What Happened to someone belived to a witch in the 17th century?
Many answers given so far repeat stereotypes (esp. about the “water ordeal” or “swimming”) — things that did NOT happen, or when they did, not in the way popularly presented today. Briefly — generally in England and New England, they would be tried in court., usually WITHOUT abuse or torture to compel testimony. And MANY would be acquitted (that was, in fact, increasingly the case). IF convicted, they would usually be HANGED (no, NOT burned), the standard penalty for murder or treason (and witchcraft, as a “pact with the devil” was regarded as treason). _________________ More details. To begin with, note that “what happened in the 17th century” is a bit wide. These things varied GREATLY from place to place, esp. since the regions where witch trials took place were almost entirely “border regions” or those where the central power was not very strong. Thus the local people had a lot of control over matters (it was NOT something “run from above”). Also note that England and New England
