Pendle Witches Tour – Sabden Sabden village has a direct connection to the Pendle Witches. It's located at the base of Pendle Hill in Lancashire, the area where the accused witches lived in the early 17th century. While the trials themselves took place at Lancaster Castle, the events leading up to them, and the lives of those accused, were deeply rooted in the villages surrounding Pendle Hill. Sabden is one of these villages that were part of the landscape where the "witchcraft" outbreaks occurred. The history of the Pendle Witches highlights the poverty and superstition prevalent in the area at the time. Many of the accused, including some who might have been traditional healers, were from these local communities, and the fear and accusations spread through the villages at the foot of Pendle Hill. The area around Pendle Hill was considered lawless in the early 17th century. Many accused individuals were perceived as "village healers" or "cunning folk" who practiced a form of folk magic, often for payment, which could leave them open to charges of sorcery. King James I's book, Daemonologie, influenced the belief that "Children, women and liars can be witnesses over high treason against God," which was crucial in the Pendle trials, particularly regarding Jennet Device's testimony. The Act of 1604 made practicing witchcraft a felony punishable by death. The Incident The investigations began in March 1612 when Roger Nowell, the JP for Pendle, looked into a complaint from the family of John Law, a pedlar, who claimed Alizon Device had injured him by witchcraft. Alizon had allegedly cursed him after he refused to sell her pins.
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