WHAT ‘MAGIC’ DID ALICE KYTELER PRACTICE?
I was intrigued by the yes-and-no stones confirmation that Dame Alice practiced magic. I tried to pin-down what sort of magic she practiced, and was sorely disappointed:
I want to return to the issue of Dame Alice Kyteler practicing magic. I want to know what kind of magic she practiced. Did she practice:
-herbal magic? NO
-candle magic? WRONG QUESTION
-potion-brewing magic? WRONG QUESTION
-ritual magic? WRONG QUESTION
-theurgic magic? That is, invoking God, angels, or saints for assistance? YES
-any magic involving applying quill and ink to paper? NO
-specifically, any sigil magic? WRONG QUESTION
-Moon magic? NO
Theurgic magic? That might’ve only been prayer, what billions of people do around the world, every day, for thousands of years. She didn’t even practice any sort of divination–I asked. So she had no commerce with spirits, contrary to at least one of the charges against her. Though there are many more forms of magic out there, I was so discouraged by the answers I received on the issue of what magic she practiced, I decided to drop it.
I moved on to the tragic case of her former personal maid, Petronella de Meath (or Petronilla, accounts differ).
PETRONELLA DE MEATH AND RICARD LEDREDE
Did Dame Alice Kyteler’s personal maid, Petronella, practice magic?
WRONG QUESTION
Did she take any part whatsoever in her mistress’ practice of magic, at her mistress’ behest?
YES
Did Petronella actually witness Dame Alice practice magic, like she confessed she did?
NO
So was Petronella’s involvement restricted to running errands in connection with Dame Alice’s magic?
YES
Was Petronella involved at all in the deaths of any of Dame Alice’s husbands?
NO
Was Petronella executed for witchcraft, in part, out of any frustration Bishop Ledrede felt that he was unable to visit the same fate on Dame Alice Kyteler?
NO
So did Bishop Ledrede’s motive in executing Petronella come from his determination to rid his diocese of witchcraft and any other ‘unnaturalness’?
NO
Did he execute Petronella as a warning and a lesson to others?
YES
It’s hard to see how Petronella could’ve aided Alice Kyteler’s ‘magic’ when all that ‘magic’ may have consisted of was prayer, but perhaps she bought candles, or a veil and a prayer book, or maybe she just dusted Dame Alice’s personal altar. She was at best, an errand-runner. And to execute her in such a horrible manner, in order to ‘teach a lesson’ and to warn others not to step out of line? Sometimes, I just can’t even with The Church. I wonder if Petronella sent Basilia along with her mistress, knowing she’d never see her again, in order to spare her daughter the same horrible fate she faced.