Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester

Eleanor Cobham (* 1400 in Rochester Borough Castle, Kent; † July 7, 1452 at Beaumaris Castle on Anglesey, Wales ) was the second wife of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, who was the brother of King Henry V..

Life

Cobham was at first the maid of honor the first woman Humphreys, Jacqueline, Duchess of Straubing- Holland. After the marriage between Humphreys and Jacqueline had been canceled, she married Gloucester in 1428, which she received the courtesy title of Duchess of Gloucester. As Humphreys, meantime imposed after the death of his brother to the Lord Protector, tried his uncle, Cardinal Henry Beaufort, take away its Dioceses, accused the cardinal Eleanor Cobham of witchcraft.

Beaufort complained Eleanor Cobham in the following points to: Cobham have won for themselves the Duke with the help of love potions and the miscarriages of the Wife of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York caused. They also have maintained close contact with Margery Jourdemain, which was known as Witch of Eye, still she had King Henry V and his son cursed with image spells.

Although Cobham protested, they would have created the wax figure for the safe birth of their child, their marriage was annulled with Humphrey. Margery Jourdemain and Cobham's chaplain, who is said to have taken part in the rites were burned. Because of her high status Cobham was sentenced to only three public, barefoot Bußgängen to London. The rest of her life she spent first in Chester, then in Peel Castle on the Isle of Man in prison, where Humphrey made ​​sure that their accommodation was as comfortable as possible. 1449 it was moved from here to Beaumaris Castle in Wales, where she died three years later.

Literary representation

• In Henry VI. William Shakespeare describes the events surrounding the witch trials.
• In Rebecca Gables novel The Keepers of the Rose Eleanor Cobham takes the role as a Antagonistin that actually operates witchcraft in the novel.