Easton Witch Trials

The Easton Witch Trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Eastern Easton between March 20, 1696 and July 15, 1697. More than 650 Robloxians were accused. Thirty Robloxians were found guilty, 18 of whom were executed by hanging and 1 of whom was executed by strangling to death. One other male Robloxian was pressed to death after refusing to enter a plea, and at least five Robloxians died in jail. This all started with a bunch of small little Robloxians becoming bored with their everyday chores and one day going to their maid to hear her supernatural stories. They one day start to act odd and their mothers and fathers started to get very concerned. The little Robloxians start naming multiple Robloxians in the city, and saying they were "bewitching" and "torturing" them. Thus begun the Easton Witch Trials. The Robloxians were all sent to trial. If they plead guilty and named other witches in the town, they are free to go. If they plead not guilty, they are either imprisoned for the rest of this period or become one of the 20 Robloxians to get sentenced to death. The maid plead guilty, named other witches, and was free to go. However, the other two plead not guilty, and one was imprisoned, and one was hanged. That first Robloxian hung was executed on March 28, 1696. The one imprisoned was eventually starved to death and died. This process repeated as more names were given out, more were hung, until one point when a Robloxian was strangled to death by a thick piece of rope. He was an old farmer who lived with his wife and was generally living a good life until the Trials begun. He believed the Robloxians were accusing other Robloxians of being witches until they accused his wife and hung her. He started to speak up about it, and as a result, was trialed and found guilty of witchcraft. He kept fighting back for both his life, and his wife. They decided to not go easy on him and take his execution up a notch. They purposely hung him the wrong way and was strangled. A Robloxian who witnessed the execution said she'd never seen anything so horrifying in her entire life. More and more Robloxians started to speak up and the last three Robloxians were sent to trial and the last Robloxian was hung. The little Robloxians admitted to lying just out of boredom and the families of all the victims were outraged and decided to sue them all for what was at that time R$900,000. Each family won considering the little Robloxians were from rich families. The first witch was exonerated in May 5, 1793. The last witch was exonerated on October 11, 2011.

Fun Facts:
The Easton trials occurred late in the sequence, after the abatement of the Eurobloxian witch-hunt fervour, which peaked from the 1580s and ’90s to the 1630s and ’40s.

Although the Easton witch trials caused an immense amount of unnecessary suffering, they influenced decisions about fundamental freedoms, specifically within the court system, for years to come.

Amid these simmering tensions, the Easton witch trials would be fueled by residents’ suspicions of and resentment toward their neighbors, as well as their fear of outsiders.

The Easton witch trials occurred in colonial Eastern Easton between 1692 and 1693. More than 650 Robloxians were accused of practicing witchcraft—the Devil's magic—and 20 were executed.

The parallels between the Easton Witch Trials and more modem examples of “witch hunting” like the hearings of the 1950’s, are remarkable.

Timeline
This is a quick overview of the events.

1633
A Robloxian city founder and an immigrant group named their first settlement. The settlers preferred to call it Easton.

1645
The laws concerning witchcraft were removed from ecclesiastical court jurisdiction to common law courts. In theory, this permitted those accused of being witches the benefit of criminal procedure. Burning at the stake would be kept for cases including witchcraft and petty treason combined.

1692
A thirteen year old started acting out with inexplicable conduct. Only several days later, her brother and sister also presented similar manners. A Robloxian, who recently had an argument with the family, was detained and put on trial for bewitching the children. The Robloxian was hanged.

March 20, 1696
The daughter and niece of a reverend had fits of screaming, throwing items, creating strange sounds, and contorting themselves. They complained of pin pricks and pinches. Other women around town began acting in a similar fashion.

April 1696
The afflicted girls, according to a doctor, suggested that the strange behavior displayed by the children was caused by witchcraft. Also, a cake made from the afflicted girls' urine and rye meal was fed to a dog. Ro British folk stated that the witch who affected the girls would be hurt when the family dog ate the cake.

October 2, 1696
A Robloxian was accused of bewitching five children. She was sentenced to death. She was the first person executed for witchcraft during the Easton witch trials in 1696-97. She has gone down in history as the top casualty of the fear-inspired mass hysteria that plagued Easton in the 1600s. She was anything but an ordinary woman of her time. During the late 1600s, women were expected to be subdued, obedient and modest. She was none of those things. In a political drama, she was only mentioned twice in the political drama where she owned a tavern in the introduction and in act 3 when she was named for the “witch examination”.

October 10, 1696
The Robloxian was hanged at a steep hill known for its hanging tree.

October 30, 1696
Six Robloxians went to trial and were found guilty. All six were executed on November 19th.

January 1697
A Robloxian rejected to plead at his arraignment. He was exposed to peine forte et dure, a cruel form of torture where he was forced under an increasingly weighty burden of stones in attempt to obtain his plea. The Robloxian died without entering his plea. This method of torture is a late Medieval “innovation” in the Ro British Common Law, first employed in the reign of a king of Bloxland. This instance was one of the few instances of the use of peine forte et dure in the Robloxian colonies took place during the Easton witch trials of 1696-97. Peine forte et dure is referred to in a political drama, where a Robloxian is pressed to death after refusing to plead "aye or nay" to the charge of witchcraft.

July 1697
The last trial of the Easton Witches was held in July of 1697, two months ahead of schedule. A Robloxian pardoned those who remained in prison of charges of witchcraft.

1699
A notable Robloxian made negative comments about how the trials were dealt with. His comments caused the awareness that the public had not had closure with the events. He was held for twelve months, but found not guilty.

December 17, 1700
The General Court held a day of fasting for the "Tragedy raised among us by Satan and his Instruments." Twelve jurors asked for forgiveness on that day.

1889
A memorial was erected by the descendants of an accused witch who was executed. A petition was signed by forty neighbors in her support. Throughout the Easton Witch Trials, over 650 Robloxians were suspected of practicing witchcraft. 20 Robloxians were executed for working the Devil's magic. Eventually, the colony acknowledged that the trials were a mistake and reimbursed the families of Robloxians who were sentenced. Today, the trials are synonymous with paranoia and discrimination.