In the year 1397 in the parish of Tuttington (Norfolk), a woman whose
name is lost to history, frantic to rid herself of the evil spirit that
possessed her, turned to suicide. She attempted first to hang herself,
but her husband discovered her while life remained in her body, cut down
the rope, and comforted her. A few weeks later she tried once again to
hang herself, but the rope broke. As soon as she had regained her breath,
she raced to a nearby pond, reported to be at least six or seven feet deep,
and leaped in with the aim of drowning herself, but even though her head
submerged three times, she was not able to sink. She struggled out of
the pond and walked to the home of her sister to tell her about the day’s
events. Her sister begged her to confess to the local priest, convinced that
only through confession might she drive away the malevolent spirit. The
sister then kindly put the woman to bed and rushed off to the woman’s
house for dry clothes to make her more comfortable. After her sister had
departed, the woman decided to make one last attempt. She found a small
dagger hanging on the wall of the cottage, and she stabbed herself three
times in the stomach. Still she did not die. When she finally understood
that the spirit was preventing her from taking her life, the woman tried
to cut out her heart, assuming that her body could not live without it.