The bewitching of Anne Gunter - James Sharpe

In 1604, 20 year old Anne Gunter claimed to be bewitched: she foamed at the mouth, vomited pins and went into trances. Somewhat suspiciously, the three women accused of bewitching her were related to the two men murdered by Anne's father during a rowdy football match. They were tried for witchcraft and acquitted. But then Anne Gunter's father appealed directly to James I, who took a close interest in witches. The case was re-opened and the ensuing Star Chamber trial - with over 50 witnesses - revealed all. Here is a true crime story, investigated properly for the first time 400 years later. It reveals much about what village life was like in early modern England, about neighbourly relations, folk beliefs and the greatly misunderstood phenomenon of English witchcraft.