A slideshow presentation for teaching high schoolers about the history of witchcraft and witch hunts in the west.

1. DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT
HISTORICAL EVENT THAT CLIP
WAS BASED ON?

2. THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS

3. SALEM IS AN EXAMPLE OF A “WITCH
HUNT”
WHAT KIND OF WORDS, PHRASES, OR NAMES DO YOU
ASSOCIATE WITH THAT TERM?

4. WITCH WORDS
Some terms to know when dealing with “the dark arts”

5. WITCHCRAFT
A type of SORCERY involving
the magical manipulation of
supernatural forces through the
casting of spells and the
conjuring or invoking of spirits.

6. FAMILIAR
• In witchcraft lore, familiars are low-ranking
DEMONs or IMPs given by the DEVIL to those
who commit to PACTs with him. They carried
out spells and bewitchments.
• Most witch familiars were believed to be in
animal form. A witch could have multiple
familiars. Cats, especially black, were the favored
forms.

7. PACT
• A binding agreement with a DEMON or the
DEVIL for gain and services beyond the power
of nature, usually in exchange for one’s soul.
• In 1633, Father URBAIN GRANDIER, a parish priest of
St.-Pierre-du-Marche in Loudun, France, was brought to
trial in the LOUDUN POSSESSIONS, also involving
bewitched nuns. A written pact was introduced as
evidence. It was written backward in Latin and signed in
blood. It read:

8. “We, the all-powerful Lucifer, seconded by Satan,
Beelzebub, Leviathan, Elimi, Astaroth, and others, have
today accepted the pact of alliance with Urbain Grandier,
who is on our side. And we promise him the love of
women, the flower of virgins, the chastity of nuns,
worldly honors, pleasures, and riches. He will fornicate
every three days; intoxication will be dear to him. He
will offer to us once a year a tribute marked with his
blood; he will trample under foot the sacraments of the
church, and he will say his prayers to us. By virtue of this
pact, he will live happily for twenty years on earth
among men, and finally will come among us to curse
God. Done in hell, in the council of the devils.
(Signed by) Satan, Beelzebub, Lucifer, Elimi,
Leviathan, Astaroth.
Notarized the signature and mark of the chief devil, and
my lords the princes of hell. (Countersigned by)
Baalberith, recorder.”

9. SABBAT
A wild party of witches, heretics, DEMONs, and the
DEVIL in a remote location. The participants
supposedly indulge in obscene behavior, orgies,
gluttony, blasphemy, and worship of the Devil.
The Devil usually appeared in the shape of a goat. He
presided over the sabbat while sitting on a throne. The witches
took off their clothes and paid homage to him by falling to
their knees and kissing his rump.
Unbaptized infants were offered up as sacrifices. New
witches were initiated by signing the Devil’s BLACK BOOK
in BLOOD, renouncing Christianity, taking an oath, and
trampling upon the cross. The Devil marked his initiates with
his claw (DEVIL’S MARK).

10. BLACK MASS
An obscene parody of the Catholic
Holy Mass at which the DEVIL is
worshipped. During the
Inquisition, witch hunters and
demonologists claimed that
witches—or any heretics—
frequently performed Black
Masses as part of their infernal
SABBATs with DEMONs and the
Devil.

11. MALLEUS MALEFICARUM
(WITCH HAMMER)
The most influential and important witch hunter’s guide of
the Inquisition. The book gives instructions for
interrogating, trying, and punishing accused witches and
details the nature, characteristics, and behavior of DEMONs
and the DEVIL.
Judges are instructed to allow hostile witnesses because
everyone hates witches. Torture is to be applied if the
accused do not confess voluntarily. Judges are permitted to
lie to the accused, promising them mercy if they confess.

12. STRANGE MAGIC
Notable cases of witchcraft hysteria
And
Demonic possession panic

13. DENHAM EXORCISMS (1585-1586)
The EXORCISMs of six fraudulent DEMONIACs by 12 Catholic priests.
• The Witchcraft Act of 1563 made the conjuring of spirits—which included
exorcism—punishable by death on the first offense. Nonetheless, the priests
undertook the exorcisms, ostensibly in order to convert Protestants back to
Catholicism.
• The demoniacs faked visions, revelations, prophecies, and convulsions. The
exorcisms were witnessed by huge crowds.
• One of the “performers” was Richard Mainey, an Englishman who had
become a Friar in France but left the order because of their strictness and the
fact that he disliked their diet of fish.

14. • Mainey’s demon, Modu, said that he had been bewitched by Goodwife White, a
woman who was commonly believed to be a witch. The priests captured White’s cat
and whipped it until it “vanished away.”
• Of all the demoniacs, Mainey put on the best show. Prior to Easter 1586, he
announced that every Sunday he would have a vision of purgatory, and on Good
Friday he would ascend to heaven. A large crowd gathered on the appointed day.
Mainey lay on his bed, preached and prayed, and then lapsed into a two-hour trance.
When he awakened, he sighed and said:
“My time is not yet come: our blessed Lady hath appeared to me, and told me
that I must live longer yet: for that God hath reserved me for a further purpose to doe
more good, and to tell of strange wonders.”
• Mainey’s last exorcism occurred in 1586. Modu appeared and said that he was
accompanied by seven other distinguished demons. They proceeded to act out the
SEVEN DEADLY SINS.

15. THROCKMORTONPOSSESSIONS (1589–1593)
•The first well-known case of possessed young people and the successful destruction of
witches based on the evidence of minors. The story of the five Throckmorton girls in
Essex, England, foreshadowed by a century the witchcraft hysteria that unfolded in Salem,
Massachusetts.
• In 1589, the youngest, Jane, began having sneezing fits and convulsions and fell into a
trance. Looking only at Jane’s urine, two Cambridge physicians diagnosed bewitchment.
When the 76-year-old Alice Samuel, whose impoverished family was often supported by
the wealthy Throckmortons, visited to offer her sympathies, Jane cried out against her,
accusing the old woman of WITCHCRAFT, saying,
“Did you ever see one more like a witch than she is? I cannot abide to
look at her.”

16. • The Throckmortons were visited by Lady Cromwell, wife of Sir Henry Cromwell, the
richest commoner in England. When she saw Mother Samuel, she too denounced her as a
witch, and ordered her hair burned.
• Back home, Lady Cromwell experienced a terrible nightmare, in which she dreamed that
Mother Samuel had sent her cat FAMILIAR to rip the flesh from her body. She never fully
recovered; and she eventually died 15 months later.
• The entire Samuel family was jailed. The Throckmorton girls were then allowed to extract
incriminating evidence, identifying nonsensical demons that often appeared as chickens.
• The Samuels were tried on April 5, 1593, on charges of murdering Lady Cromwell by
witchcraft. The court accepted the testimony of the Throckmorton girls, as well as several
other persons who claimed that the Samuel family had bewitched their livestock to death
over the years. The jury took only five hours to convict all three Samuels, who were
subsequently hanged.

17. • Since Lady Cromwell had allegedly died from the
dark magic of the Samuels, her husband, Sir Henry
Cromwell, received all the Samuels’ forfeited
property and goods.
• The Throckmorton case had a significant impact on
public belief in witchcraft. The case was widely
known through the publication of the account.
• It also had an impact on the governing class. The
Cromwell's served in the Parliament and, in response
to public pressure passed a new Witchcraft Act in
1604, which stiffened punishment.

18. LOUDUN POSSESSIONS (1630-
1634)
• Mass POSSESSION of Ursuline nuns of Loudun, France. The Loudun Possessions
have become one of the most famous cases of mass possession in history.
• In 1617, Father Grandier was appointed parish priest of Loudun. He was quite handsome,
wealthy, and eloquent, and a notorious womanizer. He often acted arrogantly and made many
powerful enemies.
• Grandier’s enemies approached Father Mignon, confessor to the Ursuline nuns. The plan was
for Father Mignon to persuade a few of the sisters to feign possession, swearing that Father
Grandier had bewitched them, causing his removal and downfall. The mother superior,
Jeanne des Anges, and another nun readily complied.
• Jeanne started to believe her own lie and became sexually obsessed with Grandier. Her
hysterical dreams and ravings disturbed the peace of the convent, causing more nuns to
succumb to hallucinations and dreams.

19. • The powerful Cardinal Richelieu, who despised Grandier, received reports of the
scandal and unsuccessful exorcisms. Eager to prove his power in the church and in
France, the cardinal created a commission to arrest and convict Grandier as a witch.
Meanwhile, the exorcisms resumed publicly.
• Skeptics continued to doubt that the possessions were genuine. Most of the nuns
failed the test of knowledge of foreign languages not known to them prior to their
possession. Nuns who did not know Latin were conveniently possessed by demons
who did not know Latin. Sometimes the nuns had to be coached to respond correctly.
• Despite these problems, the case against Grandier continued. In part, the case was also
being used against Protestants in general, claiming they were disciples of Satan.
Catholics and Protestants battled each other in possession and exorcism cases to try to
demonstrate who had the greater spiritual authority.

20. • The nuns’ accusations escalated. Madeleine de Brou, one of Grandier’s former lovers, was
accused of witchcraft, arrested, and imprisoned. Gentlemen in town were accused of consorting
with the Devil, and even the chief magistrate was accused of practicing black magic. Other
priests were accused of rape.
• As the circus escalated, friends of Grandier came forward as defense witnesses, but were either
pressured to keep silent or threatened with arrest as accessory witches or traitors to the king.
Inevitably, the Royal Commission sentenced Grandier to be tortured and then burned alive at
the stake.
• After the execution, many of the conspirators against Grandier became consumed with guilt.
Father Lactance died a month later, reportedly crying,
“Grandier, I was not responsible for your death.”
Father Tranquille died insane within 5 years, and the fraudulent Dr. Mannoury also died in
delirium. Father Barre was banished from the church for conspiring to accuse a priest of rape on
the altar; the bloodstains turned out to be from a chicken. Louis Chavet, one of the judges, fell
into depression and insanity and died before the end of the winter.

21. • Grandier’s death did not stop the possessions at
Loudun. Public appreciation of the exorcisms had been
so great that the convent continued the performances as
a type of tourist attraction. Twice a day except
Sundays, the afflicted nuns were exorcised for the
amusement of the crowds. They lifted their skirts, beat
their heads, bent backward, walked on their hands, and
used vulgar and blasphemous language.
• Such shows continued until 1637, when Cardinal
Richelieu, having satisfied his original aim—to
demonstrate his considerable power—righteously cut
off the performers’ salaries and put the convent at
peace.

22. THE SALEM
WITCH
TRIALS

24. A STRONG BELIEF IN THE DEVIL, FACTIONS AMONG SALEM VILLAGE FANATICS
AND RIVALRY WITH NEARBY SALEM TOWN, A RECENT SMALL POX EPIDEMIC
AND THE THREAT OF ATTACK BY WARRING TRIBES CREATED A FERTILE
GROUND FOR FEAR AND SUSPICION.
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT – FAQ@SALEMWITCHMUSEUM.COM

25. THE CRUCIBLE
By Arthur Miller

26. CAN YOU THINK OF ANY EXAMPLES
FROM YOUR OWN LIFE OF RUMORS,
GOSSIP, OR FALSE ACCUSATIONS?

27. H.W.: Watch both TED Ed videos back to back:
“Ugly History: Witch Hunts - Brian A. Pavlac”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x5KesH3dzM)
“What is McCarthyism? And how did it happen? - Ellen
Schrecker”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N35IugBYH04)

28. COMPLETE 3.2.1. READING LOG
•3 facts or concepts from the videos
•2 questions you have about the videos
•1 reflection/connection to personal experience
(Only a paragraph)