Thomas Potts
Discovery of Witches
The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster
"Discovery of Witches" by Thomas Potts is an account published in 1613 of the Lancashire witch trials of 1612. Ordered by trial judges to document the proceedings, Potts created one of the best-recorded witch trials of the seventeenth century. Twenty men and women faced accusations of witchcraft, with eleven condemned to hang. The account reveals a legal system carefully shaping its own narrative, potentially manipulating records to advance careers and display judicial efficiency during a politically charged era.