Margery Jourdemain

Margery Jourdemain , also Margery Gardemaine , (* around 1400 ; † October 27, 1441 in Smithfield , England ) was the Witch of Eye (also Witch of Eye next to Westminster ) victim of a political conspiracy .

Life

Nothing is known about Margery Jourdemain's early life. The only thing that is certain is that she was married and had at least one child, as she is repeatedly referred to as the mother Jourdemain .

Margery Jourdemain was first charged with magical activity on May 9, 1432 , but there was no conviction. Although she was known as the Witch of Eye , there had been no evidence against her. So she was released into the care of her husband, who was supposed to encourage her to lead an orderly life.

Margery Jourdemain sold self-made beauty products in the years after 1432 . With that she was still in the smell of magic , because expensive cosmetic products were condemned as pagan . The attitude of the church writers was clear: Cosmetics would not respect the divine act of creation.

Background of the treason trial

Because Duke Humphrey of Gloucester was a staunch political opponent of his uncle Cardinal Henry Beaufort , the cardinal sought a way to get rid of Gloucester. Due to his social position as chancellor and his great popularity among the population, he was unassailable. However, his reputation would suffer from being close to a woman accused of witchcraft .

Roger Bolingbroke, a priest associated with the Gloucesters, was arrested along with several other priests. They were accused of creating a horoscope designed to predict whether she would become Queen of England, Eleanor Cobham , Gloucester's wife. With the help of threats and torture , confessions of their alleged black magic practices were blackmailed. This did not work out as expected.

John Holland, Earl of Huntingdon , Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham , William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk , Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland , Ralph Cromwell, 3rd Baron Cromwell , who had served ten years earlier Trial of Jeanne d'Arc was present, John, Lord Fanhope and Robert, Lord Hungerford were then commissioned with further investigations against the Duchess.

As part of the "investigations" against Eleanor, suspicion of witchcraft fell again on Margery Jourdemain, as Eleanor Cobham was one of her customers. She was arrested and charged with selling the Duchess love potions that she used to ensnare Gloucester so that Gloucester annulled his first marriage in order to marry Eleanor. She was also supposed to confess that she helped the Duchess make a wax doll that was supposed to function similarly to a voodoo doll. Eleanor stuck needles in this doll and set it in front of a fire so that it slowly melted there, which should make the king sick and die. In addition, Margery Jourdemain is said to have made damage spells for Eleanor Cobham that would have prevented the king from becoming a father. Without heirs, Gloucester would have succeeded the king if he died prematurely.

While the Duchess was only sentenced to life imprisonment due to her high status, Margery Jourdemain was found guilty of sorcery and high treason against the king and publicly burned as a witch on October 27, 1441.

reception

• In Henry VI. describes William Shakespeare the events surrounding the witch trial
• At Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party , her name was immortalized on one of the floor tiles.
• Rebecca Gablé , The Guardians of the Rose (historical novel, mention)
• Mark of the Witch (1970), splatter film

literature

• Michael D. Miller: Wars of the Roses, An Analysis of the causes of the Wars and the course which they took. So far only published on the Internet, BoD planned.
• Wallace Notestein: History of Witchcraft in England from 1558 to 1718 . RUSSELL & RUSSELL (January 1, 1965)

Individual evidence

1. ^ The Dinner Party: Heritage Floor: Margery Jourdemain Brooklyn Museum
2. ↑ Chapter 36: The downfall and death of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester ( Memento of the original from June 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Michael Miller: Excerpt in English