|
Matthew Hopkins (c. 1620 – 12 August 1647) was an English witch-hunter whose career flourished during the time of the English Civil War. He claimed to hold the office of Witchfinder General, although that title was never bestowed by Parliament. His witch-hunts mainly took place in East Anglia. Hopkins' witch-finding career began in March 1644 and lasted until his retirement in 1647. During that period, he and his associates were responsible for more people being hanged for witchcraft than in the previous 100 years,〔Russell 1981: pp. 97–98〕〔Thomas 1971: p. 537, ... in Essex there were no executions after 1626 until 1645.〕 and were solely responsible for the increase in witch trials during those years.〔Deacon 1976: p. 41〕〔Notestein 1911: p. 164〕〔Thomas 1971: p. 528〕 He is believed to have been responsible for the deaths of 300 women between the years 1644 and 1646. It has been estimated that all of the English witch trials between the early 15th and late 18th centuries resulted in fewer than 500 executions for witchcraft. Therefore, presuming the number executed as a result of investigations by Hopkins and his colleague John Stearne is at the lower end of the various estimates,〔Notestein 1911: p. 194, quoting Stearne who "boasted that he knew of 200"〕〔Notestein 1911: p. 195, quoting James Howell "Familiar Letters, II 551, dates February 3, 1646/7 of "near 300"〕〔Thomas 1971: pp. 544, 537,"...when the campaign of Matthew Hopkins and his associates resulted in the execution of several hundred witches..."〕 their efforts accounted for about 60 per cent of the total; in the 14 months of their crusade Hopkins and Stearne sent to the gallows more people than all the other witch-hunters in England of the previous 160 years.〔Notestein 1911: p. 195〕 ==Early life== Very little is known of Matthew Hopkins before 1644, and there are no surviving contemporary documents concerning him or his family.〔 Cabell 2006: p. 9; it is the author's opinion that "unfortunately one cannot dispute that all Hopkins documentation was deliberately destroyed after his death". 〕 He was born in Great Wenham, Suffolk〔Gaskill 2005: p. 9 〕〔 Deacon 1976: p. 13 〕〔 and was the fourth son〔 of six children.〔Deacon 1976: pp. 15–17〕 His father, James Hopkins, was a Puritan clergyman and vicar of St John's of Great Wenham, in Suffolk.〔〔Deacon 1976: pp. 13, 17〕 The family at one point held title "to lands and tenements in Framlingham 'at the castle.〔Gaskill 2005: p. 23; Deacon 1976: p. 17; quoting James Hopkins' last will and testament〕 His father was popular with his parishioners, one of whom in 1619 left money to purchase Bibles for his then three children James, John and Thomas.〔 Thus Matthew Hopkins could not have been born before 1619, and could not have been older than 28 when he died, but he may have been as young as 25.〔 Cabell 2006: p. 6〕 Although James Hopkins had died in 1634,〔 when William Dowsing, commissioned in 1643 by the Parliamentarians in Manchester〔Cabell 2006: p. 19〕 "for the destruction of monuments of idolatry and superstition", visited the parish in 1645 he noted that "there was nothing to reform".〔Gaskill 2005: p. 13〕 Hopkins' brother John became Minister of South Fambridge in 1645 but was removed from the post one year later for neglecting his work.〔Deacon 1976: p. 14〕 Hopkins states in his book ''The Discovery of Witches''〔The Discovery of Witches – In Answer to Several Queries, Lately Delivered to the Judges of Assize for the County of Norfolk; London; 1674〕 that he "never travelled far ... to gain his experience".〔Cabell 2006: p. 15〕 In the early 1640s Hopkins moved to Manningtree, Essex, a town on the River Stour from Colchester, about from Wenham. According to tradition Hopkins used his recently acquired inheritance of a hundred marks〔Gaskill 2005: p. 23〕 to establish himself as a gentleman and to buy the Thorn Inn in Mistley.〔Gaskill 2005: p. 27〕 From the way that he presented evidence in trials, Hopkins is commonly thought to have been trained as a lawyer, but there is scant evidence to suggest this was the case.〔Deacon 1976: pp. 58–59〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Matthew Hopkins」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|