Lawrence has asked me to post something about American History, so I will do it, just for him, to make him well-happy. It's not that I don't "like" Am Hist -- it's just that I've studied more European History and I'm into things like the Crusades, the Church, Byzantium, and the Black Death. So, LK, my buddy, this one is all for you. I love ya.
You may be familiar with the Salem Witch Trials. They took place between 1692 - 93 in the American colony of Massachussetts. This was a larger part of a conflict between the traditional "farmer" way of life common to the early colonists -- and the new, more secular colonists who were more interested in commercialism than religious tradition. It's possible you're not familiar with one elderly farmer named GILES CORY, who was put to death for his alleged involvement in "witchcraft" in 1693. Like the women accused of such crimes, Cory was sent to trial before a panel of men, most of whom represented the older "Puritan" and "Patriarchical" ways of colonial tradition. The old farmer (Cory was nearly 80) was asked to show these men what he had been accused of -- namely, being "possessed" by a supernatural spirit. Cory refused to answer and was then committed to be "pressed to death."
The poor man was laid on his back, and then wooden slats were placed on top of him. Then rocks were placed upon the wood, one after another, over a period of days until the weight was no longer sustainable... and he was crushed to death.
What has always interested me is the fact that this was an old, old man who was perhaps not fully aware of the charges being leveled against him. He was not fully coherent and was perhaps not able to answer his accusers. Indeed, he would not have been able to speak to them at all, given the weight being pressed down on him. It is recorded that he bit off his own tongue as he gasped and struggled for air. And his accusers, in an effort to gain the truth, stood on top of the rocks and eagerly tried to press down on them.
Next Week -- a more pleasant story, I promise.
We'll go back to the Crusades.