Case file · Witch trials
The Witches of Warboys
After the children of the wealthy Throckmorton family of Warboys had fits and blamed their elderly neighbour Alice Samuel, she, her husband and daughter were hanged at Huntingdon in April 1593.
1593 CE · 52.40, -0.08 · status: official
The account
The family had connections to the powerful Cromwell family, whose relative Lady Cromwell's death was added to the charges. A detailed pamphlet spread the case, and it influenced later laws and trials.
The sceptical view
The children's fits look like attention-seeking or illness; the accused were poor and had no protection.