell
seemingly a defense of Master Dorrell, who was accused of teaching multiple people to counterfeit possession, inquiries were made into the possessions of several young girls, one of which gained supernatural strength and knowledge, contains multiple allegations and then reasons why they aren’t true, discusses the possession of William Sommers, discusses Katherine Wright and Martha Brossier, also contains a report of Oliffe Barthram of Stradbrook in the County of Suffolke bewitching Ioane Iorden, for which she was arraigned and executed in 1599
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A breife narration of the possession
William Sommers was apparently possessed by a witch of Worcestershire, Minister Iohn Dorrell was called to assist with William Sommers, as he was possessed and the minister was known to be responsible for several dispossessions, after being disposed Sommers accused a witch, but was himself accused and committed to prison, in which the devil appeared to him, saying that if he didn’t let him reenter and didn’t say that his possession was counterfeit that he would be hanged, when confessing to counterfeiting he broke out into fits, they all believed that he was possessed, then they believed he was counterfeiting and arrested Dorrell, goes on to discuss dispossession/possession theoretically and to provide arguments for his supposed possession
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The most wonderfull and true storie
boy gets sick in front of uncle and sees green Angels and a green cat, broke out in warts and fits, Alice Gooderige and others were brought to help, they found a gaping hole a wart on her, attempted to exorcize him but he continues to see dragons and Satan while reacting negatively to the Bible, they try to get her to confess, he is cured and she dies, but was not executed
the father, mother, and daughter of the Samuell family bewitched the five daughters of Throckmorton and other maids of the house, the three were execute
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Newes from Scotland
Brief summary
News from Scottland of sorcerers and witches, deputy bailiff of a Scottish town suspected his servant of witchcraft for having healing powers, tortured her and looked for the mark of the devil, she confessed and then informed them about three other witches, two woman and a man named Doctor Fian, the devil had licked them to leave his mark of which hair is a sign, then one of the accused Agnis Simpson was shaved entirely, the devil made them all kiss his butt, King of Scottland present at the trials, Satan used them for sex, the Doctor was tortured to near death, then executed, and the others remained in prison.
Fuller summary
As is often the case, the pamphlet is prefaced with a note to the reader justifying and guaranteeing the truthfulness of the events to be described. The pamphlet begins with a brief praise of God, and mentions His intention to shed light on witchcraft to mankind through the various witchcraft-related events that occured. It is also mentioned that all the events were described to the King.
Geillis Duncane, maid servant of David Seaton, often went out to help the poor and afflicted. She did this with such miraculous efficacy and skill (given her lack of experience) that Seaton, her master, grew suspicious. He interrogated Geillis on the matter and, since she gave no response, proceeded to torture her “with the helpe of others”. Seaton and his fellows discovered a mark on her throat that seemed to be that of the devil. Upon discovery, Geillis confessed to witchcraft. She was sent to prison where she named several other individuals who were witches, including John Cunningham (aka Doctor Fian) and Agnis Thompson. Similarly, Thompson wouldn’t confess to anything in spite of intense torture until her hairs were all shaven and a Devil’s mark found “upon her privities”.
Thompson describes to the King a gathering of two-hundred witches (among them, Geillis) at the “kerke of North Barrick in Lowthian” during the night of Allhollon Even (Halloween?) where the Devil manifested himself in the form of a man and required that each witch “kiss his buttocks in sign of duty to him,” after which he expressed his deep hatred of the King and, having received oath of the witches’ service to him, left. The King being skeptical of Thompson’s words, she proceeds to whisper to him the exact words he had exchanged with the Queen on the first night of their marriage, in Norway. The King is astonished and believes her entirely from then on.
The pamphlet describes attempts at the King’s life by Thompson: poisoning his clothes and setting the wind against his boat at sea using a “christened cat”. She affirms that she would have succeeded had it not been for the faith of the King and the devotion of his servants. The questioned witches describe that, having vowed themselves to the Devil, would be “carnally used” by him.
John Cunningham, also denounced by Geillis, was imprisoned and tortured with “the most severe and cruel pain in the world” (the boots) but still would not confess until certain charmed pins thrust under his tongue were removed by fellow witches. Cunningham then confessed to being the “Clarke” at the witch congregations (keeping count of the witches who did or didn’t renew their oath to the devil). He initially turned to sorcery/witchcraft to “obtain” the gentlewoman of whom he was enamoured by convincing her brother, one of his students, to bring him three of the girl’s private hairs with which he could magically make her love him. The plan failed when the girl’s mother finds out about it and made the boy give Cunningham three cow hairs. As soon as he “wrought his Art” upon the hairs, the cow ran into the church where he was and “leaped and danced upon him”. Because many townsfolk saw this happen, Doctor Cunningham (aka Doctor Fian) became well-known in Scotland as someone who worked with the devil.
After his confession, Fian was sent back to prison where he renounced his alliance to the devil and converted himself to a devout Christian. That night, the devil appeared to Fian and asked him if he would keep serving him, to which Fian directly responds that he will not but would forsake him, and Satan vanished. The following day, Fian appeared solitary and seeking redemption, calling upon God, and yet that same night steals the key to his prison door and escapes back to his residence at the Salt Pans. The King initiated a “hot and hard pursuit” and brought him back to the prison. That night, Fian denied all that he had confessed and attested true under his name the day before. Suspected of having pacted with the devil anew, Fian is searched for another mark of the devil, in vain. He is then tortured by having his fingernails pulled off with pincers and having two needles thrust where the fingernails would have been, yet still does not confess. He is then once again tortured with the boots—this time to irreparable, excruciating extremes—yet still does not admit to his previous confession, stating that his confession and previous actions were only said and done for fear of going through the tortures again.
Following this, the King decides to soon have Doctor Fian executed. He was strangled and burned in a great fire in the Castle Hill of Edenbrough in January 1591. The other witches not yet executed were, at the time of the pamphlet, still in prison. The pamphlet ends with an elogy of the King as a true Christian and an undaunted mind.
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A Most Wicked work of a wretched witch
a Richard Burt encountered a witch and later saw a black cat, lifted up into the air by a spirit, taken down into Hell, Mother Atkin’s kitchen was possessed
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A true discourse
Brief summary:
Stubbe Peeter was known to practice magic and witchcraft as a young kid, the devil transformed him into a strong and greedy wolf, killed livestock would find women or children he lusted over, ‘ravish,’ and murder them, committed incest, he was apprehended by hunters, examined, and then confessed out of fear of torture, however he was tortured to death and his daughter and ‘Gossip’ were burnt to death.
Fuller summary:
Decorated by a storyboard illustration of the capture and execution of the infamous Stubbe Peeter and his guilty family members, this 16th century pamphlet tells the story of a “wicked sorcerer” who, in the form of a wolf, repeatedly raped and murdered members of his community for 25 years. The pamphlet beings with a footnote version of the youth of Stubbe Peeter, noting that he had exhibited a proclivity for devilish activities from the age of 12. His continuous flirtation with devilish spirits and fiends eventually led him to sell his soul to the devil and abandon salvation. For 25 years, he assumed the shape of a greedy wolf and terrorized the streets of Collin, Bedbur, and Cperdadt. Before he assumed his full evil nature, he conceived a daughter named Stubbe Beell. He turned her wicked through his seduction and abuse and eventually had a child with her, who he made his concubine. After the pamphlet details all of these developments in Stubbe Peeter’s life, it narrates how the communities terrorized by him contacted a former resident of their village living London, imploring him for help. He rallied the folks of these villages together, and they hunted him down in his wolf form. They tailed him back to his house, where he turned back into a human. They brought him in from of the magistrates and he was sentenced to a painful death along with his daughter and his concubine daughter/granddaughter conceived through incest. The pamphlet ends with a warning of the justice that will be served to those who perform equally malevolent acts.