A Mistris Bodnan converted a maid by the name of Anne Stiles to witchcraft, gave her a looking glass and sealed it with blood, she was executed for her crimes.
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Tag: BloodCovenant
Brief summary
Joan Peterson was examined for the poisoning and bewitching of Lady Powel, for which she confessed, Giles Fender also confessed to making a blood covenant with the Devil through a Jesuit, and murdering his wife, he was given a ring that could make him disappear, the Devil appeared to him in the jail as a lawyer and gave him the means to escape, after which he was apprehended again when his covenant wore off, was hanged.
Fuller summary
This pamphlet deals primarily with the 1652 trial of Giles Fenderlin, a soldier who made a pact of protection with the devil via a Jesuit priest. The pamphlet recounts Fenderlin’s confession, beginning with a cursory mention of his murder of a woman purported to be his wife. Fenderlin, a soldier in the Low Countries (Flanders at the time of the covenant) paid a Jesuit priest 45 shillings for protection provided by the Devil. He and the two other soldiers accompanying him asked for demonstrations on a rooster and a cat, and when they were satisfied with the results, paid the priest 45 shillings. For the next five years Fenderlin was protected in battle. Bullets bounced off of him. When the covenant expired he decided to renew it for the next 14. Fenderlin wrote his name in his own blood, and the Jesuit gave Fenderlin an enchanted ring that could reveal money hoards and transport the wearer miles away from danger.
Spirits visited Fenderlin several times while he was incarcerated. The Devil himself visited Fenderlin, who took the form of a lawyer and told Fenderlin to hang himself. A fellow inmate of Fenderlin’s reported seeing a spirit who took the form of a bishop. Fenderlin renounced it, telling the spirit that it should return if it was from hell. The spirit “spit fire in his face like a flame.” Other fellow inmates reported seeing Fenderlin’s familiar, who appeared at night as a man with no arms or head. An apparition of a dog also appeared, but Fenderlin rejected its affections (“saying ‘Avoid Satan’”).
On the eve of Fenderlin’s execution, he warned some inmates “of good repute” that they might be scared by the apparitions that would haunt him that night. The inmates declared they were afraid only of God. That night they heard rustling in the straw, and Fenderlin yelled at an apparent spirit. The inmates, however, asserted that it was not a spirit but “the guilt of your own Conscience, and nothing else; for we are all rational men, and cannot discern any thing.” Fenderlin then assured them that he was in his right mind. Fenderlin was hanged in
This section of the pamphlet brings up several interesting issues that I would like to explore: the treatment of male witches in the late 17th century, the allusions to mental illness, the appearance of a specifically Jesuit Catholic priest, the possible interactions between the representation of Fenderlin’s crime and his term as a soldier in the Low Countries, and the treatment (or lack thereof) of Fenderlin’s crime against his wife.
There is what seems to be a short addendum (or preview of an upcoming pamphlet) about Joan Peterson, who was a “practitioner of physick” accused of witchcraft because a woman she had given a potion died. However, Peterson denied any wrongdoing, as the patient was 80 years old, and insisted that she did not administer any potion and only provided the woman with “comfortable and nourishing” care. The author indicates that a pamphlet directly dealing with the trial is forthcoming.
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The divels delusions
A dog and a woman called Jezabell appeared to John Palmer, the devil drew his blood and made him draw his mark on the ground, Palmer seduced his kin Elizabeth Knott into the same, together they bewitched to death several people and were executed for it.
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The witches of Huntingdon
Elizabeth Weed saw three spirits, a young boy and two puppies which told her to renounce God and make a blood covenant with Devil, which she did, her spirits had sex with her and killed livestock for her, a poor John Winnick acquiesced to renouncing Christ in exchange for spirits helping him financially, Weed than offered a white dog to Weed and similarly converted her, contains other examinations and confessions of other witches and related incidents.
The devil appeared to Joan Williford in the form a dog, she sold her soul and gave him blood, pled guilty and was executed, Joan Cariden also saw the devil in the form of a black dog, and he sucked her; Jane Hott reported a hedghog coming into her room at night when she was asleep and sucking her blood, she did not pass the water sinking test and was executed with the rest of them.
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The confession of Mother Lakeland
Contains theoretical description of the laws and discovery of witchcraft, then discusses the professor of religion Mother Lakeland who was constantly solicited by the devil, who did not push her to deny god but wrote the Covenants in blood in her hand and gave her three imps, with which she bewitched her husband to death along with others, for which she as burnt to death, upon her death marks of flesh in the form of a dog she had apparently given a man disappeared.
reverends were apparently approved from royal officials to exorcize the nuns of the Ursuline Church in London, while reverend F. Surin, of the Society of Jesus, exorcized mother Prioreffe, Balam the devil appeared, the father then discussed with the devil, on his hand Joseph was written in blood, apparently a sign of Balam’s departure, St. Joseph had sent a protecting angel to Mother Prioreffe, contains observations of the story
Ioan, Margaret and Phillip Flower associated themselves with the Beauer Castle, the Early and the Lady began to suspect them of witchcraft, of robbery and bewitching a man into loving Phillip, the devil came to them and they agreed to give their souls to have spirits like dogs, cats, and rats at their control, they were apprehended and sent to Lincoln, during her trial Ione asked for bread and butter and died after eating it, the daughters were executed; includes trials and confessions of other men and women, and then the individual confessions of the sisters who reported having spirits sucking on them
Brief summary:
Condemned and executed, Ioan Cunny taught by mother to draw circles in the ground for Satan, made frog spirits appear and sent them to hurt people, reported by two sons, Ioan Vpney had a mole and a toad spirit, sent the toad to kill wives of accusers, Ioan Prentice saw the devil appear to her in the form of a ferret which sucked her blood, executed together
Brief summary:
This pamphlet includes the confessions of three witches, as well as some of the evidence given against them and the result of their trial. The pamphlet begins with an address to the reader, warning against the seductiveness of having dealings with Satan. This address reminds the reader that God will not allow such actions, and no one should hide such offenders.
Following this warning, the first main section of the pamphlet contains the confession of Joan Cunny, a widow from Essex. Mother Cunny explains that she learned to be a witch from Mother Humfrye who instructed her to draw a circle on the ground and say a specific prayer to Satan. Mother Cunny says that when she first called on Satan two spirits appeared to her in the shape of frogs, and it is suggested that she had at least two more spirits. All four of the spirits have names, and notes in the margins explain their different abilities-one killed men, one killed women, one killed horses and one killed cattle. Mother Cunny also confesses that she had sent her spirits to hurt a variety of people in the village, and while some people were able to repel them by the force of their belief in God, other people were harmed by the spirits. She denies sending her spirits to hurt some specific people, but does say that her daughter Margaret may have sent out the spirits to hurt people as well.
Following this confession, Mother Cunny’s oldest grandson gives evidence against her, saying that she had cursed Harry Finches’ wife for not giving her anything to drink and that the woman died a week later. The grandson also explains that once he was sent to get wood but had it stolen from him by another boy, and that when he told Mother Cunny this she told her spirit to prick the thief in the foot and he became lame. Then, the boy continues, they went together to the Sheriff’s field and she had her spirit knock down an Oak tree, although there was no wind. This is the end of the confession of the first witch.
The second witch, Joan Upney, begins her confession by saying that a different witch came to her house and gave her something that looked like a mole and told her it would do her bidding. That Mole left her about a year later, but the same witch gave her another mole and a toad, and Mother Upney says she has always had a toad to do her bidding since that time. She admits that she send her toad to pinch a variety of people, and that her younger daughter used them as well. That is the end of her confession.
The confession of the final witch, Joan Prentice, begins with Mother Prentice saying that six years ago the devil appeared to her in the shape of a ferret as she was getting ready for bed. She recounts that the ferret asked her for her soul and when asked what he was said he was Satan but that she should not fear him as he just wanted her soul. Mother Prentice said that her soul belonged to Jesus and she could not give it to the ferret, so the ferret asked for her blood and drank from a finger on her left hand, and told her his name was Bidd. Mother Prentice recounts that the ferret came to her often, only as she was getting ready for bed, and that it drank blood from her left cheek and asked for her commands. Mother Prentice confesses that she asked the ferret to spoil a neighbors’ drink, and to nip one of Master Glascocks’ children, a girl named Sara. The ferret came back to report that it had bit the child and that the child would die, and Mother Prentice said she had told it not to kill the child, and states that she has not seen the ferret since. She explains that she wanted the ferret to nip the child because one of Master Glascock’s servants had turned her away when she was begging at his house. Mother Prentice also recounts what she said to call the ferret to her, and names two other women who also call upon the ferret, although she does not know what they have asked the ferret to do.
The pamphlet ends with a narration of the end of the women’s’ trials, and, as they are all found guilty, they are sent back to jail for a few hours before being taken to their execution. All three women were given the opportunity to repent and ask God for mercy, and Mother Upney did so before her death.
The pamphlet has a picture on the front and portions of that picture are recreated and spaced throughout the text. The picture shows the three women hanging, two of Mother Cunny’s sprites with name tags, the toads of Mother Upney, and Mother Prentice sitting in a chair letting the ferret drink blood from her cheek.
Elizabeth Stile, widow, fed her rat with blood, Mother Dutten keeps Satan as toad and feeds it with blood from her butt, in poverty, a Mother Deuell feeds her Satan-cat blood and milk, Elizabeth confessed to feeding her rat with blood, all of them including Mother Margaret and Father Rosimond would meet at night, they murdered a man, they would prick voodoo dolls and kill livestock, Stile confessed and they were all apprehended and arranged