2-692-808 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'Eleanor doing penance for witchcraft', 1441, (1789). Eleanor Cobham (1400-1454), Duchess of Gloucester, was charged with unlawful commerce with Marjory Jourdemain, 'the Witch of Eye', and conspiring to bring about the death of King Henry VI (1421-1471) by magic. She submitted herself to the correction of the Church and did penance by walking without a hood, from Temple Bar to St Paul's Cathedral in London, carrying a lit taper, to offer it to the high altar. She was subsequently exiled to the Isle of Man, spending the rest of her life imprisoned in Peel Castle.