BY JOHN FITZGERALD
This month we recall a dark day in the history of Kilkenny. The burning alive of a woman erroneously accused of witchcraft 700 years ago is still source of shame, horror, and bafflement even today.
The Kilkenny Heritage Walkers had their own tribute to Petronella on Saturday, enacted by veteran member Marianne Kelly. Marianne took a large contingent through the ancient streets and laneways, in the footsteps of possibly the most wronged woman ever to set foot in the city.
We’ve heard the story of Alice Kytelar many times: how the wealthy lady of Flemish origin fell foul of powerful enemies, how she was assisted by equally powerful allies…the persistent rumours of her dabbling in black magic, and, notoriously, her alleged poisoning of three husbands and attempted murder of a fourth
But though we’ve listened to all the historians, poets, balladeers, and wisecracking tour guides offering their different takes on the Kytelar story, we know precious little about her hapless maid, who paid the supreme price for Alice’s losing battle against Richard Ledrede, the Bishop of Ossary.
Petronella is reputed to have been born in about 1300, was a native of County Meath, and got a position in her early 20s in Kilkenny as a servant of Alice Kytelar. Though deemed to be of a lower social class, she was treated with respect from day one by her new employer, who quickly grew to like the shy, diligent maid.
Obsessed with witches and heresy…
All went well for the Meath woman until Alice’s fourth husband died in what was thought to be highly suspicious circumstances. Her previous three had similarly expired under a cloud of suspicion. But instead of facing charges of murder or attempted murder Alice instead found herself accused of witchcraft, thanks to the Bishop’s obsession with tracking down women who were, he believed, in league with the Devil.
Bishop Ledrede had studied demonology on the continent, and was anxious to hunt down witches and root out heresy in his new Kilkenny stomping grounds. Alice seemed to fit the bill, so he invoked all his powers to crush this fiercely independent- minded lady. Petronella was among those caught up in his obsessional scheme. She was arrested along with a number of Alice’s other employees, relatives, and associates.
Petronella was tortured on Bishop Ledrede’s orders and all of the gruesome methods of “persuasion” approved by the notorious Holy Inquisition were applied to extract confessions from her.
Under extreme duress, she was forced to confess that Alice had consulted with demons and concocted evil potions to achieve her life goals, and had ritualistically denied the teaching of Christ and his church. She even agreed that she and Alice had devised a magical potion that enabled the two women to fly!
Not content with extracting confessions in the torture chamber, her tormenters forced Petronella to declare before a public assembly that both she and Alice were fully-fledged witches and in league with the Evil One. Alice herself managed to escape from Kilkenny, fleeing to an unknown destination in England, so Ledrede opted to vent all his anger and loathing on her maid. Petronella’s co-accused got off lightly, but the woman, he decided, must suffer.
She was tried by an ecclesiastical court and convicted of heresy. Ledrede felt it apt that the accused woman should suffer maximum discomfort and pain prior to her ultimate and inevitable demise. He ordained that she be whipped through six parishes.
She must then, in accordance with the sentence, be burned alive as a heretic. The exact location of the burning is uncertain, but tradition states that it occurred near where the Tholsel stands in High Street, with the bishops and clergy gathered around to witness “justice”, as they saw it, being done.
John Clyn, a Franciscan chronicler in the city, recorded the execution thus: “Petronilla de Midia … was condemned for sorcery, lot taking and offering sacrifices to demons…consigned to the flames and burned.”
Marianne brings the past to life…
At Saturday’s special Heritage Walkers event, Marianne Kelly recalled in sombre and reverential tones the fate of Petronella, bringing to life her tragic story. The walkers stopped at key points in the city associated with the haunting tale: the castle…the old Inn in Kieran Street where she probably worked as a maid…and at the Tholsel, where the last tragic act of this true-life horror story may have been enacted
The larger than usual turnout of followers were stunned into silence by Marianne’s recollection of a great injustice enacted in the name of religion. In keeping with the spirit of the occasion she had donned a 14th century costume.
In her meticulously researched tribute, she recreated the execution…how the innocent woman, already covered in cuts and bruises from the torture and whipping, was led with hands bound above her head to the stake, and strapped to it. With clergy in flowing vestments gathered around, a signal was given to ignite the firewood. The alleged Men of God prayed and chanted as Petronella was consumed by the flames. She was the first alleged witch to die in Ireland, and one of the first in all of Europe.
Marianne explained that Petronella had served as a “scapegoat” for the crimes, real or alleged, of others. She noted that though she had yet to be honoured and posthumously exonerated in the city, the 14th century woman had been included in a remarkable piece of feminist artwork displayed in New York’s Brooklyn Museum, taking pride of place with other notable woman throughout the ages such as Joan of Arc.
There’s a growing consensus in Kilkenny that it’s time to formally recognize this 700 years-old miscarriage of justice.
Can the Catholic Church in Ireland bring itself to admit, formally and publically, that what happened to Petronella was wrong?
It’s never too late to say “sorry.”
