modern times is usually regarded as a trial for murder; but was considered by the contemporary recorders, and is in its essence, a witch trial. This was the trial in 1440 of Gilles de Rais, Marshal of France.[1] The evidence is given in full detail, and the number of persons implicated can therefore be ascertained. Of those who were proved to be closely connected with Gilles in the rites and sacrifices which he performed, nine, including Gilles himself, were arrested and tried, two saved themselves by flight, and two had died shortly before; in all, thirteen.
Nowhere either in Great Britain or in France is there any suggestion from the legal authorities that the witches were formed into companies or that there was a definite and fixed number in each company. The Malleus Maleficarum is equally silent. Except in the cases of Isobel Gowdie whose evidence was given voluntarily, and of Ann Armstrong who was "King's evidence," the number composing a coven is not mentioned, no question on the subject is ever recorded as being asked, and the evidence of the witches also shows that they were not questioned on the matter. Yet, as I have shown, in case after case—ranging in date from 1440 to 1673, and as far apart as Brittany in the east and Ayrshire in the west, Nairn in the North and Somerset in the south—thirteen or multiples of thirteen are the numbers which occur in any one trial when the records are complete. Whether the evidence was volunteered or whether it was given under torture, the same result is found: "un nombre fixe de sorcirs et sorcières dans chaque canton," and that fixed number is thirteen or a multiple of thirteen.
A single case would prove nothing, but such an accumulation of evidence cannot be disregarded.
- ↑ Abbé Bossard's book on Gilles de Rais is the most easily accessible.
