tw: mention of torture, bodily harm. Eight islands lie between the English and French coasts, the largest being Jersey and Guernsey. Although the populations of these two islands are rather small they suffered more from […]
Tag: witch trials
The Witch of Eye-next-Westminster
We don’t know much about Margery Jourdemayne; we know she was born around the end of the 14th century; we know she married a man named William Jourdemayne, and we know she had an awful […]
Gwen ferch Ellis of Llandyrnog – the First Witch of Wales
Witchcraft and magic were not unusual in Wales during the early modern period (1500-1800 AD). Like much of Europe, cunning folk – common people who could provide healing and assistance – were commonplace in its […]
The Witches of Belvoir
In the early 17th century the Rutland family – of Belvoir Castle, North East Leicestershire – experienced tragedy upon tragedy. In 1613 the 6th Earl, Countess and their son Henry fell ill and, sadly, Henry […]
Witch Trials in the British Isles: a Very Brief Introduction
The early modern period was one of transition and uncertainty; Europe ‘teemed with invisible supernatural entities, which constantly influenced…the lives of men’ (Wilby 2005). Unexpected and catastrophic hardship caused by disease, political upheaval and crop […]
