Matthew Hopkins (ca. 1620–1647) was an English witchhunter whose career flourished during the time of the English Civil War. Between 1644 and 1645, Hopkins and his associates were responsible for the deaths of more accused witches than had been executed in the previous 100 years.[1]
In fiction
Literature
Burned: A Daughters of Salem Novel, a 2023 young adult novel by Kellie O'Neill, features a group of modern day witch hunters who are the descendants of Hopkins.
In the 17th century,
Jacob Bright composed a poem mocking Hopkins that gained approval from royalists and Catholics, shown below:
As I gazed out my Window Glass
Matthew Hopkins Did by me pass
I asked him, pray, where was he Going
said he, Only Satan may be knowing
and by his Side there walk'd a Man
in a way that only Satan can
and in his eye a wicked Gleam
that proved he was high in Satan's esteem.
Art thou a witch? he asked askance,
or rogue or Ghoul or ghost or Nonce?
Quoth I, I am sainted AUGUSTINE
and thou art but a Daemon Swine
PALE his face that moment went
all his evil powers spent
I took some water from a shelf
and pour'd it onto the Hopkins elf.
at this the Hopkin he did shriek
and writhing, did he grow a beak
then after a beastly croke
the monstre disappeared in smoke
THIS proves how GOD and Church prevail
AND Daemons and sinners can do naught but wail.
FOR torment you a crone of Christian disposition
THEN surely your doom Christ will make his mission.[2]
The Devil on the Road, a 1978 novel by
Robert Westall in which Hopkins makes a late appearance.
Sarum, the 1987 novel by
Edward Rutherfurd, features Hopkins making a brief appearance in Wiltshire, where he becomes involved in a family quarrel and in an apparent attempt to frame Margaret Shockley as a witch.
Good Omens (1990), by
Terry Pratchett and
Neil Gaiman, parodies Hopkins' title through the characters of Newton Pulsifer, entitled "Witchfinder
Private" and "Witchfinder
Sergeant" Shadwell of the Witchfinder Army, of which Hopkins is said to be the last
General.
A Discovery of Witches (2011), the first volume in the All Souls Trilogy by
Deborah Harkness, features an allusion in its title to Hopkins' similarly named book The Discovery of Witches, his memoir of his witch-hunting career.
Witch Hunt, a 2012 horror/thriller novel by
Syd Moore, deals with a young woman who has growing visions of Hopkins and his victims. The book suggests a fictional end to Hopkins in that he flees England for
New England in 1647 and continues his prosecution of
witches there.
Pride Before a Fall Through Time, a 2016 novel by
Miles Craven, has Hopkins as a character.
The Witchfinder's Sister, a 2017 novel by
Beth Underdown, follows the story of Hopkins' semi-fictional sister, Alice. Hopkins and his role in the East Anglian witch-hunts during the English Civil War feature heavily.
The Manningtree Witches, a 2021 novel by
A. K. Blakemore about the Manningtree witch trials, features Hopkins as a character.
Theatre
The Witchfinder Project, a short musical by Ipswich-based composer Amy Mallett.
Blackadder featured a satirical character in episode 5 of the first series in 1983 called the Witchsmeller Persuivant who tries and burns those accused of witchcraft.
"Witchfinder General" is a song by the band of the same name, from their 1982 debut album Death Penalty.
"Hopkins (The Witchfinder General)" is a song by the doom metal band
Cathedral, from the 1995 album The Carnival Bizarre.
"Witchfinder General" is a song by the heavy metal band
Saxon, from the 2004 album Lionheart.
Darren Hayman's 2012 concept album The Violence is partially based on Hopkins's witch trials in Essex.
In other media
Matthew Hopkins was used to advertise
Walkers Square Crisps. Several of his witch-hunting methods were parodied (notably
ordeal by water). His catchphrase was "'Tis not normal". Commemorative square
pogs featuring Hopkins were also released to coincide with the adverts.[4]
He made an appearance as a "mystery guest" on the
BBC show Russell Howard's Good News. In Puritan garb, Hopkins accused Howard of being a follower of the
Devil.[5]
In the MMORPG RuneScape, the Botfinder General is based on Matthew Hopkins. The role played here is sentencing and then permanently banning accounts that are accused of macroing.
Steve Coogan plays a character based on Matthew Hopkins called 'Witch locater Captain Tobias Slater' from episode 6 'Scream Satan scream!' of the BBC comedy series Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible, first aired 17 December 2001.
In the online free-to-play role-playing mobile game Fate/Grand Order, Matthew Hopkins was featured as one of the antagonists in Singularity Subspecies IV : Taboo Epiphany Garden : Salem of the Heresy (亜種特異IV 禁忌降臨庭園 セイラム 異端なるセイラム).
In the film ParaNorman, a colonial-era Puritan judge named Hopkins sentenced a young girl to death for witchcraft, and as a result he and the other townspeople were cursed to come back every year as
zombies until the present day when the title character broke the curse.
Hopkins largely inspired Philip Wittebane, the main antagonist of the 2020 animated TV series, The Owl House.
^From the notebook of Jacob Bright, Maldon (Thomas Plume Library), referenced in Donald Pennington, 'The War and the People' in:
John Morrill, Reactions to the English Civil War, 1642-1649, Palgrave Macmillan, 1984
ISBN0-312-66443-5
Matthew Hopkins (ca. 1620–1647) was an English witchhunter whose career flourished during the time of the English Civil War. Between 1644 and 1645, Hopkins and his associates were responsible for the deaths of more accused witches than had been executed in the previous 100 years.[1]
In fiction
Literature
Burned: A Daughters of Salem Novel, a 2023 young adult novel by Kellie O'Neill, features a group of modern day witch hunters who are the descendants of Hopkins.
In the 17th century,
Jacob Bright composed a poem mocking Hopkins that gained approval from royalists and Catholics, shown below:
As I gazed out my Window Glass
Matthew Hopkins Did by me pass
I asked him, pray, where was he Going
said he, Only Satan may be knowing
and by his Side there walk'd a Man
in a way that only Satan can
and in his eye a wicked Gleam
that proved he was high in Satan's esteem.
Art thou a witch? he asked askance,
or rogue or Ghoul or ghost or Nonce?
Quoth I, I am sainted AUGUSTINE
and thou art but a Daemon Swine
PALE his face that moment went
all his evil powers spent
I took some water from a shelf
and pour'd it onto the Hopkins elf.
at this the Hopkin he did shriek
and writhing, did he grow a beak
then after a beastly croke
the monstre disappeared in smoke
THIS proves how GOD and Church prevail
AND Daemons and sinners can do naught but wail.
FOR torment you a crone of Christian disposition
THEN surely your doom Christ will make his mission.[2]
The Devil on the Road, a 1978 novel by
Robert Westall in which Hopkins makes a late appearance.
Sarum, the 1987 novel by
Edward Rutherfurd, features Hopkins making a brief appearance in Wiltshire, where he becomes involved in a family quarrel and in an apparent attempt to frame Margaret Shockley as a witch.
Good Omens (1990), by
Terry Pratchett and
Neil Gaiman, parodies Hopkins' title through the characters of Newton Pulsifer, entitled "Witchfinder
Private" and "Witchfinder
Sergeant" Shadwell of the Witchfinder Army, of which Hopkins is said to be the last
General.
A Discovery of Witches (2011), the first volume in the All Souls Trilogy by
Deborah Harkness, features an allusion in its title to Hopkins' similarly named book The Discovery of Witches, his memoir of his witch-hunting career.
Witch Hunt, a 2012 horror/thriller novel by
Syd Moore, deals with a young woman who has growing visions of Hopkins and his victims. The book suggests a fictional end to Hopkins in that he flees England for
New England in 1647 and continues his prosecution of
witches there.
Pride Before a Fall Through Time, a 2016 novel by
Miles Craven, has Hopkins as a character.
The Witchfinder's Sister, a 2017 novel by
Beth Underdown, follows the story of Hopkins' semi-fictional sister, Alice. Hopkins and his role in the East Anglian witch-hunts during the English Civil War feature heavily.
The Manningtree Witches, a 2021 novel by
A. K. Blakemore about the Manningtree witch trials, features Hopkins as a character.
Theatre
The Witchfinder Project, a short musical by Ipswich-based composer Amy Mallett.
Blackadder featured a satirical character in episode 5 of the first series in 1983 called the Witchsmeller Persuivant who tries and burns those accused of witchcraft.
"Witchfinder General" is a song by the band of the same name, from their 1982 debut album Death Penalty.
"Hopkins (The Witchfinder General)" is a song by the doom metal band
Cathedral, from the 1995 album The Carnival Bizarre.
"Witchfinder General" is a song by the heavy metal band
Saxon, from the 2004 album Lionheart.
Darren Hayman's 2012 concept album The Violence is partially based on Hopkins's witch trials in Essex.
In other media
Matthew Hopkins was used to advertise
Walkers Square Crisps. Several of his witch-hunting methods were parodied (notably
ordeal by water). His catchphrase was "'Tis not normal". Commemorative square
pogs featuring Hopkins were also released to coincide with the adverts.[4]
He made an appearance as a "mystery guest" on the
BBC show Russell Howard's Good News. In Puritan garb, Hopkins accused Howard of being a follower of the
Devil.[5]
In the MMORPG RuneScape, the Botfinder General is based on Matthew Hopkins. The role played here is sentencing and then permanently banning accounts that are accused of macroing.
Steve Coogan plays a character based on Matthew Hopkins called 'Witch locater Captain Tobias Slater' from episode 6 'Scream Satan scream!' of the BBC comedy series Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible, first aired 17 December 2001.
In the online free-to-play role-playing mobile game Fate/Grand Order, Matthew Hopkins was featured as one of the antagonists in Singularity Subspecies IV : Taboo Epiphany Garden : Salem of the Heresy (亜種特異IV 禁忌降臨庭園 セイラム 異端なるセイラム).
In the film ParaNorman, a colonial-era Puritan judge named Hopkins sentenced a young girl to death for witchcraft, and as a result he and the other townspeople were cursed to come back every year as
zombies until the present day when the title character broke the curse.
Hopkins largely inspired Philip Wittebane, the main antagonist of the 2020 animated TV series, The Owl House.
^From the notebook of Jacob Bright, Maldon (Thomas Plume Library), referenced in Donald Pennington, 'The War and the People' in:
John Morrill, Reactions to the English Civil War, 1642-1649, Palgrave Macmillan, 1984
ISBN0-312-66443-5