The witch has long been the subject of fascination for artists and audience members alike. Revered, feared, and the alternating subject of love or loathing, the witch has evolved from a seemingly omnipresent figure in world folklore, to the subject of musical, theatrical, and—in the last century— cinematic works. Manifesting in myriad guises and under numerous titles, today the witch presents ever more artistic potential, as the history of witchcraft is re-examined, the plight of the accused reinterrogated, leaving notions of cackling, broom-wielding spell-smiths cast aside. Witches have become the heroes and heroines of the postmodern age; the subject of children’s books, comedy shows, and advertising campaigns, the apprehension with which the subject of witchcraft was treated in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries has largely dissolved. But what of these origins? What of the wayward sisters of lore, agents of chaos and fear whose inhuman feats inspired pamphlet and play alike, and what of the many innocents who suffered when suspected of possessing similar powers? The development of opera in the Baroque period saw the integration of the witch from folklore, drama and literature into the emerging genre. Sorceress figures from Classical mythology and chivalric romances, such as Médée, Alcina, and Armide terrorized the European stage, while rustic witch-figures borne of folklore and masque traditions—sometimes hybridized with the mythic sorceress—tread the boards of English Dramatick Opera. This project seeks to examine these witches and their magic on the seventeenth-century stage, to provide a cultural history of their origins, and to analyse their appearances.