Salem, WGN's creative reimagining of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, returned last week for its second season. On the show, of course, witches are very real, and not only are they aware of the trials, but they're also orchestrating them. The second season begins with an emergent plague that will wipe out all nonwitches, plus the looming threat of a witch war. We recently interviewed the cast of Salem [1], getting as many juicy details as we could about the new season, but we've been thinking. How much of the show is based in reality? Keep scrolling to get the historical backstories of five of the show's biggest characters.
Tituba
- In History: Tituba was a slave who worked for the Parris family during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. The book Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem [2] suggests that she first fell under suspicion after baking a "witch cake," made from rye meal and a witchcraft victim's urine. When fed to the dog that was believed to be the witch's "familiar" — an animal companion that serves the witch it's bound to — the spell would be broken and the identity of the witch revealed. Tituba was also the first woman to "confess" to being a witch. An excerpt from her examination, also featured in the book, claims she said, "The devil came to me and bid me serve him," and that she also described specific details of the witch community in Salem. In the end, though, she was thought to have been pressured into confessing, even beaten.
- On Salem: Tituba (Ashley Madekwe) is a full-fledged witch. In fact, she's the one who turns Mary Sibley from mortal to witch and sets the events of the show in motion. Tituba has great power, much of which we suspect she hasn't revealed yet.
Mercy Lewis
- In History: When Mercy Lewis moved to Salem, she was an orphan. According to The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England [3], she was a servant of Thomas Putnam and quickly became one of the top witch accusers in town. Putnam's daughter, Ann, began having fits, and so did Mercy, not long after. They believed they were victims of witchcraft, and it wasn't long before Ann and her cousin, Abigail Williams, began naming witches. Mercy later joined in, and according to court records, she accused a total of nine people.
- On Salem: When we first meet Mercy Lewis (Elise Eberle), she's possessed by an evil spirit, often implicating suspected witches in Salem. Before long, though, she becomes a witch herself, thanks to Mary Sibley. Now, she's a player in the impending witch war, and she's forming her own army.
John Alden
- In History: In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 [4] talks at length about John Alden's involvement in the witch trials. He was said to have been accused of being a witch by none other than Mercy Lewis! He was held in jail in Boston but eventually escaped and fled to NYC.
- On Salem: John Alden (Shane West) returns from war to a town overwrought with panic. He begins to hunt witches and defend those he believes innocent and is blindsided when Mary Sibley, the woman he loved and left for the war, reveals to him her true identity as a witch.
Mary Sibley
- In History: While there were much more prominent women named Mary in the actual Salem witch trials, Mary Sibley is mentioned once in the context of Tituba. According to Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem [5], Mary Sibley invented the recipe for the "witch cake" and helped Tituba bake it. It's interesting that the two crossed paths in history, especially since they're so entwined in the TV series.
- On Salem: After her lover, John Alden, leaves for war, Mary Sibley (Janet Montgomery) sacrifices her unborn child and becomes a witch. She marries George Sibley to attain a position of power and manipulate the witch hunt. Mary still loves John Alden and has just found out her child is still alive.
Cotton Mather
- In History: Cotton Mather studied at Harvard and worked as a minister in Boston. He studied witchcraft in depth and even wrote a book, titled The Wonders of the Invisible World [6]. The book attempts to examine witchcraft from an unbiased perspective and suggests that only confessions, not other forms of evidence, should be used to convict a witch.
- On Salem: A well-educated man who has been sent to Salem from Boston, Cotton Mather (Seth Gabel) is meant to oversee the witch trials. When he thinks his father, Increase Mather, has gotten too wild with his own witch-hunting tactics, Cotton believes he has no choice but to kill him. And so he does, thereby saving Mary Sibley.