Over-Familiar Spirits: The Bonds between English Witches and Their Devils

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the bonds between accused witches and demonic familiars in early modern England by examining three case studies: Joan Prentice (1589), the Flower witches (1619) and the Bideford witches (1680s). It explores how these accused witches described the emotional bond between themselves and their familiar spirits and argues that familiars were understood as demonic creatures who allowed a suspected witch to act on her emotional desires. Further, it suggests that the familiar spirit can be viewed as a physical manifestation of a witch’s inner emotional state. The chapter examines how witches’ narratives, as retold in pamphlets, used the familiar spirit to explain their uncontrolled desires.