In England, a succession of Witchcraft Acts have governed witchcraft and provided penalties for its practice. This is a list of Acts of the Scottish Parliament. ... This is a list of Acts passed by the Parliament of Northern Ireland. ... This is a list of Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly passed by that body during its existence between 2000 and 2002 when it was suspended. ... The is a list of Orders in Council for Northern Ireland which are primary legislation for the province when the it is being directly ruled from London and also for those powers not devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly. ... Statutory Instruments (SIs) are parts of United Kingdom law separate from Acts of Parliament which do not require full Parliamentary approval before becoming law. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification  -  by Athelstan 967  Area... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

Middle ages

The first Act of Parliament directed specifically against witchcraft was the act De hæretico comburendo, passed at the instigation of Archbishop Thomas Arundel in 1401. It specifically named witchcraft — sortilegium — "sorcery", or "divination", as a species of heresy, and provided that unless the accused witch abjured these beliefs, she was to be burnt at the stake. This law, however, was directed against an ecclesiastical offence, not technically a felony in common law. Offenders were tried before an ecclesiastical tribunal — the Inquisition, per se, did not operate in England, but the procedure was comparable. The penalty of burning at the stake was prescribed for ecclesiastical offences only, since the Church tried to avoid the shedding of blood. An Act of Parliament or Act is law enacted by the parliament (see legislation). ... In Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated bishop. ... Thomas Arundel (1353-1414) was Archbishop of Canterbury in 1397 and from 1399 until his death, an outspoken opponent of the Lollards. ... The Lollards, a religious sect taught by John Wycliffe, were persecuted for their beliefs. ... The Sorceress by John William Waterhouse Magic and sorcery are the influencing of events, objects, people and physical phenomena by mystical, paranormal or supernatural means. ... This article is about the religious practice of divination. ... Look up Heresy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Witchcraft. ... For the record label, see Felony Records The term felony is a term used in common law systems for very serious crimes, whereas misdemeanors are considered to be less serious offenses. ... Inquisition (capitalized I) is broadly used, to refer to things related to judgment of heresy by the Roman Catholic Church. ...

Sixteenth century

It was not until the start of the sixteenth century, however, that religious tensions resulted in increased penalties for witchcraft in England. The Witchcraft Act 1541^[1] provided that (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ...

"It shall be Felony to practise, or cause to be practised Conjuration, Witchcraft, Enchantment or Sorcery, to get Money; or to consume any Person in his Body, Members or Goods; or to provoke any Person to unlawful Love; or for the Despight of Christ, or Lucre of Money, to pull down any Cross; or to declare where Goods stolen be."

Felonies were punishable with death. A later statute of Henry VIII provided the same death penalty for "invoking or conjuring an evil spirit". This statute was repealed by his more liberal son, Edward VI. During the reign of Edward's successor Mary I no new law governing witchcraft was passed. Henry VIII (28 June 1491 - 28 January 1547) was King of England and Lord of Ireland, later King of Ireland, from 22 April 1509 until his death. ... Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offences. ... Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) became King of England, King of France (in practice only the town and surrounding district of Calais) and Ireland on 28 January 1547, and crowned on 20 February, at just nine years of age. ... Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 6 July 1553 (de facto) or 19 July 1553 (de jure) until her death. ...

England's most notorious Witchcraft Act was passed early in the reign of Elizabeth I. This act of 1563 provided that anyone who should "use, practise, or exercise any Witchcraft, Enchantment, Charm, or Sorcery, whereby any person shall happen to be killed or destroyed", was guilty of felony without benefit of clergy, and was to be put to death. This law was broadened further by Elizabeth's successor James I, a king who wrote a treatise on Dæmonologie and who, as James VI of Scotland, took a personal interest in the trial of some accused witches at Berwick on Tweed. In 1604, the first year of James's reign, the Elizabethan act was broadened to bring the penalty of death without benefit of clergy to any one who invoked evil spirits or communed with familiar spirits. It was this statute that was enforced by Matthew Hopkins, the notorious "Witch-Finder General". Elizabeth I redirects here. ... Events February 1 - Sarsa Dengel succeeds his father Menas as Emperor of Ethiopia February 18 - The Duke of Guise is assassinated while besieging Orléans March - Peace of Amboise. ... In English law, the benefit of clergy was originally a provision by which clergymen could claim that they were outside the jurisdiction of the secular courts and be tried instead under canon law. ... James Stuart (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scots as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James I. He ruled in Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567, when he was only one year old. ... Demonology is the systematic study of demons or beliefs about demons. ... James VI and I King of England, Scotland and Ireland James VI of Scotland and I of England (Charles James) (19 June 1566–27 March 1625) was a King who ruled over England, Scotland and Ireland, and was the first Sovereign to reign in the three realms simultaneously. ... Map sources for Berwick-upon-Tweed at grid reference NT9952 Berwick-upon-Tweed from across the river Berwick-upon-Tweed, (pronounced Berrick) situated in the county of Northumberland, is the northernmost town in England, situated on the east coast on the mouth of the river Tweed. ... Events January 14 – Hampton Court conference with James I of England, the Anglican bishops and representatives of Puritans September 20 – Capture of Ostend by Spanish forces under Ambrosio Spinola after a three year siege. ... In early modern English witchcraft, a familiar spirit, commonly called familiar (from Middle English familiar, related to family) or imp is a spirit who obeys a witch, conjurer, or other users of the supernatural, and serves and helps that person. ... The Statute of Grand Duchy of Lithuania A statute is a formal, written law of a country or state, written and enacted by its legislative authority, perhaps to then be ratified by the highest executive in the government, and finally published. ... Witches disclose their familiar spirits to Matthew Hopkins. ... A witch-hunt is a search for suspected witches; it is a type of moral panic. ...

The acts of Elizabeth and James changed the law of witchcraft in two major respects. First, by making witchcraft a felony, they removed the accused witches from the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts to the courts of common law. This provided, at least, that the accused witches theoretically enjoyed the benefits of ordinary criminal procedure. Burning at the stake was eliminated, except in cases of witchcraft that were also petty treason; most instead were hanged. However, by making witchcraft an ordinary crime, they invoked all the penalties of felonies against the convicted witch, including escheat which forfeited the convict's land and goods to the Crown. This gave local officials a financial stake in finding witches to convict, and led to the most pervasive witchhunts in English history. After the Restoration, the witch hunting gradually died down, not because people had ceased to believe in or fear witches, but because the witch-hunting enterprise smacked of the "enthusiasm" and revolutionary Puritanism that led to the regicide of Charles I. This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ... Traitor redirects here. ... Escheat is an obstruction of the course of descent and the consequent reversion of property to the original grantor. ... A witch-hunt is a search for suspected witches; it is a type of moral panic. ... King Charles II, the first monarch to rule after the English Restoration. ... The Puritans were members of a group of radical Protestants which developed in England after the Reformation. ... The broad definition of regicide is the deliberate killing of a king, or the person responsible for it. ... Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. ...

1735 Act

This statute was replaced under George II by the Witchcraft Act 1735^[2] that marked a complete reversal in attitudes. No longer were people to be hanged for consorting with evil spirits. Rather, a person who pretended to have the power to call up spirits, or foretell the future, or cast spells, or discover the whereabouts of stolen goods was to be punished as a vagrant and a con artist, subject to fines and imprisonment. George II King of Great Britain and Ireland George II (George Augustus) (10 November 1683–25 October 1760) was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Hanover) and Archtreasurer and Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death. ... Vagrancy is a crime in some European countries, but most of these laws have been abandoned. ... A confidence trick, confidence game, or con for short, (also known as a scam) is an attempt to intentionally mislead a person or persons (known as the mark) usually with the goal of financial or other gain. ...

As late as 1944, Helen Duncan was the last person to be convicted under the Witchcraft Act, authorities fearing that by her alleged clairvoyant powers she could betray details of the D-Day preparations. She spent nine months in prison. In 1951 the last Witchcraft Act was repealed with the enactment of the Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951, largely at the instigation of Spiritualists^{[citation needed]}. 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Land on Normandy In military parlance, D-Day is a term often used to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... The Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951 is a law in the UK which targets anyone claiming to be psychics, mediums, or other spiritualist techniques who attempt to use trickery with an attempt to deceive and to make money from the deception. ... By 1853, when the popular song Spirit Rappings was published, Spiritualism was the object of intense curiosity. ...

It is widely suggested that Astrology is covered by the Witchcraft Act. From the 1930's onwards many tabloid newspapers and magazines carried astrology columns but none were ever prosecuted.

The Witchcraft Act was still legally in force in the Republic of Ireland, although it never was actually applied. All old English laws were repealled 16 May 1983^[3] May 16 is the 136th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (137th in leap years). ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

References

1. ^ 1541 (33 Hen. 8) C A P. VIII
2. ^ 1735 (9 Geo. 2) C A P. V.
3. ^ Statute Law Revision Act, 1983.