11. Anne Boleyn
Here is a perfect example of how society’s distorted views on women who were often strong and independent—women who stood out from the crowd—not only led to accusations that could not have been further from the truth but even death! Anne Boleyn was born in 1501 and would later grow up to marry King Henry VIII of England; which would ultimately lead to her demise. She was a beautiful woman, desired by many, and initially declined King Henry VIII’s invitation to court him because he was already committed to another woman. Anne respected herself too much to be a mistress and stated that if they were to be together it would be by marriage and she would be his one-and-only. The King was quick to abandon his current marriage and devote himself to Anne but after giving birth to a baby girl (Elizabeth I, who would grow up to be one of the most famous Queens of England) and having multiple miscarriages, the King used the fact that she had not borne a son as justification to go back to his old promiscuous ways.
In this day and age, while most women would have turned the other cheek to this sort of behavior, Anne, the number 11 in our list of most famous witches in history, was not like most other women. Her husband’s unfaithfulness infuriated her, and she became very jealous; which quickly caused their marriage to fall apart. Here’s where things started to get real hairy for Anne. Suddenly, her individuality and sex appeal became her biggest vices. Situations that were out of her control such as, her miscarriage and her husband’s impotency, became contorted into horror stories that were used against her as accusations of being a witch. You see, back then the English took serious precautions towards witchcraft and would often jump the gun with accusations towards anyone who would show any signs of what they believed could be depicted as being a witch. Her incredible allure was now thought to be the work of Satan, himself as he would use her to seduce men into marriage, thus combining her victim’s soul with hers; which belonged to the Devil. She would birth disfigured fetus’ and curse her husband with impotency. King Henry VIII felt no remorse as he played the innocent man that had been driven by an evil witch to leave his church and join in matrimony. His deceitful lies only confirmed the country’s beliefs and it is said that no mercy was shown at the time of her beheading in 1536. Her story has been told time and time again and lives on centuries later as a symbol of the sad, but often true tale of the most famous witches in history.
