Guillaume Edelin

Guillaume Edelin D.D., was a prior who confessed to being witch, convicted in 1453, and the first person to confess to have flown on a broom.^[1]

Life

Edelin was the Prior of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, an Augustinian and a Doctor of Divinity. He promulgated the idea that it was impossible for the Devil to make pacts or witches to fly on brooms.^[1][2] He also confessed to having gone to the Sabbath "mounted on a balai", the first reference to the use of a broomstick in connection with witchcraft.^[3]

After his arrest he repented and was imprisoned for the rest of his life in the city of Évreux.^[4]