Not so long ago, plenty of men and women offered their services as “cunning folk”, able to give magical help when other avenues had failed. Find out about these people, and how they used spoken and written charms, and objects from shirts to ducks! But belief in magic is a dangerous thing, and many women – and one or two men – found themselves accused of “maleficia”, black magic.
We will have a chance to look at, and discuss, some original seventeenth century accusations to see how neighbour came to suspect neighbour – and what happened when a witchfinder came to town…
Speaker : Dr Jo Bath describes herself as a historymonger and historian of all periods. Jo has a Ph D on Violence and Violent Crime in the North East c1650-1720.
This FREE, PUBLIC session is part of the autumn season of the Explore Lifelong Learning membership programme in Newcastle upon Tyne.