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Channel Islands Witch Trials

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The Channel Islands Witch Trials were a series of witch trials in the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey between 1562 and 1661.

History

This followed on from the notorious Guernsey Martyrs deaths in 1556, following which the Bailiff, Hellier Gosselin and the Roman Catholic élite of the island were subjected to a series of commissions and investigations encompassing not only the circumstances of the execution of the women, but also embezzlement; James Amy, the Dean, was committed to prison in Castle Cornet and dispossessed of his living. Hellier Gosselin was dismissed from his post in 1562 but along with the Jurats managed to obtain a pardon from Queen Elizabeth I.

  • Marie de Callais, from Calais Lane, St Martin in Guernsey was convicted of witchcraft, one of several in the coven at Le Châté Rocquôine and burnt at the stake on 17 October 1617. Two of her family were banished.
  • Mary Blanche, of a good family who lived in the area Les Blanches in St Martin, Guernsey, was condemned as a witch by the then Bailiff, Amice de Carteret and died in October 1622.

    • References

    Channel Islands Witch Trials Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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