Elizabeth Gaunt 1685 English woman death treason convicted Rye House Plot executed political crime religious Old Bailey
Elizabeth Gaunt (died 23 October 1685), was an English woman sentenced to death for treason after having been convicted for involvement in the Rye House Plot. She was the last woman to have been executed for a political crime in England. Gaunt was an anabaptist shop-keeper in London. She was well known to give shelter to prosecuted people, such as victims of religious and political oppression. In 1685, one of the participants of the failed Rye House Plot, Burnton, was given refuge by her. After his arrest, Burnton implicated her as an accomplice in hope of saving his life. She was in fact not involved in the conspiracy, and the trial against her was seen as a show trial. She was judged to death for treason in the Old Bailey 19 October 1685. Elizabeth Gaunt considered the trial to be a martyrdom and reportedly behaved with such good humor that the audience was moved to tears. She was executed by burning, and as she was denied strangulation, she was literary burned alive.
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