18. Two sisters hanged for bewitching the sons of the Earl of Rutland
Francis Manners, Earl of Rutland, was desperate for an heir to his vast estate. He was thus delighted when his wife gave birth to two sons. Unfortunately, one sickened then died in 1613, and the younger was almost permanently ill, succumbing in 1619. Suspiciously, these misfortunes happened after Manners sacked the Flower family, consisting of a mother and two daughters. Moreover, the Flowers were local healers, and were widely loathed. Threatened with torture, they confessed to murder by witchcraft. Joan Flower died on the way to her trial and her daughters were hanged in 1619. The boys’ grave (above) records their death through bewitchment.
