12. A Religious Nut Educator Who Almost Got Dozens of Her Students Burned at the Stake for Witchcraft
When news spread in Madam Bourignon’s school that a student had confessed to being a witch, about fifty other schoolgirls started having fits. When they came to, they joined in a “me, too!” rush, and claimed to be witches as well. In their clamor to confess, the children competed to outdo each other as they described their supposed dark and fell deeds. Some claimed to ride on broomsticks. They were topped by others, who claimed they could pass through keyholes. They were trumped in turn by other girls’ claims that they feasted on the flesh of babies, or attended the Domdaniel, a gathering of the demons.
As a result, a formal investigation was launched. Some of Lille’s clergy and citizens were skeptical, but most thought that the children’s confessions were valid, and that an example should be made by burning all fifty schoolgirls at the stake as witches. Their lives were only spared after some of the skeptical clergy, aghast at what was about to happen, insisted that the investigators dig in deeper. It was only then that they discovered what the school’s headmistress had done to fill the girls’ heads with thoughts of demonic possession. The children were absolved, and the blame was shifted to Madam Bourignon. She barely escaped punishment after the authorities, unsure of her sanity and tired of the whole affair, ended the investigation.
