A new book on witchcraft has challenged the alleged role of a Catholic priest in coaching a teenage girl to accuse her relatives of sorcery during one of the most notorious trials of the 17th century.
Three women from Samlesbury, Lancashire, were acquitted of witchcraft in 1612 when 14-year-old Grace Sowerbutts changed her story during the trial to say she had been persuaded to denounce them as witches by Fr Christopher Southworth.
If convicted, the women would have been hanged with 10 others at the conclusion of the infamous Pendle witchhunt.
