I am usually very much a text person....

[oursin]

But this promised to be a short video, by one of my academic crushes.

(Indeed, should I ever meet Professor Hutton I fear I shall melt down and revert into A Teenager in Love to the embarrassment of all.)

Ronald Hutton on Matthew Hopkins, the English Civil War's 'Witchfinder General': 'What really happened when a breakdown of the legal system in the English Civil War fuelled a series of witch-hunts? In this 10-Minute Talk, Professor Ronald Hutton FBA delves into England's witch trials and Matthew Hopkins, the self-proclaimed Witchfinder General.'

It was really local, it was really atypical -

- and I never realised how very young Hopkins was, as well as being in a socially marginal position. (Do we think that these days he'd be an incel mass shooter?) In the 1968 movie he was played by Vincent Price who was well on in his career by that date.

Comments

[contrary_cal]

Oh gosh, Ronald Hutton! Who did the lovely folklore bits on the Historical Farm series!

That was a great video - thank you for the link! :)

[regshoe]

Ooh, that sounds good—I read a very interesting book on Hopkins and his witch hunt recently and would like to hear more about them *opens in tab*

[calimac]

I know Ronald Hutton for his work on Tolkien and paganism. I heard him speak at one of the Tolkien conferences I've attended in the UK.