Michée Chauderon
Michée Chauderon | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Died | 6 April 1652 |
| Occupations | Laundress, domestic servant |
| Known for | Being the final victim of the Genevese witch trials |
Criminal charge | Witchcraft |
Penalty | Sentenced to death |
Michée Chauderon (sometimes referred to as Michelle;[1] c. 1602 – 6 April 1652) was a domestic servant who became the final victim of the witch trials in the Republic of Geneva.[2][3]
Biography
[edit]Chauderon was a Savoyard emigrant who worked as a laundress for private households.[2] She was illiterate and lived in relative poverty after the death of her husband, a silk carder.[2][4] A practising Catholic, she was described after her death as "full of piety" by Jean-Robert Chouet, a conclusion he reached upon reviewing her trial records.[2][5]
In 1639, Chauderon became pregnant; the father was a fellow servant who died soon after.[2] Because she was not married at this time, she was convicted of the crime of sexual immorality.[2]
Trial for witchcraft
[edit]Chauderon was accused of witchcraft by her employers in early 1652, who alleged that she had cursed their daughters.[4] Their accusations bore a resemblance to three of the four witch trials held in Geneva immediately preceding Chauderon's case.[4] Investigators questioned the girls and found their testimony unconvincing, but Chauderon was arrested in March nonetheless.[4][6]
Physicians checked Chauderon while in custody, identifying two marks under her breast and on her thigh.[4][7] At the time, Genevese authorities customarily investigated people suspected of witchcraft for devil's marks, or physical marks on their body that supposedly evidenced a relationship with the Devil.[4] They could not decide whether these marks were natural, so prosecutors employed two Protestant surgeons from nearby Nyon to assess Chauderon, who concluded that her blemishes were likely supernatural.[5]
Doctors subsequently pierced Chauderon's marks with a needle, believing that doing so would only draw blood if she was innocent.[4][7][6] Not only did Chauderon bleed, but she seemed to know very little about witchcraft or the Devil when investigators questioned her about her alleged offences.[6] The examining physicians resolved that Chauderon was innocent, and opposed putting her to death.[6]
Not satisfied by the doctors' conclusions, Genevese prosecutors ordered for Chauderon to undergo torture.[6] During the abuse, Chauderon's tormentors found another mark on her thigh that allegedly caused her no pain when a needle was inserted.[6] On 1 April 1652, Chauderon confessed to dealings with the Devil, though she maintained that she had never renounced her baptism.[2][6]
Chauderon was sentenced to death by strangulation, with her body burnt afterwards.[8] Her death marked the first execution of an alleged witch in Geneva since 1626, and would prove to be the last in the Republic of Geneva.[9]
Legacy
[edit]
In philosophy
[edit]Chauderon's case received renewed attention in 1768 when French philosopher Voltaire, who opposed Christian religious fanaticism, wrote critically about hers and other witch trials in his Dictionnaire philosophique.[10][11]
In culture
[edit]In the modern era, Chauderon's life has inspired several television and radio shows, and at least one stage play.[2] She became a symbol for Switzerland's women's liberation movement in the 1970s.[2]
Landmarks
[edit]In 1997, Geneva named a street for Chauderon, Chemin Michée-Chauderon.[2]
References
[edit]- ↑ Perry; Perry, Marvin B.; Baker, J. Wayne; Hollinger, Pamela Pfeiffer (2003-08-29). The Humanities in the Western Tradition: Readings in Literature and Thought. CENGAGE Learning. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-395-84815-9.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Sharpe, James (2014-10-01). "Michel Porret, L'Ombre du Diable : Michée Chauderon, dernière sorcière exécutée à Genève / Ulrike Krampl, Les secrets des faux sorciers : police, magie et escroquerie à Paris au XVIIIe siècle". Crime, Histoire & Sociétés / Crime, History & Societies. 18 (2). Droz: 136–139. ISSN 1422-0857.
- ↑ Burns, William E. (2003-10-30). Witch Hunts in Europe and America: An Encyclopedia. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. pp. xxxvi. ISBN 978-0-313-09382-1.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Monter, E. William (1987). Enforcing Morality in Early Modern Europe. Variorum Reprints. pp. 131–132. ISBN 978-0-86078-214-8.
- 1 2 Monter, E. William (1976). Witchcraft in France and Switzerland: The Borderlands During the Reformation. Cornell University Press. pp. 38, 54–55. ISBN 978-0-8014-0963-9.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Joyce, James Avery (1962). Capital Punishment: A World View. Grove Press. pp. 68–69.
- 1 2 Muir, Cameron (2015-03-05). "On the abolition of the death penalty". Inside Story. Retrieved 2026-09-22.
- ↑ English Mechanic (12 April 1895). "Witches and Witchcraft". English Mechanics and the World of Science. Vol. 61. p. 157.
- ↑ Knafla, Louis A. (1989). Criminal justice history: an international annual. Vol. 10. Westport London: Meckler. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-88736-367-2.
- ↑ Gijswijt-Hofstra, Marijke (1999-01-01). Witchcraft and Magic in Europe, Volume 5: The Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. A&C Black. pp. 219–221. ISBN 978-0-485-89106-5.
- ↑ Besterman, Theodore (1985). Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century (in French and English). Institut et musée Voltaire. p. 136.
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