All language subtitles for Witches.Of.Salem.S01E03.Lust.for.Blood.720p.WEBRip.x264-CAFFEiNE_track1_[eng]

♪♪

Narrator: In the spring of 1692,
the hand of the devil

Is tightening
in salem, new England.

Since two young girls
from the parsonage were stricken

By bizarre unexplained fits
three months earlier,

The village has been ravaged
by demonic afflictions,

Terrifying specters,
and rampant paranoia.

Did the man in black
give you the snake?

Desperate to save
their way of life,

Puritan witch hunters
have sent nine villagers

To the boston jail on charges
of witchcraft.

It is false.

I am clear.

But salem's terror
only worsens.

Are ministers witches,
too?

When the devil's agent,
the man in black,

Torments one of
the first afflicted girls

And then reveals his identity
in a demonic vision,

No one is safe.

The devil
is closing in,

And he's using a man of god
as his henchman.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Strange fits have
afflicted young girls

In salem village
since January.

After three months of terror,
salem's highest authorities

Are desperate to root out
the witches

They believe have infiltrated
their community.

Local landowner
thomas putnam shares

A startling spectral encounter
with magistrate john hathorne.

I have a shocking story
to tell you.

My daughter ann was grievously
tormented again last night.

Putnam claims the identity
of the man in black

Was revealed
to his afflicted daughter ann

In a terrifying vision.

She saw an apparition
of [sighs]

What she thought
was a minister of god.

So she asked him his name,
and he told her.

♪♪

He said, "my name is
george burroughs."

Putnam paints george burroughs
as the emissary of satan

And the ringleader
of the conspiracy.

♪♪

George burroughs is a name
everyone in salem knows well.

Burroughs had previously been
the minister of salem.

In the 1680s,
he left,

And, at the time
of the witch trials,

He was living in maine.

Narrator: Burroughs
is soon apprehended

In the maine frontier

And brought back to salem

To see if he's the force
behind the madness.

I think the idea that there was
one powerful man responsible

For all of this suffering,

That he was the big leader
of the witches,

The leader of this conspiracy,

Would have been
very appealing to people.

Howe: He is brought back
as the accused ringleader

Of all of these witches,

Which would be, of course,

Doubly devastating
for salem village

Because he had been
their spiritual leader.

Narrator: There had been rumors
about george burroughs

While he was the minister
in salem several years before.

There were a few things
about his personality

That made him
especially susceptible

To accusations
of witchcraft.

He was very secretive throughout
his time as a minister.

He wasn't really one to go
about, you know, shaking hands

And kissing babies
in the community.

He kept to himself and
because of his secretiveness,

Rumors started to fly
about him.

Narrator: While burroughs
awaits examination,

The plague of witchcraft
begins to spread

To nearby new England towns.

Soon almost 70 people
are named as witches

And sent to boston jail,

And it's just the beginning.

Salem village is 600 people,

And so if you have
50 individuals saying,

"well, I've seen other witches,"

You get the sense
of this grand conspiracy,

And once it reaches
that scale,

Of course it spills over
from salem village.

You have so many people
being accused

That they're overwhelming
the system.

Narrator: England has
recently approved

A new charter
for massachusetts,

Which will give the colony
the right to self-govern,

But until it arrives,
their courts are in limbo.

That means they don't have
the legal wherewithal

To hold a trial.

As accusations spread,

People are put in prison and
they are not brought to trial.

Narrator: The jails
of new England

Are now overflowing
with accused witches.

Howe: It's like having a lid
on a pressure cooker

Where the pressure
is just building

And building and building.

Narrator: One of new England's
foremost ministers,

Cotton mather,
is treating a young girl

Who has been afflicted
by specters

Ever since she visited
one of salem's accused witches.

...My soul.

I hope the blessed
lord jesus christ...

Cotton mather
is the elite

Of the elite of the ministers
of new England.

He saw himself
as a man of reason,

But a man of reason
who believed that witchcraft

Was afflicting new England.

My life in your hands.

Cotton mather
had first-hand experience

In dealing with witchcraft,

Exposing witchcraft, and healing
the victims of witchcraft.

No one doubted
the reality of witchcraft.

In the 1690s.

The most learned minds
of the age,

Among them cotton mather,

Accepted the active presence
of the devil,

The reality of the demonic pact,

And the existence
of witchcraft.

They believed that by studying
these things

That they could protect
the christian community

Against the attacks
of witches.

Do it, then, if you can.

I dare you.
I challenge you to do it.

Kill me if you can.

♪♪

Narrator: Cotton mather
publishes his study

Of the young girl as a warning
of the devil's handiwork.

Aronson: This is his pastoral
duty to be involved.

If you believe
your godly community

And everything you do
serves god,

Fighting the devil
is proving

Your faith in god.

He was wrestling
with something

That was at the center
of his faith.

Narrator: Cotton mather's
passionate belief

In the evils of witchcraft

Will soon find him
enmeshed in the tragedy

Plaguing salem, where former
minister george burroughs

Is now being accused
of the highest crimes.

♪♪

In a room above
the tavern,

Burroughs is questioned
by witch hunters

John hathorne,
william stoughton,

And john hale.

When did you last
take the sacrament?

I don't recall exactly.

A long while ago.

♪♪

Burroughs was asked when the
last time he took communion was,

And he couldn't recall.

Aren't you supposedly
a minister of god?

Nearest church
where I might receive communion

Is over 30 miles away.

It is simply not been
possible.

But you were in boston
just four weeks ago.

Why did you not
take it then?

Narrator: The magistrates
believe

They're uncovering evidence

Of the minister's pact
with the devil

In all areas of his life.

It said your house
is haunted.

I cannot say.

Have you seen toads
upon the grounds?

Toads were associated
with the devil.

Yes, I admit
I have seen toads.

There is also talk that
your children are not baptized.

Not all.
No, just my eldest.

As these different accusations
come out against him,

The evidence
kind of builds up.

So you,
a supposed man of god,

Does not baptize his children
nor take the sacraments?

If you look under the surface
of these questions,

You can see that they have
a lot of things

That are worrying them
about george burroughs.

We shall hear what the afflicted
have to say.

♪♪

Narrator: After questioning him
in private,

They now take burroughs
to the public meeting house,

Where his accusers
are waiting.

♪♪

Hill: He hasn't been
prepared for this.

He's taken into the room where
the girls are,

And he is told
not to look at them.

♪♪

And he does look round
at them.

Look.

His dead wives are here.

He hasn't known what's been
going on in salem,

And he's never seen
anything like it.

♪♪

Let us hear the testimony.

Narrator: Burroughs is stunned
by the overwhelming reaction.

His specter so appeared
to me

And took me to a high place

Where he promised me
all the key.

Hill: He's absolutely
gobsmacked.

One of them says something,
and they all go into fits.

He has brought the book
and would have me write it.

What do you make of this?

Then hathorne is
asking him questions

Which he can't answer.

It is indeed an amazing
and humbling providence,

But I confess,
I understand none of it.

Peone: It's the most
powerful scene, really,

Because he represents
the power of the devil.

The devil could not
just overcome a weak young girl,

But the devil could, in fact,
make a minister

Into satan's helper.

Narrator: But catching
the alleged ringleader

Of the conspiracy
is not enough.

♪♪

Narrator:
Over the next two months,

Thomas putnam and his cohorts

Filed 20 more complaints
against local villagers.

Thomas: We need these
taken care of.

Coy: Witchcraft was believed
to be a crime of revenge.

So it would be only natural

That the people afflicted
by witchcraft

Would think of their own enemies
as people who would have

The sort of grudge
that would reduce them

To turning
to the devil for revenge.

I do think, to some extent,
thomas putnam does see this

As an opportunity to name those
who had wronged him.

♪♪

The most logical suspect
in a case of witchcraft

Would be someone that you had
had a long-term series

Of disagreements with.

Little: Fear can be a very
contagious phenomenon,

And the idea that this was
some kind of grand conspiracy

Is, I think, what ended up

Propelling the furious rate
of accusations.

Narrator: Meanwhile,
sarah osborne,

One of the first women accused,

Falls victim to boston jail's
appalling conditions.

She's the first fatality
of the salem witch hunt,

But she certainly
won't be the last.

♪♪

Narrator: The witch hunt
in salem

Continues to spread
like wildfire,

And no one is safe.

In may 1692,
a shocking new accusation

Is leveled against salem's
former minister,

George burroughs,

Who is quickly denounced

As the leader
of all the witches.

♪♪

Where did you first
contract with the devil?

I have not.

Meanwhile, examinations
of suspected witches continue,

And a wealthy merchant
named nathaniel cary

And his wife, elizabeth,
arrive from boston.

Nathaniel has heard
that abigail williams,

One of the afflicted girls,

Has accused his wife
of witchcraft.

It is not right.

Confident it's a case
of mistaken identity...

So you deny
that you are a witch.

...They've come to salem
to set the record straight.

He is a rich,
pretty powerful man

Who's used to having
his own way

And being able to fix things
with money, if no other way.

♪♪

Narrator: Nathaniel cary meets

With his old acquaintance
john hale,

Now one of salem's
leading witch hunters.

Clear up an unfortunate
misunderstanding.

Word has come to me
that

My wife elizabeth's name
has been mentioned.

Nathaniel cary says,
"could you arrange for my wife

To meet abigail williams
so that she can

Explain to her
that she is not a witch

And she's not affecting her."

And john hale says, yes,
he'll do that.

Let me arrange for you
to speak with her.

Narrator: The carys hope for
a quiet meeting with abigail.

They get the exact opposite.

♪♪

Hill: All the girl arrive...

[ girls screaming ]

...And start shouting
that she's afflicting.

Narrator: While the carys
are horrified,

John hale observes
the theatrics and issues

An immediate warrant
for elizabeth cary.

She is then taken
to john hathorne,

Who seems to be
expecting them.

Why do you torment
these girls?

I do not.

I never had any knowledge
of them before today.

♪♪

I fear I'm going to faint.

♪♪

Might I take her hand
to steady her?

If she has strength enough
to torment these girls,

She has strength enough
to stand.

I've seen enough.

Take her away
with the others.

Narrator: Appalled by
the injustice,

Nathaniel cary denounces
community leaders...

Nathaniel: God will take
vengeance on you.

...For plotting against him
and his wife.

He will deliver us

From unmerciful men.

♪♪

The outburst
can't save elizabeth,

Who was immediately locked up.

Shackled with eight
pounds of chains,

She suffers seizures.

Her arrest makes it clear
that even people

With money and influence
are not immune

From the witch hunt.

...And further arrests.

This problem
began...

A few weeks later,

Governor phipps
returns from England

With massachusetts'
new legal charter

And the right to re-establish
the colony's court.

He has no idea
what he's come back to.

There are more than
150 suspected witches.

Howe: When he returns,
he discovers

That this crisis has bubbled up
seemingly out of nowhere

In the time that he was gone
and has intensified

Because there was no legal
wherewithal to cope.

Every morning
brings new complaints,

Further examinations,
and further arrests.

Narrator: With all of the
accused awaiting formal trials

Phipps needs to come up with
a plan to carry out justice.

Phipps has to basically create
an emergency court to hear

And to try these witches.

Howe: It's like a special court,

Hastily assembled
after the new charter

Arrives, to deal
with the backlog.

Coy: And he appoints his deputy
governor, william stoughton,

As chief justice.

Stoughton became a committed
witch hunter,

And he was
extremely enthusiastic

About the duty of the court.

Narrator: The emergency court
also seeks the advice

Of boston's
leading expert on witchcraft,

Minister cotton mather.

This is something he knows.

He knows how to handle it.

He probably feels
a sense of mission.

He's the man for the job.

Little: He is not even
30 years old.

He's this young pup who's being
consulted on all of this stuff.

He really believes
that there was some kind of

Demonic possession, malevolent
forces at work in salem.

Narrator: Events move quickly.

Nine accused witches are
brought back from the jailhouse

In boston to salem town.

♪♪

Among the accused
are sarah good,

Rebecca nurse,
john and elizabeth proctor,

And the slave tituba,

The first to claim
that the devil came to her.

Because of her confession,
tituba

Will not be tried as a witch,
but instead will be a witness,

Giving evidence
against the others.

As everyone is led
to the courtroom,

The anticipation grows
to a fever pitch.

Lives hang in the balance.

And those who are found guilty
will be put to death.

♪♪

[ girls screaming ]

Narrator: Until the return of
governor phipps,

Massachusetts has been
in legal limbo,

Unable to bring accused witches
to trial.

But now the governor has formed
an emergency court

To stamp out the evil
in their midst.

Brock: I think the judges

Were trying to do
the right thing.

In fact, they had with them
all of these law books

That had been printed in boston
from english law,

And they were trying
to desperately

Figure out what to do,

But they also had
something to prove.

I think a lot of these judges

Wanted to be seen
as credible judicial experts,

And as such, they did
have some motivation

To be particularly harsh
with the women

And men who are accused
of witchcraft in salem.

♪♪

Narrator: Before the court
testimony begins,

In salem jail, women jurors
strip search the accused.

They know precisely
what they're looking for.

Long-standing tradition held
that witches work

Their evil magic with the help
of demonic familiars.

These were creatures
given to them by the devil

That carried out the curses
they placed upon their victims.

These strange creatures

Were supposedly
suckled on a witch's teat.

The court searched
suspected witches

For the witch's mark,

For this teat where
they suckled their familiar.

♪♪

These would have been incredibly
invasive examinations,

Searching the body for any mark
that seemed abnormal.

But of course anyone's body is
gonna have a mole or a freckle

That, under those circumstances,
would look suspicious.

By the time you are
under such suspicion

That your body
is being stripped naked

And you're being searched
for telltale marks,

I mean, it really almost
doesn't matter what they find.

♪♪

Narrator: The first suspect
brought to trial

Is one of the more recent
accused, bridget bishop,

Who has been rumored to be
a witch for more than a decade.

She's taken by cart from
salem jail to salem town house,

Where her trial will be held.

They picked the best case
they had.

They wanted to start strong.

And bridget bishop
was certainly suspicious,

According to standards
of the day.

She was a woman who had long

Had a poor reputation
among her neighbors,

And she was someone
with a long-standing reputation

As a witch.

Howe: Bridget bishop
has been running a tavern,

In which young people
have been up late drinking

And playing
at the shuffleboard.

Narrator: Bridget's case seems
doomed from the start.

As she's taken to the court,

She glances towards the church,

Just as a crash is heard inside.

♪♪

A nail-studded board is found
pulled out of its place

And lying a good distance
from where it had been.

Puritans did not believe
in coincidences.

They didn't believe
in accidents,

So they were sort of primed
psychologically to look

For evidence that the person
was in league with the devil

And wasn't a true christian.

Narrator: Before bridget has
even entered the courtroom,

The evidence is piling up
against her.

She is about to become the first
to face justice in salem.

Is there anything
an accused witch in salem

Can do to save herself?

♪♪

Narrator: As formal trials
for witchcraft begin in salem,

Bridget bishop is the first
of the accused witches

To have her day in court.

But even before she arrives,

It seems the entire community
has decided she's guilty.

♪♪

And it only gets worse when
she enters salem town house.

The afflicted girls
immediately go into fits.

[ girls coughing, choking ]

This would have been an
almost unprecedented spectacle.

Bridget bishop,

How do you plead
to the charges

Of witchcraft?

Not guilty.

Narrator: While bridget insists
that she's innocent,

The accusations of the afflicted
provide compelling evidence

To the contrary.

She torments me,
appears constantly,

Offering me the devil's book
to sign.

Little: They probably were
legitimately afraid of the women

That they were
accusing of witchcraft

Because of course
you would expect that the witch

Would turn
all of her black magic,

All of her power, against you,
against the accuser.

Narrator: When bridget looks at
them, they immediately collapse.

One girl even seems
to cough up a pin

That she's been attacked with.

♪♪

Tell us.

Why do you afflict
these children?

Peone:
Bridget bishop was accused

Of torturing
these afflicted people.

She denied it.
She said she was not a witch.

I'm innocent.

You know me.

I don't even know
what a witch is.

How, then, do you know
that you are not a witch?

Narrator: Bridget then faces
accusations from villagers

Who claim encounters with her.

Her neighbors
have long lived in fear of her.

They came to court with stories,

Some dating back
years and years,

About how they'd had
a minor squabble with her

And subsequently, someone in
their household had fallen ill.

♪♪

Narrator: Another villager
testifies that bridget

Came into his room
at night...

Tell us what you know.

...And tried to choke him.

♪♪

He woke up in the night
to feeling

Something cold pressing
against his lips.

♪♪

And then bridget bishop
sat on his chest.

♪♪

When he opened his eyes,

He saw bridget bishop
running away from his house.

♪♪

In some of the most damning
evidence against bridget bishop,

Several workmen claimed that
they had found in her cellar,

While making repairs,
a series of poppets.

They said they were made
of rags and hog's bristles.

Now, poppets were something
that witches were believed

To use like voodoo dolls.

They were a means of tormenting

And harming their victims
through black magic.

♪♪

Brock: Once those poppet dolls
were found,

Bridget bishop didn't have
any chance in the world.

That was really concrete
evidence of her involvement

With satan,
her deal with the devil.

The question for you,
the jury...

Narrator: Chief justice
william stoughton

Instructs the jury
to carefully weigh the evidence

Against bridget bishop.

Peone: They're not really
following english law

The way that they should be.

Technically what you would need
to convict someone of witchcraft

Is either a confession or
two witnesses to the same event.

And they do not have this.

Narrator: Since bridget
refuses to confess,

Her fate rests on her neighbors'
salacious testimony

And the fits of the young girls
in her presence.

♪♪

The preponderance
of evidence...

The jurors have concluded
that bridget bishop is guilty.

But with so much riding on it,

The magistrates review
their decision.

-The poppets.
-The poppets.

They found nearly a dozen
in her basement.

What other explanation
can there be?

It's a convincing case,
but questions still remain.

Why would bridget afflict
the young girls?

Why would she seek
to cause pain

To those whom
she does not know?

It seems probable that

Witches would torment
the afflicted

On the behalf
of other witches.

As for the motive,

It seems to me
it is nothing less

Than the destruction
of the church of god.

♪♪

Bridget bishop,
you have been found guilty

Of the crime
of witchcraft.

You are to be taken
to a place next Friday

Where you will be hanged
by the neck until you are dead.

Narrator: Bridget's protests
fall on deaf ears.

The salem witch trials

Have handed down
their first death sentence.

♪♪

Narrator: In salem,

Bridget bishop has been found
guilty of witchcraft

And sentenced to death
for her crime.

♪♪

But will her hanging loosen
satan's grip on new England?

♪♪

At 8:00 in the morning,

Bridget bishop
is loaded onto a cart

And carried away
from salem jail

For the last time.

Guilty!

Howe: The executions take place
just outside of town

On a road from salem town
towards salem village.

Brock: The anticipation
would have been

So thick you probably
could have cut it with a knife.

The trials had been
building up for months

By the time that bridget bishop
goes to her death.

Howe: It would have been
a very public event.

People would have traveled
from all around

To see it happening.

Brock: These public spectacles
would have been attended

By people of all ages --
children, the elderly.

Howe: There would have
been screaming.

There would have been shouting.
There would have been cheering.

This would have represented

The freeing of the community
from a diabolical influence.

...And his disciples.

Brock: To those who believed

That bridget bishop
was not a woman

But really someone in league
with satan,

They thought that they needed
to rid the world of her.

Hang her!

[ indistinct shouting ]

I'm not a witch.
I'm not a witch! No! No, please!

Narrator: Bridget protests her
innocence to her final breath.

Bishop: God help me! Help!

[ shouting stops ]

Narrator: Her neck does not
break immediately.

She meets an excruciating end.

These knots were sometimes
quite clumsy,

And it often took 10 minutes
or so to die.

[ indistinct shouting ]

Narrator: Blood drips from
her eyes, nose, and mouth.

As her lungs empty, her whole
body thrashes and convulses.

♪♪

Finally, she goes still,
lifeless at last.

♪♪

Howe:
It's chilling to think about

Watching someone you know
hanged to death

And feeling good,

Feeling a delight
that this has happened.

But it's not that hard,
if you think about it

From the perspective
of the puritan world view.

♪♪

Narrator: After the hanging
of bridget bishop,

The witch hunt intensifies.

Girls like mercy lewis
are sent outside of salem,

Where they are used
for their ability

To sense the presence
of the spectral world.

The lord said unto him...

Coy:
As the trials progressed,

Dozens of people
were accused of witchcraft.

Some of the afflicted girls
from salem

Acted as informal witch finders,

Were they were
brought to see afflicted people

And asked...

Man: What can you see?

..."can you see the specter

Of who is the witch
that is doing this?"

♪♪

Narrator:
Meanwhile, back in salem,

Court officials discuss a letter

They've received
from cotton mather.

Cotton mather
urges caution

In the consideration
of spectral evidence.

The question of spectral
evidence was a hotly debated

Legal topic
in this time period.

He believes it may be
possible for the devil

To beguile people

By summoning spirits or specters
in the guise of innocent people.

A specter is really just
an evil spirit

That takes the shape
at the behest of the witch

And does this demonic bidding.

It was debated whether or not
the devil could assume

The shape of
an innocent person.

But the devil
is a trickster.

The father of all lies.

Some puritans said
"but wait a minute.

The devil could potentially take
the shape of an innocent person.

The devil is
the master deceiver.

How do we know if this specter
is a genuine manifestation

Of someone who is a witch?

Or is this the devil
playing tricks on us,

Trying to throw the community
into further chaos?"

We cannot...

Narrator:
While mather raises concerns,

He ultimately believes
the devil's tricks

Are no match
for the power of god.

Peone: Cotton mather writes
in his letter and says,

"be cautious.
Be circumspect.

But god would not allow
an innocent person

To be used in this way."

Stoughton decides that
the trials should press on.

♪♪

Narrator: Chief justice
stoughton reconvenes the court,

And five more suspected witches
are brought to trial,

Beginning with sarah good,

Who was one of the first
in salem to be accused.

The girls' afflictions
at the initial examinations

Are presented as evidence,

As it's now an approved method
of witch detection.

Let us see
the touch test.

An important test called the
touch test is then undertaken.

When one of the afflicted girls
was having a fit,

They would ask the witch
to place her hand upon the girl.

If her fits stopped,
then they'd found their witch.

♪♪

I cannot.

She prevents me.

Narrator: But when the court
tries the touch test,

The girls seem to be stopped
by a powerful force.

She has the devil
stop me.

What is the reason
they cannot come near you?

I cannot tell.

Narrator:
Finally, after several attempts,

They are able
to carry out the test.

[ speaks indistinctly ]

Just the level
of public spectacle

And courtroom drama that
that would have engendered,

To have the accused witch's hand
being guided and laid upon them,

And then they go still.

Narrator: It's considered
the ultimate proof

That sarah good is a witch.

It is really critical
for understanding

How all of these things were
given so much credibility.

People could see it
with their own eyes

That the touch test "worked."

Do you not see how god
evidently discovers you?

No. Not a bit of it.

All the congregation
thinks so.

Sarah good...

Narrator: Sarah good
is sentenced to death.

...Guilty of the crime
of witchcraft.

No! I'm innocent!

No, no!
I am innocent!

With each verdict,

The salem court
is gaining momentum

And resolve to free the
community from the devil's grip.

[ indistinct shouting ]

No matter the cost.

♪♪

Narrator: One woman is hung,

Another is sentenced,
and the deadly witch trials

Are just getting started.

The next three accused witches
are also convicted,

Which is no surprise
to the people of salem.

But rebecca nurse is
another story.

Highly respected, her arrest was
a shock to the villagers.

Rebecca nurse's position
within the community,

Her impeccable reputation
as a puritan,

Her intense piety,
and a petition

Signed by 39 leading residents
of salem village,

Including one of the putnams
who had accused her,

Helped sway the jury.

What verdict does
the jury return?

♪♪

Not guilty.

♪♪

[ screams ]

Hill:
The girls just went wild,

And lots of people gathered
outside the meeting house

Joined in.

Little: I think that these girls
probably were fearful

Of no longer being listened to,

Of no longer
driving the narrative,

Of no longer being
the architects of the chaos.

Narrator: Will the afflicted
girls be able to sway

The outcome of the trial?

When rebecca nurse
is initially found not guilty

And the afflicted respond
to that finding

With such an extreme outpouring
of psychological energy,

William stoughton
instructs the jury

To actually
reconsider their verdict.

The jury is called back in,

And some questions
are put to rebecca nurse.

One of them pertained to
a statement that she'd made

Earlier in the day.

At one point, she referred
to some of the other suspects,

And she'd used the term
"one of us."

For the court, that led
to an interesting question.

Did she mean one of us,
another suspect,

Or did she mean one of us,

A member of
this witchcraft conspiracy?

The jury would like
to address the accused.

Stoughton:
What say the jury?

Rebecca nurse
was growing deaf.

And when they asked her
the question

"what did you mean
by 'one of us,'"

She didn't hear.

As a result,
she stood silent.

By her silence,
she is guilty.

And the court
took her lack of an answer

As a tacit admission

That she had meant one of us
in terms of witchcraft.

Rebecca nurse,

You have been found guilty
on the crime of witchcraft.

I hereby sentence you
to be hanged by the neck

Until you are dead.

May god have mercy
on your soul.

Narrator:
All six accused witches

Brought to trial in salem

Have now been found guilty,

Even the pious rebecca nurse.

It became apparent
over the summer of 1692

That if you confessed
to witchcraft,

You'd be kept in jail

And possibly further questioned
and maybe executed later,

But that they would keep you
alive at least for a while.

So you had family members

Writing to their loved ones
in jail

And saying "just confess.

They won't execute you
right away,

And we'll be able
to figure something out."

But it's the really devout
people who would not confess

Because they would not
lie under oath.

♪♪

Rebecca nurse, because she was
a very godly woman,

Would not confess
and would not lie under oath.

♪♪

Narrator: Rebecca nurse
tries to explain.

Man: And I, being somewhat
hard of hearing...

She tells the court
she hadn't answered the question

Because she hadn't heard it.

She says
her words "one of us"

Referred to
her fellow prisoners,

Not fellow witches,
as the jury initially thought.

This is
what she meant.

♪♪

Narrator: Believing she has
cleared up the misunderstanding,

Rebecca is hopeful
of being released.

♪♪

But when she is brought
from the jail

To the meeting house,
her salvation is absent.

♪♪

Man: Look you all upon the face
of the devil himself.

A witch who dared plot
against god's own church.

She's excommunicated
from the salem church.

This would've been
a very weighty moment

As her fellow parishioners

Voted to expel her
from their company.

And for the puritans,

This would have placed
her eternal soul in jeopardy.

She shall be severed
from the very ordinances

That she
so previously abused.

The community
is in such crisis

That rebecca nurse's guilt
is necessary

For them to resolve
that crisis.

[ indistinct shouting ]

Narrator: Rebecca nurse
is taken to her death

At gallows hill,

Along with sarah good
and three other women.

♪♪

As the cart rolls
along the boston road

Toward the hanging tree,

They are mocked
by their neighbors

And haunted by fears of the fate
that awaits them.

There certainly would have been
people screaming out at them,

Calling them witches,
maybe throwing things at them.

♪♪

Narrator: The first three
condemned witches are hung...

♪♪

...Stirring the crowd's
blood lust.

♪♪

Rebecca nurse is next.

She meets her fate the same way
she has lived her life.

And I pray
with all my heart

That he might see a way
to provide

Some miraculous proof
of my innocence.

Moments later,

The support she's standing on
is kicked away.

♪♪

Howe:
When rebecca nurse is hanged,

People are kind of in shock.

There's almost a kind of
unreality about it.

Until rebecca nurse is hanged

And they realize that
this is real

And "this is really what
we've been brought to."

That is a moment that is
a turning point

In the way
that the crisis plays out.

♪♪

Narrator:
Reverend nicholas noyes

Urges sarah good to confess.

Confess while
you still have breath.

He rallies the crowd after their
uncertainty over rebecca nurse.

You are a witch!

And all here assembled
know it!

You're a liar!

[ indistinct shouting ]

When sarah good
is on the gallows,

She says to nicholas noyes...

I'm no more of a witch
than you are a wizard.

And if you take away
my life,

God will give you
blood to drink.

♪♪

Narrator: Sarah good becomes
the sixth woman to hang.

But with more specters
haunting the innocent

All across the land,

Salem's witch hunt
is far from over.

Next time on
"witches of salem"...

The devil has come down
onto you...

The witch hunt
hits its peak in new England.

And the men in black,
the accused ringleader

Of satan's conspiracy,
finally faces the court.

I am a man of god!

The trials multiply,

And the hangings continue.

This court
is appointed by god.

But at the end of days,

Will the witch hunters
themselves become the hunted?

The latest names cried out
include that of your good wife.

My wife?