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A review by redservant
Witches: James I and the English Witch Hunts by Tracy Borman
4.0
6.5/10 - Enjoyable overview of witchcraft in England during the reign of James I/VI, which is built around specific accusations of witchcraft against Joan Flower and her daughters. These three disliked and vulnerable women are accused after one is dismissed from the service of the Earl of Rutland, Francis Manners, after which his two sons fall ill and eventually both die. Borman eloquently surveys the various factors that sparked and perpetuated witchcraft trials, including the personal enthusiasm of James. She also puts forward an interesting alternative theory about the Manners boys deaths, but it remains largely speculative although interesting.
The understandable emphasis on finding the true culprit for troubling deaths reminds me documentaries on the case of the West Memphis Three, in which a trio of teenagers were wrongly convicted of murdering of three young boys. It was claimed that the murders were part of a Satanic ritual and took place in the context of a highly conservative evangelical Christian community. Two subsequent documentaries on the case not only sought to highlight the innocence of the convicted trio, but suggested that specific male relatives of the murdered boys were to blame. One of these accusations I found more convincing than the others, but both remain speculative and if wrong would repeat the initial injustice.
The final few chapters present Borman’s theory based on who benefitted from the deaths of the Manners boys and summarise the subsequent waning of witchcraft beliefs through the following centuries. I was surprised that the satanic panic and modern day conspiracy beliefs we’re not brought into discussion during this part, which did mention African witchcraft beliefs but without any depth. These final chapters were somewhat rushed and lacked the promise and impact of the earlier part of the book. I felt the epilogue somewhat reinforced the idea that we have reached a more rational stage where such beliefs are historical and not present in many parts of ‘modern’ society.
For me, the book would have been more compelling if Borman combined her theory about the case with a wider theory or new insight into the complex phenomenon of witchcraft persecutions. However, I’m sure other books can provide me with this and it may have been beyond the scope or intention of the book.
While I thoroughly enjoyed this book due to my strong interest in the topic, it lacks a strong historical thesis and offers only somewhat convincing (from my perspective) evidence for her particular theory on the Belvoir witches case.
The understandable emphasis on finding the true culprit for troubling deaths reminds me documentaries on the case of the West Memphis Three, in which a trio of teenagers were wrongly convicted of murdering of three young boys. It was claimed that the murders were part of a Satanic ritual and took place in the context of a highly conservative evangelical Christian community. Two subsequent documentaries on the case not only sought to highlight the innocence of the convicted trio, but suggested that specific male relatives of the murdered boys were to blame. One of these accusations I found more convincing than the others, but both remain speculative and if wrong would repeat the initial injustice.
The final few chapters present Borman’s theory based on who benefitted from the deaths of the Manners boys and summarise the subsequent waning of witchcraft beliefs through the following centuries. I was surprised that the satanic panic and modern day conspiracy beliefs we’re not brought into discussion during this part, which did mention African witchcraft beliefs but without any depth. These final chapters were somewhat rushed and lacked the promise and impact of the earlier part of the book. I felt the epilogue somewhat reinforced the idea that we have reached a more rational stage where such beliefs are historical and not present in many parts of ‘modern’ society.
For me, the book would have been more compelling if Borman combined her theory about the case with a wider theory or new insight into the complex phenomenon of witchcraft persecutions. However, I’m sure other books can provide me with this and it may have been beyond the scope or intention of the book.
While I thoroughly enjoyed this book due to my strong interest in the topic, it lacks a strong historical thesis and offers only somewhat convincing (from my perspective) evidence for her particular theory on the Belvoir witches case.