When Will England Pardon Its Witches?

Between 1566 and 1700, around 500 people were executed in England for the crime of practising witchcraft. To this day, over three hundred years since the last witch was executed on English soil, the convictions still stand.

The first person to be executed for witchcraft in England was Agnes Waterhouse in 1566. Despite the advancements in science and philosophy during the 17th century, the English witch-craze only worsened. It reached a peak in the 1640s, owing to the career of self-professed ‘Witchfinder General’ Matthew Hopkins, but witch trials continued…