Question

5) What techniques did Matthew Hopkins use to hunt witches? How
were they punished?
6) What do accusations of witchcraft tell us about attitudes to
women in the early modern age?

Answer 1

Answer:

1) Although torture was nominally unlawful in England, Hopkins often used techniques such as sleep deprivation to extract confessions from his victims. He would also cut the arm of the accused with a blunt knife, and if she did not bleed, she was said to be a witch.

2) Many faced capital punishment for witchcraft, either by burning at the stake, hanging, or beheading. Similarly, in New England, people convicted of witchcraft were hanged.