New England, continued. Salem witch trials From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Salem Witches redirects here. The central figure in this 1876 illustration of the courtroom is usually identified as Mary Walcott. The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. The trials resulted in the executions of twenty people, most of them women. Despite being generally known as the Salem witch trials, the preliminary hearings in 1692 were conducted in several towns in the Province of Massachusetts Bay: Salem Village (now Danvers), Ipswich, Andover, and Salem Town. The most infamous trials were conducted by the Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692 in Salem Town. Medical theories about the reported afflictions Main article: Medical and psychological explanations of bewitchment The cause of the symptoms of those who claimed affliction continues to be a subject of interest. Various medical and psychological explanations for the observed symptoms have been explored by researchers, including psychological hysteria in response to Indian attacks, convulsive ergotism caused by eating rye bread made from grain infected by the fungus Claviceps purpurea (a natural substance from which LSD is derived),[98] an epidemic of bird-borne encephalitis lethargica, and sleep paralysis to explain the nocturnal attacks alleged by some of the accusers.[99] Other modern historians are less inclined to believe in biological explanations, preferring instead to explore motivations such as jealousy, spite, and a need for attention to explain behavior that they contend was simply acting.[100] Personally, I think that ergot infection of open pollinated rye started the incident. Rye bread was more common among the poor families; young girls, with lower body weight, were more sensitive to the hallucinogenic compounds. Wheat, with its self-pollinated habit is much less likely to get infected. Wheat flower and wheat bread, because it was more expensive, was more common in wealthy households. Once the ergot induced hallucinations became apparent, human psychology took over, then came the accusations, hysteria and paranoia, the whole thing taking on a life of its own.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 03:47:17 +0000