My British Empire

ps: At the end of the month, ask for tickets, ask for subscription

"Ah!" Mr. Smith, his son, and his daughter-in-law were all taken aback. Only a few children aged seven or eight still looked ignorant, not knowing what it meant?

"My lord priest, are you mistaken? Mary can't be a witch!" Mr. Smith looked at the priest in front of him suspiciously and asked.

"That's right, Mr. Smith, your wife is indeed a witch. She cursed Mrs. Elizabeth to death. Come here and stay away from that witch!" Father Gilgit said seriously, looking at the frantic Mary with vigilant eyes. Madame, I am more sure of the fact that she is a witch.

"Mr. Smith, the priest is right!" "Yes! Stay away from that witch!" "Ms. Elizabeth was killed by her, I can testify!"...

Afterwards, all kinds of villagers on the side spoke one by one, knocking Smith's confidence to pieces, and his face gradually turned pale.

But his son and daughter-in-law had already taken their three grandchildren to the crowd, praying continuously.

And he looked back at his wrinkled and pleading wife, feeling a little unbearable.

"William, don't believe what they say, I'm not a witch!" Madam Mary said hoarsely, tears streaming down her face unconsciously.

However, the belief in his heart forced him to make a choice, "Mary, I'm sorry!"

After saying this to his wife, William Smith walked over dejectedly.

After seeing that there were no hostages, Father Gilgit nodded. Immediately, the strong and brave villagers, after the priest sprinkled the holy water, shouted Holy Mary, and walked over slowly, preparing to capture Mary. lady.

In this regard, Mrs. Mary did not resist, in fact she could not resist, and could only let the villagers catch her.

Soon, in the village, under the trial of Father Gilgit and the village chief, Mrs. Mary was declared a witch, and people were sent to the county court to make a complaint, requesting the court to sentence Mrs. Elizabeth to death for murder.

Since these villagers are not farmers attached to the manor, but free people, the nearby manor court cannot hear this case.

They took the case to the High Court in Kent.

In this regard, the judges reported the matter to the magistrate committee in the county, and the squires and county lieutenants (that is, the magistrate in the previous article, whose name was changed due to some overlap with the magistrate) discussed together. , and finally decided to hand over the case to His Majesty the King for adjudication.

According to Edward's judicial reform, the local courts and the central royal court are managed vertically, and the local security committees are retained, but the personnel are arranged by the central royal court.

However, some traditions in the local counties are still difficult to change, and the county lieutenant's interference in the judiciary is still inevitable.

Can only come slowly.

Moreover, Edward announced to all local courts that as long as there are death penalty cases, they will all be approved by the central government, that is, they will be submitted to the king for review.

Therefore, this witch case was not directly reviewed and approved by the county as before, but was transferred to the royal court.

Since Kent is relatively close to London, the witch case came to the royal court in less than a day.

Presented to the exclusive office of the Court of Justice.

The Court of Justice is composed of nine justices. It is the highest institution that manages the royal court. After all the cases are collected, they will be gathered in the justice's office, and then handed over to the justice for review, and finally sent to the subordinate department of the royal court. .

Major cases, such as the death penalty, are handled exclusively by justices.

"Your Excellency, this is the witch case from Kent!" A well-dressed secretary walked up to a judge with a big nose and said softly.

"En!" The big-nosed judge snorted softly, and then flipped through the pages.

"Another witch case! You go to inform the Ministry of Civil Affairs, no! Inform the court and the Ministry of Religion to send someone to Kent County to deal with it!"

As he said that, the big-nosed judge patted his head, shook his head with a wry smile, and said to the young secretary, "I'm so confused!"

It turns out that such lawsuits have always been a matter for the Civil Litigation Department. Some time ago, the king personally transferred these cases to the Ministry of Religion for handling.

"Yes, Your Excellency, I'm going now!" The young secretary didn't answer, and left directly. He knew that His Excellency had a mountain of things to deal with every day, and he didn't have time to chat with him. This was just talking to himself. !

Soon, he transferred the case to the Ministry of Religion downstairs.

In recent years, incidents of witches have emerged all over England. In Kent alone, there were two incidents of witches this year, and there are at least hundreds of incidents in England every year.

Although the Anglican sect is more rational, the folk persecution of witches has become a kind of culture. The cities are better, but the rural areas have changed little.

According to historical records, from 1560 to 1680, there were 132 cases of witches in Kent alone.

Witches are currently divided into white witches and witches in rural areas.

The white witch is generally considered to be kind. She can help people find things, heal people, predict the future, and cast down demons.

And it is believed that the Black Witch brought people shipwrecks, storms, plagues, bad harvests, etc., and even troubles, bad luck, accidental disasters, and illnesses are all attributed to her. It can be said that as long as you encounter anything that goes wrong, you can It is said that the black witch is at work.

Cursing is a common method used by black witches, which is why people think that Mrs. Mary is a black witch.

As for how to deal with black witches, people generally think that they can only be tied to a cross and burned, and they cannot be hanged. People think that black witches generally have magic that can resurrect themselves, and the fire is the most thorough.

The people who are generally accused of being witches are women, especially married and widowed women.

The general characteristics of these people are that they are stingy, mean, often quarrel with neighbors, and unwilling to help others, so they are often accused of being witches.

Edward felt that this kind of case could only be solved by religious people. It would be more convenient and quicker for a more senior monk to tell those ignorant people that this person is not a witch, and it would be irrefutable.

Therefore, the Ministry of Civil Affairs was transformed into the Ministry of Religion.

Of course, this approach is immediate. From the beginning of 1549 to August, the royal court received a total of 96 witch cases, and 63 cases were resolved peacefully. The remaining three cases were mainly due to the distance. Burnt to death.

Because of his experience, within a day, the Ministry of Religion of the Royal Court sent a bishop there, who was just one level older than a priest.

ps: Introducing this, one is to introduce British witch culture, and the other is to tell everyone that even after the Renaissance and Reformation, ordinary people are still ignorant.