Paper 3: the witch craze in Britain, Europe and North America c1580- c1750
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Edexcel A Level History, Paper 3
A* Tudor History essay addressing the question ‘How significant were the writings of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke in the process of undermining the belief in magic and witchcraft in the years c1580–c1750?’
This was written as revision for Edexcel Tudor History A-Level, Paper 3: the witch-c...
Paper 3: the witch craze in Britain, Europe and North America c1580- c1750
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How significant were the writings of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke in the process of undermining the
belief in magic and witchcraft in the years c1580–c1750?
During the years c1580-c1750, belief in magic and witchcraft in Britain was heavily undermined, transforming
from a strong belief in diabolism underpinned by religious divisions to a minority view, consistently being
weakened by rational explanations. However, the significance of the writings of Thomas Hobbes and John
Locke in this process is debatable. While the materialist approach of both authors goes some way to justify the
decline in superstitious belief after 1660, clearly reflecting the coming age of science and reason, it is also
necessary to consider the role of sceptic publications and scientific institutions in generating scepticism during
this period.
To some extent, it can be argued that the writings of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke held great significance in
the process of undermining the belief in magic and witchcraft c1580–c1750 as both writers fully discounted the
existence of the supernatural through their use of deductive reasoning. Indeed, in publications such as
‘Leviathan’ (1651), Hobbes emphasises the importance of testing propositions over observation, leading him to
question concepts such as the soul and the existence of angels; this directly criticises the notion of witches
selling their souls during diabolical pacts, thus undermining the foundation of popular belief in magic. Similarly,
Locke’s interpretation of the workings of the mind in his ‘Essay Concerning Human Understanding’ (1690)
causes him to argue that the existence of spirits can never be proven due to the sole basis of evidence being
personal perceptions; such conclusions resulted in him being seen as the father of modern empiricism,
highlighting the extent of his influence and therefore the likelihood of the elite to being perceptive to his
scepticism. This failure to make allowances for the supernatural provides a stark contrast to the earlier Baconian
method using inductive reasoning, as its emphasis on observation alone preserved a belief in magic and the
occult by permitting the existence of unexplained or supernatural phenomena as long as they were observed as
part of the scientific process. Furthermore, the significance of Hobbes’ writings in undermining superstitious
belief can be demonstrated through his direct influence of the work of Webster, Bekker and Lord Chief Justice
John Holt. For example, in ‘The Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft’ (1677), Webster denies that witches had
supernatural powers and instead suggests harm was carried out by natural means, such as by administering
poison; his credibility and thorough use of evidence set him apart from other sceptical authors, the roots of
which can be found in Hobbes’ work. Meanwhile, Hobbes’ rationalism is clearly reflected in Holt’s refusal to
accept unreliable evidence, which ultimately led to the acquittal of the accused in at least 11 trials. Thus, it can
be argued that the writings of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were key in undermining belief in magic and
witchcraft as their theories became widely circulated amongst intellectual circles, particularly in the early 18th
century when the final cases of witchcraft were being investigated and sceptical opinion was at its peak; without
their influence, other writers and key individuals would not have had such a strong foundation for the
scepticism, thus belief in magic most likely would have been prolonged.
On the other hand, it can be argued that the writings of Hobbes and Locke were only significant in helping
sceptical opinion to maintain its momentum during the second half of the 17th century, whereas other factors,
such as earlier sceptic publications, were more important as they triggered the undermining of superstitious
belief in the first place. For example, as early as 1584, Scot’s ‘The Discoverie of Witchcraft’ eroded the
certainty that witches existed through its suggestions that harm to animals or people was done through natural
means, such as by administering poison, and that many women who genuinely believed they were witches were
suffering from delusions; several decades later, Hobbes proposed that cases of possession were the result of
madness or epilepsy, highlighting how many of his views were not new and it was only his emphasis on science,
rather than religion, which caused these ideas to differ. Indeed, it is clear that Scot’s work had a direct influence
on later publications through the fact that Ady’s ‘A Candle in the Dark’ (1556) essentially served as a revision
of his original message, not only challenging the tricks performed by magicians but also criticising methods,
such as the swimming test and sleep deprivation, which constituted a key part of witch trials; this challenging of
methods used even by Hopkins in the East Anglia witch-hunts therefore goes some way to explain the steep
decline in witch trials after 1660, demonstrating that the responsibility for the growth of scepticism is not only
attributed to Hobbes and Locke.
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