Juvenilia ✔/ a Nonfiction Undergraduate University Collection

No Salvation from Witchcraft and Magic

HISTORY 1008

Religion, Magic, & Witchcraft in the Medieval World

November 6th, 2020

No Salvation from Witchcraft and Magic

William of Malmesbury, an important chronicler, gives an account of a witch and her wish for salvation through tasks completed through her children.

The account is not witnessed by himself, but by someone he deems utterly reputable in his word.

"(...) for I have heard it from a man of such character, who swore he had seen it, that I should blush to disbelieve."

William of Malmesbury puts an extreme amount of faith into his reputable source, a source he does not, in fact, name. In addition, he does not seem eager to find other sources to confirm these statements and takes them at face value.

There is no cross-examination, nor is there any indication that William of Malmesbury questioned this account even in the slightest. The unknown source told the story with such conviction—assumedly—that questioning the account was the absurd thing to do, not believing it, as seen in Malmesbury's statement "that I should blush to disbelieve."

According to Malmesbury, the woman was guilty of sin—witchcraft, gluttony, and lust—and was also accused of 'Ancient Augury'. By careful observation of birds to predict the future, she knew something bad was going to happen, proved by her consultation with a jackdaw and subsequent realization of her son's death.

In recognition of her failing health, she gathers her surviving family, along with a monk and a nun, and attempts to repent and absolve herself from her vices. The trials do not work, and the woman is taken away by the Devil anyway.

This fact seems to suggest that there is no forgiveness for the crime of witchcraft, and that even confession cannot rescue your soul if you go down the path of magic and witchcraft. There is also the underlying implication that magic, and witchcraft, can prematurely age and cripple you, as seen with the mother who became suddenly bedridden with the knowledge of her son's death. It is such an evil act, that one is punished in this life (shortened life) and in the afterlife, though is in Hell, not Heaven.

The mother in the story confesses and repents, and has her family, a monk, and a nun attempt to save her after death, but it does not work. This seems a very extreme view, particularly given that this is written in 1140.

The devil seems to be presented in a very powerful way, being able to step on holy ground despite the intervention of God and the church, which seems problematic. It presents witchcraft as a stronger force than that of the good if the church cannot do anything about it.

This is called 'fear mongering'.

It, in a roundabout way, gives the Church more power because people will relinquish sense and rights for the problem to be eradicated.

In conclusion, William of Malmesbury believed wholeheartedly in the account, believing both in witchcraft and magic in the physical reality of the story.

He presents witchcraft and magic as an inherently evil thing, and he seems to also suggest that there is nothing to save you, even if absurd rites are performed by people of God. If one goes down the path of evil, one must pay the consequences in this life and the next.

[WORKS CITED]

Kors, A. C., & Peters, E. (1973). William of Malmesbury: The Witch of Berkeley 1140. In Witchcraft in Europe, 1100-1700: A documentary history (pp. 32-35). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press.