Thomas Ady's A Candle in the Dark, 1656 (Edexcel A-Level History): Revision Notes
Thomas Ady's A Candle in the Dark, 1656
Thomas Ady's career
Little is known about the life of Thomas Ady beyond his published works. Key facts about his background include:
- Lived in south-east England, primarily in Essex
- Married in 1634 according to surviving records
- Worked as a renowned doctor, suggesting he was highly educated
- Had personal familiarity with events in Essex and Suffolk
- Likely witnessed the Bury St Edmunds witch trials conducted by Matthew Hopkins
- His son studied at Cambridge and became a lawyer
Ady's background as a renowned doctor is particularly significant. This medical training would have given him:
- A scientific and rational approach to understanding diseases and ailments
- The education and authority to challenge popular superstitions
- Personal experience with patients whose illnesses might have been blamed on witchcraft
- The credibility to critique physicians who attributed diseases to supernatural causes
Ady's three published works
Ady published three important books challenging beliefs about witchcraft:
1. A Candle in the Dark (1656)
- His first and most influential work
- A sceptical examination of contemporary witchcraft beliefs
- Used the Bible as its only source to challenge witch-hunters
2. A Perfect Discovery of Witches (1661)
- Directly attacked the witch-hunts of the earlier 17th century
- Criticised physicians who failed to understand diseases and blamed them on witchcraft
- Challenged the popular attitude that witches were responsible for natural disasters and unexplained events
3. The Doctrine of Devils, Proved to be the grand Apostacy of these later Times (1676)
- Initially published anonymously
- Heavily influenced by Joseph Mede's work The Apostacy of the Latter Times (published after Mede's death in 1644)
- Both Ady and Mede agreed that possession could be attributed to mental illness rather than demonic forces
The significance of A Candle in the Dark
Using the Bible against witch-hunters
Ady's approach was particularly clever and effective because he used the same source that witch-hunters used to justify their persecutions - the Bible. This made his arguments difficult to dismiss.
The Strategic Brilliance of Ady's Method
By using the Bible as his sole source, Ady created an argument that witch-hunters could not easily refute. Since they based their own justifications on biblical authority, they could not dismiss Ady's biblical analysis without undermining their own position. This was a masterful rhetorical strategy that turned the witch-hunters' own weapon against them.
In the preface, Ady set out his main argument: the actions of witch-finders and suspicions about witches cannot be found anywhere in the Bible. He challenged readers with specific questions about biblical evidence for contemporary witch-hunting practices.
Source 11 shows Ady's key questions from the preface:
Where is it written in all the old and new Testament, that a Witch is a murderer, or hath power to kill by Witchcraft, or to afflict with any disease or infirmity? Where is it written, that Witches have Imps sucking of their bodies?... Where is it written, that the Devil setteth privy marks upon Witches, whereby they should be known or searched out? or that any man or woman hath any mark upon their body any more than natural, or by some disease or hurt, which is preternatural? Where is it written, that the trial of a Witch should be by sinking or swimming in the water? or by... privy marks, or suspicion of people, to be signs of a Witch? Where is it written, that Witches can hurt corn or cattle, or transport corn by Witchcraft, or can fly in the air, and do many such strange wonders? Where is it written, that a Witch is such a man or woman that maketh a league with the Devil, written with his or her blood, and by virtue of that covenant to have the Devil at command?
Motivation for writing
Ady was compelled to write because:
- He knew of too many wrongful executions resulting from witchcraft accusations
- He found it ridiculous that ordinary animals like cats, mice or frogs could be considered witches' familiars
- He wanted to revive the sceptical message of Reginald Scot's The Discoverie of Witchcraft, which had been forgotten
Ady stated that although Scot's work had been taken seriously for a time, the English people had forgotten Scot's teachings. His work was essentially a revision and updating of Scot's original message.
Structure of the book
A Candle in the Dark is divided into three sections, each targeting different aspects of witch-hunting beliefs.
First section: Biblical definition of witches
In this section, Ady described what the definition of a witch is according to the Bible.
The types of witches he identified from biblical sources included:
- Astrologers
- Jugglers (performers/tricksters)
- Users of charms
- Those who attempt to communicate with the dead
Key term: Idolater
An idolater is a person who worships false idols. In Ady's argument, this definition became central to redefining what a witch actually was - not someone with supernatural powers, but someone who led others away from true Christian worship.
Ady's argument:
- These types of magician could be seen as false prophets or idolaters
- If witches are people who encourage idolatry, then Catholic priests are guilty of witchcraft
- He was particularly critical of the notion that witches had familiar spirits, as there is no evidence for this in the Bible
Second section: Misinterpretation of scriptures
Ady argued that the original scriptures had been misinterpreted, particularly by Catholics, to justify witch-hunts.
He emphasised this with:
- Examples of idolatry and corrupt priests from the Old Testament
- Direct comparisons between these corrupt biblical figures and Catholic priests
- The claim that Catholics were the first to kill for religion, which is unchristian
Theologians criticised by Ady:
Jean Bodin (1530-96) - French philosopher
- Claimed that torture was acceptable in witch trials because rumours about witches were almost always true
Hemingus - 16th-century Danish theologian
Andreas Hyperius (1511-64) - Flemish theologian
Ady's Anti-Catholic Bias
Ady claimed these writers were Popish (Catholic), though in fact Hemingus and Hyperius were both Protestants. This reveals how Ady's strong anti-Catholic bias occasionally led to factual inaccuracies. His argument was so focused on attacking Catholic practices that he sometimes misidentified Protestant theologians as Catholics simply because they supported witch-hunting.
Third section: Critique of English works
Most of Ady's contempt and anger was reserved for this section, which contained a critique of English works that promoted witch trials.
Critique of King James' Daemonologie:
- Ady even criticised King James' Daemonologie
- He claimed that James' work was actually written by Bishop James Montague, a close ally who published James' collected works
- Ady was particularly critical because no scripture was referenced in Daemonologie
A Bold and Risky Criticism
Criticising a work by a king (even a deceased one) was extremely risky in 17th-century England. This demonstrates Ady's courage and conviction in his mission to challenge witch-hunting beliefs, even when it meant potentially offending powerful figures or their supporters.
Ady's critique of witch-hunting methods
Although Ady's key arguments were derived from close study of the Bible, he also used rational common sense to explain concepts associated with witch-hunts.
The swimming test
Ady was particularly critical of the swimming test, which he claimed could be easily manipulated.
Source 12 provides Ady's detailed explanation of how the swimming test could be rigged:
Then they cast them into the water, to see whether they will sink or swim, a mere Juggling delusion to blind people's eyes, for he that hath been used to the Art of Swimming may know, that few men or women being tied hand and feet together can sink quite away till they be drowned, or if he lay them flat on their back, and hold up their feet with a string, their fore-part will not sink, and therein they can use Juggling to blind the people's eyes for difference sake; for when they will save any man or woman, they will let loose the string which they hold in their hand, and let their feet sink first, and then all their body will sink, then they cry one to the people, Look you now, and see the difference betwixt an honest man or woman, and a Witch, take her out, she is an honest woman...
Natural explanations for different results:
Ady provided rational, scientific explanations for why people floated or sank, undermining the supernatural interpretation of the swimming test:
Difference in constitution:
- Some people are heavy of temper and sink more
- Some are lighter of temper, fuller of vital spirits, and don't sink as much
Breathing patterns (Systole and Diastole):
- Some fall into water when their bodies are full of breath and swim more
- Some fall when their breath is out and sink more
Effects of fasting and torture:
- People kept long in fasting, watching and torment have bowels and veins empty of food and filled with wind
- These people swim more than those filled with nourishment
- If kept fasting so long they have scarce any life left, they sink most
Clothing and physical condition:
- Women cast into water with their coats tied close toward their feet
- Men with their apparel
- Women whose bodies are dilated with bearing of children are more apt to swim than sink
Direct reference to Matthew Hopkins:
Ady was critical of methods such as sleep deprivation, as used by Matthew Hopkins, who had been active in Essex and Suffolk in 1645-47. Hopkins is directly referenced by Ady, showing his personal knowledge of these witch-hunts.
Critique of magicians and conjurors
Ady was highly critical of magicians and conjurors who exploited people's beliefs in the supernatural.
Hocus Pocus Junior (1634):
- A book probably written by a leading magician who used the stage name Hocus Pocus
- This is one of the earliest recorded uses of the phrase "hocus pocus" as a reference to magic
- Ady explained how magicians' tricks were actually carried out
Exposing tricks and frauds:
Ady went some way to explaining how tricks were performed:
- Performers claimed to perform miracles but were able to convince people through sleight of hand
- They planted assistants in crowds
- Cases of moving statues had been controlled by wires
- Weeping statues of saints were subtly fed by pipes
- Some jugglers and swindlers would stuff dead rodents and attach them by springs to their clothes, claiming they were familiars
This rational explanation of supposed supernatural events helped to undermine belief in witchcraft.
The significance of Ady's beliefs
What Ady actually believed about witches
Ady's True Definition of Witchcraft
Crucially, Ady did believe that witches existed, but his definition differed fundamentally from the 17th-century understanding used in witch-hunts.
Ady's definition of a witch:
- NOT someone who had supernatural powers
- Someone who led others towards an ungodly path, either through:
- Idolatry
- Practices associated with the Catholic Church
Who were the real criminals?
To Ady, the real criminals were:
- The idolaters themselves
- The witch-hunters who persecuted innocent people
This was a radical reversal of contemporary thinking - those hunting witches were themselves the guilty parties.
Impact and influence
Limited impact in America:
Reverend George Burroughs, the only minister to be executed in the Salem witch trials in 1692, quoted the book in his defence. However, it failed to make an impact on the outcome of his trial.
Significant impact in Britain:
In Britain, the steep decline in witch trials and increased scepticism in witchcraft after 1660 was certainly influenced by the work of Ady.
Ady's importance lies in:
- Providing biblical justification for scepticism about witchcraft
- Offering rational, scientific explanations for supposed supernatural phenomena
- Exposing the methods used by witch-hunters as unreliable and easily manipulated
- Redefining what a witch actually was according to biblical sources
- Contributing to the intellectual climate that led to the decline of witch persecution
Key Points to Remember:
- Thomas Ady was a doctor from Essex who published three sceptical books about witchcraft, most notably A Candle in the Dark (1656)
- Ady used the Bible as his only source to challenge witch-hunters, turning their own evidence against them by showing contemporary witch-hunting practices had no biblical basis
- The book is divided into three sections: biblical definitions of witches, critique of Catholic misinterpretation of scripture, and critique of English pro-witchcraft works
- Ady provided rational, scientific explanations for the swimming test, showing how it could be manipulated based on body constitution, breathing patterns, fasting, and clothing
- Ady did believe witches existed but defined them as idolaters who led people away from God (especially Catholic priests), NOT as people with supernatural powers - the real criminals were the witch-hunters themselves
- Though his work had limited impact at the Salem trials (1692), it significantly contributed to the decline in witch trials and increased scepticism in Britain after 1660