Petronilla de Meath

Petronilla de Midia was an alleged follower of Dame Alice Kyteler, a wealthy woman of Flemish ancestry who lived in the English colony of Ireland in what is now County Kilkenny. After the death of Kyteler's fourth husband, Kyteler was accused of practicing witchcraft and Petronilla was charged with being one of her accomplices. Petronilla was tortured and forced to proclaim that she and Kyteler were guilty of witchcraft. Kyteler fled to save her life, and Petronilla was then flogged and eventually burnt at the stake on 3 November 1324 in Kilkenny. Hers was the first known case in Ireland or British Isles of death by fire for the crime of heresy.