66 – Picture – Hopkins
- Physical description:
- Black and white reproduction of 17th C wood engraving depicting the witchfinder Matthew Hopkins with two witches and their familiars.
- Museum classification:
- Persecution
- Information:
'The Discovery of Witches'
by Matthew Hopkins,
Witch-Finder General.
This booklet was written by Hopkins to justify the methods he used to obtain confessions and prove witchcraft. It is a very disturbing document in which Hopkins tries to answer the many questions that are by now (1647) being asked of him.
The woodcut depicts Matthew Hopkins with two witches from Manningtree and their familiars.
Original text by Cecil Williamson: 'In England the church ran a great propaganda campaign against witchcraft in the reigns of Elizabeth and James II, so as to speed up the discovery of witches it was arranged to employ persons as witch finders. Such was a certain Matthew Hopkins, who stomped the country discovering witches left, right and centre, he got paid so much a head, any slightly round the bend old hag was to him fair game and good bounty money. An interesting point in this sad state of affairs is that many of Matthew Hopkins' victims claimed to have familiar spirits one form or another, most being some pet animal, as this quaint print shows, with names such as Holt, Jarmara, Vinegar, Tom, etc.'- Resource:
- Picture
- Materials:
- Paper
'The Discovery of Witches'
by Matthew Hopkins,
Witch-Finder General.
This booklet was written by Hopkins to justify the methods he used to obtain confessions and prove witchcraft. It is a very disturbing document in which Hopkins tries to answer the many questions that are by now (1647) being asked of him.
The woodcut depicts Matthew Hopkins with two witches from Manningtree and their familiars.
Original text by Cecil Williamson: 'In England the church ran a great propaganda campaign against witchcraft in the reigns of Elizabeth and James II, so as to speed up the discovery of witches it was arranged to employ persons as witch finders. Such was a certain Matthew Hopkins, who stomped the country discovering witches left, right and centre, he got paid so much a head, any slightly round the bend old hag was to him fair game and good bounty money. An interesting point in this sad state of affairs is that many of Matthew Hopkins' victims claimed to have familiar spirits one form or another, most being some pet animal, as this quaint print shows, with names such as Holt, Jarmara, Vinegar, Tom, etc.'