Between 1419 and 1536, five English noble women, including three queen consorts, stood accused of witchcraft: Joan of Navarre, queen of Henry IV; Eleanor Cobham, Duchess of Gloucester; Jacquetta of Luxembourg, Duchess of Bedford and Countess Rivers; Elizabeth Woodville, queen of Edward IV; and Anne Boleyn, queen of Henry VIII. These cases are surprising for several reasons. First, that these elite women would face persecution for the crime of malevolent sorcery, for which the majority of cases came from lower classes. Secondly, that these instances occurred nearly a century before witch-hunting reached its peak in England. Examining these individual women and the circumstances surrounding their accusation, what made noble women vulnerable to such a charge? Elite women who were exceptionally wealthy, influential, and who attempted to take control of English Crown, were the most likely candidates to be associated with witchcraft. Such association could come either in the form of a direct accusation – such as Eleanor Cobham and Elizabeth Woodville – or the association could be more subtle during her life, with a charge appearing posthumously, as with Anne Boleyn. A woman’s enemies readily used the accusation to vilify her and remove her from a position of authority. The context of these accusations also reveal they took place during periods of political disunity. By charging these women with sorcery, their enemies used them as scapegoats to explain the difficulties and anxieties their society was experiencing at the moment the accusation took place and restore themselves to power or establish their right to rule.
