Book Review: 1612

Christine Goodier has produced a wonderfully informative, yet condense book based on Thomas Potts’ Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the County of Lancashire 1612 .

Published in 2011 to coincide with the upcoming 400th anniversary, Goodier draws on Potts’ confusing and extremely bias publication. She presents the trials in an accessible way for the everyday reader, using excerpts and lists, to explore the events leading up to the accusations, the accused and the trials that followed. This independent guide is perfect for those new to the topic or specialists looking for a quick overview.

Following the coronation of King James I in 1603, witchcraft was no longer a case of white and black magic. Witchcraft was malevolent and fuelled by fear, suspicion and politics. The Lancashire witch trials possess a uniqueness that became a catalyst for other witch trials in the period. Jennet Device was the youngest member of the Device family and was nine years old when she was approached by Sir Roger Nowell and Sir Edward Bromley. She was coerced in to complying with the authorities and provided a detailed statement of the ways in which her family were involved in witchcraft and damnable practices. Jennet’s testimony was an essential part of the Pendle witch trials in 1612.

Goodier does well to place the trials in the context of seventeenth-century England. She first introduces the reader to King James I exploring his obsessive nature and negative attitudes towards witches, moving on to conflicting religious beliefs between Protestantism and Catholicism, ultimately creating an awareness of societal anxieties. Her approach enables the reader to understand why the trials happened and how they were able to happen.

In addition to her well-thought-out 101 page guide, the appendices contain more information regarding the witch’s mark, the witches’ tower and witchcraft acts. This is extremely beneficial to those who perhaps don’t have an extensive knowledge on witchcraft in seventeenth-century England.

All in all, a perfect introduction to witchcraft in seventeenth-century England!

If you would like to read the original account by Potts, you can find a free version on Gutenberg Press Online. I will be creating a post on Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the coming months.