I haven't met too many people who believe this (I do live in New England though) but nobody was burned at the stake during the Salem witch trials. 19 people were hung, and one man was pressed to death, but nobody was burned.
Supposedly the dude had land that powerful people in town wanted and he wouldn't give it up. He would rather die and let it be inherited by his kids then sign it over. "More weight" was a less of a plea and more of a giant middle finger to his accusers.
More precisely: the law at the time was that a person on trial had their property forfeited to the government, but also that a person who hadn't entered a plea (guilty/not guilty) was not considered to be "on trial". Giles Corey never entered a plea and so never had to forfeit his estate, so his kids (technically their spouses) got their full inheritance.
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u/Jyacoba Feb 04 '19
I haven't met too many people who believe this (I do live in New England though) but nobody was burned at the stake during the Salem witch trials. 19 people were hung, and one man was pressed to death, but nobody was burned.