Records of the Salem Witch Trials - The National Endowment for …
They were accused of witchcraft based on “spectral evidence,” which meant the court accepted testimony that disembodied spirits, or specters, were sent through dreams or visions by the accused with the help of Satan to harm the victims by …
Spectral Evidence and the Salem Witch Trials - ThoughtCo
Aug 14, 2019 · Spectral evidence is evidence-based on visions and dreams of the actions of a witch's spirit or specter. Thus, spectral evidence is testimony about what an accused person's spirit did, rather than actions of the accused person in the body.
Salem Witch Trials, Summary, Facts, Significance - American …
Aug 18, 2024 · Spectral evidence was not allowed, and most of the accused were found innocent of the witchcraft charges and released. A handful of the people accused of witchcraft were convicted, but Governor Phips intervened in May 1693 …
Spectral Evidence - Salem Witch Museum
Feb 15, 2013 · “Spectral evidence refers to a witness testimony that the accused person’s spirit or spectral shape appeared to him/her witness in a dream at the time the accused person’s physical body was at another location. It was accepted in the courts during the Salem Witch Trials.
Salem Witch Trials - World History Encyclopedia
Apr 13, 2021 · The use of 'spectral evidence' was admissible in court as the concept had been addressed by the well-respected Puritan theologian Cotton Mather. Tituba confessed (later revealing Samuel Parris had beaten the confession out of her) and supported the girls’ accusation of Good and Osborne.
Salem Witchcraft Trials Research Guide - Congregational Library
In general, a confession was considered to be best, or if possible multiple witnesses to a diabolical act, whereas spectral evidence (testimony from a witness who encountered the spirit or specter of a witch) was controversial and its validity continued to …
Rare Salem Witch Trials documents, artifacts on display at …
Oct 25, 2020 · A special 17th-century court, called the Court of Oyer and Terminer, arrived at guilty convictions based largely on spectral evidence, evidence based on dreams and visions that were...
Spectral evidence - Wikipedia
Spectral evidence is a form of legal evidence based upon the testimony of those who claim to have experienced visions. Such testimony was frequently given during the witch trials of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Evidence from Invisible Worlds in Salem | In Custodia Legis
Aug 20, 2020 · Spectral evidence was testimony in which witnesses claimed that the accused appeared to them and did them harm in a dream or a vision. Contemporary witch lore held that witches could project themselves spiritually, either directly or with the aid of Satan, in order to harm their victims from afar.
Salem witch trials - Hysteria, Accusations, Executions | Britannica
Nov 1, 2024 · Most damning for them was the admission of “spectral evidence”—that is, claims by the victims that they had seen and been attacked (pinched, bitten, contorted) by spectres of the accused, whose forms Satan allegedly had assumed to work his evil.