Matthew Hopkins

**Matthew Hopkins** ( 1620 - 12 Agusta 1647) ɗan Ingilishi ne mai farauta maƙaryaci wanda aikinsa ya bunƙasa a lokacin Yaƙin basasar Ingila . Ya kasance mai aiki a Gabashin Anglia kuma ya yi iƙirarin rike ofishin Janar Witchfinder, kodayake majalisar ba ta taɓa ba da wannan taken ba.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Dan ministan Puritan, Hopkins ya fara aikinsa a matsayin mai gano maƙaryaci a watan Maris na shekara ta 1644 kuma ya kasance har sai da ya yi ritaya a shekara ta 1647. Hopkins da abokin aikinsa John Stearne sun aika da mutane da yawa da ake zargi da su rataye saboda maita fiye da duk sauran masu farautar maƙaryaci a Ingila na shekaru 160 da suka gabata,    kuma suna da alhakin karuwar gwajin maƙaryaciya a cikin waɗannan shekarun.     [5] [6] [7]

Hanyoyin da ya yi na binciken maita sun samo asali ne daga *Daemonology* na Sarki James I, wanda aka ambata kai tsaye a cikin littafin Hopkins mai suna The Discovery of Witches .  Kodayake azabtarwa ba bisa ka'ida ba ne a Ingila, Hopkins sau da yawa yana amfani da dabaru kamar hana barci don cire ikirari daga wadanda ya azabtar.

## Rayuwa ta farko
Ba a san komai game da Matthew Hopkins ba kafin 1644, kuma babu takardun zamani game da shi ko iyalinsa. An haife shi a Great Wenham, Suffolk,   kuma shi ne ɗa na huɗu na yara shida. Mahaifinsa, James Hopkins, limami Puritan ne kuma mai kula da St John's na Great Wenham, a Suffolk .   Iyalin a wani lokaci sun riƙe taken "zuwa ƙasashe da gidaje a Framlingham 'a gidan sarauta'". Mahaifinsa ya shahara tare da mabiyansa, daya daga cikinsu a cikin 1619 ya bar kudi don sayen Littafi Mai-Tsarki ga 'ya'yansa uku James, John da Thomas.

Don haka ba za a iya haihuwar Matthew Hopkins ba kafin 1619, kuma ba zai iya zama sama da 28 ba lokacin da ya mutu, amma yana iya kasancewa matashi 25 .  Kodayake James Hopkins ya mutu a shekara ta 1634,  lokacin da mai tsattsauran ra'ayi William Dowsing, wanda aka ba da izini a shekara ta 1643 ta Majalisar Dattijai ta Manchester  "don lalata abubuwan tunawa da bautar gumaka da camfi", ya ziyarci Ikklisiya a shekara ta 1625, ya lura cewa "babu wani abu da za a sake fasalin". Ɗan'uwan Hopkins John ya zama Minista Kudancin Fambridge a shekara ta 1645 amma an cire shi daga mukamin shekara guda bayan haka saboda watsi da aikinsa. Hopkins ya bayyana a cikin littafinsa The Discovery of Witches (1647)  cewa "bai taba tafiya nesa ba ... don samun kwarewarsa".&nbsp;

A farkon shekarun 1640, Hopkins ya koma Manningtree, Essex, wani gari a kan Kogin Stour, kimanin kilomita 10 (16  daga Wenham. Bisa ga al'ada, Hopkins ya yi amfani da gadonsa na kwanan nan na mark ɗari  (£ 66 13s. 4d.) don kafa kansa a matsayin mutum da kuma sayen Thorn Inn a Mistley.  Daga hanyar da ya gabatar da shaida a cikin gwaji, ana zaton Hopkins an horar da shi a matsayin lauya, amma akwai shaidar da za ta nuna cewa wannan lamarin ne.

## Binciken mafarauci

Bayan gwajin maƙaryaci na Lancaster (1612-1634), an umarci William Harvey, likitan Sarki Charles I na Ingila, ya bincika matan huɗu da ake zargi,  kuma daga wannan ya zo da abin da ake buƙata don samun tabbacin kasancewa maƙaryaciya.  Ayyukan Hopkins da John Stearne ba lallai bane su tabbatar da cewa duk wanda ake tuhuma ya aikata ayyukan maleficium, amma don tabbatar da cewa sun yi alkawari da Iblis. Kafin wannan batu, duk wani mummunan aiki daga bangaren mayu ana bi da shi daidai da na sauran masu laifi, har sai an ga cewa, bisa ga imani na zamani game da tsarin maita, sun ba da ikonsu ga aikin da suka zaɓa.

Daga nan sai mayu suka zama 'yan ridda ga Kristanci, wanda ya zama mafi girma daga cikin laifukansu da zunubansu. A cikin nahiyar da Dokar Roman maita laifi ne ban da: laifi ne wanda ya zama laifi sosai cewa duk hanyoyin shari'a na yau da kullun sun maye gurbin su. Saboda Iblis ba zai "yi ikirari" ba, ya zama dole a sami ikirari daga ɗan adam da ke da hannu.

Binciken maƙaryaci da Stearne da Hopkins suka yi galibi a Gabashin Anglia, a cikin yankunan Suffolk, Essex, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire da Huntingdonshire, tare da wasu a cikin yankuna na Northamptonshire da Bedfordshire. Sun shimfiɗa a ko'ina cikin yankin da ya fi karfi na Puritan da na 'yan majalisa wanda ya kafa Ƙungiyar Gabas mai ƙarfi da tasiri daga 1644 zuwa 1647, wanda ke tsakiya a Essex. Dukansu Hopkins da Stearne za su buƙaci wasu nau'ikan haruffa na aminci   don su iya tafiya a duk yankuna.

A cewar littafinsa The Discovery of Witches,  Hopkins ya fara aikinsa a matsayin mai gano maƙaryaci bayan ya ji mata suna tattauna taronsu da Iblis a watan Maris na shekara ta 1644 a Manningtree . Stearne ne ya yi zargin farko, kuma an nada Hopkins a matsayin mataimakinsa. An zargi mata ashirin da uku da maita kuma an yi musu shari'a a Chelmsford a shekara ta 1645. Yayinda Yaƙin basasar Ingila ke ci gaba, ba alƙalai na asize ne suka gudanar da shari'ar ba, amma alƙalai ne na zaman lafiya wanda Earl na Warwick ya jagoranci. Hudu sun mutu a kurkuku kuma goma sha tara an yanke musu hukunci kuma an rataye su. A wannan lokacin, ban da Middlesex da Garuruwan da aka hayar, babu wani rikodin da ya nuna wani mutum da ake tuhuma da maita da aka yanke masa hukuncin kisa ban da alƙalai na assizes.

Hopkins da Stearne, tare da matan da suka yi tsagewa, nan da nan suna tafiya a gabashin Ingila, suna da'awar cewa majalisar ta ba su izini a hukumance don ganowa da gurfanar da mayu. Tare da mataimakan su, an biya su da kyau saboda aikinsu, kuma an ba da shawarar cewa wannan ya zama dalilin da ya sa ya aikata. Hopkins ya bayyana  cewa "kudinsa shine kula da kamfaninsa tare da dawakai uku",  kuma ya dauki "shillings ashirin a gari".  Rubuce-rubucen da aka yi a Stowmarket sun nuna farashin da aka caje wa garin ya kasance £ 23 (daidai da £ 4,700 a 2023) tare da kuɗin tafiye-tafiyensa.

Kudin da aka kashe wa al'ummar Hopkins da kamfaninsa sun kasance kamar yadda, a cikin 1645, dole ne a karɓi harajin haraji na musamman a Ipswich. Majalisar ta san Hopkins da ayyukan tawagarsa sosai, kamar yadda rahotanni masu damuwa game da gwajin mayu na Bury St. Edmunds na shekara ta 1645 suka nuna. Kafin shari'ar, an kai rahoto zuwa majalisa - "kamar wasu maza masu cin gashin kansu sun yi amfani da wasu ayyukan da ba su da kyau don karɓar irin wannan ikirarin"  - cewa an ba da Hukumar Oyer da Terminer ta musamman don shari'ar waɗannan mayu.  Bayan fitina da kisa Moderate Intelligencer, wata takarda ta majalisa da aka buga a lokacin yakin basasar Ingila, a cikin wani edita na 4-11 Satumba 1645, ya nuna rashin jin daɗi game da al'amuran a Bury.

### Hanyoyin bincike
Hanyoyin binciken maita sun samo asali ne daga *Daemonology* na Sarki James I, wanda aka ambata kai tsaye a cikin Hopkins's The Discovery of Witches .  Kodayake azabtarwa ba bisa ka'ida ba ne a Ingila, Hopkins sau da yawa yana amfani da dabaru kamar hana barci don cire ikirari daga wadanda ya azabtar. Zai kuma yanke hannun wanda ake tuhuma da wuka mai tsayi, kuma idan ba ta zubar da jini ba, an ce ita maƙaryaciya ce. Wata hanyar da ya yi ita ce gwajin yin iyo, bisa ga ra'ayin cewa kamar yadda mayu suka yi watsi da baftisma, ruwa zai ƙi su. An ɗaure wadanda ake zargi da kujera kuma an jefa su cikin ruwa: duk wadanda suka "swam" (sun tashi) an dauke su maƙaryaci. An gargadi Hopkins game da amfani da "swimming" ba tare da samun izinin wanda aka azabtar da farko ba. Wannan ya haifar da watsi da gwajin a ƙarshen shekara ta 1645. 

Hopkins da mataimakansa sun kuma nemi Alamar Iblis. Wannan alama ce da aka yi tunanin cewa duk maƙaryaci ko Masu sihiri suna da ita wanda aka ce ya mutu ga duk wani ji kuma ba zai zubar da jini ba - kodayake wani lokacin yana da kwayar halitta, alamar haihuwa ko Ƙarin maƙarƙashiya. Idan wanda ake zargi da maƙaryaci ba shi da irin waɗannan alamun da ba a ganuwa ana iya gano su ta hanyar yin amfani da su. Sabili da haka, an yi amfani da "masu sihiri", waɗanda suka yi wa wanda ake tuhuma wuka da allurai na musamman suna neman irin waɗannan alamomi, yawanci bayan an aske wanda ake zargi da gashin jikinsa. An yi imanin cewa sananne maƙaryaci, dabba kamar cat ko kare, zai sha jinin maƙaryacin daga alamar, yayin da jariri ya sha yaudara daga maƙaryaciya.

### Hamayya
Hopkins da kamfaninsa da sauri suka shiga adawa bayan aikin su ya fara, [1] amma daya daga cikin manyan abokan adawarsa shine John Gaul, mai kula da Great Staughton a Huntingdonshire. [2][3] Gaule ya halarci wata mace daga St Neots wacce aka tsare a kurkuku da ake tuhuma da maita har sai Hopkins zai iya halarta. Bayan ya ji cewa an yi hira da matar, Hopkins ya rubuta wasika [2] ga wani mai lamba yana tambayar ko za a ba shi "baƙi mai kyau".[4] Gaule ya ji wannan wasika ya rubuta littafinsa Select Cases of Conscience da ke shafar Witches and Witchcrafts; London, (1646) - an sadaukar da shi ga Colonel Walton na House of Commons [2] - kuma ya fara shirin wa'azin Lahadi don hana farautar maƙaryaci. [5][4] –  –￼