Gloucester, Eleanor Cobham, Duchess of
An Encyclopaedia of Occultism (1920)
Wife of Humphrey of Gloucester, uncle of Henry VI ., and Lord Protector of England during the King's minority. Though Humphrey was very popular in England, he was not without enemies, and one of the most bitter of these was Henry Beaufort, Cardinal of Winchester, great-uncle to the King. He it was who brought a charge of witchcraft against the Duchess of Gloucester, hoping thus to destroy her husband's power as the actual head of the realm and heir to the throne in the event of the King's death. It was supposed that the Duchess had first resorted to witchcraft in order to gain the affections of Humphrey, whose second wife she was. Then, when she had married him, and the death of the Duke of Bedford had removed the last barrier but one between her and a crown, she set about the secret removal of that barrier, which was, of course, the unfortunate King. To assist her in her evil designs, she sought the advice of Margery Jourdain (the Witch of Eye), Roger Bolingbroke, Thomas Southwel, and John Hume, or Hun, a priest. All five were accused of summoning evil spirits, and plotting to destroy the King. They were also suspected of making a waxen image, which was slowly melted before a fire, in the expectation that as the image was consumed, the life of the King would also waste away. For the supposed practice of this common device of witches, they were put upon trial. The priest, Hun, turned informer, and Bolingbroke, having abjured his evil works, was called upon to give evidence. Margery Jourdain was burned as a witch, and the Duchess of Gloucester was sentenced to walk through the streets of London on three separate occasions bearing a lighted taper in her hand, and attended by the Lord Mayor, sheriffs, and others. Afterwards, she was banished to the Isle of Man .
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The Occultism encyclopaedia's outline of 1920 still matches the record: Eleanor Cobham was condemned in 1441, did public penance with a taper through London, and ended her life in captivity, dying in 1452 at Beaumaris after spells at Chester, Kenilworth and the Isle of Man. What has shifted is the emphasis. Modern historians, following R. A. Griffiths's close study of the trial records, treat the core accusation not as wax-image sorcery but as treasonable astrology: Roger Bolingbroke, an Oxford-trained clerk, had cast Henry VI's horoscope and predicted a dangerous illness, which in the 1440s was tantamount to plotting the king's death. The 1920 account also softens the outcome for the others: Bolingbroke was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn, Thomas Southwell died in the Tower, and Margery Jourdemayne was burned at Smithfield, while Eleanor's marriage to Humphrey was dissolved.
Written for this edition, 2026.