The Witches of New York

The period between the 15th and the 18th centuries (also known as the Early Modern period) was marked by growing religious fervor and fear of the devil and witchcraft. From the 14th century onward, European populations were gripped by several waves of bubonic plague (known as the Black Death) along with several social upheavals (the Peasants’ Revolt in the 14th and 15th centuries; the Thirty Years’ War (1618-48); the English Civil War (1642-51); the Renaissance Period and its interest in scientific inquiry, among others). As fear rose within the peasantry, many pointed to witchcraft as the source of these social ills, which cultivated widespread hostility.

Accusations of witchcraft seldom had any evidence of legitimate witchcraft; rather, accusing a person of witchcraft was often a way to enact personal vendettas or get retribution for local strife. Displaying any kind of behavior considered abnormal or threatening was also often a cause for accusation. When the Malleus Maleficarum, or The Hammer of Witches, was published in 1486, authorities across Europe such as witch hunters, judges, and ecclesiastical representatives were provided with a manual that justified the persecution of so-called witches. The book created a theological basis and gave legal justifications for identifying, prosecuting, and punishing the accused. As it emphasized a diabolical conspiracy led by Satan and his followers, the book also outlined methods for detecting and interrogating witches during witch trials. Torture and bodily disfigurement were encouraged to extract confessions from the accused, who were presumed guilty before their trials. If an accused person revealed the identity of other witches, however, their sentence could be lessened.

Witch hunts spread widely throughout Europe but were particularly noted in Germany, Switzerland, Scotland, and parts of Scandinavia. Women were the disproportionate victims of these hunts and trials, specifically if they were elderly, widowed, or economically vulnerable. The witch trials in Iceland were one of the notable exceptions; of the 22 people accused and tried for witchcraft, 20 of them were men. In general, advocacy for the accused was rarely observed. An accusation thus became synonymous with torture and a horrifying death sentence. Accused women died by burning at the stake, hanging, drowning through the so-called “trial by water” or “swimming test,” pressing (being crushed by heavy stones), or beheading, among other methods. The exact number of women who died because of the witch trials remains a widely debated figure; while some historians claim tens of thousands were killed during the frenzy, others suggest millions died since many local trials were never recorded and death attestations were not standardized. Even less is known about the many additional victims who were accused, arrested, interrogated, and subjected to various forms of persecution and torture but survived their ordeals.

In North America, the fear of witchcraft traveled with European colonizers. It was widespread in the colonies, but witch trials weren’t as popular. The only exception was the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, where religious fervor, political rivalries, and social tensions led to a series of accusations and, ultimately, the execution of 20 people. Instead of becoming a starting point for more hunts, however, the Salem witch trials became a cautionary tale against the dangers of mass hysteria, religious extremism, and abuse of power. By the late 17th and 18th centuries and the advent of the Enlightenment period, skepticism toward witchcraft increased as legal reforms, scientific advancements, and the rise of secularism took hold and skewered the belief that witchcraft was a tangible threat.

In creating a fantasy novel, McKay stretches anti-witch sentiments into the Gilded Age in New York City, particularly in Reverend Townsend and other religious figures’ ideology. While witch hunts as such were not prevalent during this era, McKay blends elements of witchcraft with Spiritualism, a real movement from the era that focused on communicating with spirits. Additionally, McKay uses witchcraft and religious persecution as a lens for examining other real-life social issues like patriarchal oppression. While Reverend Townsend’s kidnappings and murders are extreme, other methods of controlling women such as forced incarceration in psychiatric hospitals were facts of life in the late 19th century.