The Crime Book

263

See also: Lizzie Borden 208–11 ■ Dr Crippen 216

T

o lose one husband is

unfortunate; to lose four in

rapid succession is bound

to raise eyebrows, especially if all

the men are wealthy. When the

death of Dame Alice Kyteler’s

husband, John le Poer, left her a

widow for the fourth time, local

people accused her of witchcraft.

Satanic accusations

In the 14th century, Catholic

orthodoxy did not generally take

the idea of sorcery seriously – the

great European witchhunts took

place in the 16th and 17th

centuries. However, the Catholic

church frowned on heresy, and

some members of the clergy were

prepared to define this broadly.

Dame Alice had repeatedly

clashed with Kilkenny’s Bishop of

Ossory, who resented her wealth

and connections among Ireland’s

elite. When le Poer’s children came

to him with stories of finding

satanic powders, the body parts of

unbaptized babies, and the toenails

of corpses boiled up in a robber’s

skull, the bishop did not probe too

deeply. Dame Alice was brought

to trial and convicted. Delays in

procedure allowed Kyteler to

escape to England, but her

maidservant, Petronilla de Meath,

was condemned for being her

accomplice, and was burned at

the stake on 3 November 1324. ■

SERIAL KILLERS

IN CONTEXT

LOCATION

Kilkenny, Ireland

THEME

Witchcraft and sorcery

BEFORE

1317 Hugues Géraud, Bishop

of Cahors, France, is flayed

alive and burned after an

ecclesiastical court finds him

guilty of using sorcery in an

attempt to assassinate Pope

John XXII.

AFTER

1597 In Scotland, the Great

Scottish Witch Hunt, which

began in the 1550s, concludes

with the trial and conviction of

200 people for witchcraft.

Confessions are extracted

through torture, or guilt is

decided by witch prickers, who

pierce the accused with a

sharp implement. If they fail to

bleed, they are found guilty.

THE SAID DAME

ALICE HAD A

CERTAIN DEMON

ALICE KYTELER, 1324

Kilkenny’s Kyteler’s Inn, reputedly

established by Dame Kyteler herself,

continues to trade, bolstered by its

connection to the first person

convicted of witchcraft in Ireland.

262-263_Liu_pengli_Alice_Kytele.indd 263 13/12/2016 10:10