Post by tannis on Sept 10, 2009 9:27:33 GMT
Waking the Witch...
Another kind of punishment, to extort a confession, was what was called "Waking" the witch. An iron bridle or hoop was placed cross-wise of her face with four prongs, penetrating the mouth. The hoop was fastened to the wall at the back of the head, so that the prisoner could not lie down. She was kept in this position sometimes for several days, attendants constantly prodding her, to keep her awake.
Legal antiquities: a collection of essays upon ancient laws and customs, Edward Joseph White (1913, p.59)
The English physician Thomas Ady was the author of a strong denunciation of witchcraft belief, A Candle in the Dark (1656). Ady was inspired by revulsion at recent witch-hunts in England, notable that of Matthew Hopkins, and Ady was probably an inhabitant of Essex where Hopkins had been active. Drawing on previous English witchcraft writers including George Gifford and Reginald Scot, he described the tensions of early modern villages that caused witchcraft accusations. Poor physicians and unscrupulous cunning men, he claimed, also denounced those ills they were unable to cure as the handiwork of witches. His basic strategy, however, was to denounce the hunting of witches as antibiblical and as Roman Catholic. He denounced the techniques of contemporary witch-hunters, such as torture, flotation tests and "waking the witch" - torture by prolonged sleep deprivation. Ady attached these practices as having no biblical warrant. The witch's or Devil's mark or the satanic pact were also unscriptural. More fundamentally, Ady denied the biblical bias for the belief that Satan, or witches, actually possessed supernatural powers. Instead, the Devil was a spiritual tempter only. The word "witch," Ady pointed out, occurs only twice in the Bible (Exodus and Deuteronomy) and there refers to an idolater rather than someone with supernatural powers. He also claimed that biblical witches, unlike those most likely to be accused in England, were usually men. All admitted witches, as well as cunning folk, were frauds, and the only real maleficium was poisoning. The idea of witchcraft had been invented by Roman Catholics to stigmatize those beliefs and practices that opposed their church. Although Ady's chief venom was reserved for Catholics, he also denounced Protestant writers who supported witchcraft belief, including William Perkins and the Danish theologian Niels Hemmingsen (1513-1600).
Witch hunts in Europe and America: an encyclopedia, William E. Burns (2003, pp.3-4)
Another kind of punishment, to extort a confession, was what was called "Waking" the witch. An iron bridle or hoop was placed cross-wise of her face with four prongs, penetrating the mouth. The hoop was fastened to the wall at the back of the head, so that the prisoner could not lie down. She was kept in this position sometimes for several days, attendants constantly prodding her, to keep her awake.
Legal antiquities: a collection of essays upon ancient laws and customs, Edward Joseph White (1913, p.59)
The English physician Thomas Ady was the author of a strong denunciation of witchcraft belief, A Candle in the Dark (1656). Ady was inspired by revulsion at recent witch-hunts in England, notable that of Matthew Hopkins, and Ady was probably an inhabitant of Essex where Hopkins had been active. Drawing on previous English witchcraft writers including George Gifford and Reginald Scot, he described the tensions of early modern villages that caused witchcraft accusations. Poor physicians and unscrupulous cunning men, he claimed, also denounced those ills they were unable to cure as the handiwork of witches. His basic strategy, however, was to denounce the hunting of witches as antibiblical and as Roman Catholic. He denounced the techniques of contemporary witch-hunters, such as torture, flotation tests and "waking the witch" - torture by prolonged sleep deprivation. Ady attached these practices as having no biblical warrant. The witch's or Devil's mark or the satanic pact were also unscriptural. More fundamentally, Ady denied the biblical bias for the belief that Satan, or witches, actually possessed supernatural powers. Instead, the Devil was a spiritual tempter only. The word "witch," Ady pointed out, occurs only twice in the Bible (Exodus and Deuteronomy) and there refers to an idolater rather than someone with supernatural powers. He also claimed that biblical witches, unlike those most likely to be accused in England, were usually men. All admitted witches, as well as cunning folk, were frauds, and the only real maleficium was poisoning. The idea of witchcraft had been invented by Roman Catholics to stigmatize those beliefs and practices that opposed their church. Although Ady's chief venom was reserved for Catholics, he also denounced Protestant writers who supported witchcraft belief, including William Perkins and the Danish theologian Niels Hemmingsen (1513-1600).
Witch hunts in Europe and America: an encyclopedia, William E. Burns (2003, pp.3-4)