[The following is in regards to charges of witchcraft being leveled against several people in 15th century England, one of whom being Eleanor Cobham, the second wife of Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, who was the brother of the late Henry V and uncle of the young Henry VI.]
Roger Bolingbroke, an Oxford priest, physician, and astrologer, and Thomas Southwell, a canon of St. Stephen’s, Westminster, were arrested and accused of plotting to kill the king by means of necromancy. In Bolingbroke’s possession was found a wax figure of the monarch, which authorities claimed was being slowly melted to bring about the deterioration of the king’s health. Both men were tossed in the Tower of London in July 1441. Bolingbroke, under “examination” (read: torture), revealed that he had been instructed by the duchess of Gloucester, who he claimed wanted to use magic to murder the king. Eleanor soon found herself facing charges of witchcraft, a burning offense, and treason, a hanging one. She tried to flee but was caught and brought before the religious authorities, most of whom were her enemies.
At the trial, Eleanor’s two supposed accomplices were joined by a third, Margery Jourdemayne, dramatically called the “Witch of Eye,” from whom it was alleged that Eleanor begged love potions to ensnare the affections of the duke of Gloucester. Faced with evidence against her, Eleanor admitted to dabbling in sorcery; she claimed the drugs she obtain from the Witch of Eye were to help her conceive a child but denied plotting against the king.
All four were found guilty. The Witch of Eye was burned alive at a market in London; Bolingbroke was hanged, beheaded, and quartered; and lucky Southwell died in prison, probably by his own hand. Eleanor was spared death after the king interceded. Stripped of her title, she was forced to walk through London barefoot, bearing a heavy candle, to the alar of St. Paul’s Cathedral and then to two more London churches to do the same penance. It was winter; the filthy ground cut her feet, and crowds along the way jeered at her. She was made a prisoner in a castle in Wales, where she stayed until her death 18 years later. Her husband abandoned her to her fate, knowing he could do nothing to save her.
Source:
McRobbie, Linda Rodriguez. “The Sorceress Princesses.” Princesses Behaving Badly: Real Stories From History-- Without the Fairy-Tale Endings. MJF Books, 2013. 87. Print.
Further Reading:
Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester (née Cobham)
Margery Jourdemayne, "the Witch of Eye Next Westminster"
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