Women, Witchcraft and the Law in Early Modern Wales (1536-1736): A Continuation of Customary Practice

Abstract

Documentary evidence from the records of the Courts of Great Sessions for Wales1 provides a framework for analysing witchcraft in early modem Wales, specifically from 1536 to 1736. Wales has two distinct types of witchcraft cases: witchcraft as words or slander cases, and witchcraft as 'malefice' cases in which a woman was aocused of practising 'malefice' or premeditated harming. The outcomes in both types of cases before the criminal courts of Wales were almost always the same, the survival of the aocused witch and the woman slandered as a witch. In other words, execution for charges associated with witchcraft was extremely rare in early modern Wales.