ps: It's the end of the month, ask for tickets, ask for subscriptions

"Ahh Mr. Smith and his son and daughter-in-law were all taken aback, only a few children of seven or eight years old still looked ignorant, and did not know what this meant.

"Father, are you mistaken, Mary can't be a witch!" Mr. Smith asked, looking at the priest in front of him, puzzled.

"That's right, Mr. Smith, your lady is indeed a witch, she cursed Lady Elizabeth to death, come here, stay away from that witch!" Father Gilgit said solemnly, looking at Lady Mary with wary eyes, and was even more sure that she was a witch.

"Mr. Smith, Father Priest is right!" "That's right! Stay away from that witch! "Lady Elizabeth was the one she killed, and I can testify to it!" ……

Then, all kinds of villagers on the side said one by one, shattering Smith's confidence, and his face gradually turned pale.

And his son and daughter-in-law had already gone to the crowd with their three grandsons, and they couldn't stop praying.

And he looked back at his wrinkled, pleading wife, and felt a little unbearable.

"William, don't take their word for it, I'm not a witch!" Lady Elizabeth said hoarsely, tears streaming down her cheeks.

However, the faith in his heart forced him to make a choice, "Elizabeth, I'm sorry!" ”

After saying this to his wife, William. Smith walked over dejectedly.

Seeing that there were no hostages, Father Gilgit nodded, and then, after the priest had sprinkled holy water, the sturdy and brave villagers, shouting St. Mary, walked slowly to capture Lady Elizabeth.

Lady Elizabeth did not resist this, in fact, she could not resist either, so she could only let the villagers capture her.

Soon, in the village, under the trial of Father Gilgit and the village chief, Lady Elizabeth was declared a witch and sent to the county court to appeal to the court to sentence her to death for murder.

Since these villagers were not peasants attached to the estate, but freedmen, the nearby manor court was unable to hear the case.

They took the case to the High Court of Kent.

The judges reported the matter to the county magistrates' committee, which consulted with the magistrates of the county (the sheriff mentioned above, whose name was changed due to a slight overlap with the magistrate), and finally decided to refer the case to His Majesty the King for adjudication.

According to Edward's judicial reform, the local courts were vertically managed from the central royal courts, and the local magistrate's committees were retained, but the personnel were arranged by the central royal courts.

However, some traditions in the local county are still difficult to change, and the interference of the county lieutenant in the judiciary is inevitable.

I can only take my time.

Moreover, Edward announced to all local courts that whenever there was a death penalty, it would be approved by the central government, that is, by the king.

Therefore, the case of the shrine maiden was not directly reviewed and approved by the county as before, but was transferred to the royal court.

Due to the proximity of Kent to London, in less than a day, the witch case came to the royal court.

It is presented to the exclusive office of the Chancellor's Court.

The Chancellor's Court is composed of nine Justices and is the highest body that administers the Crown Court, and all cases are collected in the Chancellor's Office, then submitted to His Excellency the Chancellor for review and finally sent to the Prince's Court.

In large cases such as the death penalty, the chief justice is specially handled.

"Your Excellency, this is a witch case from Kent!" A well-dressed secretary walked up to a big-nosed judge and whispered.

"Yes!" The big-nosed judge snorted softly, then flipped through it.

"It's another witch case! You go and inform the Ministry of Civil Affairs, no! Inform the court's Religious Department to send someone to Kent to deal with it! ”

As he spoke, the big-nosed judge patted his head, shook his head with a wry smile, and said to the young secretary, "I'm so confused!" ”

Originally, such proceedings had been the business of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, but some time ago the king himself referred these cases to the Ministry of Religion.

"Yes, Your Excellency, I'll go now!" The young secretary didn't answer and left directly, he knew that His Excellency the Chief Justice had a lot of things to deal with every day, but he didn't have time to make small talk with him, it was just him talking to himself!

Soon, he referred the case to the religious ministry downstairs.

In recent years, there have been an endless number of witch incidents all over England, and in Kent County alone, there were two witch cases this year, and there were at least hundreds of cases in England every year.

Although the Anrigan sect is more rational, the persecution of witches has become a culture, and the cities are better, while the countryside has changed little.

According to historical records, between 1560 and 1680, there were 132 cases of witches in Kent alone.

Witches are currently divided into white witches and witches in rural areas.

The White Witch is generally considered to be kind, she can help people find things, heal people, predict the future, subdue demons, etc.

And people believe that the black witch brought shipwrecks, storms, plagues, bad harvests, etc., and even troubles, bad luck, unexpected disasters, and illnesses to people are attributed to her, so to speak, as long as you encounter anything that does not go well, it can be said that the black witch is responsible.

Curses are a common tactic of black witches, which is why people believe that Lady Mary is a black witch.

As for how to deal with black witches, it is generally believed that they can only be tied to the cross and burned, not hanged, and it is believed that black witches generally have the magic that can resurrect themselves, and the fire is the most thorough.

The people who are generally referred to as witches are women, especially married and widowed.

These people are generally stingy, mean, often quarrel with their neighbors, and are unwilling to help others, so they are often accused of being witches.

Edward felt that such cases could only be solved by religious people, and asked a higher monk to tell the ignorant that this person was not a witch, and that it was easier and faster to solve the case, and that it was impossible to refute it.

Therefore, the Ministry of Civil Affairs was transferred to the Ministry of Religion.

Of course, this approach is immediate. From the beginning of 1549 to August, the royal court received a total of ninety-six witch cases, sixty-three of which were peacefully and perfectly resolved, and the remaining three were mainly too far away, and by the time the royal court sent over, the three men had already been burned to death.

Because of his experience, in less than a day, the Religious Department of the Royal Court sent a bishop, who happened to be one level higher than the priest.

ps: I introduce this, firstly, to introduce the British witch culture, and secondly, I want to tell you that even after the Renaissance and the Reformation, ordinary people are still ignorant.