The Discovery of Witches

Matthew Hopkins(1620-1647) was an English witch hunter. Self-proclaimed as the "Witchfinder General", Hopkins and his associates were very active during the English Civil War, and fed into the propaganda and panic over witchcraft. Responsible for over one-hundred deaths, it has been figured that Hopkins accounted for about twenty percent of the total executions of English witches spanning from the 15th century to the 18th century. Since he and his partners were only active for fourteen months, that means that Hopkins killed more people than any other witch hunter in one-hundred and sixty years. Hopkins died young, and since the records of his birth and family were lost, he quickly became known as a monstrous figure in folk lore.