Who was the Witchfinder General? 9 Facts About Matthew Hopkins

Matthew Hopkins was a witch hunter in England between 1644 and 1647. His ruthless interrogation methods and booming execution rates made him an infamous figure in the witch hunting world. Find out more about this notorious figure with these fascinating facts:

Hopkins lived in a time of "witch-mania" in Britain

Matthew Hopkins did all of his witch-hunting during the English Civil War. During this time, people in England were strongly religious and were often scared of anything that could be seen to be supernatural. The country's fear of witches had grown since the reign of King James I and VI, who was suspicious about demonic magic and passed a law that made witchcraft punishable by death. There were many famous witch trials around this time, such as the Pendle Witch Trials, the Samlesbury Witch Trials and even the Salem Witch Trials in America.

Hopkin's first clash with witches happened when he moved to Manningtree

When Hopkins moved to a small town called Manningtree in Essex he became wary of many women whom he suspected practiced the dark arts in the local area. He took it as his responsibility to seek out and destroy these witches. Of the thirty-something women who Hopkins accused, four are said to have died in prison and nineteen were found guilty and hanged. Hopkins was paid well for exterminating these so-called witches and so his career as Witchfinder General began.

Hopkins travelled across many counties

Matthew Hopkins took his responsibility as a witch-hunter very seriously and travelled to many towns across the east of England to offer his services to those in need (for a fee, of course). In his fourteen months as Witchfinder General it's thought he visited the counties of Norfolk, Essex and Suffolk, making stops at hundreds of places, including Colchester, Bury St Edmunds, Chelmsford and more.

Hopkins had a team of infamous "seekers"

Hopkins didn't work alone - he was accompanied by a team of people, including his friend and fellow witch-hunter John Stearne whom he'd met during his time at Manningtree. He was also joined by an entourage of women who he called "seekers". These women had the role of searching the accused people's bodies for blemishes, birthmarks or deformities that could be seen as being the "Devil's Mark". This was a sure sign that they were a witch.

The "seekers" became the even more nefarious "prickers"

When searching and finding the "Devil's Mark" no longer seemed enough to accuse a person of witchcraft, Hopkins ordered his team of women to start the act of "pricking". For this, the women would stab a knife, needle or pin into the "Devil's Mark" on the body of the accused witch. If the person bled or reacted in pain, they weren't a witch. Unfortunately for those accused, these "prickers" often used retractable blades to fake the result of the test. This way, the supposed witch would never bleed or feel pain and were always found guilty.

Could this be what the notorious "ducking" or "swimming" test could have looked like?

Hopkins used many methods of torture to force confessions

"Seeking" and "pricking" weren't the only approaches Hopkins used to prove a witch's guilt. He would often keep a person awake for days on end, using sleep deprivation to force a confession out of them. Suspects were sometimes forced to walk endlessly - once they were exhausted, Hopkins would offer them the chance to rest, but only if they confessed to being a witch. He also used the dreaded "ducking" or "swimming" test, where the accused person was tied up (sometimes to a chair) and thrown in a lake. If they floated, they were a witch and would be hanged. If they didn't float, they were innocent - but they drowned anyway.

Hopkins gave himself the title of "Witchfinder General"

On their travels, Hopkins and his entourage claimed to be "official" witch-hunters with authority from the government to carry out witch-hunts across the country. But the truth was, they had no such authority. The team made up their credentials and even made up their own titles; Hopkins entitled himself the "Witchfinder General", making himself seem more knowledgeable and important than he actually was.

Hopkins even wrote a book to defend himself from accusations that he was just in it for the money.

Hopkins was paid generously for his work

Perhaps you're wondering why Hopkins gave himself such a pretentious name. Or why he claimed he had more authority than he did. Or, more importantly, why he was using torture to gain false confessions and faking test results. There's one reason behind it all - money. Every town Hopkins visited paid him handsomely for his work. Some towns even had to tax their citizens to raise the funds to pay him! As the months went on and the guilty verdicts continued to rise, it became clear to many that Hopkins was not at all what he claimed to be. He wasn't an effective witch-hunter, but merely a con artist, taking people's money and hanging poor, helpless people who couldn't defend themselves.

Hopkins killed hundreds of people in just over a year

Although Hopkins' reign as Witchfinder General only lasted a short fourteen months, he managed to rack up an enormous quantity of executions. It's thought he hanged between 200-300 people accused of witchcraft during this time. This is more executions than those achieved by all the other English witch-hunters combined over the previous 160 years!