Eleanor Cobham, Duchess of Gloucester was one of the more high profile individuals to be accused of wielding magic. In 1441, she was accused of treasonable necromancy. She had consulted with Astrologers that had foreseen the King’s death in a matter of months. The Astrologers had told the court that Eleanor was the instigator.
Eleanor fled to sanctuary in Westminster Abbey so could not be tried by the law courts. The charges against her were possibly exaggerated to curb the ambitions of her husband. Eleanor was examined by a panel of religious men whilst in sanctuary and she denied most of the charges but confessed to obtaining potions from Margery Jourdemayne, “the Witch of Eye”. Her explanation was that they were potions to help her conceive.
Eleanor and her fellow conspirators were found guilty. The Astrologers either died in the Tower of London or were hanged, drawn and quartered, and Jourdemayne was burnt at the stake. Eleanor had to do public penance in London, divorce her husband and was condemned to life imprisonment.
For more on the history of witchcraft:
An A to Z of Witchcraft: B is for Ball
Ball was supposedly the familiar (or demon) kept by Elizabeth Device, one of the Pendle or Lancashire Witches. Her 9 year old daughter Jennet, testified in the court room that he was a brown dog, and claimed she had seen her mother and Ball discuss the various murders he would carry out. He was described…
An A to Z of Witchcraft: A is for Agnes Brown
Agnes Brown was a 12 year old girl living in Essex and was one of the many villagers who accused Agnes Waterhouse, also known as Mother Waterhouse, of witchcraft in 1566. It was on her evidence that Agnes Waterhouse became the first woman to be executed for witchcraft in England. In her testimony, Agnes Brown…
The Little Girl at the Centre of England’s Most Notorious Witchcraft Trial.
How one little girl changed the course of English Legal History, Jennet Device.
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Sources (because I don’t know everything)
‘Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester’ from the website ‘Wikipedia’. Accessed from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor,_Duchess_of_Gloucester
‘Royal Witches, From Joan of Navarre to Elizabeth Woodville’ by Gemma Hollman. Published 2019.
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