In the last decades of the eighteenth century, Thomas Jefferson, principal author of the American Declaration of Independence, began collecting documents related to the history of the Colony of Virginia. Among them was a volume of early seventeenth-century case records from the Williamsburg Courthouse. During the American Civil War, retreating Confederate forces burned the archives in Virginia’s state capital in 1865. This one volume, maintained in Jefferson’s private library, survived, and with it, the record of America’s earliest documented witch trial, some seventy years before the famous trials at Salem. This episode brings you the story of Goodwife Joan Wright and America’s first known witch trial.

Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben with original music by Purple Planet.

Episode sources

Support the Show.

EnchantedPodcast.net
Facebook/enchantedpodcast
Instagram/enchantedpodcast
Tumblr/enchantedpodcast

As Europeans embarked on their colonial ventures in the Americas, they also forged new frontiers closer to their homelands. In Norway's far northern territory of Finnmark, settlers from the south moved into the ancestral home of the Indigenous Sámi people, and by the end of the seventeenth century, nearly five percent of the population had been tried for witchcraft. This episode tells the story of Norway’s Vardø witch trials and their legacy.

Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben with original music by Purple Planet.

Episode sources

Support the Show.

EnchantedPodcast.net
Facebook/enchantedpodcast
Instagram/enchantedpodcast
Tumblr/enchantedpodcast

Despite his dedication to science and mathematics—or perhaps because of it—Pope Sylvester II has been historically linked with legends of magic and sorcery, though these stories are more myth than fact. His reputation for being involved in magic largely stems from his profound knowledge and his use of what was then cutting-edge technology. This episode brings you the story of the life and legacy of Gerbert of Aurillac also known as Pope Sylvester II.

Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben with original music by Purple Planet.

Episode sources

Support the Show.

EnchantedPodcast.net
Facebook/enchantedpodcast
Instagram/enchantedpodcast
Tumblr/enchantedpodcast