History knows many cases when a woman has proclaimed a witch, although there was no particular reason for this. Some were as a result of their beauty or intelligence.
Some notable women have been hunted as witches without any reason. At the same time, completely innocent young ladies, whose intelligence and beauty someone envied, could quickly get into the number of women using magic.
However, some became just a victim of slander; others managed to become famous for their cruel acts. And some were called witches even after the days of hunting them were long gone.
Top five women summoned for witch trials
1. Mathilde Kschessinska
This legendary ballerina was suspected of belonging to the clan of witches. After all, Mathilde Kschessinska fascinated the audience with her plasticity, and her ability to seduce any man was considered witchcraft. Allegedly, the ballerina’s grandmother owned the secrets of divination, and her mother was a real witch who passed on the mysteries of manipulating people to her daughter. For her eyes, the ballerina was called “the royal witch,” and even Grigory Rasputin envied Mathilde Kschessinska’s magical abilities.
2. Anna Askew
At the age of 15, the English writer and poet were married to a Catholic Thomas Kyme, although she was a Protestant. Anne’s religious convictions and Protestant literature could in no way be the reason for her arrest. But her husband put her out the door, leaving two children for himself, and Henry VIII ordered Anne to be imprisoned in Tower Prison, declaring her a heretic. But she did not renounce her convictions under torture on a rack, for which she was burned at stake as a witch. And her only crime was the unwillingness to give up her faith.
3. Anne Boleyn
Not being a beauty, this woman knew how to charm any man. Henry VIII could not resist her charm, and he threw away all conventions for Anne Boleyn. He went against the Pope’s will, who did not allow the king to divorce Catherine of Aragon. Henry VIII was not disturbed because the ordinary people immediately dubbed Anne a “black witch,” attributing to her a connection with Welsh sorceresses. In the future, Henry VIII himself uses these rumors and speculation to accuse Anne of all mortal sins and sentence her to be burned. True, they will not burn her, but they will execute her by chopping off her head.
4. Countess Elizabeth Bathory
She dreamed of remaining forever young and beautiful, and therefore acquired her sorceress, who became Dorotta Shentez-Dorvulu. But Elizabeth Bathory, in addition to her beauty, was also distinguished by a ferocious disposition, and her character deteriorated from year to year. She mercilessly beat the maids and drove them naked into the cold for the slightest offense.
Pandora’s Box was opened at the very moment when the Countess discovered the first wrinkles on her face. On the advice of the home sorceress, Bathory bathed daily in the blood of innocent girls for ten years, who began to disappear in dozens in the vicinity. The truth was revealed thanks to the priest, who sounded the alarm after the funeral service in the castle at once for nine dead.
In the castle, representatives of the authorities found women dying from torture, and in the dungeon, there were mountains of corpses. Elizabeth Bathory has christened a witch but was not executed, sentenced to imprisonment in a cramped room of her castle, where no one had access, and meager food was served through a narrow window. After almost three years, the county inhabitants were able to get rid of their fear when they learned about the Countess’s death.
5. Joan of Arc
Enemies feared her and were loved by ordinary people who venerated Joan of Arc as a saint. She helped Charles VII to ascend the throne, and he did not even think to intercede for her when Joan of Arc was captured in one of the battles and was condemned by the Holy Inquisition. Accusations of wearing men’s clothing, using witchcraft against the king, and heresy were the reason for the burning. The one who was named a witch in 1431 was canonized after 478 years.
