A question in The Times a couple of years ago ran: “Was anyone ever executed for witchcraft posthumously pardoned?”. Although the witch persecut­ions at Salem, Massachusetts, between 1692 and 1693 are widely held as an example of the injustice done to innocent persons by a panicked commun­ity, the fact that a great many of those wrongfully accused of witchcraft – including all those executed and excommun­icated – have since been exonerated ought to be better known. In 1706, Ann Putnam, one of the prime accusers, publicly begged for forgiveness. In 1711, a bill was passed by the state General Court reversing the attainders (declarations of the loss of rights and property of those sent­enced to death) of 22 of those executed.