witch-trial.com
February 1692 — May 1693
In the winter of 1692, a series of accusations emerged from the household of Reverend Samuel Parris in Salem Village, Massachusetts. What began as the afflictions of two young girls spiralled into the most infamous witch trial in American history, claiming twenty lives and devastating a community.
"I saw Goody Osborne with the Devil! She did pinch and torment me most grievously..."
— Testimony of Ann Putnam Jr., March 1692
March — August 1612
In the Forest of Pendle, Lancashire, twelve people were accused of witchcraft. The trial at Lancaster Assizes was meticulously documented by court clerk Thomas Potts, producing one of the most detailed records of witch trial proceedings in English history.
"Old Demdike hath been a witch for fifty years, and her grandmother before her..."
— Deposition of Nowell, Justice of the Peace, 1612
1581 — 1593
The witch trials of Trier in the Electorate of Trier (modern Germany) were among the largest in European history. Under the authority of Archbishop Johann von Schonenburg, approximately 368 people were burned at the stake across 22 villages — entire communities were nearly extinguished.
"So many were burned that the executioner was no longer willing to continue..."
— Contemporary account from the diocese records
1590 — 1592
King James VI of Scotland personally oversaw the interrogation of accused witches from North Berwick, who were alleged to have conjured storms to sink his ship during a voyage from Denmark. The trials so influenced the king that he authored Daemonologie, a treatise on witchcraft.
"They confessed that they had christened a cat and cast it into the sea to raise a tempest..."
— News from Scotland, pamphlet, 1591