Bridget Bishop | Executed For Conspiracy With the Devil

It's Oli from History Profiles and today I will be taking you to 17th century America where the Salem Witch Trials were taking place. The trials were a series of hearings in Massachusetts of people accused of witchcraft and conspiracy with the devil. In these trials more than 200 people were accused and Bridget was one of them. This is her story. Before we get into the story, I would like to say a thank you to NordVPN for sponsoring today's video. In today's age, internet protection is very important as pretty much anyone can see what you're doing online. But NordVPN protects you with a genius level of encryption so you can use the internet undetected from unfamiliar eyes. That's if you're doing anything weird like researching a satanic pope. One thing which I really love about NordVPN is that it has a feature where it's as if it has no borders due to it having over 5000 servers. 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She would marry her first husband who was Captain Samuel Wesselby in Norfolk, England. She had two sons and one daughter from her first marriage but her husband would die in She would then marry again in July in the same year of the death of her first husband. Her second husband was called Thomas Oliver who was a successful businessman and at some point the couple would make their way to America. The couple would have a daughter together but Thomas would later die due to mysterious circumstances. Bridget would be accused of bewitching him to death but was acquitted due to lack of evidence. Her third marriage was to a man named Edward Bishop, a well-known tavern owner whose family lived in Beverley. They were married in 1687. Bridget would run the taverns along with her husband. She would become well known for wearing exotic bright coloured clothes. Bridget would soon come to the attention of the authorities as five young women would accuse her of bewitching them. She was then arrested under suspicion of The authorities would examine her in April 1692. Now the accusations of what Bridget Dunn were very sinister and disturbing. The aim was to terrify, torture and curse her alleged victims. I will now read some of the testimonies that several people would give against Bridget. Allegedly an apparition of Bridget would appear in front of her victims and it would choke or bite them. One person said the apparition threatened to drown them if they did not write their name in a mysterious book. Bridget's case would be brought to the grand jury who would endorse all indictments against her as she was described as not living a Puritan lifestyle. She wore odd costumes which would be against the Puritan code. When there was enough allegations for Bridget to be brought to trial, anytime she looked at one of her accusers they would be struck down and only her touch would revive them. During the trial, one woman said that Bridget had torn her coat, then she fled in fear due to the malice of Bridget's demeanour. When the authorities returned to the spot, they found the torn jacket. However this was still not evidence of witchcraft. One of the five women that Bridget allegedly bewitched would take to the stand and her testimony was dark indeed. Anne Putman would testify in court that Bridget would call the devil her god and thanked him for enabling her to learn the dark arts. A man named Richard Coman would also take the stand where he said Bridget would use her powers to take hold of his throat and ripped his wife from their bed. More people would come forward saying that whenever Bridget looked at them, it was as if they were being tortured. Even a glance from her could cause much pain. But the most damning evidence came when Bridget's own husband took the stand and claimed that he overheard her praising the devil. All of the accusations at her trial were documented in a book called The Wonders of the Invisible World. The trial would last 8 days and what an eventful 8 days they were. People collapsing in the courtroom knew victims coming forward to tell their story and every day a darker picture was being painted of Bridget Bishop. William Stacey, a middle-aged man in Salem, would testify that Bridget had hinted to him that she was indeed a witch. He would later confront her with an allegation that she was a witch and used witchcraft to torment him. However, she would deny all charges and deny that allegation. Another local man named Samuel Shattuck accused her of bewitching his child and also hitting his son with a spade. He also said that she asked him to dye a lace which was too small to be used for a shoe or anything else and thought that the only use would be that it could be used on a puppet doll as an instrument for spell casting. Two men named John and William Bly would search her house after she was arrested. They found puppets in her house and said that her cat appeared to be bewitched and was acting very strange. She would also be physically investigated on during the trial by a jury of women who found a third nipple on her body which was said to be a sign of witchcraft. After all of these allegations and her husband coming forward, Bridget was sentenced to death for sorcery and conspiracy with the devil. She was then hung on the 10th of June, 1692. Now, it must be noted that during this time there was a notorious case of mass hysteria across America due to the fear mongering of witches and devil worshippers that were spreading like a plague. This resulted in people being that much more afraid. Mass hysteria can cause delusions due to a disturbance in the nervous system where a person can actually experience or think they are experiencing strange symptoms such as nausea, a sore throat and other physical complaints relating to a specific person's delusion. This may explain how people thought apparitions were appearing of Bridget and assaulting them and other people coming forward may have fed into their delusions. However, how can we explain people fainting upon her gaze? Were they simply terrified of her reputation due to the hysteria? And how can we explain that her own husband testified against her? It's a very complicated case due to the nature of what was going on at the time. The psychogenic illness was not known about at the time and the judge and jury must have taken the testimonies at face value as there were many. What do you think? Do you think Bridget was innocent of all charges or do you think she was indeed a witch and was conspiring with the devil? Let me know your thoughts in the comment sections down below and I'll see you all next week for another history profile.