With the belief in witches following the Puritans across the Atlantic, women living in colonial Massachusetts could easily find themselves in a perilous position; as was the case of Ann Hibbins, a woman who committed the social crime of challenging the price and quality of some local carpenters’ work. In an attempt to win retribution for this perceived wrong, Ann instead became a pariah, condemned as a witch, and her memory forever bound to the crime that claimed her life.

Visit the Outcasts of the Earth website at: www.ootepod.com

Outcasts of the Earth on Instagram: @ootepod

Sources:

John Winthrop, Winthrop's Journal, "History of New England," 1630–1649, Volume 7. Edited by James Kendall Hosmer (1908).

Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter (Boston, 1850).

—

Stephanie Buck, “This woman was executed as a witch because she complained about her carpenters,” Medium (November 29, 2016).

Olivia Campbell, “She’s a Witch!” Medium (March 13, 2023).

Nancy F. Cott, ed., Root of Bitterness: Documents of the Social History of American Women, second edition (Northeastern University Press, 1996).

David D. Hall, ed., Witch-Hunting in Seventeenth-Century New England: A Documentary History 1638-1693 (Northeastern University Press, 1991).

David Ketterer, “‘Circle of Acquaintance’: Mistress Hibbins and the Hermetic Design of The Scarlet Letter” English Studies in Canada, vol. 9, no. 3 (September 1983): 294-311.

Steve LeBlanc, “Boston had witch trials, too. A group wants justice for those accused across Mass.” WBUR (October 31, 2023).

William F. Poole, ed. “The Case of Ann Hibbins, Executed for Witchcraft in Boston in 1656” Joshua Scottow Papers, 5.

Written and recorded by: Kenyon Payne

Theme music: "Southern Gothic" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Outro music: “D´vil,” anrocomposer

Additional featured music:

By Kevin MacLeod(incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/:

“Myst on the Moor”

“Lasting Hope”

“Lightless Dawn”

“Leaving Home”

“SPC-x5x”

“Blue Feather”

“Dark Fog”

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we break down the origins of the deadliest witch hunt in English history, and how one man became responsible for the arrest and execution of hundreds. Set in the midst of the English Civil War, which threw the country into a state of violent turmoil, we look at the story of Matthew Hopkins, and how this self-styled Witchfinder General came to create this new occupation for himself as fears around witchcraft were once again on the rise. This is a story of an opportunistic man who left a deadly legacy in his wake. How exactly does one become a witchfinder? Tune in to find out...

Visit the Outcasts of the Earth website at: www.ootepod.com

Outcasts of the Earth on Instagram: @ootepod

Sources:

Matthew Hopkins, The Discovery of Witches: In Answer to Severall Queries Lately… (1647). Made available through Project Gutenberg.

Ellen Castelow, “Matthew Hopkins, Witch-Finder General,” Historic UK (April 4, 2017).

Malcolm Gaskill, Witchfinders: A Seventeenth-Century English Tragedy (Harvard University Press, 2005).

Diane Purkiss, “Matthew Hopkins and the Panic about Witches,” in Literature, Gender, and Politics During the English Civil War, edited by Diane Purkiss (Cambridge University Press, 2005).

James A. Sharpe, Instruments of Darkness: Witchcraft in England, 1550-1750 (Penguin, 1996).

Jim Sharpe, “The Devil in East Anglia: the Matthew Hopkins Trials Reconsidered” in New Perspectives on Witchcraft, Magic and Demonology, Volume 3: Witchcraft in the British Isles and New England, edited by Brian P. Levack (Routledge, 2001).

Written and recorded by: Kenyon Payne

Theme music: "Southern Gothic" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Outro music: “D´vil,” anrocomposer

Additional featured music

By Kevin MacLeod(incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/:

“Leaving Home”

“Mourning Song”

“String Impromptu Number 1”

“Blue Feather”

“Double Drift”

“Constance”

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens when someone claiming to be bewitched admits that it was all a lie? What also happens when that confession is made directly to a King? In this episode, Kenyon looks into a case of witchcraft accusations gone wrong. In a tale of feuding neighbors, feigned curses, and parental abuse, we follow the story of Anne Gunter, whose claims nearly brought three local women to the gallows. Instead, confessions of fictitious allegations turned this case of witchcraft into one of alarming manipulation and physical torment. How did this young woman end up making such damning claims against her neighbors? And why was her father so invested in winning this case that he appealed to the King of England himself?

Sources:

Megan Benson, “Anne Gunter,” in A Biographical Encyclopedia of Early Modern Englishwomen: Exemplary Lives and Memorable Acts, 1500-1650, edited by Carole Levin, Anna Riehl Bertolet, and Jo Eldridge Carney (2016).

James Sharpe, The Bewitching of Anne Gunter (Routledge, 2000).

Written and recorded by: Kenyon Payne

Theme music: "Southern Gothic" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Outro music: “D´vil,” anrocomposer

Additional featured music

By Kevin MacLeod(incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/:

“Vanishing”

“Morgana Rides”

“SCP-x1x”

“Interloper”

“Heavy Heart”

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.