Project Gutenberg 2004-11-10 Public domain in the USA. 654 Hopkins, Matthew 1647 The Discovery of Witches E-text prepared by Feòrag NicBhrìde, Andrea Ball, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team "The Discovery of Witches" by Matthew Hopkins is a historical account written in the mid-17th century, during a time when the witch trials were prevalent in England. The book serves as a justification for Hopkins' controversial methods in identifying witches, which he argued were both necessary and effective for the sake of public safety. It primarily focuses on the practice and beliefs surrounding witchcraft, particularly examining the role of confessions and the techniques used to detect witches. In this text, Hopkins responds to numerous queries about his witch-finding practices, defending his actions against accusations of cruelty and incompetence. He discusses his experiences in identifying witches, including the use of physical examinations to find marks of witchcraft, such as "teats" on the body. Throughout the book, he recounts specific cases, detailing how suspected witches were discovered and examined, their confessions, and the common rationalizations for their actions. The work highlights the tumultuous nature of witch hunts and sheds light on the societal fears and misconceptions regarding witchcraft during this period. Hopkins seeks to validate his methods while discrediting challenges to his authority, ultimately portraying himself as a protector of the community against malign forces. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 53.5 (10th to 12th grade). Somewhat difficult to read. en Witchcraft -- England BF Text Witchcraft Browsing: Philosophy & Ethics Browsing: Psychiatry/Psychology Browsing: Religion/Spirituality/Paranormal Category: History - British Category: History - Early Modern (c. 1450-1750) Category: History - Religious 50348 2025-06-06T07:32:53.817504 text/html 46535 2020-12-18T15:42:22 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 95683 2025-06-06T07:32:59.209475 application/epub+zip 94009 2025-06-06T07:32:56.735504 application/epub+zip 82205 2025-06-06T07:32:55.547496 application/epub+zip 202314 2025-06-06T07:33:01.089470 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 186674 2025-06-06T07:32:58.509499 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 145249 2022-09-07T14:08:41.739077 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 41901 2023-10-06T11:28:44.159956 text/plain 15849 2025-06-06T07:33:01.223462 application/rdf+xml 13541 2025-06-06T07:32:56.116481 image/jpeg 3714 2025-06-06T07:32:55.826496 image/jpeg 92708 2025-06-06T07:32:53.824502 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia