In December 1650, Anne Green, an English servant girl, was hanged after giving birth to a premature stillborn child. At the time, unmarried women who lost at a child at birth were presumed to have killed the baby, so despite much testimony in her favor, Anne was found guilty and sentenced to death.
As a convicted criminal, Anne was not given a Christian burial. Instead, her body was donated to the University of Oxford, where physicians soon realized she was not dead. Anne revived the next day, with no recollection of her hanging.
Fortunately for Anne, the authorities decided that she’d been spared by God and granted her a reprieve. Anne’s father charged admission to people who came to see the woman who survived a hanging. She eventually married and had three children, living for an additional 15 years after her death sentence.
Was Anne lucky? Touched by God? Or something else? What happened next?
