Tudor Witchcraft Legislation

An overview of Tudor witchcraft legislation from Henry VIII to Mary I

We grew up with the stereotyped image of witches - a pointy hat, wearing black, a broomstick and a cat. Perhaps we have grown up with the assumption that witch hunts specifically set out to target women, or that all witches were burnt at the stake. But the history of witchcraft reveals something far more complex. Through a lens focused on Tudor England we can assess the various Witchcraft Acts and see if and how they were applied. Was evidence needed? Or, were witchcraft trials more for show than a valid means of determining whether an individual was guilty or innocent? This series explores the Tudor witchcraft legislation - what the Witchcraft Acts actually said versus how they were applied in practice, and how they evolved throughout the Tudor reign.

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Figure 1: Henry VIII, after Hans Holbein the Younger. Image source: Wikimedia commons.

King Henry VIII’s reign began in 1509. Henry VIII is often referred to as a tyrant, and yet debate surrounds whether he was always a tyrant, or whether he became such in his later years. The first piece of witchcraft legislation in England was introduced in 1542.¹ Interestingly, Henry VIII’s 1542 Act Against Conjurations, Witchcrafts, Sorcery and Enchantments was the most severe of England’s witchcraft acts. This was likely a reflection of the increasing anxieties and suspicions of the King in his later years.² The Act states:

Where dyvers and sundrie persones unlawfully have devised and practised Invocations and conjurations of Spirites, pretending by suche meanes to understande and get Knowlege for their owne lucre in what place treasure of golde and Silver shulde or mought be founde or had in the earthe or other secrete places, and also have used and occupied wichecraftes inchauntement and sorceries to the distruction of their neihbours persones and goodes, And for execution of their saide falce devyses beastes or fowles, and also have made Crownes Septures Swordes rynges glasses and other thinges, and gyving faithe & credit to suche fantasticall practices have dygged up and pulled downe an infinite nombre of Crosses w’in this Realme, and taken upon them to declare and tell where thinges lost or stollen shulde be become; whiche thinges cannot be used and exercised but to the great Offence of Godes lawe, hurt and disquyetnes of the Realme: For reformation whereof be it enacted by the Kyng oure Soveragne Lorde with thassent of the Lordes special and temporall and the Comons in this present Parliament assembled and by auctoritie of the same, that yf any persone or persones, after the first daye of Maye next comyng, use devise practise or exercise, or cause to be used devysed practised or exercised, any Invocations or conjurations of Sprites wichecraftes enchauntmentes or sorceries, to thentent to get or fynde money or treasure, or to waste consume or destroy any persone in his bodie membres or goodes, or to pvoke any persone to unlawfull love, or for any other unlawfull intente or purpose, or by occasion or color of suche whinges or any of them, or for dispite of Cryste, or for lucre of money, dygge up or pull downe any Crosse or Crosses, or by suche Invocations or conjuractions of Sprites wichecraftes enchauntementes or sorcerie or any of them take upon them to tell or declare where goodes stollen or lost shall become, That then all and every suche Ofeence and Offences frome the saide first day o May next comyng, shalbe demyde accepted and adjuged Felonye; And that all and every persone and persones offendyng as is abocesaide their Councello’s Abetto’s and Procuro’s and every of them from the saide first day of Maye shalbe demyde accepted and adjuged a Felon and Felones; And thoffender and Offenders contrarie to this Acte, being therof lawfullie convicte before suche as shall have power and auctoritie to here and determyn felonyes, shall have and suffre suche paynes of deathe losse and forfaytures of their landes tentes goodes and Catalles as in cases of felonie by the course of the Common lawes of this Realme, And also shall lose the p’vilege of Clergie and Sayntuarie.³

Therefore, the 1542 Witchcraft Act saw the use of witchcraft to find treasure, or to locate lost or stolen items as a felony. But, so were actions such as the destruction of neighbours and their goods, conjuring spirits, bringing about death or harm, and causing individuals to fall in unlawful love. What’s particularly striking is that the Act treated all of these offences the same - whether you located a lost item or caused harm, the penalty was the same. Individuals convicted of witchcraft would suffer “suche paynes of deathe.”⁴ But, while the 1542 Witchcraft Act was the harshest of England’s witchcraft acts, there is no surviving evidence to suggest that it was ever implemented.⁵

Figure 2: Edward VI, attributed to William Scrots. Image source: Wikimedia Commons.

King Henry VIII died in January 1547, following which his son Edward would become King Edward VI. Under Edward, the 1542 Witchcraft Act was repealed.⁶ It would be easy to assume that the repeal of the 1542 Act demonstrated a decline in beliefs pertaining to witchcraft at the time. However, the repeal of the 1542 Act appears to have been part of the sweeping legislative reforms that commonly took place with onset of a new government.⁷ The repeal of the 1542 Witchcraft Act that occurred under Edward VI falls within An Acte for the Repeale of certaine Statutes concerninge Treasons, Felonyes, &c.⁸

Figure 3: Mary I, by Hans Eworth. Image source: Wikimedia Commons.

Edward VI’s reign was brief. He died in 1553, following which there was the brief reign of Edward’s cousin, Lady Jane Grey (often referred to as the nine day Queen), who was then overthrown by Henry VIII’s eldest daughter, Mary. Mary reigned for five years. Focused on restoring Roman Catholicism she made no changes to witchcraft legislation during her reign.

Queen Mary I, died in 1558 and her younger sister, Elizabeth, was to inherit the throne and the landscape of witchcraft in England was set to dramatically change.

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I would love to know - what are some of the beliefs you hold, or have held, about witchcraft?

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In the next article we will explore the Elizabethan witchcraft legislation and trials. If you enjoyed reading this article please subscribe and receive the next addition of the series directly to your inbox.

1. Alan Macfarlane, Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England: A Regional and Comparative Study (London: Routledge, 1991), p. 14.

2. Lucy E. C. Wooding, Tudor England: A History (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2022), p. 509.

3. ‘An Act Against Conjurations, Witchcrafts, Sorcery and Enchantments’, 33 Hen. VIII, c. 8 (1542), in Statutes of the Realm, vol. 3 (London: Dawsons of Pall Mall, 1963), p. 837.

4. Ibid.

5. James Sharpe, Witchcraft in Early Modern England (Oxfordshire: Taylor & Francis, 2019), p. 15.

6. ‘An Act for the Repeale of certain Statutes concerning Treasons, Felonyes, &c.’, 1 Edw. VI c. 12 (1547), in Statutes of the Realm, vol. 4 (London: Dawsons of Pall Mall, 1963), p. 19; James Sharpe, Witchcraft in Early Modern England (Oxfordshire: Taylor & Francis, 2019), p. 15.

7. Ibid.

8. ‘An Act for the Repeale of certain Statutes concerning Treasons, Felonyes, &c.’, 1 Edw. VI c. 12 (1547), in Statutes of the Realm, vol. 4 (London: Dawsons of Pall Mall, 1963), p. 18-22.