Mother Shipton
Mother Shipton, born Ursula Southeil in a cave in England, is a notable figure from the 16th century renowned for her prophecies and alleged supernatural abilities. Her early life was marked by unusual circumstances; she was born to a single mother who faced legal troubles and subsequently placed Ursula in foster care while she entered a convent. Known for her intelligence and mischievous nature, Ursula married a carpenter named Toby Shipton at the age of twenty-four, adopting the name Mother Shipton thereafter. Following her marriage, she gained a reputation in her community for providing counsel and predictions, with stories emerging about her ability to influence events and people around her.
Among her famed prophecies was one concerning Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, a powerful figure of the time, who threatened to execute her for witchcraft but died before fulfilling that threat. Shipton's predictions encompassed significant events, including the Great London Fire of 1666, although the authenticity of many stories about her has been debated due to the oral tradition that circulated before they were documented. Today, Mother Shipton is remembered as a symbol of folk wisdom and the challenges faced by women who spoke truth to power, with her birthplace now a site of historical interest.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Mother Shipton
British soothsayer
- Born: 1488
- Birthplace: Knaresborough, Yorkshire, England
- Died: 1561
- Place of death: Clifton, Yorkshire, England
Cause of notoriety: Mother Shipton is believed to have predicted the Great London Fire of 1666 and the death of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey.
Active: 1510’s-1561
Locale: England
Early Life
Ursula Southeil, later known as Mother Shipton (SHIHP-tuhn), was allegedly born to a single mother in a cave in England. Her mother, Agatha, faced prostitution charges when she was pregnant with Ursula and escaped conviction by reminding the judge in open court that he had mpregnated two of his female servants. Agatha gave Ursula to the care of a foster mother when Ursula was two years old and then spent the remainder of her life in a convent.
Ursula was an intelligent child with a mischievous nature, according to biographers. She suffered some deformity, perhaps a humped back or hooked nose. Such physical attributes have long been associated with the stereotypical image of a witch. Townspeople referred to her as “a devil’s child.” Ursula married a carpenter named Toby Shipton when she was twenty-four and soon thereafter adopted the name Mother Shipton. After she became famous as a seer, stories developed about her supposed supernatural abilities that she used as a child to get revenge upon anyone who harmed or teased her.
Witchcraft Career
Shortly after Mother Shipton’s marriage, people from her town started coming to her for help, advice, and knowledge about the future. One such early tale has a neighbor seeking Mother Shipton’s counsel after someone stole the neighbor’s clothing. Mother Shipton is said to have gotten the thief to confess and return the property. Soon, her prophecies and utterances reached beyond petty thefts in her community. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who persuaded King Henry VIII to attack France and harbored papal aspirations, became a primary nemesis for Mother Shipton. After hearing that she had predicted his death, Wolsey threatened that if he came to York, he would burn her at the stake for witchcraft. However, he died before he could carry out the threat; Shipton had also prophesied that Wolsey would not reach his destination. Other predictions, often in veiled and symbolic language, foretold events in the lives of Henry VIII, as well as his family and advisers. Shipton also is said to have predicted the Great London Fire in 1666. She was believed to have forecast her own death, at the beginning of Queen Elizabeth I’s long reign.
Lore about her was spread by word of mouth for at least a century before anything was written down, so it is difficult to know which stories about her were fabricated entirely or exaggerated for dramatic effect over the years. Some prophecies attributed to her were later found to be fictions.
Impact
Mother Shipton serves as an example of the folklore and legend that developed around medieval women who spoke the truth to powerful figures and used their intellect to help others and to admonish those in power. The cave where Mother Shipton was born in Knaresborough became a tourist attraction, along with the Petrifying Well near it, which is supposed to turn items thrown into it into stone. The area was said to possess supernatural qualities even before Shipton was born.
Bibliography
Briggs, Robin. Witches and Neighbors: The Social and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft. New York: Penguin, 1998. Examines court records during Mother Shipton’s era and explores regional differences in attitudes toward and beliefs about witchcraft.
Kellet, Arnold. Mother Shipton, Witch and Prophetess. Maidstone, Kent, England: George Mann Books, 2002. Written by a Knaresborough-based historian, the book examines the history of Shipton’s colorful legend and separates fact from folklore.
Kieckhefer, Richard. Magic in the Middle Ages. 2d ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Examines magic in the Middle Ages, including a discussion of who practiced it and a survey of magic’s development and growth.