Bridget Marshall: I am teaching a WITCHCRAFT New England attempt, and students always come with a different degree of knowledge about what happened in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692.
Nineteen people accused of spells were lost by hanging, another was pressed to death, and at least 150 were imprisoned in conditions that caused the death of at least five innocent.
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In every semester, several students ask me about the stories they heard about dogs.
In the 17th century, Salem dogs were part of everyday life: people kept dogs to protect themselves, their homes and their animals to lend a hand hunt and provide company.
However, various folklore traditions were also associated with dogs with the devil – beliefs that long preceded what happened in Salem. Perhaps the most renowned example of such a belief is the case of a poodle named a boy who belonged to Prince Rupert, an English cavalry commander after royalists during the English civil war.
In the years 1643–1644 stories spread around Europe that the Pudel boy had supernatural powers, including the shift of shape and prophecy, which he helped his Lord on the battlefield.
In the official records, Salem about sale attempts are tried or killed for spells. However, dogs appear several times in the testimony, usually because it is believed that the accused witch had a dog as a “friend” who would auction her or because the devil appeared in the form of a dog.
Numerous testimonies in Salem's trial files claim that the dogs were in the league with the devil, adding the paranoia of this community that got out of control.
Connecting the devil with the dog
On May 16, 1692, 45-year-old Amesbury, Massachusetts, a man named John Kimball testified against Susanna Martin, a 71-year-old widow, saying that he caused that the “black puppy” appeared before him when he was alone in the forest. Kimball testified that he was terrified by a dog who, he thought, would break his throat. The dog disappeared when he began to pray.
This, among others, testimonies, would contribute to Martin's conviction for Witchcraft in June 1692; It was hanged on July 19, 1692.
In a few cases registered by the accused witches, the devil appeared that the devil appeared in the form of a dog. In September 1692, 19-year-old Mercy Wardwell testified that she had talked to the devil and that she had appeared in the shape of a dog. Her confession caused her to be imprisoned, although she was later released when hysteria died.
During the same proceedings in which 14-year-old William Barker Jr. He testified that the “shape of a black dog” appeared to him and caused anxiety; Soon the devil appeared. It is complex to know if he suggests that the dog was a devil or his companion.
Barker admitted that he “signed the devil's book”, which means he made a covenant with the devil and was a witch. Barker was imprisoned, although he will later be acquitted.
Tituba, a woman of colors enslaved at the House of Reverend Samuel Parris, also testified about the dog. When she was examined by judges on March 1, 1692, Tituba told her how the devil looked at least four times, “like a big dog” and as “a black dog”. She also said that she saw cats, pork and birds, the whole menu of animals working for the devil.
The testimonies of Kimball, Wardwell, Barker and Tituba could certainly contribute to the constant alarm that the inhabitants of Salem were led by the devil, which might seem to them in the shape of a dog.
Sketch evidence
Some popular relations from processes also suggest that at least two dogs were killed during the trials, but there is no evidence to support this in the official legal testimonies of those times. There is certainly a local legend that supports the claim, and many Salem reports contained these two deaths of dogs in history.
According to the local historical researcher, Marilynne K. Roach from 2002 “The Salem Witch Trials: And the day after the siege of the community”, some of the affected girls claimed that a man named John Bradstreet charmed the dog. Although the dog was a victim, he was killed. Roach's story also notes that another dog was shot to death when the girl claimed that the dog's spectrum touched her.
The faith of the witches at that time maintained that witches could send their “spectrums” or ghosts to bid.
Although these are convincing stories, none of these events can be verified in any existing official procedural documents. The source that Roach quotes in the Bradstreet case is the book by Robert Calef “More Wonders of the Invisible World”, which was published in 1700.
The whole, who was a buyer from Boston, opposed attempts. However, he was not present at rehearsals and is not clear what its source was for dog stories. Such stories – and unpaved story by Calef – do not have the same authority as legal documents in the case.
The earliest description of the shot dog for being a witch appears in a commentary to Salem Trials, “Cases of conscience about evil spirits”, published in 1693, in which clergy boost Mather claims that “I tell me reliable people” that the dog was shot for breathing the person.
But meaning, Mather did not mention the human victim or the person who told him the story. It is surprising that Mather actually defended the dog, saying that the fact that they had successfully killed me meant that “this dog was not a devil.”
Almost every story Salem tells the fact that when Samuel Parris's daughters had terrible attacks that led people to believe that they were enchanted, Tituba, a enslaved woman who lived at home, baked a “witch cake” by means of urine from affected girls and fed him with a family dog.
Somehow it was supposed to cause the dog to reveal the identity of the witch. Indeed, Reverend Parris condemned the ritual that seemed to be his own type of spells.
Fear and distrust
Nearby, Salem witches' attempts seem bad for dogs. Although there is no official legal evidence that the dogs died for being witches, it is clear that there were powerful associations between dogs and the devil, and that dogs were sometimes treated because of superstitions.
Salem tests are a terrifying example of what happens when people apply terrible logic and jump to defending, with shoddy evidence. In the environment of fear and distrust of even a man's best friend, one could suspect of contacting the devil.
Bridget Marshall, English Professor, Emrass Lowell
This article is published from Conversation under the Creative Commons license. Read Original article.
Image Source: Pixabay.com
