What was a witch's familiar, and why did these animal spirits sit at the heart of English witch trials? Returning guest Dr. Holly Bamford joins hosts Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack to explain the witch's familiar, the witch's mark, and the overlooked history of male witches in early modern England. Learn what the familiar meant, how the witch's mark was used as evidence, why the witch-familiar bond mirrored motherhood, and why men accused of witchcraft were not simply feminized. Featuring Agnes Waterhouse and her cat Satan, John Bysack and his six snails, and John Palmer's familiar named Jezebel.

What a witch's familiar was in English witchcraft
Why the familiar mattered so much in witch trials
How the witch's mark was used as evidence
Who was accused of being a male witch
Why men accused of witchcraft were not feminized
How the witch-familiar bond mirrored motherhood
Why Agnes Waterhouse and her cat Satan became a foundational case
What John Palmer's familiar Jezebel reveals about marriage

00:00 Familiars in Trials

01:01 Meet Dr Bamford

02:08 Conference Paper Idea

04:14 What Is a Familiar

07:51 Pamphlets and Audiences

11:47 Counting Trials Limits

15:03 Agnes Waterhouse Case

19:21 Marks and Teats

22:56 Motherhood and Familiars

31:52 Male Witches and Snails

41:49 Humanoid Familiar Jezebel

46:27 Further Reading Wrap

48:53 Modern Meaning Outro

#WitchTrials #Witchcraft #WitchsFamiliar #WitchesMark #MaleWitches #WitchcraftHistory #EarlyModernEngland #Familiars #Folklore #AgnesWaterhouse #HistoryPodcast #WitchHunts #EndWitchHunts

Buy: Witchcraft, the Devil, and Emotions in Early Modern England by Charlotte-Rose Millar https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780367204549

Buy the book Cunning-Folk and Familiar Spirits by Emma Wilby https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781845190798

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/magic-and-witchcraft-conference-2026-nature-and-the-supernatural-tickets-1989231567166

End Witch Hunts: https://www.endwitchhunts.org

The Thing About Witch Hunts: https://aboutwitchhunts.com