Perotine Massey

Perotine Massey was the wife of a Calvinist minister who had fled their home of St Peter Port, Guernsey to live in London, possibly in fear of persecution. Perotine, her sister Guillemine Gilbert, and their mother, Katharine Cawches were brought in for questioning over a stolen silver goblet. They were found to be innocent of any involvement in the theft; some sources cite it was Perotine herself who informed the authorities about the suspicious nature of the goblet seller during the transaction between them.

However during the questioning it came to light that the three women had not been attending church. After a rigorous examination all three were charged with heresy. During their trial, in early July of 1556 they claimed they were acting according to the religious policies of the late King Edward VI. Many of their neighbours were called and testified to the fact that the three women had been unwilling to comply with the new religious orders imposed by the current monarch Mary I. They were found guilty of heresy and sentenced to be burned at the stake.

The bailiff in charge Helier Gosselin, was tasked to carry out the orders; the women were to be strangled first and then burned.

John Fox gave a rather grisly account in his The Actes and Monuments popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs. In it he says that the rope that was to strangle the women broke and all three were consumed by the fire while still alive. He asserts that Perotine was “great with child” and her belly broke open, expelling a living baby. Supposedly an onlooker plucked the living baby from the fire and laid it on the grass until Bailiff Gosselin ordered it to be thrown back into the flames. A much later addition to the claim, notes that the uncle of Perotine confirmed the existence of his niece’s pregnancy.

Historians argue over the veracity of this account, as Perotine never made the ‘plea of the belly’ and even when it was made on her behalf by a relative and she was examined by the Jury of Matrons, she said she did not believe she was pregnant or was not sure. The Matrons were also unsure but noted it was quite possible. Seeing as less than 3 weeks passed between the accusation and execution it is unlikely she was ‘great with child’ but that she was pregnant cannot be ruled out.

So why didn’t Perotine save herself? Her execution would have been stayed and possibly commuted. Some argue perhaps she didn’t know she was pregnant, others say she wasn’t at all, and some still believe she wanted herself and her unborn child to become martyrs of her faith.

After Mary’s death when Elizabeth I came to the throne, she refused to sign the death warrants of those ‘heretics’ condemned under her sister’s reign.

Some tried to have Helier Gosselin brought to justice for murder, claiming that only three had been condemned to death and yet he had ordered a fourth execution, the baby, without cause. After some deliberation and investigation Elizabeth eventually decided to pardon him.

Illustration from Foxe's Book of Martyrs.

Sources:

History of the Channel Islands, Raoul Lempriére

The Chronicles of Castle Cornet, Stephen Barbet

https://www.exclassics.com/foxe/foxe353.htm

https://web.archive.org/.../Cauches%20Witch%20Trial.htm