how did matthew hopkins die

In March 1644 he alleged his first discovery of witches—six of them, in Manningtree, who he claimed tried to kill him. Between 1644 and 1647 the hapless victims (including a few Anglican clergymen) numbered perhaps 230 or more. Matthew Hopkins died at his home in Manningtree on the 12th August 1647 of pleural tuberculosis and was buried in the graveyard of the Church of St Mary at Mistley Heath. According to some versions, Hopkins sank and drowned. Portrait of Matthew Hopkins, “The Celebrated Witch-finder” from the 1837 edition of The Discovery of Witches. His father, James Hopkins, was a clergyman of the Church of England. He claimed to hold the office of Witchfinder General, although that title was never bestowed by Parliament. Occasionally, long after Matthew Hopkins and others of his appalling ilk had become nightmare folk-memories, awful things happened. Matthew Hopkins died in 1647. As late as 1895 a husband burnt his wife to death for being a witch. Histories which say that he was lynched or swum are likely to be wide of the mark as far as accuracy is concerned. "Nothing can place the credulity of the English nation on the subject of witchcraft in a more striking point of view, than the history of Matthew Hopkins, who, in a pamphlet published in 1647 in his own vindication, assumes to himself the surname of the Witchfinder. [44] The records at Stowmarket show their costs to the town to have been £23 (£3,800 as of 2021) plus his travelling expenses.[45]. According to historian Rossell Hope Robbins, Hopkins "acquired an evil reputation which in later days made his name synonymous with fingerman or informerp… [22] Hopkins' brother John became Minister of South Fambridge in 1645 but was removed from the post one year later for neglecting his work. Execution for the very crime he had persecuted so many others for may have been a fitting end for Matthew Hopkins. Hopkins and his assistants also looked for the Devil's mark. Little is known of Hopkins before 1644, but apparently he had been a lawyer, practicing in Essex. A further test was to fling the accused bound into water, because a witch, having denied his or her baptism, would in turn be repelled by the water so that he or she would float and not sink into it. This was a mark that all witches or sorcerers were thought to possess that was said to be dead to all feeling and would not bleed – although it was sometimes a mole, birthmark or an extra nipple or breast. [59] Hopkins was asked if methods of investigation did not make the finders themselves witches, and if with all his knowledge did he not also have a secret,[44][60] or had used "unlawful courses of torture". [15], "Witchfinder General" redirects here. John Alden and Priscilla Alden: Priscilla Mullins went to America with her parents and younger brother. Hopkins and his company ran into opposition very soon after the start of their work,[40] but one of his main antagonists was John Gaule, vicar of Great Staughton in Huntingdonshire. “Matthew Hopkins, son of Mr James Hopkins, Minister of Wenham, was buried at Mistley, August 12 th, 1647. For other uses, see, At this time the New Year did not occur until 25, The Discovery of Witches – In Answer to Several Queries, Lately Delivered to the Judges of Assize for the County of Norfolk; London; 1647, Jewett, Clarence F. The memorial history of Boston: including Suffolk County, Massachusetts. These trials resulted in 19 executions for witchcraft,[65][66] one man, Giles Corey, pressed to death for refusing to plead,[67] and 150 imprisonments. [15][17] The family at one point held title "to lands and tenements in Framlingham 'at the castle'". What is the code for turtle knock on literacy planet; WIN #9 $10,000.00 ON THE GREAT 8 OUTDOOR EVENT; WIN #8 $10,000.00 OIN THE GREAT 8 OUTDOOR EVENT #16595; A backpack weighed 28 pounds. Suspects were tied to a chair and thrown into water: all those who "swam" (floated) were considered to be witches. Hopkins and John Stearne took on the role of investigators, stating that they had seen familiars while watching her. How old was Matthew Hopkins when he died? It has long been propounded that Hopkins was himself accused of being a witch, subjected to his own test of being bound and thrown into water and hanged after he was found to float. [25], In the early 1640s, Hopkins moved to Manningtree, Essex, a town on the River Stour, about 10 miles (16 km) from Wenham. The cost to the local community of Hopkins and his company were such that, in 1645, a special local tax rate had to be levied in Ipswich. They lived in Plymouth until about 1631, when they…. [27] From the way that he presented evidence in trials, Hopkins is commonly thought to have been trained as a lawyer, but there is scant evidence to suggest this was the case. "Select Cases of Conscience Touching Witches and Witchcraft", Death Warrant for Sarah Good, Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Elizabeth How & Sarah Wilds, "The History of Witchcraft and Demonology", Animated/Audio Story of Hopkins and his demise, Diary of Witchfinder General trials published online, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Matthew_Hopkins&oldid=1002322181, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2020, Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 23 January 2021, at 21:53. Gaule hearing of this letter wrote his publication Select Cases of Conscience touching Witches and Witchcrafts; London, (1646)[57] – dedicated to Colonel Walton of the House of Commons[54] – and began a programme of Sunday sermons to suppress witch-hunting. When asked this type of question it is important for historians to be able to give both sides of the argument in order to present a fair answer. The Pendle trial was before Hopkins was born, but he was directly responsible for finding all 18 people in Bury guilty of witchcraft due to his detection methods. Emboldened by his success, Hopkins hired four assistants and began hunting for witches all over Suffolk, Essex, and East Anglia. Hopkins was born around 1620 near a small village in Essex, England. [48] Although torture was nominally unlawful in England, Hopkins often used techniques such as sleep deprivation to extract confessions from his victims. Hopkins is said to have been in it for the money alone, whereas his colleague John Stearne was at least motivated by genuine religious fervour. His activities mainly took place in East Anglia. With the English Civil War under way, this trial was conducted not by justices of assize, but by justices of the peace presided over by the Earl of Warwick. Hopkins life was as short as his career and despite modern legend that he was captured and hanged for witchcraft himself, the reality of his death was much simpler. His exact date of death is not known, but it is reasonable to assume he died no more than four days before his burial. [42] Hopkins states[24] that "his fees were to maintain his company with three horses",[43][44] and that he took "twenty shillings a town". Millions had died in Europe. Their daughter Lindsay was born in 1968. Answer. Upon hearing that the woman had been interviewed, Hopkins wrote a letter[54][56] to a contact asking whether he would be given a "good welcome". [20] Although James Hopkins had died in 1634,[14] when the iconoclast William Dowsing, commissioned in 1643 by the Parliamentarian Earl of Manchester[21] "for the destruction of monuments of idolatry and superstition", visited the parish in 1645 he noted that "there was nothing to reform". Superstition, it is clear, takes a long time to die. TRIBUTES: Carlos Sia died after battling the coronavirus in hospital. [50] This led to the legal abandonment of the test by the end of 1645.[50]. [51] If the suspected witch had no such visible marks invisible ones could be discovered by pricking, therefore "witch prickers" were employed, who pricked the accused with knives and special needles looking for such marks, normally after the suspect had been shaved of all body hair. [46] Parliament was well aware of Hopkins and his team's activities, as shown by the concerned reports of the Bury St Edmunds witch trials of 1645. He was buried in the graveyard of the church of St Mary at Mistley heath. [28], Following the Lancaster Witch Trials (1612–1634), William Harvey, physician to King Charles I of England, had been ordered to examine the four women accused,[29] and from this there came a requirement to have material proof of being a witch. 1 2 3. In the words of historian Malcolm Gaskill, Matthew Hopkins "lives on as an anti-hero and bogeyman – utterly ethereal, endlessly malleable". Top Answer. He was buried a few hours after his death in the graveyard of the Church of St Mary at Mistley Heath. Cabell deliberately eschews context – historical, social and legal – because he wants to concentrate on Matthew Hopkins, whom he believes to have been uniquely evil. Probably in 1623 she and John were married. Assistant Master and Professor of History, Selwyn College, University of Cambridge. Photo by Wellcome images CC BY 4.0 Not surprisingly, most were con artists who used sleight of hand to expose witchery. As a result of Hopkins' allegations, 19 were hanged and four died in prison. PCh I Glim $2,500.00 Gwy no17028 AnaRosenbohm; PCh … Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. [40] Four died in prison and nineteen were convicted and hanged. In fact, Hopkins died after an illness, likely tuberculosis . [52][53] It was believed that the witch's familiar, an animal such as a cat or dog, would drink the witch's blood from the mark, as a baby drinks milk from the nipple. He was her knight in shinning armor, her "Lancelot". In 1620, Matthew Hopkins, the son of a local minister, was born at Great Wenham, Suffolk. Portrait of Matthew Hopkins, “The Celebrated Witch-finder” from the 1837 edition of ‘The Discovery of Witches’. [63] Some of Hopkins' methods were once again employed during the Salem Witch Trials,[64] which occurred primarily in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692–93. He is the recipient of multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, three BAFTAs, two Emmys and the Cecil B. DeMille Award.In 1993, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the arts. [23] Hopkins states in his book The Discovery of Witches (1647)[24] that he "never travelled far ... to gain his experience". Matthew Hopkins died at his home in Manningtree, Essex, on 12 August 1647, probably of pleural tuberculosis. However, in others, he floated. Matthew Hopkins, Worcestershire Acute Hospital Trust's chief executive, said: "So very sad. Hopkins was warned against the use of "swimming" without receiving the victim's permission first. Facts about Matthew Hopkins The facts about Matthew Hopkins have decribed above, do not you enjoy reading these amazing facts? Because the Devil was not going to "confess", it was necessary to gain a confession from the human involved. Elizabeth Clarke (c. 1565–1645), alias Bedinfield, was the first woman persecuted by the Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins in 1645 in Essex, England.At 80 years old, she was accused of witchcraft by local tailor John Rivet. How the infamous, self-styled "Witch-finder General" – Matthew Hopkins took to his notorious business throughout East Anglia in the 1640's. [71], What historian James Sharpe has characterised as a "pleasing legend" grew up around the circumstances of Hopkins' death, according to which he was subjected to his own swimming test and executed as a witch, but the parish registry at Mistley confirms his burial there. These practices were recommended in law books. [11], Little is known of Matthew Hopkins before 1644, and there are no surviving contemporary documents concerning him or his family. This was 1967 when the film Witchfinder General about the evil Matthew Hopkins was being made and it was released in the spring and summer of the following year. Adam said there is a legend that he was killed by his own methods by angry townsfolk who turned against him, but it … He pricked any skin deformity on the accused that was thought to be an extra pap for suckling imps; such parts, if insensible, were believed to prove that the accused was a witch. A legend that he was swum and hanged as a witch himself was false, even if it would have been a fitting end. 2011-11-29 16:12:30 2011-11-29 16:12:30. [34], The witch-hunts undertaken by Stearne and Hopkins mainly took place in East Anglia, in the counties of Suffolk, Essex, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire, with a few in the counties of Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire. [68] In the words of historian Malcolm Gaskill, Matthew Hopkins "lives on as an anti-hero and bogeyman – utterly ethereal, endlessly malleable". In fact, Hopkins died after an illness, likely tuberculosis. It is likely that Hopkins and his colleague, John Stearne, were responsible for most of these. Corrections? recent questions recent answers. He and his associates were responsible for more people being hanged for witchcraft than in the previous 100 years,[2][3] and were solely responsible for the increase in witch trials during those years. [49] He would also cut the arm of the accused with a blunt knife, and if she did not bleed, she was said to be a witch. [39], According to his book The Discovery of Witches,[24] Hopkins began his career as a witch-finder after he overheard women discussing their meetings with the Devil in March 1644 in Manningtree. The other three members of her family died during the terrible first winter of the Plymouth Colony. [14], Thus Matthew Hopkins could not have been born before 1619, and could not have been older than 28 when he died, but he may have been as young as 25. He died on the 27th August, 1647, in his home in manningtree, Essex to Tuberculosis, aged at most 27 years old. According to historian Rossell Hope Robbins, Hopkins "acquired an evil reputation which in later days made his name synonymous with fingerman or informer… Another method was to force the accused to walk about all night, for only when at rest could a witch summon his or her familiars, who would terrify the accusers away. He thereupon became a “Witch Finder Generall,” going about Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Huntingdon getting villagers and townspeople to hire him and his two assistants (for a fee) to search out witches, force their confessions, and have them hanged by the authorities. It also starred Ian Ogilvy, Hilary Dwyer and Rupert Davies. Your first assessment in this topic will focus on whether or not Matthew Hopkins deserved to die. How old was Matthew Hopkins when he died? He was buried a few hours after his death in the graveyard of the Church of St Mary at Mistley Heath. Matthew Hopkins died at his home in Manningtree, Essex, on 12 August 1647, probably of pleural tuberculosis. [12] He was born in Great Wenham, Suffolk[13][14][15] and was the fourth son[13] of six children. Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins CBE (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor, composer, director and film producer. According to tradition, Hopkins used his recently acquired inheritance of a hundred marks[26] to establish himself as a gentleman and to buy the Thorn Inn in Mistley. Fraden, Judith Bloom, Dennis Brindell Fraden. At the age of 23, Heath made her feature acting debut in Michael Reeves' creepy historical horror flick Witchfinder General, which fictionalized in rather brutal fashion the witch-hunting exploits of 17th-century Englishman Matthew Hopkins, played by horror icon Vincent Price. Consultant editor for the. At 19, he drove to school from a ranch in a pickup truck, and met 16-year-old Claudia Barrows. Methods of investigating witchcraft heavily drew inspiration from the Daemonologie of King James, which was directly cited in Hopkins' The Discovery of Witches. [58], In Norfolk both Hopkins and Stearne were questioned by justices of the assizes, about the torturing and fees. Tweet. Matthew Hopkins died at his home in Manningtree, Essex, on 12 August 1647, probably of pleural tuberculosis. During this period, excepting Middlesex and chartered towns, no records show any person charged of witchcraft being sentenced to death other than by the judges of the assizes. [41], Hopkins and Stearne, accompanied by the women who performed the pricking, were soon travelling over eastern England, claiming to be officially commissioned by Parliament to uncover and prosecute witches. In August of 1647, at the age of just 26 or 27, Matthew Hopkins keeled over in Manningtree and died. But by 1647 it was all over and Hopkins was dead, aged just 27. How did Matthew Hopkins die? He was buried in the village churchyard of Mistley Heath in which is now an unmarked grave. [35][36] Both Hopkins and Stearne would have required some form of letters of safe conduct[37][38] to be able to travel throughout the counties. [1], Hopkins' witch-finding career began in March 1644[a] and lasted until his retirement in 1647. Matthew Hopkins (c. 1620 – 12 August 1647) was an English witch-hunter whose career flourished during the English Civil War. [62] During the year following the publication of Hopkins' book, trials and executions for witchcraft began in the New England colonies with the hanging of Alse Young of Windsor, Connecticut on May 26, 1647, followed by the conviction of Margaret Jones. Asked by Wiki User. Matthew Blaisdel was a modern-day cowboy, ruggedly handsome, sincere, and polite. Born in 1864 and died in 1929 Chicopee, Massachusetts Matthew A Hopkins Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Matthew-Hopkins, University of Regina - Luther College - The Historical Significance of Matthew Hopkins: England’s “Witchfinder General”, The Headgate Theatre - Matthew Hopkins - The Witchfinder General. 133–137. His own end however, is far from clear; some accounts say he drowned undergoing his own “swimming trial” after being accused of witchcraft himself. Lesson Four: Assessment – Did Matthew Hopkins deserve to die? Matthew Hopkins (1620–1647) began his witch-finding career began in 1645 with assistant John Sterne, claiming to have the backing of Parliament (which he did not) and is believed to have been responsible for the deaths of 300 women over the course of two years. [47] After the trial and execution the Moderate Intelligencer, a parliamentary paper published during the English Civil War, in an editorial of 4–11 September 1645 expressed unease with the affairs in Bury. [33] Within continental and Roman Law witchcraft was crimen exceptum: a crime so foul that all normal legal procedures were superseded. Jones' execution was the first in a witch-hunt that lasted in New England from 1648 until 1663. While legend says he was tried as a witch using his own methods and executed, the mundane reality appears to be that tuberculosis carried him off. While they were all convicted and hanged almost immediately, the trial did cast down on the validity of Matthew Hopkins the Witchfinder General. Many of his methods of inquisition were not far removed from actual torture. [7], It has been estimated that all of the English witch trials between the early 15th and late 18th centuries resulted in fewer than 500 executions for witchcraft. He was buried a few hours after his death in the graveyard of the Church of St Mary at Mistley Heath. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Known that Matthew Hopkins died at his home in Manningtree, Essex, on August 12, 1647, caused of tuberculosis. Omissions? Matthew Hopkins was buried in Manningtree in Essex on 12 August 1647. Hopkins, too, was fading – he died a young man in 1647, most probably from tuberculosis. Updates? recent questions recent answers. Few legal wins so far as Trump team hunts for proof of fraud Ticknor and Company. The passion they shared resulted in pregnancy and eventually marriage. How did Matthew Hopkins die? Answer this question. Matthew Hopkins, (born, Wenham, Suffolk, Eng.—died Aug. 12, 1647), English witch-hunter during a witchcraft craze of the English Civil Wars. [30] The work of Hopkins and John Stearne was not necessarily to prove any of the accused had committed acts of maleficium, but to prove that they had made a covenant with the Devil. It has long been propounded that Hopkins was himself accused of being a witch, subjected to his own test of being bound and thrown into water and hanged after he was found to float. Before the trial, a report was carried to the Parliament – "as if some busie men had made use of some ill Arts to extort such confession"[47] – that a special Commission of Oyer and Terminer was granted for the trial of these witches. In fact, the first accusations were made by Stearne and Hopkins was appointed as his assistant. It was directed by Michael Reeves who died … Answer for question: Your name: Answers. In the 14 months of their crusade Hopkins and Stearne sent to the gallows more accused people than all the other witch-hunters in England of the previous 160 years. [4][5][6] He is believed to have been responsible for the executions of over 100 alleged witches between the years 1644 and 1646. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 1630–1880. [31] Prior to this point, any malicious acts on the part of witches were treated identically to those of other criminals, until it was seen that, according to the then-current beliefs about the structure of witchcraft, they owed their powers to a deliberate act of their choosing. The locals promptly hung Hopkins on the spot-which explains why there are no records of a trial. [32], Witches then became heretics to Christianity, which became the greatest of their crimes and sins. Hopkins even wrote a short pamphlet detailing his witch-hunting methods: ‘The Discovery of Witches’, which was published in 1647. [citation needed] Therefore, presuming the number executed as a result of investigations by Hopkins and his colleague John Stearne is at the lower end of the estimates,[8][9][10] their efforts accounted for about 20% of the total. [44][60][61], Hopkins' witch-hunting methods were outlined in his book The Discovery of Witches, which was published in 1647. As described in the journal of Governor John Winthrop, the evidence assembled against Margaret Jones was gathered by the use of Hopkins' techniques of "searching" and "watching".[62]. Another of his methods was the swimming test, based on the idea that as witches had renounced their baptism, water would reject them. There is reason to believe that this was the noted Matthew Hopkins, Witch Finder General to the associated counties, who had frequently been mentioned by various writers. Of the suspects Matthew Hopkins managed to convict, 100 witches were from the eastern counties. Carlos Sia, 62 Mr Sia worked at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, as did his wife Cindy and daughter, Clair. This was the time of the puritans and Hopkins was brought up in a household ruled by strict obedience to God’s Law and a life-long devotion to Christ. [60] By the time this court session resumed in 1647 Stearne and Hopkins had retired, Hopkins to Manningtree and Stearne to Bury St Edmunds. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Many suspects died of Jail fever in the cells of Colchester Castle The interrogations took place in the dark cells of Colchester Castle, where many women died as a result of their incarceration before ever being brought to court. [1] They extended throughout the area of strongest Puritan and Parliamentarian influences which formed the powerful and influential Eastern Association from 1644 to 1647, which was centred on Essex. Wiki User Answered . Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. He died on May 15 after spending many weeks in hospital fighting Covid-19. Free e-mail watchdog. 1881 Pgs. [16] His father, James Hopkins, was a Puritan clergyman and vicar of St John's of Great Wenham, in Suffolk. [54][55] Gaule had attended a woman from St Neots who was held in gaol charged with witchcraft until such time as Hopkins could attend. Photo credit James heightened the public anxiety around black magic and witches and as the fear rose in the decades to follow, there were more and more accusations between people.

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