FACT OR FICTION?

Most people's knowledge of 'witches' stems from popular horror tropes involving warty-faced women stirring cauldrons, or innocent young girls being drowned in ponds. But how much of this is based on pure mythology? Professor Owen Davies addresses eight popular misconceptions about the history of witchcraft in Europe

- CHARLOTTE HODGMAN OWEN DAVIES

TORTURING WITCHES' WAS LEGAL IN ENGLAND

Contrary to popular belief, torturing an accused witch until he or she 'confessed' to their supposed crimes was actually illegal during the English witch trials. But on the continent, it was a very different story, says Owen Davies, professor of history at the University of Hertfordshire.

"Torture is one of the key reasons that so many people were prosecuted - and executed - for witchcraft in the early modern period,” comments Davies. “When torture was deployed during interrogations, the accused would invariably implicate several other people. They, in turn, would be brought in, tortured and interrogated, and would incriminate yet more people, and so it went on.

"There's a notorious case that took place in the now German town of Ellwangen between 1611-18, where the 'confessions' under torture of a few poor women ultimately led to the investigation of nearly half the town and the deaths of more than 400 people. Even one of the town's judges and his wife were accused of witchcraft and executed. It's a prime example of how the use of torture could create a full-blown crisis from a single accusation."

MIDWIVES WERE COMMON VICTIMS OF WITCHCRAFT ALLEGATIONS BUL ALU

With the lives of a mother and baby in their hands, it's perhaps not surprising that there is still a widely held assumption that midwives made up a large number of those accused of witchcraft. The truth, however, is not that simple.