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Statement	  of	  the	  Problem: Since	  the	  mid-­‐twentieth	  century,	  scholarship	  on	  European	  witchcraft	  has proved	  critical	  in	  understanding	  the	  relationship	  between	  gender,	  sexuality,	  and power	  in	  pre-­‐modern	  Western	  society.	  For	  medieval	  and	  early	  modern	  people, accusations	  of	  heresy	  and	  witchcraft	  served	  to	  reinstate	  control	  over	  elements	  of society	  that	  were	  perceived	  as	  dangerous	  or	  dissident	  to	  the	  established	  order. While	  advances	  in	  the	  study	  of	  witchcraft	  have	  greatly	  informed	  the	  fields	  of history	  and	  anthropology,	  such	  scholarship	  has	  up	  until	  this	  point	  largely focused	  on	  witch	  hunts	  targeting	  women	  of	  the	  lower	  classes.	  Further	  study concerning	  the	  use	  of	  witchcraft	  charges	  as	  a	  political	  tool	  aimed	  at	  socially prominent	  women	  is	  needed	  to	  better	  inform	  scholarly	  understanding	  of	  the	  full breadth	  of	  the	  European	  witch	  craze.	  This	  thesis	  will	  specifically	  examine	  a multitude	  of	  cases	  spanning	  the	  early	  Middle	  Ages	  through	  the	  early	  modern period,	  roughly	  the	  fifth	  through	  eighteenth	  centuries,	  involving	  women	  in positions	  of	  social	  visibility	  and	  power,	  who	  were	  attacked	  with	  witchcraft accusations	  as	  a	  means	  of	  removing	  them	  from	  a	  seemingly	  unnatural	  gender role. Methodology	  or	  Procedures: This	  thesis	  utilizes	  a	  diverse	  range	  of	  medieval	  documents,	  especially witchcraft	  treatises,	  as	  a	  means	  of	  exploring	  the	  evolution	  of	  European	  witchcraft throughout	  the	  medieval	  period,	  culminating	  in	  the	  late	  medieval	  feminization	  of	  the institution	  of	  witchcraft.	  In	  order	  to	  establish	  politically	  motivated	  witchcraft charges	  against	  powerful	  women	  as	  a	  repeating	  pattern	  throughout	  medieval	  and early	  modern	  history,	  this	  study	  assumes	  a	  sweeping	  perspective,	  taking	  note	  of similar	  cases	  occurred	  both	  chronologically	  and	  geographically	  separate	  from	  one another.	  Subsequently,	  the	  source	  material	  upon	  which	  this	  thesis	  relies	  is	  quite diverse.	  Infamous	  inquisitors’	  guides	  such	  as	  the	  Formicarius	  by	  Johannes	  Nider	  and the	  Malleus	  Maleficarum	  by	  Kramer	  and	  Sprenger	  provide	  the	  theoretical	  foundation upon	  which	  such	  witchcraft	  charges	  were	  built,	  and	  similarly	  allow	  me	  to	  explain the	  belief	  system	  in	  place	  that	  allowed	  witchcraft	  accusations	  against	  prominent women	  to	  succeed. Moving	  on	  from	  this	  foundational	  literature,	  this	  study	  explores	  a	  variety	  of primary	  sources	  documenting	  specific	  instances	  of	  witchcraft	  accusations	  leveled	  at socially	  influential	  women.	  These	  will	  include,	  to	  name	  a	  few,	  the	  claims	  of witchcraft	  aimed	  at	  the	  Anglo-­‐Saxon	  Queen	  Ælfthryth	  in	  the	  twelfth-­‐century chronicle	  Liber	  Eilensis,	  the	  recording	  of	  the	  sorcery	  trial	  of	  Dame	  Alice	  Kyteler	  in fourteenth-­‐century	  Ireland,	  and	  the	  court	  proceedings	  for	  treason	  and	  witchcraft brought	  against	  Joan	  of	  Arc	  in	  fifteenth-­‐century	  Burgundy	  and	  Queen	  Anne	  Boleyn in	  1530s	  England.	  Examining	  the	  implications	  of	  witchcraft	  accusations	  on	  powerful women	  will	  broaden	  and	  bolster	  scholarship	  on	  the	  European	  witchcraft	  movement by	  illustrating	  both	  how	  these	  cases	  fit	  into	  the	  larger	  fabric	  of	  medieval	  society,	  and how	  they	  maintained	  or	  impacted	  the	  social	  hierarchy	  and	  its	  prescribed	  gender roles. Findings: This	  study	  illustrates	  a	  pattern	  of	  politically	  motivated	  witchcraft	  accusations throughout	  the	  medieval	  and	  early	  modern	  period	  informed	  by	  a	  single,	  ever-­‐ expanding	  lexicon	  supporting	  the	  idea	  of	  feminized	  witchcraft.	  Unlike	  much previous	  scholarship	  on	  European	  witchcraft,	  this	  thesis	  demonstrates	  that	  socially prominent	  women,	  for	  a	  myriad	  of	  reasons	  ranging	  from	  the	  scrutiny	  given	  to	  their sexual	  conduct	  to	  their	  contested	  foothold	  in	  both	  the	  domestic	  and	  public	  spheres, were	  just	  as	  susceptible	  to	  accusations	  of	  sorcery	  and	  witchcraft	  as	  their	  lower-­‐class counterparts.	  The	  case	  studies	  presented	  here	  also	  demonstrate	  a	  pattern	  of	  naming women	  as	  witches	  in	  an	  attempt	  to	  delegitimize	  their	  agency	  in	  the	  male-­‐dominated arenas	  of	  governance,	  religion,	  warfare,	  and	  commerce.	  	  Because	  this	  method successfully	  defamed	  and	  destroyed	  numerous	  powerful	  women	  throughout	  the Middle	  Ages,	  the	  inherent	  characteristics	  of	  the	  witch	  became	  intertwined	  with unrestrained	  women,	  creating	  an	  environment	  that	  allowed	  political	  detractors	  to slander	  women	  for	  witch-­‐like	  crimes,	  without	  ever	  invoking	  that	  particular	  label. This	  finding	  demands	  further	  study	  on	  the	  relationship	  between	  powerful	  women and	  claims	  of	  deviant	  behavior	  as	  an	  essential	  aspect	  of	  pre-­‐modern	  women’s	  social history.

“BECAUSE SHE WOULD NOT BE GOVERNED”: MEDIEVAL WOMEN, POWER, AND THE POLITICIZATION OF WITCHCRAFT