61 – Persecutions picture
- Physical description:
- Black and white reproduction of a 17th C wood engraving depicting a witch being ducked in a millstream.
- Museum classification:
- Persecution
- Information:
Swimming or ducking was a method of ascertaining if a person was guilty of witchcraft. The accused would be stripped naked, bound and plunged into a river or pond. If the person floated it was proof of guilt, if they sank they were innocent but often drowned. Although technically illegal after 1219, swimming was used by many witch finders and was accepted by some judges.
This woodcut is from a pamphlet of 1613 and depicts the swimming of the suspected witch Mary Sutton.- Resource:
- Picture
- Materials:
- Paper
Swimming or ducking was a method of ascertaining if a person was guilty of witchcraft. The accused would be stripped naked, bound and plunged into a river or pond. If the person floated it was proof of guilt, if they sank they were innocent but often drowned. Although technically illegal after 1219, swimming was used by many witch finders and was accepted by some judges.
This woodcut is from a pamphlet of 1613 and depicts the swimming of the suspected witch Mary Sutton.