Witches - Truth, Trials and Terrors

For centuries, thousands of people across Europe were accused, tortured and executed for crimes we now know were impossible. And then, it stopped. But why? Did science finally triumph over superstition? Did governments develop a conscience? Did judges begin to question the evidence? Or did hunting witches simply become very unfashionable? In this episode of Witches: Truth, Trials and Terrors, Jon Briggs is joined by historians Robin Briggs and Professor Julian Goodare to unravel one of the mo...

There’s a witch in your village. Now what? Who do you call on? How do you know who to suspect? What exactly are you looking for? And what happens when the person who arrives has no official authority whatsoever? Matthew Hopkins called himself the Witch Finder General. But who appointed him? What did he actually do? And how did he "find" witches? Jon Briggs and Robin Briggs are joined by historians Marion Gibson and Alison Rowlands to follow the witch hunters across England and Europe, where s...

Witches flying through the night. Secret gatherings. Feasting, dancing, sex with demons and worshipping the Devil. There was just one problem with the witches’ Sabbats: they almost certainly never happened. However your invitation isn't lost in the post - it's right here - so do you know what to wear? Jon and Robin Briggs are joined by Professor Julian Goodare to discover why people confessed to attending these extraordinary gatherings, what they claimed went on there, and how an imaginary pa...

Your child falls ill. Your cow stops giving milk. You suspect a witch. Who do you call? Across early modern Europe, cunning folk claimed to heal the sick, identify witches, recover stolen property and even send curses back to whoever cast them. Fresh from publishing her new book Witchland - Jon and Robin Briggs are joined by historian and author Professor Marion Gibson to explore the extraordinary world of supernatural problem-solving, from witch bottles and healing charms to magical si...

What if witches weren’t discovered at all... but invented? For centuries, Europeans feared magic, demons and heretics. But somewhere along the way, those separate fears were stitched together into something new: the witch, a servant of the Devil and member of a secret conspiracy threatening Christian society. Jon Briggs is joined by historian Robin Briggs and demonology expert Dr Jan Machielsen to uncover how that extraordinary idea took shape, why medieval scholars were summoning demon...