George Jacobs (Salem witch trials) George Jacobs (Salem witch trials) George Jacobs Sr. (1609–1692) was an English colonist in his 70s in the Massachusetts Bay Colony who was accused of witchcraft in 1692 during the Salem witch trials in Salem Village, Massachusetts. He was convicted and hanged on August 19, 1692. His son, George Jr., was also accused but evaded arrest. Jacobs' accusers included his daughter-in-law and granddaughter, Margaret. Jacobs is believed to be the George Jacob baptized 13 February 1608/09 at St. Dunstan in the West, London, son of barber-surgeon George Jacob and wife Priscilla of Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire. Jacobs' body was buried near
Witch trials in the early modern period Witch trials in the early modern period Witch-phobia and prosecutions for the crime of witchcraft reached a highpoint from 1580 to 1630 during the Counter-Reformation and the European wars of religion, when an estimated 50,000 persons were burned at the stake, of which roughly 80% were women, and most often over the age of 40. Throughout the medieval era mainstream Christian doctrine had denied the existence of witches and witchcraft, condemning it as pagan superstition. The work of Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century helped lay the groundwork for a shift in Christian doctrine by which certain Christian theologians eventually