Treasonous Witchcraft

Killing a King in Medieval England
Erscheinungsjahr 2027
ISBN: 978-0-19-784042-9
Verlag: Oxford University Press Inc

Buch, Englisch, 240 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 178 mm x 254 mm

Reihe: Graphic History Series

Part of the award-winning Graphic History Series, Treasonous Witchcraft offers a compelling, research-driven account of the 1441 prosecutions of Eleanor Cobham, Duchess of Gloucester, and her associates for sorcery, heresy, witchcraft, and treason-an episode that captivated contemporaries and continues to illuminate key aspects of medieval society. Designed for classroom use, the volume provides instructors with a clear, engaging resource that helps students understand medieval magic, the regulation of supernatural practices, and the workings of both ecclesiastical and common-law courts. Its chronological structure makes a complex series of events accessible while preserving the nuance of the primary sources.

The graphic history centers on four figures whose intertwined stories allow students to explore major historical subfields. Eleanor Cobham's case reveals how gender, status, and political instability shaped chroniclers' interpretations of women's ambition and misconduct. Her penitential walks through London and lifelong imprisonment offer concrete examples of how social rank influenced punishment. Roger Bolingbroke, her clerk and a noted astrologer, enables students to examine necromancy as a practiced form of medieval magic. His public humiliation at Paul's Cross and subsequent treason trial before King's Bench illustrate the differences between medieval and modern justice, including active judicial questioning, rapid proceedings, and the role of oaths.

Thomas Southwell, Bolingbroke's fellow cleric, and Margery Jourdemayne, the “witch of Eye,” broaden students' understanding of the diversity of magical practitioners. Southwell's participation in necromantic rituals and his death in the Tower highlight the risks faced by clerical magicians. Jourdemayne's work as a “cunning woman”-providing charms and herbal remedies-demonstrates the everyday uses of common magic. Her execution as a relapsed heretic underscores how ecclesiastical courts functioned through inquisitorial methods and how prior offenses shaped sentencing.

The graphic format brings these episodes to life through striking visual tableaus drawn directly from the sources: necromantic rituals performed in London churches, Eleanor's public penance, Bolingbroke's humiliation, and the executions of Jourdemayne and Bolingbroke. These scenes help students grasp practices-such as drawing ritual circles or using wax figures-that medieval people believed were effective. The visual clarity supports learners who benefit from multimodal materials, including students who struggle with dense prose.

For instructors, the volume serves multiple pedagogical needs. It supplements traditional textbooks, increases student engagement, and supports discussion of medieval magic, gender norms, political disorder under Henry VI, and the development of witchcraft prosecutions. The work is well suited for courses in Western Civilization, world history, English history, legal history, and classes focused on graphic histories as historical interpretation. Because the narrative encompasses both ecclesiastical and secular trials, it provides a compact, accessible entry point into medieval judicial culture.

The accompanying historical context section deepens student understanding of chronicles, the history of magic, the evolution of witchcraft, the reign of Henry VI, medieval legal systems, and gender norms. A rich collection of primary sources provides students with the opportunity to construct their own interpretations of the past. A “making of” section demonstrates how dialogue and visuals were constructed from primary sources, offering instructors a valuable teaching tool for courses on historical methods of graphic history. Backmatter materials-including a timeline, discussion questions, and a topic-organized bibliography-further support classroom use and student research.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Geaman, Kristen L.

Weitere Mitwirkende

Clarke, Liz

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Contents

- Dedication

- Acknowledgments

- About the Author and the Illustrator

- Maps

- Part I

- The Graphic History

- Chapter 1: People and Magic

- Chapter 2: Necromancy

- Chapter 3: Interrogation - Summer 1441

- Chapter 4: “To Have a Child by my Lord” - October 1441

- Chapter 5: Hanged, Drawn, and Quartered - November 1441

- Chapter 6: Aftermath

- Part II

- Historical Context: Overview

- Part III

- Historical Context: Religion, Magic, Witchcraft

- Part IV

- Historical Context: Law and Gender

- Part V

- From Chronicle to Comic: The Process of Making a Graphic History

- Astrology

- Necromancy and Common Magic

- Questioning by Church Authorities

- Bolingbroke before the King's Council

- Trials

- The Executions

- Eleanor's Walk

- Clothing and Housing

- Public Buildings

- Part VI

- The Primary Sources

- Chronicles

- The Brut

- An English Chronicle

- MS Rawlinson B 355

- Bale's Chronicle

- Gregory's Chronicle: 1435-1450

- Incerti Scriptoris Chronicon Angliæ de Regnis Trium Regum Lancastrensium Henrici IV, Henrici V, et Henrici VI

- The Story of Eleanor Cobham in Brief Notes for 1440-43

- A Chronicle of London from 1089 to 1483

- Chronicle from manuscript Cotton Cleopatra C IV

- Chronicle from manuscript Cotton Vitellius A XVI

- A Short English Chronicle: London under Henry VI (1422-71)

- The Great Chronicle of London

- The Chronicle of the Grey Friars: Henry VI

- Chronicle from the Register of the Grey Friars of London

- Wilhelmi Wyrcester Annales

- Indictments

- TNA KB 9/72/4

- TNA KB 9/72/11

- TNA KB 9/72/14

- Government Rolls

- Parliamentary Statute about Treason

- Brief Entries

- Parliamentary Statute about Peeresses and Treason

- Brief Entries

- Parliament about the property of the late Humphrey, duke of Gloucester

- Other Sources

- Punishment of a priest for practicing magic

- Spells from a Necromancer's Manual

- Spell called the Trojan Revenge

- Spells from a Tudor-era Necromancer's Manual

- Executions of Sir Nicholas Brembre and Thomas Usk

- Execution of the Earl of Arundel

- Excerpt from the Sermon for the Feast of St James the Apostle from Mirk's Festial

- Christine de Pizan, The Treasure of the City of Ladies

- How the Good Wife Taught her Daughter

- Image References

- Exeter Cathedral Wax Votives

- Image of Humphrey, duke of Gloucester and Eleanor Cobham, duchess of Gloucester

- Court of King's Bench, image from reign of Henry VI

- Timeline

- Discussion Questions

- Bibliography

Über Autor(innen)

Kristen L. Geaman is senior lecturer at the University of Toledo. She received her PhD in medieval history from the University of Southern California. Her research focuses on infertility, gender, and queenship in medieval England. She is the author of Anne of Bohemia (Routledge, 2022), which was awarded the Royal Studies Journal Biennial Book Prize in 2024. Geaman has also published articles in the English Historical Review and the Social History of Medicine. Geaman' teaching interests include medieval Europe, medieval women and gender history, religious pluralism in medieval Spain, world history before 1500, medieval witchcraft and magic and the later witch trials, and historical methodology.

Liz Clarke is an illustrator based in Cape Town, South Africa. Her work appears in a number of titles in the Graphic History Series, including Abina and the Important Men.