Edexcel A-Level History 9HI0
The Crusades, c1095–1204Paper 1
England, 1509–1603: Authority, Nation and ReligionPaper 1
Britain, 1625–1701: Conflict, Revolution and SettlementPaper 1
Britain, c1785–c1870: Democracy, Protest and ReformPaper 1
Russia, 1917–91: From Lenin to YeltsinPaper 1
In Search of the American Dream: The USA, c1917–96Paper 1
Germany and West Germany, 1918–89Paper 1
Britain Transformed, 1918–97Paper 1
Anglo-Saxon England and the Anglo-Norman Kingdom, c1053–1106Paper 2
England and the Angevin Empire in the Reign of Henry II, 1154–89Paper 2
Luther and the German Reformation, c1515–55Paper 2
The Dutch Revolt, c1563–1609Paper 2
France in Revolution, 1774–99Paper 2
Russia in Revolution, 1894–1924Paper 2
The Unification of Italy, c1830–70Paper 2
The Unification of Germany, c1840–71Paper 2
Mao’s China, 1949–76Paper 2
The German Democratic Republic, 1949–90Paper 2
India, c1914–48: The Road to IndependencePaper 2
South Africa, 1948–94: From Apartheid State to ‘Rainbow Nation’Paper 2
The Rise and Fall of Fascism in Italy, c1911–46Paper 2
Spain, 1930–78: Republicanism, Francoism and the Re-Establishment of DemocracyPaper 2
The USA, c1920–55: Boom, Bust and RecoveryPaper 2
The USA, 1955–92: Conformity and ChallengePaper 2
Lancastrians, Yorkists and Henry VII, 1399–1509Paper 3
Rebellion and Disorder Under the Tudors, 1485–1603Paper 3
The Golden Age of Spain, 1474–1598Paper 3
The Witch Craze in Britain, Europe and North America, c1580–c1750Paper 3
Industrialisation and Social Change in Britain, 1759–1928: Forging a New SocietyPaper 3
Poverty, Public Health and the State in Britain, c1780–1939Paper 3
Britain: Losing and Gaining an Empire, 1763–1914Paper 3
The British Experience of Warfare, c1790–1918Paper 3
Protest, Agitation and Parliamentary Reform in Britain, c1780–1928Paper 3
Ireland and the Union, c1774–1923Paper 3
The Changing Nature of Warfare, 1859–1991: Perception and RealityPaper 3
Germany, 1871–1990: United, Divided and ReunitedPaper 3
The Making of Modern Russia, 1855–1991Paper 3
The Making of Modern China, 1860–1997Paper 3
Civil Rights and Race Relations in the USA, 1850–2009Paper 3
Mass Media and Social Change in Britain, 1882–2004Paper 3
The Witch Craze in Britain, Europe and North America, c1580–c1750
- 19 subtopics
- 57 things to know
- Paper 3
- Paper 3 themes option, chosen from sixteen
What The Witch Craze in Britain, Europe and North America, c1580–c1750 covers
A Paper 3 option combining aspects in breadth on changing beliefs about the natural world and the growth of scepticism with aspects in depth on four episodes of persecution: North Berwick, Pendle, Bamberg and Salem, and on the Hopkins hunts in East Anglia.
Where it is assessed
Paper 3
Themes in breadth with aspects in depth, one option of sixteen.
Check the Pearson Edexcel specification ↗The 19 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- The existence and growth of scepticism, c1580–c1750Recall questions on what scepticism actually meant, the Boy of Bilson and other exposed frauds, spectral evidence, Jane Wenham, and why judges stopped convicting.Open →
- Notable sceptic publications, c1580-c1750Recall questions on Reginald Scot and how his book was received, Harsnett on Darrel, Thomas Ady, Weyer, and Friedrich Spee's attack on the procedure.Open →
- Making sense of the universe and its impact, c1580–c1750Recall questions on Kepler and his mother's trial, Galileo, the mechanical philosophy, Newton, and why science did not simply defeat witchcraft.Open →
- The changing approach to human understanding and knowledge, c1580–c1750Recall questions on Bacon and empiricism, the Royal Society, Locke, the Enlightenment view of superstition, and how slowly ideas reached ordinary people.Open →
- The origins of the persecutionRecall questions on Gilly Duncan's confession, James VI's voyage from Denmark, the Danish influence, what the accused were said to have done, and the role of torture.Open →
- The widening net of accusationRecall questions on Agnes Sampson and John Fian, the king's personal involvement, why Bothwell was implicated, and what happened to him.Open →
- The extent of persecutions in Scotland to 1597Recall questions on Daemonologie, why Scottish trials were more severe than English, the local commissions, the great hunt of 1597, and the role of the kirk.Open →
- The context of the Pendle witch trialsRecall questions on the poverty of the Pendle area, Lancashire's reputation for recusancy, the 1604 statute, charity refusal, and the position of cunning folk.Open →
- The origins of the caseRecall questions on Alizon Device and John Law, why her admission mattered, Old Demdike and Old Chattox, Roger Nowell, and the Malkin Tower meeting.Open →
- The Pendle trial of 1612Recall questions on the judges, how the trial was conducted, Jennet Device's evidence, the outcome, and Thomas Potts's published account.Open →
- The economic, political and religious contextRecall questions on Counter-Reformation zeal in Bamberg, the effect of the Thirty Years War, harvest failure and the coinage crisis, and why weather magic was blamed.Open →
- Numbers and social groups affected by the witch huntsRecall questions on the prince-bishop and Friedrich Forner, why the wealthy were targeted, property confiscation, and the letter of Johannes Junius.Open →
- Why the Bamberg witch hunt endedRecall questions on the Imperial Chamber Court, Ferdinand II's intervention, the Swedish advance, the Drudenhaus, and what the ending shows.Open →
- Economic and political contextRecall questions on the effect of the English Civil War on the courts, the statutes of 1563 and 1604, why East Anglia was vulnerable, and Puritan belief.Open →
- Geography, numbers, class and gender of victimsRecall questions on where English executions were concentrated, the methods used by Hopkins and Stearne, swimming and watching, and the devil's mark.Open →
- The ending of the witch crazeRecall questions on the growing cost of prosecution, the return of assize justice, John Gaule's attack, the last trials, and the repeal of 1736.Open →
- The social, economic and political context of SalemRecall questions on the revoked charter, frontier warfare, the divisions of Salem Village, Samuel Parris, and the Puritan understanding of Satan.Open →
- The influence of Cotton MatherRecall questions on Memorable Providences, Mather's ambiguous position on spectral evidence, Tituba's confession, the other instigators, and why confessing saved lives.Open →
- Why the Salem witch hunt endedRecall questions on Increase Mather's Cases of Conscience, Governor Phips's actions, what happened once spectral evidence was excluded, the final toll, and the later apologies.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
What was the outcome of the trial?
Who were the other instigators?
What intellectual movement promoted reason over superstition?
Which nobleman was accused of being behind the plot?
What were the two rival accused families called?
Which prince-bishop drove the Bamberg persecutions?
What war's disruption helped bring the Bamberg persecutions to an end?
What 1563 English law made witchcraft a felony?
During which national conflict did Hopkins's witch hunts occur?
Who was John Stearne?
What 1736 act repealed the witchcraft laws in Britain?
What phrase describes the waning belief in witchcraft and the supernatural?
In which colony did the Salem witch trials take place?
Who effectively ended the trials by barring spectral evidence?
What growing scepticism about apparitions as evidence helped end trials?
What is meant by scepticism about witchcraft?
What 1584 book by Reginald Scot was sceptical about witchcraft?
What did Johann Weyer contribute?
What worldview replaced magic with fixed natural laws?
What did Galileo contribute?
Which scientific body founded in 1660 promoted empirical enquiry?
What were the North Berwick witches accused of trying to do to the king?
Which king personally involved himself in the North Berwick trials?
Why were Scottish persecutions more severe than English?
How many people were executed for witchcraft in Scotland?
What was the economic condition of the Pendle area?
Who was Roger Nowell?
What was the incident with Alizon Device and John Law?
Who were the judges at the Lancaster assizes?
What was the religious context of the Bamberg persecutions?
What economic crises preceded the hunts?
What nickname was given to this witch-hunting bishop?
What special body did the prince-bishop set up to try the Bamberg accused?
What 1647 pamphlet did Hopkins write defending his methods?
How many people were executed as a result of the Salem trials?
What was Memorable Providences?
Why did Phips act when he did?
What was the case of Jane Wenham?
What did Friedrich Spee argue?
Why is it misleading to see science as simply defeating witchcraft?
What did Balthasar Bekker argue in The World Bewitched?
Which servant's confession helped begin the panic?
Who was Euphame MacCalzean?
What was the 1597 great hunt?
How did family rivalry shape the Pendle case?
By what name was the matriarch Elizabeth Southerns known?
Why was Jennet Device's evidence so significant?
Why were witches blamed for the weather?
Who was Georg Haan?
What special prison was built to hold the accused witches?
What harsher witchcraft statute did James I introduce in 1604?
What supposed bodily sign was taken as proof of a pact with the Devil?
Why did witch-hunting become too expensive to sustain?
How did the 1688 Revolution weaken authority in Massachusetts?
What was Mather's position on spectral evidence?
What was the final toll at Salem?
Take The Witch Craze in Britain, Europe and North America, c1580–c1750 further
The same content, four other ways.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What growing scepticism about apparitions as evidence helped end trials?
Model answer
Doubt over spectral evidence.
- 2
What is meant by scepticism about witchcraft?
Model answer
Doubt not usually about whether the Devil existed, but about whether particular accusations could be proved and whether the courts' methods produced reliable evidence.
- 3
What happened to William Perry, the boy from Bilson?
Model answer
William Perry's fraudulent possession was exposed in 1620 by Bishop Morton, who tricked him into revealing his deception, and it became a standard example of imposture.
- 4
What was the Bury St Edmunds trial of 1662?
Model answer
A trial at which Sir Thomas Browne testified for the prosecution and two women were hanged; it was later cited both as precedent and as a warning.
- 5
What was the case of Jane Wenham?
Model answer
The last person condemned for witchcraft in England, in 1712; the judge secured her a pardon and the case provoked a pamphlet war that discredited prosecution.
- 6
Why did frauds damage the credibility of witchcraft prosecution?
Model answer
Every exposed imposture suggested that other accusations rested on the same mixture of malice, suggestion and attention-seeking.
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Six ways to work the same material.
The Witch Craze in Britain, Europe and North America, c1580–c1750 revision questions
- What does The Witch Craze in Britain, Europe and North America, c1580–c1750 cover in Edexcel A-Level History?
- 19 subtopics: the existence and growth of scepticism, c1580–c1750, notable sceptic publications, c1580-c1750, making sense of the universe and its impact, c1580–c1750, the changing approach to human understanding and knowledge, c1580–c1750, the origins of the persecution, the widening net of accusation, the extent of persecutions in scotland to 1597, the context of the pendle witch trials, the origins of the case, the pendle trial of 1612, the economic, political and religious context, numbers and social groups affected by the witch hunts, why the bamberg witch hunt ended, economic and political context, geography, numbers, class and gender of victims, the ending of the witch craze, the social, economic and political context of salem, the influence of cotton mather and why the salem witch hunt ended. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is The Witch Craze in Britain, Europe and North America, c1580–c1750 organised?
- By the Edexcel 9HI0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
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