Witches, murderers – or misunderstood? Meet the 17th Century Thelma and Louise
Portrait of Frances Howard, Countess of Somerset, c.1615, by William Larkin Credit: National Portrait Gallery In 1615, a doctor’s widow and a countess were arrested for the murder of the courtier Sir Thomas Overbury. Allegations of witchcraft, adultery, poisoning, treason and corruption at the highest level sparked the greatest scandal of the Jacobean era. Their trials proved better drama than anything at The Globe. “Here is now such hurrying to Westminster Hall to see the great lady arraigned as it distracts everybody’s mind from anything else,” wrote Sir Charles Montagu, who watche...
Source: telegraph.co.uk