When we think of witches in Tudor England, it's easy to picture the fairy tale kind of Disney haggard village woman with a cat familiar and a bubbling cauldron, bubble, bubble, toil and trouble.

But for centuries before that image took hold, witchcraft had a form far more complicated meaning.

In the Middle Ages, it could describe anything from a noble

woman hiring an astrologer to predict the king's health to an old healer offering charms to cure

a fever. It was a word that shifted depending on who said it and who was being accused. And that's

what we're going to talk about today. So settle in,

get cozy, grab a coffee or your beverage of choice. And let's talk about medieval and

tutor witches. Hey friend, welcome back to the YouTube channel for the Renaissance English History podcast. I am Heather,

and I've been podcasting on Tudor England since 2009 with my show, making it the original

tutor history show. I am as always ecstatic, delighted, thrilled that you are here with me today to talk about witches. Let's get into it.

In the medieval world, witchcraft often had less to do with the devil and more to do with politics.

A good example of this is Eleanor Cobham, the Duchess of Gloucester. In 1441, she was accused of using necromancy and witchcraft

to predict the death of King Henry VI. Eleanor was ambitious. She had political enemies. She and her

husband, Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, were next in line for the throne if the young king died,

so a prophecy about his death suddenly became a threat to national security.

Eleanor's household astrologers and clerks were arrested and tortured, and several were executed.

She herself was forced to perform a public penance through London,

wearing her white shift and carrying a taper candle before being imprisoned for life. Her crime

was essentially dabbling in the same sort of astrology practiced by most medieval physicians, but done by a woman

in a politically sensitive position, it became witchcraft. A few decades earlier, another royal

woman had faced a similar charge. Joan of Navarre, the widow of Henry IV, was accused by her stepson, Henry V, in 1419, of

trying to destroy him by witchcraft. We actually did a video on this a couple of months ago.

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