11. Antoine Rose
Antoine Rose was a single mother, who was living in extreme poverty and trying to protect her son, Michael. She claimed that another “witch” had tried to kidnap her son in the middle of the night, but they stabbed her in the arm to stop her. Apparently, witnesses saw her asking the Devil for help in her desperate situation. She slathered an ointment on a broomstick and placed it between her legs. This was a psychedelic herbal that Wiccans once used to get high, and it could only be absorbed in the body through the skin. In the year 1477, Antoine Rose was accused of being a witch. She was tortured until she confessed to working together with the devil.
Her story is not that uncommon even today. At its surface, she was an impoverished single mother living on the streets turns to drugs. However, the story of her broomstick incident is one of the many stories that lead to the iconic “witch on a broomstick” stereotype.