Trial, Confession and Condemnation
At Maidstone, in the County of Kent - July 1652
On Friday 30th July 1652 the trial and condemnation of six witches took place at the assizes held at Maidstone, in Kent. The assizes were travelling courts held twice a year in each county town - in this case, Maidstone. Apparently, there was no right of appeal and once sentence was passed, execution swiftly followed. There were few long-term prison facilities, which would have been expensive to maintain, so felons were dealt with quickly. Executions were public events, meant as both punishment and deterrent.
The Trial
Would Elizabeth Stedman and her fellow accusers have attended? Would they have had second thoughts, and prayed for Mary Reade’s release? Or would they have seriously believed that she had to die? Whatever they thought, they had cast the dice, and fate would now play its hand.
Present at the Maidstone trial was E.G. Gent, a learned person and a writer. He wrote of the event, but not in the form of an official report, but rather a pamphlet describing what he saw and heard, and likely exaggerated. A little like my article! It is a writer’s - often cruel - prerogative to embellish for dramatic effect. At the time rumours of witchcraft would spread quicker than wildfire and were a hot topic of conversation. A writer would have wanted to take advantage of this, and E.G Gent did. His recollection is a powerful example of how media can spread terror, fear and contribute to mass mania. It did it then, and continues to do it now.
It wasn’t only Mary Reade who was tried at the assizes on that date. Several others were brought before the court accused of witchcraft. I wonder where Mary had been for the previous few years since Elizabeth Stedman and the other witnesses had attested against her. An accusation did not always lead to an immediate trial or execution. It would begin locally, with an investigation by parish officials or a Justice of the Peace. A brief examination might have taken place, but if evidence was weak, the case would lie dormant until the next assizes. The case could have been postponed several times before finally going to trial in 1652.
It is likely Mary was released on bail. Life would not have been pleasant for her. She would have been ostracised as few people would have wanted to associate with someone accused of witchcraft. Any local misfortune may have been blamed on her, and the case may have resurged in 1652 when a new wave of witchcraft trials swept Kent and more women were charged. It could have then been decided to charge Mary Reade alongside them. Mary Reade was the only woman from Lenham tried at the trial as far as we know. The other women were from Cranbrook. Mary must have endured an awful few years – shunned, impoverished and waiting in dread to know her fate.
E.G. Gent's pamphlet 'An Account of the Trial, Confession & Condemnation of Six Witches' begins dramatically; written like the opening scene of a play. For those on trial, it was real - a matter of their life or death.
Kent, one of the most flourishing and fruitful provinces of England, is the scene. And the beautiful town of Maidstone, the stage, whereon this tragical story was publicly acted at Maidstone Assizes, last past.
The writer admits it is tragic, yet sets the scene for juicy gossip – is this so different from the media of today?
Many others were presented before the judge on the same day. Some were acquitted, but six women were sentenced to hang. The pamphlet reports that Anne Ashby, Anne Martyn, Mary Browne, Mildred Wright, Anne Wilson and Mary Reade were convicted of the execrable and diabolical crime of witchcraft. It goes on to give details which the writer describes as rare and remarkable.
A reader at the time might have absorbed these details and been thankful that justice had been done, or they may have considered that the world had gone mad. Either way, there were actually spectators who complained that the witches were hung, and considered that they should have been burned at the stake. A common superstition at the time was that burning prevented the witch’s bloodline from inheriting the evil, whereas hanging did not.
The trial alleged that Anne Ashby and Anne Martyn had confessed to having sexual relations with the devil. During the trial it is said that Anne Ashby fell into a trance, then swelled up and shrieked. When questioned she claimed a spirit called Rug had come out of her mouth in the form of a mouse. It is likely that the trauma of accusation, the pressure to confess, and sheer terror drove her to a state of delirium. The women had been tested for witchery by having pins stuck into various parts of their bodies, and when they did not bleed, this was taken as evidence that they were witches. Also, witnesses claimed that when a man made a joke of Anne Ashby and this spirit mouse, he had died within two weeks.
Some of the torture techniques discovered from the witch trials in Scotland were horrendous. Women accused of witchcraft would be stripped naked, while a group of men would study their bodies looking for the strange markings associated with the devil. They might find a mole for example, or a birth mark, and stick their pin into it to see if it bled. These were not pins you would use in needle work, but three-inch long steel prongs designed specifically for the purpose (and I can not imagine sterilisation will have been a top priority). There is no reason to believe that the same types of torture would not have been used in England. The thought of it makes me feel sick to the stomach. After suffering hours of this kind of torture, it is no surprise that it may have led to confessions or the mad rantings of Anne Ashby.
Beliefs at the time were that animal-like demons served witches. Mice, cats, toads, or imps were said to come out of a witch’s body and were apparent manifestations of the devil. Also, any unusual lump or bodily feature was considered to be a sign of a ‘witch’s teat’ through which they supposedly fed their demon spirit. Mary Reade of Lenham was accused of having a ‘third nipple’ under her tongue. It is likely she had a ranula; a cyst under the tongue caused by a blocked saliva gland.
The pamphlet reports all sorts of ridiculous accusations. Children’s bodies had been found locally, one body being a child with a naval five inches long. This was likely the umbilical cord, and the child had died at birth, but it was described to suggest a feature associated with witchcraft. The author admits that there is no evidence these deaths were caused by witchcraft, but he includes the information to sensationalise his report and shock his readers. In the 17th century pamphlets about witchcraft, murder or scandal sold. Today, shocking stories drive clicks, shares and advertising revenue. Attention is currency!
The Death Sentence for Mary Reade
As a result of the accusations made by Elizabeth Stedman and others, Mary Reade was convicted of witchcraft, sentenced to death and hung by her neck until she was dead. We can be certain that Mary Reade was not a witch. She was a victim of circumstance. She lived in a time when accusations of witchcraft were rife. Witchcraft mania swept the country like a craze. It frightened people and left them fearful for their children, their livelihoods and their futures. What might have started as a whisper of gossip between Elizabeth Stedman and other local villagers, grew into a blazing storm and led to the untimely and gruesome death of an innocent woman. Perhaps they never meant it to go so far. Perhaps they regretted their actions with every ounce of their being. I choose to give Elizabeth Stedman and her fellow accusers the benefit of the doubt. They were swept up in an era of mass panic, when fear outweighed reason – and perhaps, in their hearts, they truly believed they were protecting their own.
I don’t know whether Elizabeth Stedman’s spirit has stirred and led me to this story; or even whether that is possible. Perhaps or perhaps not. Either way, I have written a poem for her – a small act of atonement from my 9th Great Grandmother Elizabeth, and an apology to Mary Reade across the centuries. May they both, and all those falsely accused and murdered in the name of witchcraft, rest in peace for all eternity.