Witch in the Scales: Bible Weighing in England and America

Abstract

Abstract:This article looks at a score of English and American records from the early 1700s to the early 1800s involving Bible weighing. This was an ordeal by which a suspected witch was weighed against a church Bible: if the suspect proved heavier than the Bible he or she was judged to be innocent; if lighter guilty. Taken together, our sources allow for a reconstruction of the mechanics of a test which was kinder to accused witches than swimming or other ordeals.. Despite taking place after the end of the British and American witchcraft trials, Bible weighing sometimes involved the guiding hand of the local authorities – secular or ecclesiastical. Indeed, it is argued that Bible weighing was well-suited to the period after the end of the legal persecution of witches. The origins of Bible weighing are not known: England, Germany or the Lowlands are suggested as possibilities..