7 legendary beauties who were proclaimed witches

Many people envied these women. Beauty and an extraordinary mind made detractors accuse them of witchcraft. And it cost some their lives… By the way, not all the girls were so innocent and kind-hearted — some became victims of empty rumors and gossip, while others became famous for their terrible deeds.

She was thin, of small stature, and far from being a beauty. And only Anna's big black eyes, glowing with fire, fascinated any man who met her. This is exactly how the French envoy once saw her. And in fact, what did the English King Henry VIII find special in Anne Boleyn, whose palace has always been inhabited by dozens of magnificent beauties?

It was difficult to understand the monarch's whim: passionately in love with this girl, he tried to put her on the throne at any cost. Henry VIII defied the conventions of the Royal Society, destroyed all obstacles in his path and eventually married To Anne Boleyn. And this happened against the will of the Pope, who did not give permission for a divorce from the legitimate wife of Catherine of Aragon.

And also despite the hatred of the common people, who had previously dubbed the new Queen Anna a black witch. Boleyn was called a fiend of hell, she was credited with having a connection with Welsh witches, with whom she allegedly made a dark deal. They say that you will become a queen, but you will pay a terrible price for it.

Natalie Dormer as Anne Boleyn

General ignorance elevated poor Anna to the rank of an evil witch, who tormented the unfortunate king with her witchcraft. The "noble" Henry VIII will take advantage of these rumors and, with the help of bribed churchmen, will accuse his wife of all mortal sins. There will be one reason: he will simply get tired of Anna, and here such a chance turned up to get rid of her. And in general, an innocent woman will be sentenced to burning.

However, the king will show "unprecedented mercy": queen Anne will be beheaded with a sharp French sword. The people will rejoice, although during her lifetime this woman was very kind to the simple poor, to whom she always generously distributed money. After the execution, just the next morning, Henry VIII will marry a new wife — Jane Seymour. And the daughter of the executed Anne Boleyn will go down in the history of England in the future as Queen Elizabeth the First.

"The Sun King" Louis XIV for seven years was a toy in the hands of this favorite, who made a lot of noise in French history. Athenais de Tonnay-Charente, it turns out, in her youth was distinguished by a lively and lively character, prone to adventures and all sorts of dark stories.

When she turned 22, a decent age for that time and there was a risk of remaining forever in old maidens, she hurried to marry her cousin, the Marquis de Montespan. She quickly got bored with family life: she hated her husband, who had neither a position in society nor a fortune. Athenais treated the born children coldly. And one day, looking at herself in the mirror, she took a deep breath and went to the palace in search of her personal happiness.

A buxom blonde with high strong breasts, with white and delicate skin and sparkling eyes that seemed to reflect the blue of the sky, could not help but like the king, who knows a lot about female beauty. Let's add here a charming smile that reveals teeth as white as pearls (a rarity in the palace!) - and Louis XIV was conquered by this woman. All his favorites unquestioningly gave way to Madame de Montespan.

Anna Brewster played Madame de Montespan

However, her husband got into a bit of a row when he found out that she was pregnant with the king's child. But he was quickly sent away by the monarch's will away from Paris. The new favorite regularly gives birth to the" sun king " children, he fulfills any of her whims. But his love for the marquise becomes less and less over the years. Athenais becomes desperate: in the fight against new contenders for the royal bed, she embarks on all sorts of serious things.

Soon she meets a woman named La Voisin, who was reputed to be a real witch. Athenais, as if distraught, orders her black masses for huge money in order to regain the king's favor and get rid of the favorites. I must say that these rites were disgusting and bloodthirsty, and, probably, it is not necessary to talk about them in detail, with a description of the details.

But one day everything will come out: one of the healers, belonging to a witchcraft sect, will blab drunkenly. As a result, the story of how Madame Montespan tried to poison the king with a potion, and to slip poisoned gloves to his new young lover, became a death sentence for Lavusen and about 200 of her accomplices. The disgraced Marchioness (branded as a witch) Louis XIV will simply distance himself from himself by assigning her a huge pension for life.

The marquise was incredibly beautiful: a beautiful figure, a bright appearance attracted the attention of men. And the serene expression of her sweet face seemed to speak of the purity of Marie's soul, the inability to do evil. And you could believe it right away, not knowing what terrible plans were hidden in her lovely head.

Father Marie-Antoine de Obre was reputed to be a man of strict rules and held an important state post. Although, by and large, he didn't care about what was going on in the family. Later, Marie will tell about the dark and vicious atmosphere in which she grew up, about the harassment of her brothers and about other unseemly things that her life was rich in in her youth.

And yet, despite these circumstances, the girl still received an excellent education, had a calligraphic handwriting and was able to write correctly, without mistakes. This quality was highly appreciated by the nobles, among whom there was almost general ignorance. She thought that she would get the long-awaited freedom with marriage. But Marie's husband is a colonel of the Norman Army, the Marquis Antoine de Brenvillier will turn out to be an ordinary spendthrift, a reveller, burning through his wife's huge dowry.

French actress An Pariyo embodied the image of the mad marchioness

It was then that the worm of greed and greed began to sharpen her heart. More than once, watching the money flow out of the common family purse, the thought came to Marie's head: why is she not the absolute mistress of this fabulous fortune? And in her soul, day by day, anger grew against her narrow-minded, but essentially harmless husband. And soon fate will bring Marie together with the Chevalier Gaudin de St. Croix, with whom she will have a passionate affair.

The nimble captain will even settle in the house of the Marquis de Brenvillier as a good friend. The lovers were almost not shy about their relationship, the colonel looked through his fingers at their antics, enjoying the carousals. Until the angry father-in-law of the marquis, having learned about the adventures of his married daughter, did not put Monsieur de Saint-Croix in the Bastille. In prison, the chevalier meets the famous poisoner, the Italian Exili, who, on the threshold of death, will tell about the secrets of his art.

When Godin was released, he first of all shared his knowledge about poisons with Marie. And for the Marquise de Brenvilliers, a new life began from that moment. Greed awoke in her with a new force, which turned her into a real witch. Marie and her lover initially poison patients at the Hotel Dieu hospital, where she was entered as a beneficent lady. Then, having gained experience, he sends his father and brothers to the other world. The sister miraculously escapes from Marie in the monastery.

Finally, the poisoner's cherished dream came true: the riches of the family now belong to her. However, everything was ruined by a lover. After his mysterious death, the captain's letters were found, in which he talked about joint dark affairs. The end of the witch-marchioness was terrible: she was caught and publicly executed, her body was burned and the ashes were scattered to the wind.

The Bloody Countess (she received this name later) was considered one of the richest women in Eastern Europe. A refined aristocrat and a beauty with a royal step, Elizabeth could strike a man with just one look. She felt the power of her own charm, and she really wanted to keep herself as attractive for many years to come.

I must say that at that time Transylvania was a gathering of witches and magicians, servants of dark evil spirits were found almost at every court. She was no exception and Elizabeth. She got a sorceress Dorotta Chentez-Dorvulya, who forever remained in her castle with secret passages and other secrets. By the way, as if having inherited all the bad things from the famous Bathory family, Elizabeth had a bad character.

The poor subjects suffered most of all: sometimes it seemed that in a blind rage the mistress was ready to bury them alive in the ground. After the death of her husband, the countess turned into a real tormentor: beating her maids to the blood is one of her favorite activities, in addition to the fact that she liked to expel those who were guilty of any trifle naked in the bitter cold. Once Elizabeth, looking in the mirror, was horrified. The wrinkles that appeared on her face horrified the Countess.

A shot from the movie "Bloody Lady Bathory"

She turned to the house witch Darvula for advice. The sorceress quickly found a recipe for eternal youth and beauty: to take daily baths from the blood of innocent girls. And the death machine was working hard in the castle of Countess Bathory. Simple peasant girls mysteriously disappeared, young aristocrats invited to visit Elizabeth also disappeared without a trace.

Ten years of the Countess's rule plunged the district into deep fear. Rumors about the dark deeds that were going on in the castle reached the authorities. But everything was decided by chance: the new priest, who was called to the castle, had to bury nine dead people at once. He sounded the alarm — and the authorities forcibly broke into the possession of the bloody countess. What they saw shocked everyone.

The mountains of corpses of girls found in the dungeon, dying women from torture (the executioner's tools were lying next to them) - this is the picture of fanaticism that will go down in the history of the most brutal crimes against man.

Judging Countess Bathory was quite difficult. Given her nobility, noble origin, Elizabeth was not executed. The countess was imprisoned in her own castle, in a tiny room, and all food and water were served to her through a small hole. Elizabeth lasted almost three years. All the residents of the district met her death with joy and relief.

The infamous King Henry VIII, who is greatly disliked by English historians and writers, declared Anna a heretic and almost a witch for her religious views with one stroke of the pen of the monarch's decree. A pretty woman suddenly became an enemy of the state: she allegedly encroached on the foundations of the state.

Anna Askew was born into a noble family, already in her youth she became interested in literature, composed ballads, one of which Anna will read the day before the execution. Circumstances forced the girl to marry Thomas Kaim, a Catholic. Anna was a Protestant and insisted on keeping her maiden name. Unfortunately, her husband turned out to be a weak person, he never became a support for Anna in family life.

On the contrary, the time will come and by his decree, which is more accurate to call a denunciation, she will be thrown into the gloomy prison of the Tower. Why did the king himself turn against this woman so much? Yes, Anna Askew boldly defended her religious views, distributed Protestant literature, but she did not have the deadly sins that were attributed to Anna. Perhaps Askew was blamed for the fact that because of contradictions in her faith, she was expelled from home by her husband, leaving two children.

However, there were rumors that through Anna, Henry VIII wanted to get to her friends who held high positions at court. In the prison of the Tower, where Esquier was imprisoned, local shoulder-hand masters immediately began to torture a woman on the rack. Anna courageously endured the pain, without making any reservations and steadfastly holding on to her beliefs. And the constable of the Tower, unable to stand such a spectacle, appealed to the king to cancel the torture.

Henry VIII forgave his trick, but did not relent to To Anne Esquier. She was executed on July 16, 1546. This unusual woman with her legs and arms broken by the executioners, who was brought to the scaffold, even during the burning, behaved so courageously that the audience was shocked by her behavior. After her death, Anna Askew left a wonderful book "Trials" for posterity to remember, telling about the search for true faith, about the difficulties that arise on this path.

Her tragic fate, when at first Joan was elevated to the rank of a national heroine, and then branded a witch and a heretic, remained the subject of an ongoing dispute for a long time.

The great French freethinker Voltaire, who wrote the satirical poem "The Virgin of Orleans", also added fuel to the fire. He interpreted the feat of a brave girl in a frivolous tone, even scurrilously. However, let it remain on the conscience of a philosopher who has lived all his life on the run and not very righteously.

The fact that Jeanne d’The Arc played an important role in the history of France, now no one denies it. It appeared in a time of troubles, when the country was tormented by internal contradictions and wars did not stop.

A sweet seventeen-year-old girl got an audience with the Dauphin Charles VII and predicted that he would become the king of France. After all, even as a child, Jeanne was overcome by visions in which she was called upon to help him ascend the throne, expel the English invaders from the country and lift the siege of Orleans. Everything came true, as the young girl wanted: she led a military detachment and achieved many victories.

A shot from the movie "Joan of Arc"

Jeanne D’Ark in knight's armor terrified her enemies, and the people even during her lifetime considered her a saint who would bring the long-awaited peace and freedom. After the coronation, Charles VII, to put it mildly, behaved short-sighted. He unexpectedly concluded a truce with the traitorous Burgundians, and Jeanne d’Ark was captured by the British in one of the battles. Then the sons of Albion remembered all their defeats to her and called on the Inquisition to help.

Charles VII remained an indifferent observer, he did not lift a finger in her defense. The court accused Jeanne of wearing men's clothing, of heresy and that, they say, being a witch, she wrapped the French king with witchcraft. As a result, the girl was sentenced to burning.

It is said that the executioner wept after the execution, claiming that the heart of the Maid of Orleans was not burned in the fire. All the arguments and idle speculation about whether Jeanne d’Ark was a witch or she was simply slandered, ended in 1909. The Vatican has officially canonized the national heroine, beatified her to the face of saints.

Knowledge of philosophy, several languages, a written treatise on mathematics, an unusual voice that seemed to shimmer with silver, and a bright appearance-that's what distinguished her from other women of the ancient world.

At the age of 18, Cleopatra became the pharaoh-ruler of Egypt, although she had to share power with her young brother Ptolemy XII, whom, as required by the laws of the dynasty, she married. Her whole life was spent fighting for the throne and the future of her children. And here Cleopatra was merciless and merciless.

And the Egyptian queen was also able to love passionately and recklessly. She charmed Julius Caesar, who for her sake cleared the way to sole power by destroying Cleopatra's enemies. However, Cleopatra herself personally had a hand in this. She masterfully prepared poisonous potions, testing them on prison prisoners.

A shot from the movie "Cleopatra"

There were rumors that it was Cleopatra who poisoned the young ruler Ptolemy XIV as soon as she appeared in Egypt. A strange series of mysterious deaths of high-ranking dignitaries only increased suspicions. It could only be justified by the fact that there was danger lurking in every corner of the palace, where an assassin could be waiting for Cleopatra. It's just that thanks to her extraordinary mind, intuition, she was always one step ahead of her enemies.

And Cleopatra was fabulously rich. The ancient alchemists seriously claimed that she owned the Philosopher's stone. They say that if Cleopatra touches any metal, it immediately turns into gold. There were legends about the magical power of the Egyptian queen, and her charm really had no boundaries. She, for example, knew how to fascinate any man she liked.

The famous Roman general Mark Antony did not escape this fatal fate either. But in this case, and Cleopatra fell madly in love with Mark. This mutual passion burned them to the ground: they even vowed to die in one hour. In one of the lost battles, Mark Antony, to avoid shame, threw himself on the sword. And Cleopatra, having learned about this, committed suicide. The bite of a cobra, which she always kept with her in a basket, interrupted the life of this unusual woman.