How did the witch-hunt end? Explaining two late Shetland witchcraft cases with John Shaw
Thursday, May 23rd 2024 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Shetland Museum & Archives
Tickets £5 | Book here
The witch-hunt broke in waves over most European countries during the later 16th and 17th centuries. Witch-hunts were not continuous. They rose and fell in peaks and troughs of prosecutions before finally coming to a halt in the late 17th and early 18th century. Most historical investigations try to explain why witchcraft accusations happened and how witch-hunts proceeded.
In his lecture John Shaw offers an explanation as to why the witch-hunt in Scotland came to an end. Was it a result of a change in social life, in religious belief, in legal practice or the rise of rationalism?
In the first quarter of the 18th century four people were accused of witchcraft on the west side of Shetland. John Shaw examines these cases and their outcome in the context of the end of the Scottish witch-hunt.
Category: Lectures