Thomas Potts

The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster (Dodo Press) Thomas Potts

The Pendle witch trials of 1612 are among the most famous witch trials in English history, and some of the best recorded of the 17th century. The 12 Pendle witches were charged with murdering 10 people in and around the Pendle Hill area of Lancashire by the use of witchcraft. One of the accused, Jennet Preston, lived in Gisburn, just over the border from Pendle, in Yorkshire. She was convicted at York Assizes on 27 July 1612, and sentenced to death by hanging. The remainder were tried, together with the Salmesbury witches and others, at Lancaster Assizes 17-19 August 1612, in what became known as the Lancashire witch trials. Thomas Potts, the clerk to the Lancaster Assizes, wrote the account of the trials of the Lancaster witches, making them some of the most famous and best recorded witch trials of the 17th century. Potts was instructed to write his account by the trial judges, Sir James Altham and Sir Edward Bromley. The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster was completed on 16 November 1612, and submitted to the judges for review. Bromley revised and corrected the manuscript before its publication in 1613, declaring it to be "truly reported" and "fit and worthie to be published".