What was the name of the special court established for the trials?

The special court established for the Salem witch trials was the Court of Oyer and Terminer.

Colonial Massachusetts Governor William Phips ordered the court’s creation on May 27, 1692, after accusations and arrests had overwhelmed local authorities. Its name came from Anglo-French legal terminology: “oyer” meant to hear, while “terminer” meant to determine. The commission was given authority to hear and decide the witchcraft cases then pending in the colony.

The court first convened in Salem Town in June 1692, with William Stoughton serving as chief magistrate. Its proceedings produced convictions and executions based partly on spectral evidence—claims that an accused person’s invisible spirit had harmed or visited a witness. That type of evidence later became a major reason for criticizing the trials.

Governor Phips dissolved the Court of Oyer and Terminer on October 29, 1692. A new Superior Court of Judicature handled remaining cases in 1693 and did not permit spectral evidence in the same way. The two courts are therefore important to distinguish.