Court of Oyer and Terminer

E962

colonial tribunal court of law special court

The Court of Oyer and Terminer was a special colonial Massachusetts tribunal notorious for conducting the Salem witch trials of 1692, during which it authorized numerous executions for alleged witchcraft.

Aliases (8)

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	colonial tribunal → court of law → special court →
appliedLaw	English colonial law →
appointedBy	Governor William Phips →
authorityDerivedFrom	royal charter of Massachusetts Bay →
authorized	executions for alleged witchcraft →
chiefJudge	William Stoughton →
country	Kingdom of England →
dissolved	1692 →
establishedBy	Governor William Phips →
fieldOfWork	criminal justice →
historicalPeriod	Colonial America →
inception	1692 →
judge	Bartholomew Gedney → John Hathorne → Jonathan Corwin → Peter Sargeant → Samuel Sewall → Wait Winthrop →
jurisdiction	Province of Massachusetts Bay →
languageOfWork	English →
legacy	symbol of judicial excess in witchcraft prosecutions →
legalForm	special commission →
location	Boston, Massachusetts → Salem, Massachusetts →
mandate	try cases of witchcraft in Essex County →
notableFor	conducting the Salem witch trials →
notableOutcome	mass executions for alleged witchcraft →
numberOfPeopleExecuted	19 by hanging →
numberOfPeoplePressedToDeath	1 →
operatingLanguage	English →
partOf	legal system of the Province of Massachusetts Bay →
presidingOfficer	William Stoughton →
reasonForAbolition	controversy over use of spectral evidence → public disapproval of witchcraft convictions →
replacedBy	Superior Court of Judicature of Massachusetts →
significantEvent	Salem witch trials →
subjectOf	historical studies of the Salem witch trials → legal analyses of spectral evidence →
timePeriod	1692 Salem witchcraft panic →
triedPerson	Bridget Bishop → George Burroughs → Giles Corey → John Proctor → Martha Corey → Rebecca Nurse → Sarah Good →
usedEvidenceType	spectral evidence →

Referenced by (11)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
Mary Easty → Susannah Martin →	convictedBy
Salem witch trials → Salem witch trials ("Superior Court of Judicature") →	courtInvolved
Salem witch trials ("Court of Oyer and Terminer trials") → Salem witch trials ("Superior Court of Judicature trials") →	hasPart
Martha Carrier ("Court of Oyer and Terminer, Salem") →	court
town of Salem (historical jurisdiction) ("Court of Oyer and Terminer (for Salem witch trials)") →	hasCourt
Bridget Bishop ("Court of Oyer and Terminer, Massachusetts Bay Colony") →	legalJurisdiction
Governor William Phips later prohibited further arrests for witchcraft ("establishment of the Court of Oyer and Terminer") →	precededBy
Mary Warren ("the Salem court") →	pressuredBy