The Witches of Warboys: An Extraordinary Story of Sorcery, Sadism and Satanic Possession

by Philip C. Almond

There is no more dramatic story in the annals of English witchcraft than that of The Witches of Warboys . On a foggy November day in 1589, when one of the five daughters of Robert and Elizabeth Throckmorton suddenly fell sick, no one in the small English village of Warboys could have predicted the terrifying events that would follow. Or envisaged that four years later, in April 1593, the Throckmortons' neighbors Alice, Agnes and John Samuel, would be dragged before a country court on charges of sorcery, enchantment and murder. With a rich and colorful cast of characters, and a potent mixture of tension and pathos to match anything in the later Salem witch trials, their story is told here in full for the first time . A conflict about honor and truth between two families in a close-knit Elizabethan village, at the heart of the narrative coils a dark account of possession by demons, of malevolent spirits, of trust broken and of children accursed. What really happened in Warboys in the late sixteenth century, to drive this unremarkable rural community into such frenzy? Philip Almond leads us into a half-forgotten world of horror and crime, of victims and victimizers, of spectres, sex with the devil and ""scratching"" the a macabre and dangerous world where nothing is as it seems, where evil begets evil, and where innocence is betrayed.

Genres: History, Witchcraft, Nonfiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Lesley-anne Brewster · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book proceeds from a contemporary publication based on a definitive historic case of multiple 'possession', witchcraft accusation and prosecution. A complex and slowly horrific narrative, it is given, analysed and reflected on here in a scholarly yet conversational manner which, by expanding on, for example, how the accusers were all related to each other, made the whole story more intriguing. I was even driven to access, via the Internet Archive, a copy of the original pamphlet.

[Mr_wormwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of compelling surreal details. The best being the 'Dun Chicken', which, we are told, was a familiar spirit that often visited the accused witch Alice Samuel. 'Dun' is an old way saying brown, so we are presented with the bizarre spectacle of an English witch trial that is somewhat centered on the malevolent intentions and machinations of an evil Brown Chicken. The results are darkly comic, as when Alice Samuel is asked how she knew the Brown Chicken was not a natural chicken, and responds that: "She knows that it was not a natural chicken because, when it came to her chin {to feed off her blood}, she scarcely felt it. But when she wiped it off with her hand, her chin bleed. She says further that the said dun chicken first came to her and sucked on her chin before it came to Master Throckmorton's house, and that the ill and the trouble that has come to Master Throckmorton's children has come by means of the said dun chicken". A passage like this is an enthralling example of the peculiarity of our own past and thus is micro-history at its best

[Yoyovochka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dikarenakan cerita ini adalah kisah nyata yang disusun dari berkas-berkas menjadi sebuah kisah yang tampaknya seperti fiksi, saya benar-benar naik darah bacanya. Sampai saat ini belum ada penjelasan yang jernih mengenai apakah anak-anak si Throckmorton itu pura-pura kesurupan atau memang benar kesurupan sampai 3 orang tak berdosa dituduh sebagai penyihir dan dihukum mati. Anak-anak ini entah kenapa bikin saya gemas. Tetapi, kayaknya zaman dulu memang gini ya, tuduhan penyihir itu sering banget dialamatkan ke penduduk dengan kelas lebih rendah oleh kelas lebih tinggi. Penyebabnya tak lain dan tak bukan adalah ingin menyingkirkan sebanyak mungkin kelas sosial rendah yang mungkin nggak puas sama para aristokrat ini.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the extended and rather confused account of the supposed bewitchment of the Throckmorton girls by the Samuels family. Don't expect explanations for the girls' behaviour which would stack up in twenty-first century terms and this book is almost acceptable.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was interesting, but it did seem to drag on a bit -- there are only so many descriptions of "fits" I can read without rolling my eyes. It's not quite the page-turner the pull quotes promise, but it is an interesting and thorough look at the events surrounding one little-examined witch trial.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read....especially if you have lived in Warboys!

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent for my purposes--research for a future novel. Lots of documentation not found in earlier accounts of the case.