Medieval England and Superstitions

Medieval England was an era of witches, ghosts and demons. Religion was in a state of flux as Henry VIII made himself the head of the Church of England and money from the sale of monastic lands was used to pay for war with France. This was the time when the astronomer Nicholas Copernicus shocked people by suggesting the earth rotated around the sun, people still feared witches and confusion as to whether to obey God or the laws of nature would be expressed in outbreaks of hysteria.

During these troubled times, people were exceedingly superstitious. For those who could read, lists of 'evil days' were printed in almanacs. On these days people would refrain from travelling as it was believed that those who journeyed on evil days would either never return or would become ill.

There were three Mondays in the year when new ventures should never be started and these were the first Monday in April (traditionally the anniversary of Cain's murder of Abel), the second Monday in August and the last Monday in December. These latter dates can be linked to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the birthday of Judas Iscariot. The Christian Church attempted to eradicate the idea of evil days by dedicating each day of the year to one or more saints but up until the nineteenth century superstitions regarding these Mondays as being 'evil' continued.

It has been estimated that up to200,000 people throughout Europe were put to death for witchcraft during the mid fifteenth century. Many witches were burned alive though in England, hanging was preferred and in Scotland the witch would first be strangled before hanging as an act of mercy.

Witches, they believed, could fly on broomsticks and would brew potions and evil spells over a black pot or cauldron. It was also believed that witches could change their form into an animal such as a cat or raven.

The saying 'bless you,' is thought to originate from a medieval Superstition that if someone opened their mouth when sneezing, they were giving the Devil opportunity to enter their body. Following a sneeze with 'bless you,' was thought to counteract this.

Some would touch a man before his execution for good luck while it was also believed that the right hand of an executed prisoner had the power to heal!

Many superstitions in medieval England had their foundations in the belief in magic and the fear of the supernatural. The belief, in some, that it's bad luck when a cat crosses your path was originated in this era, a time when black was associated with witches and evil. Ladders were associated with executions and this may well have been the source of the superstition to walk under ladders brings bad luck while salt and pepper in those days were costly and it was seen as bad luck to spill either.

As well as superstition having roots in belief in witchcraft and the supernatural, many arose, during medieval times, out of practicality. A bride, for instance, would carry a bouquet of sweet smelling herbs to cover up the foul odours of unsanitary living conditions. This superstition continued through the ages when a bride would carry flowers as a symbol of life and fertility.