August 19th: The Day the Samlesbury Witches were Trialled

Samlesbury witches:
Hubble and bubble?

Today's date marks one of the most notable witch-hunts in English history. Accused by 14 year old Grace Sowerbutts, three women from the Lancashire village of Samlesbury were suspected of practicing witchcraft, and were trialled on August 19th 1612. The trial was held at Lancaster Assizes in England over a two day period, and investigated the charges of child murder and cannibalism.What was remarkable about the Samlesbury Witch case, was that the principal and only accuser, Grace Sowerbutts, turned out to be the instrument of a Catholic priest.
   Witch-hunts were a common weapon of choice employed by both the Catholic and the Protestant churches, as a way of disposing of those who did not conform to their religions. The Samlesbury trial of 1612 was perhaps an demonstration of this religious rivalry, and an exposure of the corruption of Lancashire with witchcraft and plotting Catholic priests. Indeed, towards the end of the sixteenth century authorities began to give Lancashire a bad name, branding it a lawless region "fabled for its theft, violence and sexual laxity" (Rachel A.C. Hasted The Pendle Witch Trial 1612). Needless to say, this obviously did not help the case of the Samlesbury witches.
    Grace Sowerbutts claimed that the three women had been seen committing impure and evil deeds, most notably digging up a dead child's body from the grave and proceeding to eat some of it and use the remainder to make a potion of some sort. This was apparently nonsense, as once the 14 year old prosecutor was exposed as the tool of a Catholic priest, so the three "witches" were acquitted from the accusation. What do you think about this? Should witch-hunts have occurred in history? What does it say about the position of women in past societies?