1600~1699: English Woman’s Fiery Death

According to Reader's Digest's 1978 book Strange Stories, Amazing Facts, sometime in the 17th century an elderly woman was found burned to death in her cottage in southeastern England. Other than the woman, nothing else in the cottage was damaged; not even the bedclothes (sheets) on which she lay. An observer was quoted as saying: "No man knoweth what this doth portend." There were suggestions that it was divine retribution for an unknown sin.

Sooooo Unreliable

        The highly un-detailed account above from Reader's Digest -- not surprisingly -- doesn't give a source for the story. Given the extremely vague nature of this story -- we're missing the who, where, and when, for the most part -- I'll be lucky to recognize this account if I see a better version of it in another book... and without more details, it's totally unconfirmable.