HistoryExtra Academy history of witchcraft course

Historical black-and-white woodcut depicting a woman standing at a gallows execution site with her hands bound, surrounded by guards and onlookers

General History

The 10 most famous witch trials from British history

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HistoryExtra Academy witchcraft quiz – week four. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Witches in popular culture, with Professor Marion Gibson. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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5 books about witchcraft, selected by Professor Marion Gibson. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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HistoryExtra Academy witchcraft quiz – week three. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Witch trials, with Professor Marion Gibson. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An 1866 painting imagines a suspected ‘witch’ being led away from a braying mob during the 17th century (Photo by WAVE: The Museums, Galleries and Archives of Wolverhampton/Getty Images)

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Rough injustice: what really happened at a witch trial?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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HistoryExtra Academy witchcraft quiz – week two. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Demonology, with Professor Marion Gibson. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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HistoryExtra Academy witchcraft quiz – week one. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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What is a witch? with Professor Marion Gibson. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A statue of Alice Nutter, one of the 1612 Pendle Witches. The statue is in her home village on Blacko Bar Road, Roughlee. (Image by Alamy)

Stuart

The Pendle witches: what happened in the infamous Lancashire witch trial?

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Elizabethan witchcraft: a trial that divided a community. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Haitians celebrate Kanaval, which takes place in the run-up to Lent. Later, over Easter, Haitian secret societies will use brooms to ‘sweep up’ zonbi spirits. (Photo by Jessica Obert/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

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Zombies of the Caribbean: your guide to zonbi spirits. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A 20th-century image depicts a ‘witch’ being burned alive in Munich. In reality, most suspects had already been killed before being set alight (Photo by Fototeca Gilardi/Getty Images)

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8 popular misconceptions about the history of witchcraft in Europe. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

As well as practising Wicca, other traditions with Pagan roots – such as celebrating the summer solstice at Stonehenge – still remain popular. (Photo by Chris J Ratcliffe/AFP via Getty Images)

20th Century

Wicca and modern witchcraft: a history

Suspected witch Mary Sutton is “swum” in a Bedfordshire millpond in 1612, as shown in a contemporary illustration. (Picture by Getty Images)

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Witchfinding: what drove the hunters’ cruel crusade and what methods did they use?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Malcolm GaskillThe Ruin of All Witches. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry, Ron and Hermione on the set of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Photo by Peter Mountain/Warner Bros. Pictures/THA)

Medieval

The real magic of Harry Potter: 15 details the wizarding world borrows from history

A scene from the Salem witch trials, depicted in a 19th-century lithograph. How two girls’ accusations of witchcraft escalated into one of the darkest episodes in early American history has long puzzled historians. (Image by Alamy)

Stuart

When the devil stalked Salem: the story of the Salem witch trials

Soldiers of the Third Reich surround a huge bonfire during a winter solstice festival in December 1936. The Nazis attempted to use elements of pagan beliefs to promote a Germanic ‘national religiosity’. (Photo by Getty Images)

20th Century

Witches, werewolves and vampires: the Nazi's quest for the supernatural

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Free downloadYour essential guide to the history of witchcraft. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Download your course certificate. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The dark side: A man summons demons in a 14th-century English encyclopaedia. "Some educated men were determined to contact the spirit world – and took great risks to do so," writes Catherine Rider. (Photo by Bridgeman)

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From healing spells to conjuring demons: the medieval obsession with magic. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Portrait of an unknown woman, c1490–95. She sports a necklace in a painting from c1485. Coral jewellery was widely believed to ward off evil spirits. (Photo by Getty Images)

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Medieval magic at work: 7 spells and charms our ancestors used. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Portrait of Martin Luther by Lucas Cranach, 1543. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

Tudor

Europe's holy war: how the Reformation convulsed a continent

This 16th-century woodcut depicts King James VI at the North Berwick witch trials, the case that first sparked his obsession with hunting. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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James VI and I: the king who hunted witches. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Professor Ronald Hutton © Jeni Nott

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Witchcraft through the ages. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Afternoon sunlight casting shadows on the hills, Lancashire, England UK (Getty Images)

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The war on witches. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.