Des Eschelles Manseau, also known as Trois-Eschelles (died 1571), was a French magician who was executed for

witchcraft Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meanin ...

Biography

Trois-Eschelles was from

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. He appears to have been performing as a magician and claimed to be able to perform magic. He performed before the king,

Charles IX of France Charles IX (Charles Maximilien; 27 June 1550 – 30 May 1574) was List of French monarchs, King of France from 1560 until his death in 1574. He ascended the French throne upon the death of his brother Francis II of France, Francis II in 1560, an ...

, at the royal court, where he attracted a lot of attention. He was however exiled from the royal court by the king. He was arrested and charged with sorcery. He was accused of having performed "impossible acts".

Gaspard II de Coligny Gaspard de Coligny, seigneur de Châtillon (; 16 February 1519 – 24 August 1572), was a French nobleman, Admiral of France, and Huguenot leader during the French Wars of Religion. He served under kings Francis I and Henry II during the ...

commented that Trois-Eschelles was arrested after having poisoned the bed of two male courtiers. He was sentenced to death of witchcraft. The king pardoned him on condition that he revealed his accomplices. He exposed 150 people for witchcraft by identifying the Devil's mark on their bodies. Only a handful of those people he identified where actually arrested and executed, among them Honoré or Honorat de Quinze-Vingts. The king brought him back to court, where he was made to entertain the courtiers with stories about witchcraft, the witche's sabbath, sorcery and poison. His tenure at court does not appear to have lasted long, however, and he was reportedly eventually executed by hanging despite the initial clemency of the king.

Legacy

Trois-Eschelles was noted as an important witchcraft case by

Jean Bodin Jean Bodin (; ; – 1596) was a French jurist and political philosopher, member of the Parlement of Paris and professor of law in Toulouse. Bodin lived during the aftermath of the Protestant Reformation and wrote against the background of reli ...

, who referred to him eleven times in '' Démonomanie des sorciers''. Jean Bodin claimed that the wizard Des Eschelles Manseau named between 100,000 and 300,000 wizards and that the clemency of the king toward Trois-Eschelles was an illustrative example on what could happen when princes did not take sorcery seriously, and how the whole kingdom was in danger of being placed in danger by the wizards because of the clemency of the king.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Des Eschelles Manseau 16th-century French people French people executed for witchcraft 1571 deaths 16th-century executions by France Court of Charles IX of France French magicians Year of birth unknown 16th-century occultists

Biography

Legacy

See also

References