The Middle Ages were an amazing time when a huge number of people believed in magic, demons and other supernatural powers.
People constantly had to be afraid of the attack of evil witches, spirits, sorcerers who could impose damage, curse or bring on other troubles on them.
It was often said about witches that they meet with Satan or his followers and not only meet, but also enter into intimate relationships. After which they give birth to ugly children or other creatures.
One such story comes from Leicestershire, England, where a 27-year-old woman named Agnes Bowker lived in 1569. She was the daughter of a butcher who served on a wealthy estate and until some time she did not attract public attention.
Bowker was not married, but suddenly became pregnant, and on January 17, 1569, she gave birth to some terrible creature that looked more like a cat than a person.
Simultaneously with this event, a strong forest fire occurred in the area, which caused popular rumors about the connection between these two phenomena and their demonic essence. Bowker herself did not deny anything, and moreover, she stated that this child is the fruit of her connection with a certain supernatural being, with whom she met several times.
David Cressy, in his book Travesties and Transgressions in Tudor and Stuart England: Tales of Discord and Dissension, describes this story:
Soon rumors reached London itself and this case was not written off as a joke, but began to be investigated in all seriousness. Midwife Elizabeth Harrison, who was present at Bowker's birth, was questioned and she assured that all this was true.
Moreover, Elizabeth also saw the father of the “baby”, who seemed to her like a cross between a bear, a dog and a man.”She also stated that six more midwives were present at the birth and saw this creature.
Midwife Margaret Roos said that she helped the "baby" to be born and that he was not yet born, but had already wounded her with his sharp claws when she tried to pull him out.
Margaret also told that Agnes Bowker, while carrying a fetus, met a certain woman in the forest, who predicted to her that she would give birth to a monster called Mooncalf. In England, this term was first called a mutant calf born on the Full Moon, and later it was also called a human baby with congenital deformities.
Many townspeople and representatives of the clergy were interrogated, and the body of that very born creature was allegedly found. When it was opened and examined, it was concluded that it was no different from the body of an ordinary cat.
Archdeacon Anthony Anderson personally examined the remains of the creature and confirmed that it looks like the most ordinary cat and thus the whole thing is most likely a fake.
Meanwhile, Bowker continued to talk about her unnatural connection with an unusual demon creature and once even stated that she married the Devil and that she had a connection with him.
Agnes Bowker the cat.
Bowker also made contradictory statements about her "child", she said that he was born dead, then declared that he was under supervision in the village of Gillsborough, and once said that she did not remember anything at all about having a child.
When Agnes Bowker appeared in court before Archdeacon Anderson, midwife Harrison continued to assure that she personally saw the birth of the monster and that the father of the child was a demon.
However, it remained a mystery what happened to Bowker's child. Bowker was undoubtedly pregnant, but that was the only fact that could be proved, since hundreds of townspeople had seen her in this state.
Some people believed that Bowker could have killed her child to hide her "shame" with pregnancy outside of marriage. Some believed that she actually gave birth to the monster, but also killed him so that no one could see him. Another part believed in both the monster and that he was alive and somewhere else. But no one had any facts against Bowker.
As a result, Bowker was never convicted or found guilty of any crime. But that's all we know about the end of her story. How her life developed further is unknown.