Witchcraft Act of 1735

Although this act came after the time period we are studying, I still wanted to say something about it. I could not find an original copy of the text, only an updated one so the spell and some of the language has been lost.

The first part of the act is simply stating that this new act is repealing all the other witchcraft acts that have come before it. Starting on June 24 of 1735, this will be the only legal witchcraft act.

The third paragraph (although the paragraphs are not that long) says that "no Prosecution, Suit, or Proceeding, shall be commenced or carried on against any Person or Persons for Witchcraft, Sorcery, Inchantment, or Conjuration, or for charging another with any such Offence, in any Court whatsoever in Great Britain". This is basically the end of witch hunting in England. The witch craze did not last nearly as long in England as it did in continental Europe, but it lasted long enough to have an impact. Throughout the writings that I have read there seems to have been some skepticism of witches from the start. This was a fairly thought towards the end, as evident from this act.

The last part of the act talks about the punishment for people "pretend[ing] to exercise or use any kind of Witchcraft, Sorcery, Inchantment, or Conjuration, or undertake to tell Fortunes, or pretend, from his or her Skill or Knowledge in any occult or crafty Science, to discover where or in what manner any Goods or Chattels, supposed to have been stolen or lost". Witchcraft was no longer believed to be real, at least in the government's mind, at this point. If people "pretended" to be witches they would be punished beacuse there were no witches. I find it interesting that the punishment for pretending to be a witch is the same punishment that a witch would get, if no deaths were involved, in the Witchcraft Act of 1563. Once found guilty, the person would be sentenced to one year in jail and four times a year would have to stand on the pillory for one hour. I have to think that this was a common punishment for crimes of any kind, because otherwise why would the punishment for being a witch and pretending to be a witch be the same?

This act was shorter than all the other witchcraft acts that I have looked at, which I take to mean that by this time witches were not considered as important as they once were. I like that we can see the evolution of the belief of witches in England through legal and common pamphlets. We can compare the two sources side by side, and in the case of witches I think that they both support the same evolution of witchcraft.


Here is the link to the site that I got the act from: http://www.corvardus.f9.co.uk/religion/wicca/witch1736.htm