Matthew Hopkins & Witchcraft

In this lesson, students will study the role of Matthew Hopkins during the 1640s in England. Students will learn about Hopkins’ background, the methods he used to gain confessions from suspected witches, people’s beliefs about witchcraft and finally explain why Matthew Hopkins was a significant historical figure during the time of the ‘witch craze’ in England in the 1640s.

The lesson contains a variety of discussion tasks, warm up start activities, printable resources, and learning reviews as well as engaging background information and challenge questions for higher ability students. There is a choice of printable resources. The lesson is mainly aimed at KS3 students between the ages of 11-14 but can easily be adapted for younger or older students.

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All images used in this lesson are in the public domain and are therefore copyright free at the time of publishing. Images which require attribution have been attributed in the notes section of each slide where the image appears. If you feel any errors have been made, please contact me at raschoolresources@gmail.com in the first instance to resolve any issues. Thank you.