Severe Punishments for Witches in History | Ducking Tool Insights

likewise executed at the Northampton preliminaries was Helen jenkinson of thron who had for some time been associated by her neighbors with charming cows and different mischiefs in the wake of being blamed for entrancing a youngster to death Helen was pricked and looked for a witch's Imprint the one who pricked Helen before long found her clothing was canvassed in pictures of frog snakes and other monstrous animals she got back to Helen and requested that her dress be cleaned taking steps to fix the witch's eyes when she returned home she found her material white again Helen was accounted for to specialists captured and viewed as at fault for Black magic

one more censured at the Northampton preliminaries was Mary barbar of Stanwick from all records Mary was a seriously detested lady poor and uninformed a leaflet framing of the preliminaries called her gigantic and hidious in both her life and activities and suggested that she acted in manners not befitting a legitimate lady of good ethics Mary stood blamed for entrancing dairy cattle and charming a man to death no record of the proof given against Mary was recorded yet she also was found blameworthy the last Soul denounced in the Northampton preliminaries with Arthur Bill an unfortunate man from RS whose guardians were both known witches more probable they furnished the town's kin individuals with essential clinical or profound Guide Arthur was blamed for entrancing a nearby lady named Martha asz to death yet there was little proof to demonstrate he had any association with the alleged wrongdoing at this point it was by and large concurred that Arthur had Beguiled steers and was known to be of a shrewd life and notoriety thus the appointed authority and officials chose to give an examination mental test a shot every one of the three Bill relatives in light of counsel from demonology which read God has selected that the water will won't get them in her chest that have shaken off the Sacrosanct Water of submersion thus mother father and child were attached with thumbs and huge toes together and tossed into the water perhaps into the lake waters here at northampton's Abington Park each of the three of the charged drifted to the surface which the jury took as a sign that they had scorned the ceremony of immersion and were consequently being dismissed by the water assuming that they had sunk they unquestionably would have suffocated however what is demise to a spirit Destined for paradise Arthur's dad affirmed against him at preliminary to save himself from hanging and Arthur's mom was so scared of execution that she slit her own jugular the drifting test given to the bills during the Northampton preliminary was famous to the point that it turned out to be much of the time utilized throughout the following quite a few years turning into a number one of the purported witch locater General Matthew Hopkins yet scholarly men of the law scrutinized the legitimacy of such tests and contended that the regular drownings that happened during them could be attempted as murder

The test of swimming a witch was abolished, but a similar punishment called ducking continued for many years. Ducking stools were chairs attached to a long beam that functioned like a seesaw at the water's edge. A woman could be strapped into the chair and forced underwater repeatedly. This practice was intended to humiliate and discourage outspoken females.

Ducking was primarily a punishment for women. It was often used for crimes such as bearing an illegitimate child or engaging in prostitution. However, its most common use was to silence women who criticized or argued with others, especially men. Women deemed outspoken were labeled as common scolds and faced the risk of being dragged from their homes and placed in a ducking chair. This punishment was typically conducted in public, where women were often submerged in cold water while dressed only in their shifts.

Some communities kept their ducking stools hidden when not in use, while others permanently installed them near rivers or ponds as a deterrent. In certain cases, a stool would be placed against a woman's front door as a warning. Although ducking was not used to determine whether a woman was a witch, the targets of both practices shared similar traits—they were often outspoken, impoverished, and perceived as challenging feminine norms. Both practices served to deter others from similar behaviors, as well as to punish the accused. Like the Witchcraft Trials, the use of ducking took many years to decline.