Dorothy Talbye was a respectable member of the church in
Salem in the
Massachusetts Bay Colony who became increasingly
melancholic, with fits of
violence. Governor
John Winthrop ascribed the woman's despondency to
delusions or "trouble of mind", stemming from "falling at difference with her husband, through melancholy or spiritual delusions [ ...so that] she sometimes attempted to kill him, and her children, and herself, by refusing meat, saying it was so revealed to her..." through
revelations he believes were from Satan. He described how church members tried to intervene. Although she seemed to improve for a while, Talbye again fell into a state of
despair. In November 1638, she killed her daughter, Difficulty, by breaking her neck. Talbye freely confessed later to this act and was charged with
murder. At her trial Talbye was uncooperative, refusing to speak until Governor Winthrop threatened to pile stones on her chest, at which point she pleaded guilty. She refused to repent at her trial or before her execution. Remaining uncooperative, she actively fought her execution. She removed the cloth covering on her head and put it under the
noose to lessen the pain and, even as she was swinging from the noose, she attempted to grab at a ladder to save herself. ==Significance==