THE WITCHES OF SUGNY

Taken from: L'Ardenne meridionale belge: une page de son histoire et son folklore, suivis du proces des sorcieres de Sugny en 1657, Th. Delogne, 1914. Includes court transcripts of witch trials. I have translated some of this as follows for the cases of: Th. Delogne's comments are in italics. Other cases mentioned in this book: On March 29, 1623, there was a MARIE ARNOULD in la souverainete d'Arches who was executed. See more in Belgian Folklore, p 257.

TRIAL OF JENNETTE PETIT

Articles for  interrogation of  Jennette Petit,  prisoner.  Exhibited
February 19, 1657.

p205.  I.    After  giving  her  name  and  last  name,  age, and her
residence, asked if she knows why she is imprisonned.

Her name is Jennette Petit, about 75 years old, and knows that she is
held for the crime of witchcraft.

II.  If she hasn't been suspect of being  a witch,  by her neighbors,
and if they distrust her?

Is well aware that the daughter of Henri le Thellier suspects her for
their cow.

III.  If it is true that the  said Jennette  Petit goes  often to ask
for buttermilk at the house of Henri le Thellier, her neighbor?

Yes.

IV.  If,  once the  daughter of  the said  Henri refused  to give her
some, she seemed strongly offended.

Doesn't remember being angry with her.

V.  If after that, to avenge this refusal, she didn't  dry-up the cow
of the said Thellier, and didn't heal it later?

No!(February 21,  re-interrogated  on this  fact as  we see later,
says that she doesn't know if the cow had dried-up "by her
hands".)

VI.  That the said Jennette Petit having once breathed  or forced her
breath into the mouth of Jenne le Bailly, wife of  Henri le Thellier,
who became ill and died?

Remembers nothing  of  the  sort  with  regard  to the  two points in
question.  (February 21, she  acknowledges having  breathed on her
and making her fall ill and die.)

VII.  That Nicolas le Bailly, father of the said Jenne le Baillay for
this reason, had attacked the prisoner in  front of  her door, saying
to her:  "Eh So!  Witch,  you don't  want to  heal my  daughter?"  to
which the prisoner didn't not reply.

Acknowledges this issue.

VIII.  That  she  had  cursed  and  made  die  Isabelle  Mergny,  her
neighbor, by giving her leeks or else through cakes for the fair.

Indeed gave her  some leeks,  but hadn't  added anything  to make her
sick.

IX.  That  it isn't  true that  the father  of the  said prisoner had
already been suspect of being a witch?

Knows nothing of this point; he  was however  well thought  of by his
people.

X.  That  in passing  next to  Nicolas le  Bailly in  the cemetery of
Sugny, she elbowed him, which caused him through this harm, a shaking
of all his limbs, that he kept until his death?

Acknowledges this issue.

XI.  That  she harmed  the children  of Hector  Poncelet, making them
ill, and furthermore did the same with his livestock.

Completely denies this issue.

XII.  That she made sick one of the  children of  her neighbor Thomas
Gerardin, for having cried on her porch.

Denies this as well.

XIII.  That  when  it  came  out that  they wanted  to inform against
witches, the  said  Jennette  got  some  advice about  the chances of
escaping, saying that if she  fled, the  great Jennette  should be on
her guard, this referring to Jennette Huart, wife of Jean Robau?

Remembers nothing of the sort.

XIV.  That  one  day,  the said  prisoner asked  alms at  the door of
Poncelet Robert,  it  was  politely refused  by one  of his children,
against which  the prisoner  resented and  which she  threw a poisen,
which made him dry-up die shortly after?

It was the only time that she goes along  with it.   She acknowledges
this issue.



February 21, 1657, p.  208

 Author's remark:  The interrogation takes  up from  the 14 issues
above, I don't know why, and continued on  21 others.   The prisonner
slightly changed  her  deposition  on article  V.   and completely on
article VI,  where  she  ()  (See  here  my corrections  on these two
articles.)  

XV.  Having been, beaten  by the  late Nicolas Pierret, her husband, 
the prisonner fled for safety and hid in his hay in the loft?

Yes.

XVI.  Where the devil came to find  her and  told her  that she would
marry with him and that he  would give  her means  to live  a life of
ease?

Yes.

XVII.  That she married with the devil  and at  the same  time had an
affair with the devil?

Doesn't remember anymore  if the  devil had  an affair  with her that
time, but remembers having affairs other  times and that he arrived
when she forgot to cross herself.

XVIII.  What was the name of the devil, and what did he call himself?

Belzebuth

XIX.  At what locations and places she  had danced  with devils; name
the places, and if it was at Hatterelles, at la Goutelle, and next to
the meadow  of..(foux?)(au  pré  du foux),  Soffa and other
places?

Was at these four places.


XX.  That she list those people that she recognized  at these dances
in Hatterelles and Gout, and if she noticed that Jennette Huart, wife
of Jean Robau, the  big Marson  Huart, her  sister, Catherine Robert,
wife of Husson Jadin, and Jenne Jadin, her sister in law were there?

(Page 209)
Recognized at these dances, at Goutelle, Jennette Huart, wife of Jean
Rabau; Marson  Huart,  her sister;  Catherine Robert,  wife of Husson
Jadin and Henne Hadin, her sister-in-law, were dancing  there, and in
addition, two  people  from Pussemange,  which she  didn't know their
names.  It was however,  last season.   She  doesn't know  if the two
were from Pussemange, but they headed back in that direction.

XXI.  She will tell and declare at  which time,  or year,  and at what 
hour, she had danced at Soffa?

Can't fix the years, nor the days where these dances were, which were
done before sunrise.

XXII.  Similarly,  will  try  to  name  those that  she noticed being
present at  the meeting  and the  dances in  the meadow  or fields of
(foux); to say if there were a lot there and how  many more or
less?

As it was only once, and so long ago  that she  has totally forgotten
the names of those that were found there.

XXIII.  Those that she was  able to  recognize, those  with which she
had gone there and returned, and if Catherine Robert,  wife of Husson
Jadin; Jenne Jadin, her sister in law; Marson  Huart; Jennette Huart,
wife of  Jean Robau;  Catherine Robau,  her daughter,  wife of Hubert
Gerardin; Poncelet  Huart,  of Sugny,  and her  daughter Jenne Huart,
wife Blaise Lamblot, weren't all there?

Saw and  recognized  at  the dance  in Soffa,  Catherine Robert, wife
Husson Jadin; Jenne Jadin, her sister in law;  Marson Huart; Jennette
Huart, wife of Jean Robau; Catherine Robau, wife  of Hubert Gerardin,
her daughter, and Jenne Pihart, wife of Jean Mouet.

(page 210)
XXIV.  That she should declare other  locations and  places where she
was accustomed to go dance at night, and those that she recognized as
being present, and any locations or places whatever they be?

Doesn't remember anything more.

XXV.  If she goes to dances by foot or if  the evil  spirit takes her
there and how.

She goes by foot.

XXVI.  If at the said dances, when it's over,  the devil, their
master, doesn't require them to do evil,  to harm  people or animals,
giving them some poisen?

Doesn't remember  at what  moment the  devil delivered  the poisen to
her.

XXVII.  If  it  is  true  that  the  devil,  with which  she had been
married, advised her to kill Nicolas Pierret, her husband?

It's true.

XXIII.  If the devil didn't give her poisen for  killing her husband?

Yes, in a little potion.

XXIX.  Which poisen was it; fat or powder, and with what soup, butter
or cheese, she had him eat it?

It was a fat, which she had given him in some soft cheese.

XXX.  And if the said Nicolas Pieret having eaten it,  lived and died
shortly afterwards?

He only lasted about fifteen days.

XXXI.  If she had received from the  devil other  poisens and powders
and with which she poisened the Bertholet, who died from it?

Killed him with a poisen powder which she mixed with beer.

XXXII.  If besides, she didn't kill  the child  of Bertholet, shortly
after the mother?

Yes, but doesn't know anymore what kind of powder.

XXXIII.  She will state  other persons,  men, women  or children, she
poisened?

Doesn't remember anymore of them.

XXXIV.  Item,  will  state, more  or less,  the animals  that she had
poisened, and  if  she had  caused the  death of  Jacques Pierret her
nephew, as well as others.

Doesn't remember having caused anyone's  animals to  die, nor Jacques
Pierret or others.

XXXV.  Item, if she doesn't  still have  some poisen  left, and where
she was in the habit of hiding it etc?

States that she has no fat present.
(....)

 
TRIAL OF JENNE PIHART
(page 214)
II.  Process  of  Jenne  Pihart,   wife  of   Jean  Mouet,  prisoner.
Exhibited February 21, 1657.

I.  After giving her name, age, and her residence, asked if she knows
why she is imprisonned?

Says that her name  is Jenne  Pihart, aged  about 45  years, lives in
Sugny, and that  she knows  that she  is in  prison for  the crime of
witchcraft.

II.  That she has been suspect of being a witch by  her neighbors and
that they mistrusted her?

Knows that  she  was suspect  of the  crime of  witchcraft by Jacques
Pierret, her neighbor.

III.  That the mother of the prisoner was similarly  suspect of being
a witch?

Only knows that her mother was suspected, knows only that one day she
had given a pate to the dog of Jean Dubier, that Dubier had said that
his dog died from it, and that her mother (had  gotten into arguments
over it.)

(page 216)
IV.  That she had been called to  change the  clothing of  a child of
Jacques Pierret;  after  undressing  the  child, she  returned to her
house, and came back to dress the child, and by the witchery that she
put around  the said  child, he  became completely  swollen and sick,
then died?

It is  true  that  she had  changed the  clothes of  child of Jacques
Pierret, but she did him no harm.

V.  That she made several  animals of  Jacques Pierret  die, many and
diverse times?

Denies formally.

VI.  That she gave a  beer to  Jean Loison  of Bagimont  to drink, of
which he became sick, vomiting, and died about eight days afterwards?

She gave him some, but with good intentions.

VII.  That she a bit later, argued with the said Jean Loison, blaming
him that his  mother had  wanted to  discourage the  marriage of Jean
Lamblot of  Sugny,  her  son,  with Anne  Lambert, niece  of the said
prisoner?

She indeed blamed  his mother  for having  said that  she didn't want
Jean Lamblot  of Sugny  to mix  with their  race, but  it wasn't with
animosity.  She simply said to him;  "I was  mad at  your mother, who
didn't want Jean Lamblot to take my niece,  and if  I had  met her, I
would have told her!"

VIII.  That often the animals of the said prisoner whisper and low in
their stables; state why and how.

Don't understand a word of that.

IX.  That in passing next to the goats  belonging to  Pierre Deu, she
blatantly killed them.

Says on her honor, never having caused those goats to die.

X.  That the said prisoner went to see the late Anne Piérard, wife of
Jacques Lamblot, during her delivery, without being summoned.

Acknowledges that  she  went  to  see  her, during  the delivery, but
states that she did her no harm.

XI.  That before the evening of the same day, the said Anne Piérard
became sick and died of it, by the harm done do her by the prisoner?

Denies absolutely.

XII.  That a bit after the death of the said Anne Piérard, her child
being brought back to the house of Jean Piérard, his grandfather and
Isabelle Mergny, wife of Jean Piérard, his grandmother holding him
before the door, the prisoner saw him, and shortly after he was sick?

Denies absolutely.

XIII.  The  next day,  the said  Isabelle Mergny,  grandmother of the
child, in going to mass, closed all the doors of the  house where the
child was in bed.  At her return,  she noticed  nevertheless that the
said prisoner  had entered  the house,  during mass,  having made the
child swollow  gruel,  that  since then  he's been  doing better, and
getting well?

Denies completely these points.


XIV.  That one day, following one of her chickens that  went to roost
in the stable of Bonne Lambert, she poisened  the calf  in the stall,
which was doing well before then, and dying the next day?

Acknowledges having  gone  in  the  stable but  declares never having
caused the death of the calf, and the truth should be known.

XV.  That  one day,  she was  met at  dawn returning  to the village,
making noise?

It is true that she returned, once,  around midnight,  with a chariot
loaded of bark, but she didn't make any other noise except in passing
by.

XVI.  That the said prisoner was sent to  the house  of Jean Jadot,
where the children were healthy, and as soon  as she  left, one
of them became ill due to her evil spell and then died?

That's false.

XVII.  That she warned Jean Mouet, her husband, that around midnight,
that his son was in trouble, and  that his  cattle were  taken in the
woods of Mont-Dieu in France?

Simply said  one  night, to  her husband,  while it  was raining, and
while their chariot was delayed  and hadn't  returned:   "We sleep in
our bed, while our boys are stuck somewhere, in a hole somewhere"; it
wasn't until the next day that they came and said that  they had stayed
in the  woods of  Mont-Dieu (small  commune du  canton de Raucort,
known for its luxurious woods.)

XVIII.  She  will  say  by whom  she had  been informed,  and by what
means?

It was confirmed next day,  by Petitjean  Renaut; if  she had guessed
the truth the night before, it was due to the raging weather.

XIX.  Will say how it is  that she new a head of time about the cattle.

It was obvious.

(The cattle  were  probably  seized by  customs or  by the forest
guards (comme étant en maraude), which happened frequently on
the frontier.)

(page 219)
XX.  By what method,  means or  science, she  knew the  secret of the
investigations, and those  who have  testified against  her, and even
the contents of the investigation?

She knows nothing about any of it.

XXI.  That she returned  one day,  early morning,  with her daughter,
completely a wreck from the diabolical dances, by the road or the path 
of "Aubroyes"?

It is true that one day,  she returned  from that  direction, but had
been in  search  of  their horses,  which had wandered away; she has 
never been to diabolical dances.

XXII.  That she had remarked to many people that Jennette Huart, wife
of Jean Robau, also prisoner for the same crime,  had bewitched her 
then healed her, by means of a certain drug.

Here's the truth:  one day,  when she  was sick,  Jennette Huart came
bringing her,  leaving  it  on  her  shelf, a  cassette  (small  cup)
containing small  white  nuts  (lumps)  like rennet.
Alix Millet, wife of Jacques Lambert, living in their bakehouse, took
the cassette, and told her  that she  should swallow  the contents of
it, and it would mean her health or her death; she did it and she had
an enormous sweat, coming off like a steam  above her  and around her
dress, and she got better.

En foi de quoi, Nous Justice,  the following,  have signed for
the truth of the contents above.



(p.  220)
Meeting(Confrontation) of the witnesses charging Jenne Pihart


1- Bonne Lambert, 35th witness, under oath, as well as the prisoner.
The latter questioned on the point of knowing if she knows her well,
and if she has something against her.  Said to know her  well, and has
nothing to object unless she's mistaken.

The deposition  of  Bonne  Lambert  was  read;  she  agrees that she
changed the child's clothings, but without leaving between undressing
and re-dressing;  besides, she  didn't do  anything to  the child and
didn't know he was sick.

Bonne Lambert maintains the opposite in  her presence,  says that the
nextday the child was red, had a swollen  throat, and  was dead about
fifteen days later.  On the  issue of  the animals  of Bonne Lambert,
the prisoner  denies  having  killed  any  of  them.    Bonne Lambert
persists.

2nd Nicole Piérard, 46th witness of the investigation.  The prisoner
objected saying  that  everyone knows  she has  bad character.  Nicole
Piérard was put under oath,  and her  deposition was  read to the
accused, who declared to have no memory having giving anything to eat
(bouillie=cooked meat) to the child, indeed the opposite.

Nicole Piérard maintains actively the opposite:  that she gave him
some after  entering  the   house  with   the  other  particularities
mentioned in her deposition.  The prisoner admits to telling the said Nicole
Piérard, that Jennette Huart, wife of Jean Robau, had bewitched her.
as noted elsewhere in the deposition of Catherine Piérard. 


TRIAL   OF   JENNETTE  HUART  

I. After giving her name and her age and her residence, will be
asked if she knows the subject of why she is imprisoned?

She is called Jennette Huart, aged more than 60 years, and
doesn't know why she is imprisonned.

II. If she hadn't been already apprehended for the same subject;
under what conditions she was released.

Says that everyone knows very well why.

If for more than 35 years she hasn't been known as being a
sorcerer, and if she is of the race?

Knows that her mother was accused of being a witch, and that they
killed her for it; doesn't know if it was true.

IV.  That she was accused of the crime by Jenne Carmay, her aunt,
exectued herself as a witch, and if the mother of the said
prisoner hadn't been burnt fo the same crime?

Doesn't believe that her aunt Carmay, executed for the same
crime, had accused her; for the rest, responds as preceeding,
that she doesn't know if her mother was a witch.

V.  That the witnesses produced in the first preparatory
investigation, which took place in the year 1626, without
prjeudice a thte time, she has found to have been charged with
touching Jacquette Leverd, by washing the children's clothing and
linen of "Robins": and, by this contact, caused him to have a 
paralysis (perclusion) of his limbs.

Declares that they lie like a dog.
Declare que c'est faux comme chien.

VI.  As tge prisonner was to marry, Gerard Labroye was courting
her.  The parents came together to arrange their marriage, but it
didn't take place.  The same day, having gound the said Gerard
witht eh wife of Poncelet etinne, and going out with he4r, she
said to him that he would regret it, thinking that he was the
cause that the marriage didn't take place?

That is false; Gerard Labroye was crazy, and died crazy.

VII.  In the end, a time later, the said Gerard Labroye was
seized by a sickness so hot and violent, that he turned crazy and
mad from it?

That's false.  She is there for nothing.

VIII.  In addition, having caused the death, through satanic
venom, a cow belonging to the said Labroye?

That's false; had never caused the death of anyone or any animal.

IX.  Item, leaving one day, her house, having had leaned against
the stone walls of the garden of Gerard Willeme; then, having
returned in great haste to her house, without entering; then,
having passed the manure heap of Marson Renault, where there were
three goats, that she kicked; and these were knocked down, going
against the lattice work in the garden of Jean Pierart?

That is false,; has no memory of such goats.

X.  And noticing that she was being watched, she passed by the
said manure heap, between the goats, and went by them touching
the sides of her clothes?

That is false; she didn't see them, much less pushing them into
the lattice.

XI.  Item, having given to eat a gohier, ou doree de brouet,
 to Jacquette Baudet, wife of Louis le Vasseur, who, in
eating it, because immediately sick?

Denies having given the gohier ou de la doree a jacquette
Baudet, that it was a whore and that she died the death she
deserved.

XII. In adition to having given him buttermilk to drink, of shich
the said jacquette Baudet became seriously ill and inflicted, and
after having endured severe pains, rejected and volmited a
variety of worm, even unk9on beasts and almost int he shape of
salamanders, and had for a time, become numb in his limbs?

It is the sister of the said Jacquette Baudet who had milked one
of the cows of the, and who brought the milk;  the latter never
received it and this couldn't have given it:  she repeates
besides that the said jacquette was a whore, and that her sister
was insane.

XII.  Item, that by the second and last investigation, she was
charged by witnesses, that one of the childrne having had been
hit with a wooden shoe by the small boy, brother of Marueriet
Mariau, the said prisoner arrived saying to him "Hush Hush, my
child; he won't be hiltting you much longer; and that soon
afterworards, the said boy was sick in one leg and languished,
having to crutches for 5 or 6 years, and eventually dying from
his sickeness?

That is false, and whoever said that is an evil person, and their
hair should be pulled out.

XIV.  That she had visited Jenne Pihart, wife of Jean Pihart,
wife of Jean Mouet, when she was sick, and asked her if she had
eaten that which she left on a shelf, and to say what it was?

She wasn't twice in her life in the house of Jenne Pihart: she is a
mean woman, and liar.  She stole an apron right in front of her, and
they made her return it.

XV.  If, one day, having at her dwelling with Henry, their
servent, she showed him the small beasts which ran around the
house, and the servent didn't see them, she said to him: "There
they are!  There!  Don['t you see them at all?"  Say what beasts
they were and from where they came?

They are tall tales that she denies; this Henry is a liar, who
stole her purse of two patacons (about 5 francs; a little bit of
money)

XVI.  Itme, having called Jenne Pihart, wife of Jean Mouet, who
followed one of the chickens that was going to lay eggs, to help
her carrying a vat full of water into her house, and putting it
inside, she took the hand on the shoulder of the said Pihart, who
became sick (incontinent)?

Replies in closing the yes, mocking and with the head thrown
back, that she doesn't know what the said Pihart is trying to
say.


XVII.  That passing one day in the month of march in front of the
door of the barn of Jean Pierart, in which there was a cow (de
relai), she coughed and that moment the cow because sick, and
died?

If Jean Pierart said that, it's becasue he is blind; she never
did anything wrong to them or their animals.

XVIII.  Item, that Jacques Lambert, having received two breads
from Jean Robau, of which he found light, he reported them at the
said Robau, where finding the prisonner who didn't want to take
them back.  He (put them on the opening of the oven), and as he
walked into the room waiting for Robau, the prisoner threw her
hand on the shoulder; he (got a welt) and he lost use of his arm for an
entire year?

That's false; there have to be mean people in the world to say
such things.  Has no mumory that he returned the bread and that
she touched him.

XIX.  If it is not true that one day, where they were harvesting hemp
for Housson Pierard, someone said: "There is evil band of witches
that have (caste a spell) on that ()."  and that the said prisoner
noticing that () will say why she said that and ()?

She can have said that there were () without however that there
were any in the others; this doesn't mean she's guilty of it.

XX. That approximately five years ago, before her first capture,
apprehension and imprisonnement, she had argued with the wife of
Jean Lamblot, and had through a window, thrown her the finger,
threatening her.

That is false; it's the first she ever heard of it.

XXI.  And that afterwards, she madea cow sick, drying it of its
milk, making it ()?

Says that those are tales.

XXII.  And () that, having been sold back to her aunt, Jeanne
Carmay, since executed, the said cow got better, and gave milk?

Doesn't know what that is supposed to mean.

XXIII. That she was threatening the wife of Jean Lamblot, that
after having hurt her, through her spells, and languishing a long
time, she ()?

Says that those are tales; of all of it she knows nothing.

XXIV.  That one time was heard at night the said Jennette Huart
crying, "Aie! Aie! and help", being alone in the house?

Those are tales.

XXV. She is going to also confess if, one day, after kneeling on
the corner of the (), when the weather was mild,, she didn't
cause a fog, and rose a wind around her, the said wind blowing
into the porch of the house of Matheiu Lambert, where there were
two girls who were crushing hemp; wind and fog was so bad that
they hid behind the pot in which they were processing the said
hemp.  Will say how she had made the said fog.

Says that as soon as you start reading the article, you know its
false.


XXVI.  That Marie Leprince in going to mass, with the small
daughter of Poncette Labroye, wife of Jacques Lambert, the
prisonner asked to the little girl to come with her in the house
where she was; she gave the little girl some bread, which seemed
to her not good, and she started to languish, for about a year,
then died; she was always healthy before eating the bread?

That's false she has no memory of all that, and that it is
repeated by people with bad intentions.

XXVII.  That one time, during the night, she came in the house of
Thomas Gerardin, () of Sugny, where she found petitjean Millart, Lord
of Laviot, who was laying on a straw mattress, next to the fire, and
to whom she said, "if he wants to go with her, and who she was with
she would give him enough money to pay his debts." She made him swear,
and rubbed his stomach with 2 hands, descending, and said to him:
"That she has taken off the poison, but that he will be a long time
ill."  The said Petitjean wanted to cry, but the prisonner said to
him:" that he wouldn't be able to wake up Thomas Gerardin."  She said
further, "that there will be soldiers coming to the village, and that
she should house three of them, and that if she wasn't in the house
before they arrived, she would be in trouble, and put in the hands of
the Justice"; she left just as the same time the soldiers were arriving?

That is false and the witness is an evil man: she didn't even see him;
she had demanded justice, and had to compensate for saying such a
thing.

XXVIII. If she has at times worn green petticoats and of what
material it is made?

She wears sometimes green or blue, she wears what she has.

XXIX. Will say if it is true that the officers of Charleville having
sent to Sugny a woman, to meet Jean Robau the elder, to have his
chariot, Jennette Huart gave for lunch to this woman, who, having
eaten her soup, felt ill, and in leaving the village, vomitted
everything that she had eaten, then eventually getting better.

Remembers nothing of the sort.

Guarlache Mergny, echevin
Jean Dubier, echevin
Thomas Gerardin, greffier(=clerk of the court)

The 16th day of February 1657, she is again interrogated by the
high justice of Sugny, and examined () and () the artivles of
interrogation exhibitted the 12th and 14th of February (i don't
know why)

1st question?
Knows indeed why she is imprisonned.
2nd?
Knows that she was apprehended for the crime of sortilege, then
released and 90 by the Justics.
5th?
Knows indeed that Jacquette Leverd has charged her; but (); if
she was sick, it is more herslef who (),she is of the race of
witches, like herself.
7th?
Knows indeed that labroye was troubled and that he was crazy, but
she wasn't the cawuse of it, and she hadn't touched him.
16th?
She didn't see Jenne Pihart and hadn't touched her; didn['t even
help her cary the bucket.
24th?
Never did that, at least unless it was a dream.
25th?
Wasn't crouched in the corner the () of Labroye, and didn't make nor see the fog.

Guarlache, Mergny, echevins
Jean Dubier, echevin
Thomas Gerardin, greffier.



Exhibited February 2, 1657.

I. That once, the night, she started screaming, being in bed with
Jean Robau, her husband, with such a force, that the entire house
shook; will gell what spirit was pushing her and tormenting her?

That is false; nothing of the sort ever happened.

II. That he was () by Jean Robau her husband, that she should
confess, which she never agreed.

That is false.

III. That shortly afterwards, came a noise in the attic, from the
first stair to the last stair, sounding like someone walking with
heavy steps?

Doesn't know a word of it; the are dishonest people, who spread
these rumors.

IV.  That suddenly, there appeared a terrible beast in the
kitchen, big as a beef cattle, which then (escaped) through the
back room?
There is nothing true to that.

V.  That another time, the said Jennette Huart, having a dead child,
laying in her bed, and having left the said child in the kitchen,
there came a cat with a hugeness and a monsterous gaze, in the said
kitchen.  Will say what the form was of this beast, and to what end?
Has no idea what is meant by this.

VI. In addition, the prisoner will tell which spirit revealed to her what
Isabelle Mergny, and the cutlery vendor said about her.
Same response.

VII.  Will also say who informed her that the cure de Sugny had said
the last Sunday in the church in her favor,( the said prisonner to the
gardes having learned by divine revelation?)

Someone told her that the cure had made a nice () in favor of
prisonners, but she had forgotten who had told her.

VIII.  that she will say exactly which cries and noises that happened
refering to her, the past days, with screaming and abnormal voices -
she being in prison- in the court of Jean Mozet, during the night?

They weren't any noises, neither around her nor anywhere else in the
Court of Jean Mozet.

IX.  That she will say for what reason why when they came to talk to
her about the witches, she was blaming others and declaring that she
was as innocent as Jesus Christ and as saintly?

Doesn't know if she said that; if she did, doesn't remember it.

X. That she cast a spell on Jean Laurent of Laviot, who refused
to harvest her wheat for her?

That is false.

Guerlache Mergny, echevin
Jean Dubier
Thomas Gerardin, greffier.

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