[1] Witchcraft in early modern Wales was common, and superstitious beliefs and rituals were involved in everyday life.
Accusations, trials, and executions were significantly fewer in number than in England, Scotland and other parts of Europe, with only 37 prosecutions in Wales during this time period.
[2] In addition, most cases in Wales were dismissed or acquitted, and punishment was often less severe than in many other places, where torture was common.
According to the historian Richard Suggett, contemporary English sources claimed a belief that different types of magic were used in Wales at this time, both harmful and helpful.
Pre-union Welsh law emphasised compensation of the victim, rather than punitive punishment of the accused, to ensure a peaceful outcome between all participants and to keep harmony in the community.
[1] All of the cases, according to Kelsea Rees, a historian at Liverpool Hope University, took place in north Wales.
The cause of their trial was over the death of the wife of a man from the local gentry, Margaret Hughes, and the bewitchment of their daughter, Mary.
Blessings were the act of protecting oneself or others from anything evil; they were considered part of everyday life during the early modern period.
If someone did something that was considered to be unacceptable by the society in which they lived, it was important to seek a blessing in order to avoid some form of punishment.
Formal cursing was the practice of involving God and hexing the wrongdoer, often on the knees with arms stretched towards Heaven.