What influenced Shakespeare to include witchcraft in Macbeth?
England
In 1484 witchcraft was deemed heresy (belief or opinion contrary to orthodox religious [especially Christian] doctrine) and was denounced by Pope Innocent VIII. However, it was not made a capital offense in Britain until 1563 through the Witchcraft Act which resulted in nearly a century and a half of witch hunts throughout out the United Kingdom. Because the Witchcraft Act called for the death penalty for all offenses, thousands died between 1484 and 1730.
Women were most likely to be accused of witchcraft, especially those who were old, poor, or just so happened to possess an physical ailment or identifiable mark such as a snaggle tooth, sunken cheeks, or a hairy eye. They were assumed to have possession of the 'evil eye'--a look given to inflict harm and suffering. If they also possessed a cat, it was seen as additional proof that the woman was a witch because witches were believed to possess a 'familiar' which often took the form of a cat. Women accused of witchcraft were often tortured for a confession and/or hanged for heresy.
Between 1644 and 1646 witch fever seemed to grip East Anglia (Eastern England). The people in these parts were vehemently Puritan and anti-Catholics who were easily swayed by bigoted preachers (who sough to sniff out the slightest whiff of heresy). Matthew Hopkins came to East Anglia to help in the efforts of finding witches; he was called the Witchfinder General. He had 68 people put to death in Bury St. Edmonds and 19 hanged at Chelmsford in a single day.
A heart carved on a wall in the market place at Kings Lynn is supposed to mark the spot where the heart of Margaret Read, a condemned witch who was being burnt at the stake, leapt from the flames and struck the wall.
Much of Matthew Hopkins theories of deduction were based on Devils Marks. A wart or mole or even a flea-bite he took to be a Devils Mark and he used his ‘jabbing needle’ to see if these marks were insensitive to pain. His ‘needle’ was a 3 inch long spike which retracted into the spring-loaded handle so the unfortunate woman never felt any pain--isn't that convenient? Hopkins was responsible for over 300 executions.
There were other tests for witches. Mary Sutton of Bedford was put to the swimming test. With her thumbs tied to opposite big toes she was flung into the river. If she floated she was guilty, if she sank, innocent. Poor Mary floated! Many of the acts against witchcraft were repealed in 1736, but the hunting of witches continued.
Scotland
In 1560, Scottland's parliament made Protestantism the official religion, and their main agenda was directing and enforcing a certain morality. The government and the Church wanted to enforce godliness among the people. They thought that the whole country would suffer if there were malevolent elements within it that they believed to be in league with the Devil. This is the setting in which the Witchcraft Act came into existence.
It is important to note that, in Scotland, there were the wise people who worked as healers and midwives (known as fiosaiche [male] and ban-fhiosaiche [female]), but there were also those who would fall under the category of witches. Witchcraft in Scotland was known as buidseach (male) or bana-bhuidseach (female) and only appears after the 16th century, about the time of the witch hunts. Amait was used before this and meant witch, then later referred to a “foolish women”. Those who would consider themselves buidseach would work and call on the spirits for self gain, self aggrandisement and work against their community.
Curiously, the Witchcraft Act is brief and does not clarify what a witch is and what constitutes witchcraft. Yet, people were able to identify witches within their communities and bring cases against them.
“…no manner of person or persons of whatsoever estate,
degree or condition they be of take upon hand in any
time hereafter to use any manner of witchcraft, sorcery or
necromancy…”
Most accused witches were ordinary people but the one thing they were thought to have in common was ‘smeddum’ – spirit, mettle, resourcefulness and quarrelsomeness – qualities which went against the ideals of femininity.
The fate of most accused witches is unknown. The Survey of Scottish Witchcraft estimates that about two-thirds were executed. Most witches were strangled and then their dead body was burned.
By the eighteenth century, there was growing scepticism among the authorities about witchcraft, and prosecutions were less likely to result in execution. Evidence which before had been essential for conviction – including pricking – was now considered unreliable. In 1736 the British parliament repealed both the Scottish Witchcraft Act of 1563 and the parallel English act.
In 2022 Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, issued an apology for the historic persecution and execution of accused witches, describing it as “injustice on a colossal scale”. The Church of Scotland then also recognised the terrible harm caused to the thousands of people – mostly women – who had been accused.
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