Which French king founded a college of astrology? Who was the English queen that was accused of
bewitching her husband? Keep watching for all the royals who got into the spooky arts.
Elizabeth Woodville was the wife of 15th century King Edward IV. Just a few years
into their marriage, disaster struck the royal couple. In 1471, Edward was imprisoned by the
Earl of Warwick. He then put Henry VI on the throne and had Elizabeth's father executed.
As if that weren't enough, Warwick accused Elizabeth's mother, Jacquetta, of witchcraft.
Months later, Edward was back on the throne and investigating the same claims and found
them to be false. However, it would prove difficult for Jacquetta and her daughter
to escape the association even after the king first signed off on their innocence.
Edward died in 1483, leaving his 12-year-old son, Edward V, as King. The boy-king's uncle Richard
was Regent and Elizabeth was left a uniquely vulnerable widow. Young Edward and his brother
quickly vanish from the historical record, leaving Richard to step in as Richard III. Then, Richard
brought up the old accusations of witchcraft against Elizabeth, saying she used her unholy
powers to marry Edward IV. She was never brought to trial, though it was undoubtedly traumatic.
Medieval French king Charles VII was reportedly fascinated by astrology and occult matters.
Being a king, he apparently had the sort of power to avoid persecution for this proclivity. He also
had an education that exposed him to the topic and the funds to feed his hobby. It's reported
that by the middle of the 14th century, when he was still heir to the throne, Charles had a
staggering library devoted to astrology. Later, he even established a college of astrology in Paris.
Charles VII may have been taking his lead from his father, a "mad" king who was at
times reportedly the victim of witches. Charles VI was widely known to be mentally unstable,
to the point where he even occasionally believed that he was made of glass.
Some blamed the delusion on the duchess of Orleans, Valentina Visconti. The accusations
against Visconti became so fierce that she left Paris, fearing for her safety.
Eleanor Cobham first comes into play as a lady in waiting for Jacqueline, countess of Hainault.
Sometime around 1425, Eleanor took up with Jacqueline's husband, Humphrey,
Duke of Gloucester. Within a few years, Humphrey had gotten an annulment from Jacqueline,
married Eleanor, and things were looking pretty good for the young
upstart as she and her husband managed a prosperous household.
Then, in 1435, the heir to the throne died, suddenly leaving Humphrey next in line to
the throne after his nephew, Henry VI. Eleanor reportedly leaned hard on astrology to see what
the future held for her and her husband. However, reports came in that Eleanor had
predicted the young king's death and was perhaps even using witchcraft to hasten it along.
Eleanor was arrested and sentenced to life in prison after a dramatic
1441 public penance in which she solemnly carried a large candle from church to church
while all of London watched. It was a far better fate than some of her other alleged conspirators,
however, who were executed in dramatic fashion. She remained in prison until her death in 1452.
Joan was the daughter of King Charles II of Navarre and Joan of France was first married
to John IV, Duke of Brittany. This was an alliance that linked their daughter with a
man three decades her senior. After John's death in 1399, Joan fatefully married the
future Henry IV of England. At that point, she was not only very rich but seriously powerful,
sitting as the regent of Brittany in France, which she gave up upon marrying Henry.
Joan was granted even more riches by Henry before he died in 1413.
Soon after, the witchcraft accusations started flying. Like so many royal women
in similar situations, she was supposedly guilty of plotting her husband's death.
It may have all been a convenient excuse used by her stepson, Henry V,
to seize her considerable fortune and property, which he did without much delay.
He had Joan imprisoned in Pevensey castle, but she was never put on trial for the charges.
In 1422, Henry V released Joan and returned her fortune as he was dying. She lived until 1437.
Gunnhild was a Viking queen who gained a considerable reputation for sorcery and curses.
However, she may be fictional, given the many years between Gunnhild's time and our own.
Still, there's a possibility that Gunnhild existed in some form.
And, given the importance of magic to 10th century Scandinavia, there's a chance that
whatever queen or female leader inspired Gunnhild had a seriously witchy reputation.
"We cannot control our fate. We must accept it."
In the introduction to a 2004 edition of Egil's Saga, Gunnhild is certainly
depicted as a magically powerful figure. She is so, quote, "well-versed in the magic arts"
that she becomes a kind of recurring villain for Egil Skallagrímsson. Gunnhild attempts
to thwart Egil's adventures via poison, curses, and soothsaying. She is repaid with
a notorious reputation, often fleeing an area when she becomes too feared for her own good.
It's said that Gunnhild ended her days when King Harald Bluetooth of Denmark commanded
that she be thrown alive into a bog and drowned. And, when a real body known as the Haraldskær
Woman was uncovered in 1835 in Denmark, some believed that she was none other than Gunnhild.
Catherine de' Medici, Italian royal, queen of France, and matriarch of a powerful and
scandalous Renaissance family, wasn't above some witchcraft. You can hardly blame her,
given the cutthroat world of European politics in the 16th century. However,
it can be said that Catherine took it a tad too far.
Catherine had her own dedicated royal astrologer, a man named Cosimo de Ruggiere. He came to
prominence after Catherine's husband, Henry II, died of apparent blood poisoning. As a new widow,
Catherine suddenly found herself in a politically volatile situation.
Presumably wanting to seek out some stability, she had Ruggiere hold up a reportedly magic mirror.
Gazing into its depths, it's said that she learned that three of her sons would reign as kings.
It was also rumored that Catherine was a kind of poison master,
secreting vials of deadly substances in her rooms. But, this may have been a
misinterpretation of Catherine's love of perfume and scented accessories.
which morphed into a legend that she murdered a rival with a pair of poisoned gloves.
King John has a pretty terrible reputation and is often portrayed as a villainous,
scheming fool of 13th century Britain.
"That insolent blaggard! OH! I'll show him who wears the crown!"
If being one of England's least-loved kings wasn't bad enough,
try being his wife. Isabella of Angouleme married John when she was about 12 years old.
Her husband had just secured the throne after the death of his brother, Richard I.
Isabella was said to be remarkably beautiful and compelling, setting off gossip that her
husband was so bad at his job because she bewitched him out of being a good king. The
slander continued even after John's death in 1216 and through Isabella's second marriage.
In the 1240s, a series of accusations arose that Isabella had conspired to harm France's king,
Louis IX, allegedly teaming up with a couple of cooks to poison the monarch.
James IV of Scotland and I of England was both fascinated and horrified by witches,
and he wasn't alone. During the 16th and 17th centuries, it seemed as if all of Europe was in
a state of paranoia over witches. Scotland, James' homeland, was especially susceptible to the panic,
killing off suspected witches at about five times the rate of anywhere else in Europe.
James was obsessed with the impact that witchcraft and the occult would have on his life. So much so
that he seemed helplessly bound to engage with the dark arts himself. In 1591, it was alleged that
witches had banded together to end his life. Apparently, Agnes Sampson, an accused witch,
confessed that she and hundreds of other witches had plotted to kill the king the year before.
Years later, while Queen Elizabeth I was ruling over England, and he was the
sovereign of Scotland, James published his book called, "Daemonologie." It was an intellectual
survey of the so-called witchcraft problem plaguing the king and his fellow Christians.
Elizabeth I was far more comfortable with the witchy side of things than her successor James I.
Queen Elizabeth I even went so far as to employ a man named John Dee.
He was a mathematician and occultist who often acted as her astrologer and advisor.
He turned down prestigious offers from the University of Paris and
Oxford to aim for a spot by the queen's side. Queen Mary, that is,
Elizabeth's older sister. But, Elizabeth kept him on when she became queen in 1558.
Besides his many scientific efforts, Dee also attempted to hold seances and speak with angels,
though it's not clear how much of these activities he shared with his queen.
He also amassed a collection of magical artifacts, including a spirit mirror, magical figures,
and a golden disc. The disc was engraved with a representation of a vision experienced by the
criminal Edward Kelley, who claimed that he could help Dee with his spiritual pursuits.
Tsar Nicholas II and his family were interested in witch-like figures early on in the Romanov reign.
Indeed, it could be that Nicholas and his wife,
Alexandra, steadily turned to the occult as they had trouble producing a healthy male heir.
Soon enough, the court was graced by a variety of personalities.
One included a meteorologist named Demchinsky.
It's possible that Nicholas thought he was also able to predict the weather along with the future
Others were of somewhat higher class, though all were said to have uncanny
powers connected to an unseen and highly mystical spirit world.
Most of them came to the royal couple with a gloss of Orthodox Christianity.
However, the witch-like edge of their doings was undoubtedly compelling to the Romanovs.
Anne Boleyn, the second wife of England's Henry VIII, was briefly
accused of using witchcraft against her husband before her 1536 beheading.
Henry claimed that she had bewitched him into marriage.
Apparently, there were rumors that she had certain telltale traits of an enchantress, such as a sixth
finger and suspicious moles. There's no recorded evidence of her having these physical features,
but that didn't matter. It was also rumored that her stillborn son was born with physical
disabilities. At the time, this was often taken as evidence of the mother's evil dealings with Satan.
Though Anne couldn't have been directly condemned for being a witch, the whisperings were certainly
deeply damaging. After all, who would want to go against the king to support his witch wife?
The Biblical King Saul, the first ruler of Israel, apparently knew how to talk a big
game but was not quite so committed to the part where he had to follow his own rules. He shows
up in the Old Testament and bans all magic workers from his kingdom. But, with a big battle against
the Philistines looming on the horizon, Saul decides to walk back the law for his own benefit.
Saul decides that he simply must know the outcome of the battle and, to do so, he needs
to speak with some otherworldly spirits. So, he locates a woman known as the Witch of Endor.
After reassuring her that he definitely won't have her killed or banished,
the woman calls up the spirit of the dead leader Samuel. The ghost of Samuel is none
too happy about being called up and breaks the news that God doesn't support the king anymore.
Both Saul and his sons will die in battle the next day. Sometimes, it's just better not to know.
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