Alice Kyteler

Alice Kyteler (* 1263 ; † after 1325) was an Irish noblewoman and the first person to be convicted of witchcraft in Ireland . She was able to leave the country in time, but her maid Petronilla de Meath was arrested, whipped and burned as a witch in 1324.

Life

Alice Kyteler came from a Flemish merchant family who settled in Kilkenny in the 13th century . Kyteler married William Outlaw, a wealthy merchant and moneylender, in 1280. They had a son who was also named William Outlaw. This son was later a business partner of Alice Kyteler, as was quite common in the Middle Ages. He was declared adult in 1303 and later was Mayor of Kilkenny. Following the death of husband William Outlaw, Alice Kyteler married her second husband, Adam Ie Blund of Callan, around 1302. Her second husband was also a moneylender and the couple were very wealthy. Both spouses had children from their first marriage, and Kyteler's son William benefited in 1307 from Adam Ie Blund's repayment of all his debts. In addition, he gave all of his goods, real estate and jewels to William. In 1309 Alice Kyteler married her third husband, Richard de Valle, a wealthy landowner. Again, William Outlaw benefited financially. Richard de Valle died before 1316, Alice brought a lawsuit against her stepson, who was also called Richard de Valle, in order to sue for her widow's part. Eventually she married Sir John Ie Poer.

accusation

When Sir John Ie Poer fell ill, rumors reached him that he was being poisoned by his wife Alice Kyteler. He turned to Richard Ledrede, Bishop of Ossory, and charged his wife. Kyteler's stepchildren from their previous marriages joined this lawsuit. They claimed Kyteler also bewitched their fathers, bringing death to them and stealing inheritance from the children. Ledrede asked Kyteler, who was now living with her son William Outlaw, to appear before him. But Kyteler had already fled to Dublin and was therefore beyond Ledrede's reach. He tried to have her arrested in Dublin, but the king forbade arrest. Lady Alice turned the lawsuit over and got the Kilkenny Seneschal to arrest Ledrede and keep him in custody for 17 days. After his release, Ledrede himself traveled to Dublin to seize Alice Kyteler, but she had already fled to England with Sarah, the daughter of her servant Petronilla de Meath . Ledrede researched Kilkenny to see if there were any other helpers and confidants there.

After three inquisitions, Alice Kyteler was charged with witchcraft and eleven other people besides her. These included her son William Outlaw, her servant Petronilla de Meath, Petronilla's daughter Sarah, also called Basilia, Robert of Bristol, Alice Faber, John Galrussyn Helen Galrussyn, Syssoh Galrussyn, William Payne de Boly, Eva de Brounestoun and Annota Lange. Alice Kyteler was able to escape with some of the accused, the mostly poorer of the accused were arrested and others released. William Outlaw pleaded guilty, his sentence was converted to a fine, and he was released. For a year he had to listen to three masses every day, give food to the poor and undertake to re-cover the roof of St. Canice's Cathedral with lead. When Ledrede heard that William had not carried out his penance, he imprisoned him again. Another fine was imposed on him.

Seven charges were made: they denied Christ and the Church, cut up live animals and distributed the pieces in the streets as gifts to a demon , they stole the keys to the church and gathered there at night, in the skull of a robber they would lay the bowels and internal organs, worms, clipped nails of dead people, hair from the buttocks, and clothes of boys who had died before baptism, brew potions from them to induce other people to love, hate, other Christians, kill and continue to influence. Alice Kyteler was accused of having a demon as an incubus , with whom she was also carnal acquainted and who appeared to her as either a cat, a shaggy black dog, or a black man. From this she would get her wealth. In addition, that Kyteler would have used sorcery to murder some of her husbands and beguile others so that she and her son William Outlaw acquired their wealth and impoverished their stepchildren. In addition, she would have poisoned her fourth husband, Sir John Ie Poer. The final charge was backed up by a 1324 description by Sir John showing him emaciated, with his nails torn out, and no body hair. These were all symptoms that indicated arsenic poisoning .

Further complaints were made, for example, Petronilla de Meath had seen three black men carrying an iron rod, and she would have been there if Alice Kyteler had had sexual intercourse with her demon. Alice Kyteler was also accused of sweeping the streets of Kilkenny with a broom and sweeping everything outside her son's door, proclaiming that he now had all the wealth of the Kilkenny citizens. Petronilla de Meath was flogged six times on the orders of the bishop and burned as a witch on November 3, 1324. She was the only one of the defendants to face the full sentence. All others were released after payments and further fines.

Alice Kyteler lived under the protection of King Edward III until her death . in England or Flanders.

Modern reception

Judy Chicago dedicated an inscription to Alice Kyteler on the triangular floor tiles of the Heritage Floor for her installation The Dinner Party . The porcelain tiles labeled with the name Alice Kyteler are assigned to the place with the place setting for Petronilla de Meath .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} The Sorcery Trial of Alice kyteler by Bernadette Williams . In: History Ireland . 2013 ( historyireland.com ).
2. ↑ ^{a b} A Brief History of Witchcraft . Little, Brown Book Group, 2010, ISBN 978-1-84901-804-3 ( books.google.de ).
3. ↑ Brooklyn Museum: Angélique de Coudray. In: brooklynmuseum.org. Retrieved March 14, 2018 . 

Web links

• Alice Kyteler Brooklyn Museum