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TIL witches were hanged in the U.S. and England., but burned in Scotland.
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roofuskit lemmy.world roofuskit@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-11-03
#52 · (edited) Quote Reply

Seems like a good idea, I know I've never heard of a noose killing a real witch.

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Zombie feddit.uk Zombie@feddit.uk
Joined: 2024-06-01
#53 · Quote Reply

The last confirmed execution for witchcraft in England was in 1682. The United Kingdom (UK) did not come into existence until 1707 - when the Act of Union united England and Scotland. The last execution for witchcraft in Scotland was in 1727, which was by burning. At that time Scotland was part of the United Kingdom, so witches WERE burnt in the UK, but only in Scotland, NOT in England.

Horne and her daughter were arrested in Dornoch in Sutherland and imprisoned on the accusations of her neighbours. Horne was showing signs of senility, and her daughter had a deformity of her hands and feet. The neighbours accused Horne of having used her daughter as a pony to ride to the Devil, where she had her shod by him. The trial was conducted very quickly; the sheriff, Captain David Ross, had judged both guilty and sentenced them to be burned at the stake. The daughter managed to escape, but Janet was stripped, smeared with tar, paraded through the town on a barrel and burned alive.[2] Nine years after her death the witchcraft acts were repealed in Scotland.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Horne

Apart from being burned alive that's just a blackening! A wedding tradition still done to this day.

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potoooooooo 🥔 lemmy.world ivanafterall@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-20
#54 · Quote Reply

I can't imagine standing at one of these executions and it not occurring to me that, if these women had command of magical powers... why wouldn't they use them to escape?

Best not to think about such things.

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webghost0101 sopuli.xyz webghost0101@sopuli.xyz
Joined: 2023-07-20
#55 · (edited) Quote Reply

I can't imagine standing at one of these executions and it not occurring to me that, if these women had command of magical powers... why wouldn't they use them to escape?

Not a historian but if recall correctly the swimming test followed the logic that water is sacred (baptism) and would reject a witch

If you float your a witch, sink and you are innocent. Too bad some drowned this way.

This was not an recognised science, but common folklore, the people demanded such test after there where already rumours.

The majority of witch trials happend within a real court but they usually made sure (torture) that there was a confession.

For a commoner, who may not have experienced the means to get confession first hand they had no reason to doubt their word.

There where also some ready answers for your exact questioning, one is that witches have no power of their own but get it from Satan, who is “the father of lies” some confessions included a supposed promise by Satan to protect them, which didn’t happen and gets turned into a warning that Satan will deceive even those that are loyal.

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mcv lemmy.zip mcv@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2025-08-07
#56 · Quote Reply

Probably because it's colder up north. They need the warmth.

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fubbernuckin lemmy.dbzer0.com fubbernuckin@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Joined: 2024-11-08
#57 · Quote Reply

The Angel's Kiss I think it was known as

I've heard Angel lust

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fruitycoder sh.itjust.works fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2023-08-11
#58 · Quote Reply

Not a historian but if recall correctly the swimming test followed the logic that water is sacred (baptism) and would reject a witch If you float your a witch, sink and you are innocent. Too bad some drowned this way. This was not an recognised science, but common folklore, the people demanded such test after there where already rumours. The majority of witch trials happend within a real court ...

Some justifications of torture too were that if we're truly devoted you wouldn't lie. No matter the condition.

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fruitycoder sh.itjust.works fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2023-08-11
#59 · Quote Reply

Central Europe went nuts over witches. The general thought is that the driving force behind the witch hunts was the Reformation and Counter Reformation that drove Christians and leadership to more extreme positions to position themselves as the "defenders of the true faith" and to attract adherents. They centered around battleground states where protestant and catholic states bordered. In areas...

It is kind of funny, in a macabre way, of the inquisition being like "no, no, no that's not how you torture people and burn them at all" or "witches don't be ridiculous that's a red hearing to hide the heritics!"

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SocialMediaRefugee lemmy.world SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-27
#60 · Quote Reply

It is kind of funny, in a macabre way, of the inquisition being like "no, no, no that's not how you torture people and burn them at all" or "witches don't be ridiculous that's a red hearing to hide the heritics!"

When you are in control you don't want a mob running loose.

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