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Alice Kyteler
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Alice Kyteler
Dame Alice Kyteler (/ˈkɪtlər/; c. 1260 – after 1324) was the first recorded person condemned for witchcraft in Ireland. She is believed to have fled the country to either England or Flanders, but there is no record of her after her escape from persecution. Her associate Petronilla de Meath (de Midia, meaning of Meath, her first name also spelt Petronella) was flogged and burned to death at the stake on 3 November 1324, after being tortured and confessing to the heretical crimes she, Kyteler, and Kyteler's followers were alleged to have committed.
The Kyteler name is associated with Kyteler's Hall, now known as Kyteler's Inn, in County Kilkenny, Ireland. Alice was the only child of a Flemish family of merchants who settled in Ireland in the mid-to-late thirteenth century. She was married at least four times, to men generally assumed to have been named William Outlaw, Adam le Blund, Richard de Valle, and Sir John le Poer.
In 1302, Kyteler and her second husband were accused of homicide, by her kinsman William le Kiteler (also William de Ketiller) and his accomplice after they stole £3,000 from Alice and Adam, but Edward I himself helped ensure that matter was resolved in Alice and Adam's favour. She incurred local resentment because of her vast wealth and involvement in moneylending, as well as her stepson Richard de Valle's resentment about her receiving her widow's dower. In 1324, this stepson brought his complaint to Richard de Ledrede, the Bishop of Ossory, who twisted it into an elaborate Satanic conspiracy, due to his training under Pope John XXII in Avignon, thereby creating a remarkable precursor to much later European witch trials.
Seven formal charges were brought against Kyteler. She was accused of:
Before sentencing, Kyteler along with Petronilla de Midia's daughter Sarah escaped. There are no records of her life after her escape. Her date of death is unknown, along with the location of a burial site.
Kyteler's first three husbands did not raise accusations against her regarding witchcraft or her responsibility for the deaths of her other husbands. Ledrede alleged that her last husband, John le Poer, raised suspicions toward her once he became ill from her poisons, but le Poer may have lived for decades after 1324 and his kinsman Arnold le Poer was one of Alice's primary defenders, opposing Ledrede at every turn.
The phrase 'poisoner' was tied to being a witch because of the connection of herbalism and witchcraft.
As the primary actors during the investigation of Alice Kyteler, the church had the most influence on the outcome of her and her alleged followers' trial. At the time of this trial, the church in Ireland had a secure relationship with the judicial system. The sentence of repentance and self-betterment for Kyteler's son William Outlaw depicts this relationship as religious acts were available means of reform from convictions.
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Alice Kyteler
Dame Alice Kyteler (/ˈkɪtlər/; c. 1260 – after 1324) was the first recorded person condemned for witchcraft in Ireland. She is believed to have fled the country to either England or Flanders, but there is no record of her after her escape from persecution. Her associate Petronilla de Meath (de Midia, meaning of Meath, her first name also spelt Petronella) was flogged and burned to death at the stake on 3 November 1324, after being tortured and confessing to the heretical crimes she, Kyteler, and Kyteler's followers were alleged to have committed.
The Kyteler name is associated with Kyteler's Hall, now known as Kyteler's Inn, in County Kilkenny, Ireland. Alice was the only child of a Flemish family of merchants who settled in Ireland in the mid-to-late thirteenth century. She was married at least four times, to men generally assumed to have been named William Outlaw, Adam le Blund, Richard de Valle, and Sir John le Poer.
In 1302, Kyteler and her second husband were accused of homicide, by her kinsman William le Kiteler (also William de Ketiller) and his accomplice after they stole £3,000 from Alice and Adam, but Edward I himself helped ensure that matter was resolved in Alice and Adam's favour. She incurred local resentment because of her vast wealth and involvement in moneylending, as well as her stepson Richard de Valle's resentment about her receiving her widow's dower. In 1324, this stepson brought his complaint to Richard de Ledrede, the Bishop of Ossory, who twisted it into an elaborate Satanic conspiracy, due to his training under Pope John XXII in Avignon, thereby creating a remarkable precursor to much later European witch trials.
Seven formal charges were brought against Kyteler. She was accused of:
Before sentencing, Kyteler along with Petronilla de Midia's daughter Sarah escaped. There are no records of her life after her escape. Her date of death is unknown, along with the location of a burial site.
Kyteler's first three husbands did not raise accusations against her regarding witchcraft or her responsibility for the deaths of her other husbands. Ledrede alleged that her last husband, John le Poer, raised suspicions toward her once he became ill from her poisons, but le Poer may have lived for decades after 1324 and his kinsman Arnold le Poer was one of Alice's primary defenders, opposing Ledrede at every turn.
The phrase 'poisoner' was tied to being a witch because of the connection of herbalism and witchcraft.
As the primary actors during the investigation of Alice Kyteler, the church had the most influence on the outcome of her and her alleged followers' trial. At the time of this trial, the church in Ireland had a secure relationship with the judicial system. The sentence of repentance and self-betterment for Kyteler's son William Outlaw depicts this relationship as religious acts were available means of reform from convictions.