Matthew Hopkins, 'Witchfinder General', and his accomplice John Stearne, in just two years during the English civil war, sent over two hundred supposed witches to the gallows. They took their witch-hunt all over East Anglia, and it was by far the largest of its kind in English history. The witchfinders have been condemned by history, but they were criticised even in their own time, and each defended the convictions and the methods used to obtain them in print. Hopkins published his Discovery of Witches in 1647, just before his death, and Stearne his Confirmation and Discovery of Witchcraft in 1648. Both offer fascinating and unparalleled insights into the minds of the witchfinders, the workings of their interrogations, and the confessions they obtained from their victims. Here, the for the first time, the two texts are presented side by side, fully annotated, in a comprehensive modern edition, which includes an extended introduction, bibliographical details of both texts, appendices, a full bibliography, and an index.
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