Matthew Hopkins (
ca. 1620 – 1647) was an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
witchhunter whose career flourished during the time of the
English Civil WarThe English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. The first and second civil wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third war saw fighting between supporters of...
. He held, or claimed to hold, the office of
Witch-Finder General, although this was not a title ever bestowed by
ParliamentThe Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. The English Parliament traces its origins to the Anglo-Saxon Witenagemot. In 1066, William of Normandy brought a feudal system, by which he sought advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
, and conducted witch-hunts in the counties of
SuffolkSuffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, Essex,
NorfolkNorfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast, including The Wash. The county town is Norwich...
and other eastern counties of England.
Matthew Hopkins, born in
GranthamGrantham is a market town within the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It stands athwart the East Coast Main Line railway , the historic A1 main north-south road, and the River Witham. Grantham is located approximately south of the city of Lincoln, and approximately east of...
,
LincolnshireLincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Rutland, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, and the East Riding of Yorkshire. It also borders Northamptonshire for just 19 metres, England's shortest county boundary...
, was one of six children born to James Hopkins, a Puritan
clergyClergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. The term ultimately comes from the Greek κλῆρος - klēros, "a lot", "that which is assigned by lot" or metaphorically, "inheritence"....
man, vicar of
Wenham-Locality:*Wenham, Massachusetts, town in Esssex County, Massachusetts, United States**Wenham Historic District, historic district in Wenham, Massachusetts**Hamilton/Wenham , Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company passenger station...
, in Suffolk.
Matthew Hopkins (
ca. 1620 – 1647) was an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
witchhunter whose career flourished during the time of the
English Civil WarThe English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. The first and second civil wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third war saw fighting between supporters of...
. He held, or claimed to hold, the office of
Witch-Finder General, although this was not a title ever bestowed by
ParliamentThe Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. The English Parliament traces its origins to the Anglo-Saxon Witenagemot. In 1066, William of Normandy brought a feudal system, by which he sought advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
, and conducted witch-hunts in the counties of
SuffolkSuffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, Essex,
NorfolkNorfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast, including The Wash. The county town is Norwich...
and other eastern counties of England.
Life and career
Matthew Hopkins, born in
GranthamGrantham is a market town within the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It stands athwart the East Coast Main Line railway , the historic A1 main north-south road, and the River Witham. Grantham is located approximately south of the city of Lincoln, and approximately east of...
,
LincolnshireLincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Rutland, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, and the East Riding of Yorkshire. It also borders Northamptonshire for just 19 metres, England's shortest county boundary...
, was one of six children born to James Hopkins, a Puritan
clergyClergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. The term ultimately comes from the Greek κλῆρος - klēros, "a lot", "that which is assigned by lot" or metaphorically, "inheritence"....
man, vicar of
Wenham-Locality:*Wenham, Massachusetts, town in Esssex County, Massachusetts, United States**Wenham Historic District, historic district in Wenham, Massachusetts**Hamilton/Wenham , Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company passenger station...
, in Suffolk. Because of the way he presented evidence in trials, Hopkins is commonly thought to have been trained as a
lawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person licensed to practice law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain stability, and deliver...
but there is scant evidence to suggest this was the case. According to his book
The Discovery of Witches, he began his career as a witch-finder when he claimed to have overheard various women discussing their meetings with the
DevilThe Devil is believed in certain religions and folklore to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The Devil is commonly associated with heretics, infidels, and other unbelievers...
in March 1644 in
ManningtreeManningtree is a town and civil parish in the Tendring district of Essex, England, which lies on the River Stour. It adjoins built-up areas of Lawford to the west and Mistley to the east and the three parishes together are sometimes referred to as "Manningtree".-History:The name Manningtree is...
, a town near Colchester, where he was living at the time. In fact the first accusations were made by
John StearneJohn Stearne was an associate of Matthew Hopkins the Witchfinder General. In fact John Stearne, a family man and land owner, was 10 years older than Hopkins and the first accusations against witches in Manningtree were made by John Stearne, Matthew Hopkins was appointed by the local Magistrates as...
and Hopkins was appointed as his assistant. As a result of the accusations, nineteen convicted witches were hanged and four of the accused died in prison.
Hopkins and Stearne, accompanied by the women who performed the
prickingThis article is about the 16th and 17th century practice of 'pricking' witches. For other uses of the word, see prick.During the height of the witch trials of the 16th and 17th centuries, common belief held that a witch could be discovered through the process of pricking their skin with needles,...
, were soon travelling over eastern England, claiming to be officially commissioned by
ParliamentThe Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. The English Parliament traces its origins to the Anglo-Saxon Witenagemot. In 1066, William of Normandy brought a feudal system, by which he sought advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
to uncover and prosecute witches. Parliament was well aware of his and his team's activities, as shown by the concerned reports of the
Bury St Edmunds witch trials of 1645The Bury St Edmunds witch trials were a series of trials conducted intermittently between the years 1599 and 1694 in the town of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, England....
. His witch-finding career spanned from 1645 to 1647. While
tortureTorture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is:In addition to state-sponsored torture, individuals or groups may be motivated to inflict torture on others for similar reasons to those of a state; however, the motive for torture can also be for the sadistic gratification of...
was technically unlawful in England, he used various methods of browbeating to extract confessions from some of his victims. He used
sleep deprivationSleep deprivation, a sleep disorder characterized by having too little sleep, can be either chronic or acute. Long-term sleep deprivation causes death in lab animals...
as a sort of bloodless torture. Another one of his methods was to first search for the Devil's mark on a woman; this would be a boil. If she had a familiar (cat or dog) he would suspect that the familiar was sucking the woman's blood. This boil would be known as the third nipple. Then he would cut her arm with a blunt knife and if she did not bleed she was a witch. He also used a "swimming" test to see if the accused would float or sink in holy water, the theory being that witches had renounced their
baptismIn Christianity, baptism is the ritual act, with the use of water, by which one is admitted to membership of the Christian Church and, in the view of some, as a member of the particular Church in which the baptism is administered.The usual form of baptism among the earliest Christians was for the...
, so that all holy water would reject them. He also employed "witch prickers" who pricked the accused with knives and special needles, looking for the
Devil's markAccording to witch-hunters during the height of the witch trials , the witches’ mark indicated that an individual was a witch. The witches' mark, witches' teat, and the devil's mark are all terms applied to essentially the same mark...
(a mole or
birthmarkA birthmark is a blemish on the skin formed before birth. A little over than 1 in 10 babies have a vascular birthmark. They are part of the group of skin lesions known as "naevi". The exact cause of most birthmarks is unknown, but vascular birthmarks are not hereditary.They are soft raised...
) that was supposed to be dead to all feeling and would not bleed. It was believed that the witch's familiar would drink their blood from the mark as milk from a teat.
Hopkins and his colleague John Stearne, together with their female assistants, were well paid for their work.
Legacy
Samuel Butler's
satireSatire is often strictly defined as a literary genre or form; although in practice it is also found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods,...
HudibrasHudibras is a mock heroic narrative poem from the 17th century written by Samuel Butler.-Purpose:The work is a satirical polemic upon Roundheads, Puritans, Presbyterians and many of the other factions involved in the English Civil War...
commented on Hopkins's activity, saying:
- Has not this present Parliament
- A Lieger to the Devil sent,
- Fully impowr'd to treat about
- Finding revolted witches out
- And has not he, within a year,
- Hang'd threescore of 'em in one shire?
- Some only for not being drowned,
- And some for sitting above ground,
- Whole days and nights, upon their breeches,
- And feeling pain, were hang'd for witches.
- And some for putting knavish tricks
- Upon green geese and turky-chicks?
- And pigs, that suddenly deceast
- Of griefs unnat'ral, as he guest;
- Who after prov'd himself a witch
- And made a rod for his own breech.
The last line refers to a tradition that disgruntled villagers caught Hopkins and subjected him to his own "swimming" test: he floated, and it was therefore suspected that he was hanged for witchcraft himself but, no evidence of this ever happening exists. Most historians believe that Hopkins died of illness, possibly
tuberculosisTuberculosis is a common and often deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria...
, in his home. The parish records of
ManningtreeManningtree is a town and civil parish in the Tendring district of Essex, England, which lies on the River Stour. It adjoins built-up areas of Lawford to the west and Mistley to the east and the three parishes together are sometimes referred to as "Manningtree".-History:The name Manningtree is...
in Essex record his burial on 12 August 1647.
Matthew Hopkins in popular culture
Matthew Hopkins has been immortalized in song, literature and film for his role as the Witchfinder General. References include:
- Witchfinder General, a 1966 novel by Ronald Bassett
Ronald Leslie Bassett is a British writer and novelist. He wrote numerous works of historical fiction, sometimes under the pseudonym of "William Clive". He received many awards for his medical and pharmaceutical writing.-Personal life:...
- Witchfinder General
Witchfinder General is a 1968 British horror film directed by Michael Reeves and starring Vincent Price, Ian Ogilvy, and Hilary Dwyer. The screenplay was by Reeves and Tom Baker based on Ronald Bassett's novel of the same name. Made on a low budget of under £100,000, the movie was coproduced by...
, a 1968 film based on Bassett's novel starring Vincent PriceVincent Leonard Price II was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:...
as Matthew Hopkins
- Witchfinder General
Witchfinder General are a heavy metal band from Stourbridge, England. They were part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal scene and have been cited as a major influence on the doom metal genre...
, a doom/heavy-metal band from the United Kingdom.
- Hopkins (The Witchfinder General), a song by doom metal band Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
off of their 1995 album The Carnival BizarreThe Carnival Bizarre is the third album by British doom metal band Cathedral. It was recorded in Nottingham, England. The album was re-released in Australia in August 2008.- Reception :...
External links