The Wicca Book of Days for March 11th – The “Witches of Belvoir”

The Wicca Book of Days for March 11th

The “Witches of Belvoir”

It was on March 11, 1619, that Margaret and Philippa Flower (sisters), Anne Baker, Ellen Greene, and Joan Willimot were hanged for witchcraft in Lincoln, England. Having been dismissed from her job as a laundress at Belvoir Castle, Margaret had allegedly turned to her mother, Joan, for revenge. Joan accordingly cursed Margaret’s employer, Francis, Earl of Rutland, and two of his sons and heirs later “died in their infancy by wicked practice and sorcerye,”   according to an inscription on their father’s tomb. During the accused women’s trial, Joan Flower choked to death on some bread, shortly after having uttered the words that sealed her daughters’ fate. “May this choke me if I am guilty.”

Say it with Flowers

Whether the “Witches of Belvoir” were guilty of murder or not, there is no doubt that many innocent women died horribly as a result of having been falsely accused of witchcraft. Lay flowers on your altar as a mark of remembrance.