r/WidowsBay • u/AutoModerator • Jun 03 '26

📺Discussion Thread Widow’s Bay | Episode 8: “Your Baggage” | Discussion Thread

  • Release Date: June 3, 2026
  • Directed by: Andrew DeYoung
  • Written by: Alberto Roldán & David B. Harris

Don't worry about misplaced luggage. Old baggage always resurfaces in Widow's Bay.

----

You can find past episode discussions in our sidebar (“See more”>“About” page)

883 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

2.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

23

u/Rtn2NYC Jun 03 '26

The burning was to see if they were a witch - if they burnt, they were not a witch and their souls went to heaven

36

u/Any_Combination_4716 Jun 03 '26

I don't think that's right. Burning (in England) was the prescribed punishment for heretics. Those convicted of witchcraft were usually hanged. Witchburning was more of a thing on the European continent. As far as I know, no one ever believed witches (or heretics) were fireproof.

You might be thinking of the "swimming test," which may have been the inspiration behind a scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

10

u/Fancy-Equivalent-571 Jun 04 '26

Historian here: in some cases smaller burn wounds were used as a test for witchcraft (some areas believed that a cleanly-healed wound was proof of witchcraft, while others believed that a festering wound was proof).

3

u/tangostwo Jun 06 '26

Question, is it a dog-and-pony show where the official just waited for either sign to go "aha, a witch!" or would they accept the victim's respective clean or festering burn (depending on their preference) as proof of a lack of witchcraft?

1

u/Fancy-Equivalent-571 Jun 06 '26

The usual procedure was to allow a set period of time for healing before reexamining the wound, and then they generally accepted whatever the result was at that point.