Women's History Resource Site

King's College History Department

Book Review

Godbeer, Richard. The Devil's Dominion: Magic and Religion in Early New England. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

For centuries people have been both fascinated and frightened by witchcraft and there have been many informative books written on the subject. Richard Godbeer has written the book The Devil’s Dominion, Magic and Religion in Early New England. In his book Godbeer looks at folk magic in the early days of New England and how it was viewed by the clerics of the day, he shows how religion and magic were sometimes intertwined. When the English landed in Plymouth, in 1620 they brought over from the mother country the beliefs and superstitions that had been ingrained in them for many years, some of these beliefs were in magic. The role of the cleric the lay person and also the role that the beliefs of the church played in the witch hunts is explored in this book. In my opinion The Devil’s Dominion is written for not only a professional audience but for the general public. A great deal of research went into the book as evidenced by the many quotes from old texts. Richard Godbeer received his B.A. from Oxford University and his Ph.D. from Brandeis University; he is now an Associate Professor of History at Brandeis University. In addition to this book he has also written Sexual Revolution in Early America (Johns Hopkins University Press, March 2002). Specializing in early American history, Godbeer focuses on the religious and cultural history of early America.

When the colonists came over from England they brought with them all their different beliefs and practices this included their own beliefs in magic (24). Christianity and folk magic existed together in England for over a thousand years. Many people often confused Christian and non-Christian rituals. Instead of getting rid of all the pagan rituals when they became Christians, people tended to use both. (25). Many times the church rituals were in the same manner as a spell or a charm. This led to confusion between some of the church rituals and folk magic, also confusion between a priest and cunning folk (26). I can see the similarities between religion and magic myself. As long as one was not worshiping the devil and they did not seem to be, and the outcome was for the good of another, I can see why a person who proclaimed to be religious would intertwine the two. Even today churches have rituals that have the same connotations of casting a spell. It is easy to see why it was hard to separate religion and magic. 

The types of witchcraft that people were accused of using at the time included healing and divining. This cunning folk were performing a vital social service in the sixteenth and seventeenth century (24). In early modern England divination was used not only to predict the future but also to locate stolen goods. There was a major problem with theft all over the country and divination was one method used to try and locate the missing object. In New England, divination was mostly used to predict the future. There was a fortuneteller from Wethersfield, Connecticut named Katherine Harrison who was a servant. She predicted for Elizabeth Bateman, a girl she worked with, the man that she was going to marry. Katherine Harrison even predicted the name of the future husband, as it turned out Elizabeth did marry a man by the same name (33). In today’s society we have many people who could be accused of divining, there are advertisements daily on the television for you to call and have your future told for you. There seems to be the same need in some people to know what the future has in store for them today and there was in the sixteenth century.

Most of the information in regards to magic is found in clerical sources and in legal depositions. These sources tell of witnesses who had described the activities of the suspected cunning folk. These suspected people were believed to have been involved in witchcraft. In both England and in New England people used instruction manuals. In the northern colonies there was an unusual high rate of literacy. Though there is no record of any of these manuals surviving form colonel New England there is evidence of their existence. Cotton Mather had written that these types of books, that gave a person instruction on how to be a fortune-teller, had found their way into New England. In another instance a John Bradstreet from Rowley, Massachusetts had informed his neighbors that he had read from a book on magic. Another man, John Hale said that Dorcas Hoar had a book about fortune telling, and it had pictures in it (36). There are not very many written records that survived from this early period and there is no record of any witch trials before 1647. It is believed that is because the colony was very new, it took time for the suspicions to build up. 

The first witch trial was in 1648. The trial that took place involved a woman named Margaret Jones, she was from Charlestown, Massachusetts. In this trial her neighbors admitted to having to use countermagic to be able to identify the person who was responsible for the harm done to their livestock (32). The church taught that if a witch was to afflict you in some way, you were not supposed to use countermagic to fix the problem. You must put up with your affliction because it must be punishment from God for some kind of sin you must have committed (78). It seem to be just plain human nature not to trust your neighbors, if something bad happens to you, you must find someone else to blame. There are also people today who think that ills that befall you are punishments from God for sins you have committed. 

The end of the witch trials came about as the testimonies and lack of substantial proof came into question. Thomas Brattle wrote a letter in October of 1692, in which he gave a credible list of people opposing the trials. Some of the names included were the ex-governor, ex-deputy-governor and ministers from the county (221). There was not a complete majority in favor of ending the witch trials. The General Court passed by a very close margin to dissolve the Salem court (222). In 1693 the last time a Massachusetts court addressed an accusation of witchcraft was when Mary Watkins, a servant, accused herself. This accusation came after Watkins tried to commit suicide. The jury rejected the bill of indictment, most likely on the grounds that she was not fit to give credible evidence. The last time a charge of witchcraft appeared in court was four years later when Winifred Benham and her daughter, of the same name, was accused of witchcraft. Both were acquitted (225).

Richard Godbeer puts forth the idea that magic was such an everyday occurrence for people living in the sixteenth century. That it was not really thought of as witchcraft, until someone pointed it out. He takes "witchcraft" and takes away the mysterious shroud that surrounds it and puts it in everyday context. He does not sensationalize it with the most gruesome examples. He gives the reader a sense that this was a real life problem and not something out of the movies. I would recommend this book to fellow students.

Annotated Reviews

Morgan, Edmund S. "Beat the Devil," review of The Devil’s Dominion, Magic and Religion in Early New England, by Richard Godbeer, New York Review of Books, 28 May 1992, 40.
This review included information on works from two other authors that Godbeer drew upon. Morgan tell us that Godbeer emphasizes that there was a popular belief in magic at the time of the witch trials, it was not as important a belief as religion at the time but its popularity had an impact on the atmosphere as a whole.

Pestana, Carla Gardinia. Review of The Devil’s Dominion: Magic and Religion in Early New England, by Richard Godbeer. Reviews of American History, 21 ( 1993): 13. 
This review tells us that Godbeer believes there were more people practicing in the supernatural than was documented. Although most of the information in the book is not new, there is quite a bit of good information in it. He believes Godbeer’s book will appeal to an audience somewhere in-between the lay reader and scholars.

URL: http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/wrevgodbeer.html Written by Sandra Silvey Last Revision: 12 November 2001 Copyright © MM Prof. Pavlac's Women's History Site