The Lancashire Witch Conspiracy draws upon the experience of an author well versed and qualified in the history of his locality - namely the Forest of Pendle. John A Clayton provides here an in-depth study of the Lancashire Witch Trials of 1612 and, in so doing, many new discoveries of the event come to light. For instance; the most famous 'witch' of them all, Old Demdike (Elizabeth Southern), is found amongst the dusty records of Whalley parish church where she was both baptised and married. Demdike's husband, a farmer, brought his new wife and her illigitimate child into Pendle Forest and this would eventually trigger the trials at Lancaster of 19 people upon charges of witchcraft. The ancestors of Old Demdike, along with those of Chattox, Elizabeth Device, Alice Nutter et al are covered in a detail never before seen. The history of the Pendle Forest is covered in a depth that provides an unrivalled understanding of the subject of the Pendle Witches. The religious and political climate within the forest provide us with a fascinating idea of the times and, above all, new evidence is offered to show that the gentry would go to any lengths in the advancement of their estates - this would lead to tragedy for whole families within Pendle.

This book is the first major study of England's biggest and best-known witch trial which took place in 1612, when ten witches were arraigned and hung in the village of Pendle in Lancashire. The book has equal appeal across the disciplines of both History and English Literature/Renaissance Studies, with essays by the leading experts in both fields. Includes helpful summaries to explain the key points of each essay. Brings the subject up-to-date with a study of modern Wicca and paganism, including present-day Lancashire witches. Quite simply, this is the most comprehensive study of any English witch trial.

In the febrile religious and political climate of late sixteenth-century England, when the grip of the Reformation was as yet fragile and insecure, and underground papism still perceived to be rife, Lancashire was felt by the Protestant authorities to be a sinister corner of superstition, lawlessness and popery. And it was around Pendle Hill, a sombre ridge that looms over the intersecting pastures, meadows and moorland of the Ribble Valley, that their suspicions took infamous shape. The arraignment of the Lancashire witches in the assizes of Lancaster during 1612 is England's most notorious witch-trial. The women who lived in the vicinity of Pendle, who were accused alongside the so-called Samlesbury Witches, then convicted and hanged, were more than just wicked sorcerers whose malign incantations caused others harm. They were reputed to be part of a dense network of devilry and mischief that revealed itself as much in hidden celebration of the Mass as in malevolent magic. They had to be eliminated to set an example to others. In this remarkable and authoritative treatment, published to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the case of the Lancashire witches, Philip C Almond evokes all the fear, drama and paranoia of those volatile times: the bleak story of the storm over Pendle

From the author of The Dark Lady, a novel of England’s trial of the Pendle witches of 1612 and a family struggling to survive the hysteria. Bess Southerns, an impoverished widow living in Pendle Forest, is haunted by visions and gains a reputation as a cunning woman. Drawing on the Catholic folk magic of her youth, Bess heals the sick and foretells the future. As she ages, she instructs her granddaughter, Alizon, in her craft, as well as her best friend, who ultimately turns to dark magic. When a peddler suffers a stroke after exchanging harsh words with Alizon, a local magistrate, eager to make his name as a witch finder, plays neighbors and family members against one another until suspicion and paranoia reach frenzied heights. This e-book includes a sample chapter of Illuminations. “Daughters of the Witching Hill offers a fresh approach with witches who believe in their own power and yet, in many ways, are still innocent. Sharratt’s readers—like the magistrate who took the women’s confessions—are likely to be spellbound by their stories.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Full of the reality of the day, this story is stark and real, but Sharratt’s descriptions of landscape and the daily life of the poor at the time are rich enough to feed the senses. The author weaves this vast canvas of changing culture into the personal stories of these women, and in the process transports us to a distant land, a distant time—and deep into the story of people we sympathize with and care about.”—Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Gothic tourism is a growing phenomenon and a medium through which Gothic fictions and folkloric tales are re-imagined and generated. This book examines the complex relationship between contemporary English Gothic attractions and storytelling, uncovering how works of Gothic fiction can both inspire Gothic tourism and emerge from the spaces of Gothic tourism, contending that Gothic tourist attractions are multi-layered storytelling experiences. Contributing to the study of literature and place, Gothic Literary Travel and Tourism draws together the study of literary Gothic tourism and spatial philosophy, offering interdisciplinary analysis into the interface between Gothic narrative(s) and the spaces in which the tourist navigates. The storytelling practices taking place in Gothic caves, theme parks, ghost tours and rural walks serve to reflect contemporary fears and anxieties. This book situates the act of touring a Gothic site as a process of literary and social discovery.

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This bestseller presents a remarkable series of new insights into the Lancashire Witch Craze. By placing the events in their wider European context, it explains far more satisfactorily than ever before exactly why these disturbing events occurred.

This volume deals with the various (direct and indirect) connections between literary figures, artists and locations during the Victorian era. It also addresses influential figures from before and after this period, such as William Blake, Sir Joshua Reynolds and Mother Teresa, as well as the connection between Britain and America in certain contexts. In establishing such relationships, this volume, therefore, covers a wide range of writers and painters, such as Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Hardy, William Morris, D. G. Rossetti, J. E. Millais, Herman Melville, J.M.W. Turner, G. M. Hopkins, William Butterfield, W. H. Ainsworth, and Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, while also including cultural topics related to both Victorian society and the eras which preceded it.