Published in 2018
288 pages
Gemma Hollman‘s love of history began when she was a child, where she lapped up the Horrible Histories books and asked endless questions at school (probably to the frustration of her teachers). She later became intrigued as to how understudied the history of women was and, through her time at university, began to learn about a plethora of strong, intriguing and complicated women from the medieval period, a time she had always learnt was dominated by men. Out of this interest grew Royal Witches, which began as Hollman’s dissertation for her master’s degree in Medieval History. She also writes and curates the Just History Posts blog, where she shares snippets of history with the public in short, readable posts, whilst working full time in the heritage industry.
What is this book about?
An important and timely book — Philippa Gregory
This introduces new readers, in the most accessible and colourful way, to a group of royal women who certainly deserve more public notice than they have hitherto received. — Professor Ronald Hutton, author of The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present
Until the mass hysteria of the seventeenth century, accusations of witchcraft in England were rare. However, four royal women, related in family and in court ties – Joan of Navarre, Eleanor Cobham, Jacquetta of Luxembourg and Elizabeth Woodville – were accused of practising witchcraft in order to kill or influence the king.
Some of these women may have turned to the dark arts, but the purpose of the accusations was purely political. Despite their status, these women were vulnerable because of their gender as the men around them moved them like pawns for political gains.
In Royal Witches, Gemma Hollman explores the lives and the cases of these so-called witches. In a time when the line between science and magic was blurred, these trials offer a tantalising insight of how malicious magic would be used and cause such mass hysteria in centuries to come.
