Buzz
The witch-hunting frenzy that gripped northern Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries emerged from a combination of deep-rooted superstition, religious zeal, political agendas, and widespread fear. Both commoners and elites attributed natural disasters and illnesses to supernatural forces, while also exploiting the trials to settle personal scores, seize power, or amass wealth. Accused witches faced gruesome allegations, such as consorting with the devil and infanticide. Many confessions were coerced through brutal methods, and the paranoid climate of the era resulted in far more executions than exonerations.
10. Agnes Sampson
On Halloween night in 1590, Agnes Sampson, a midwife serving the rural community of East Lothian, Scotland, was accused of attending a witches' coven led by Satan at the eerie Auld Kirk Green in North Berwick. The gathering's sinister purpose was to conjure a tempest capable of sinking the ship carrying King James VI's young Danish bride, Queen Anne, as she journeyed from Copenhagen to Scotland. Violent storms did indeed disrupt Anne's voyage, compelling her and her entourage to seek refuge in Norway.
Upon learning of this, the King personally traveled to retrieve her. When they attempted to cross the North Sea again, another fierce storm struck, but they managed to reach Scotland safely. After his return, the King interrogated Agnes and others at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, marking the beginning of the North Berwick Witch Trials, which resulted in 70 executions. To force her confession, torturers used an iron muzzle called the witch’s bridle, a Scottish creation. Following her confession, Agnes was taken to Castlehill, where she was strangled and then burned at the stake. Her spirit is said to haunt the solemn halls of Holyrood Palace.
9. Anna Koldings
Anna Koldings, referred to as “The Devil’s Mother” by her peers, was a Danish witch accused of conjuring storms to target Queen Anne’s ship. She gathered with others at Karen the Weaver’s home to cast spells against the Queen. Witch hunts in Denmark gained momentum after the nation’s shift to Protestantism in the early 16th century. While religious fervor played a role, influential figures also exploited these trials for political gain.
The Danish finance minister, under scrutiny for inadequately provisioning the royal ships for King James VI and Queen Anne’s North Sea voyage, accused Karen to divert blame from himself. His allegations led to her arrest. During questioning, Karen implicated several others, including Anna Koldings. After being imprisoned and tortured, Anna confessed and named five accomplices, one of whom was the mayor’s wife. Alongside twelve other women, Anna was executed by burning at Kronborg Castle, the iconic green-roofed fortress that inspired the setting of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
8. Bridget Bishop
Bridget Bishop was the first woman to be executed during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. A bold and prosperous individual, she managed multiple taverns and was often seen in striking red attire. The Salem community leveled numerous accusations against her, ultimately sealing her fate. She was charged with bewitching five young girls, poisoning a pig, and assaulting men in their sleep (the latter likely a result of sleep paralysis).
Dolls played a key role in her conviction. Samuel Shattuck, a local, claimed she requested him to dye lace for what he suspected was a poppet. These dolls, precursors to Voodoo dolls, were believed to channel spells cast on them to the individuals they symbolized. John and William Bly, residents of Salem, later discovered poppets in Bishop’s home. Her defiant demeanor during the trial contributed to her conviction, which marked the beginning of 71 more executions.
7. Merga Bien
Merga Bien, a wealthy German heiress, admitted to killing her second husband and his children through witchcraft and participating in a Witches’ Sabbath. Balthasar von Dernbach, a witch hunter and the prince-abbot of Fulda, initiated a wave of witch trials after his return from exile in 1602.
Merga Bien was among the first women arrested and jailed by Dernbach. Despite being pregnant, she was not spared from execution, as she was coerced into confessing that the Devil had fathered her unborn child. She was burned at the stake in the autumn. The Fulda witch trials ultimately led to 250 deaths, concluding only after Dernbach’s demise in 1605.
6. Katharina Henot
In 1627, Cologne witnessed the trial of Germany's inaugural female postmaster for witchcraft. Amidst a harsh winter, a nun from a nearby convent blamed Katharina for the sickness and fatalities among the nuns, leading to her arrest by the archbishop based on these allegations. Despite enduring torture during her captivity, Katharina never admitted to any wrongdoing.
Her brother fought tirelessly to demonstrate her innocence, yet she was condemned to death by burning in May. It wasn't until recently, specifically on June 28th, 2012, that the Cologne City Council officially pardoned Henot and other individuals persecuted during the Cologne witch trials, attributing their executions to political machinations.
5. Karin Svensdotter
Karin Svensdotter, a servant in a Swedish town surrounded by dense forests and marshes, was tried in 1656 after she confessed without prompting that the King of the Faeries was the father of her seven children. During the 1600s in Sweden, engaging with fairies was considered a serious offense, often equated with crimes like sodomy or bestiality in terms of punishment.
Earlier cases where men were involved with nymphs often resulted in executions. Svensdotter's trial, however, marked a turning point, showing mercy towards the mentally ill. Church authorities convinced the judge that her madness was induced by Satan. Rather than sentencing her, the judge mandated prayers for her recovery. Subsequently, she declared that the fairy no longer appeared to her.
4. Kael Merrie
In the Roermond witch trials, part of the Spanish Netherlands, Kael Merrie faced charges of disabling a pig, disrupting butter production, and causing illness in children. These trials, overseen by Spanish Catholics, were the most extensive in Dutch history.
Many accused traveled to Roermond seeking freedom, yet overzealous mercenaries frequently lynched or drowned them post-acquittal. Initially, Dutch courts were doubtful of commoners' allegations and refrained from using torture to obtain confessions. Merrie was exiled after maintaining her innocence, but Spanish mercenaries captured and drowned her in the Maas River shortly after her departure.
3. Malin Matsdotter
Malin Matsdotter, a tragic figure in Swedish history, was the final individual executed by burning during The Great Noise. Unlike others convicted of witchcraft, who were typically hanged or beheaded before their bodies were burned, Malin faced a fiery death for her refusal to confess. Her trial occurred in Stockholm, where fears of witches kidnapping children to the mythical Blockula meadow for their Sabbath were rampant.
Accused by her own daughters, Malin was a destitute widow at the time of her trial. In 1676, she met her end at Hötorget square in Stockholm, executed alongside Anna Simonsdotter. Folklore suggests she remained silent during her execution, as witches were thought to be impervious to pain.
2. Märet Jonsdotter
Märet Jonsdotter faced allegations of participating in Witches’ Sabbaths at Blockula, a legendary Swedish meadow. She was the first individual tried for witchcraft in Sweden during “The Great Noise,” a period spanning from 1668 to 1676. Gertrud Svendsdotter, a local shepherd girl whose father had once pursued Märet romantically, was the initial accuser. Gertrud had her own motives, as she was under investigation by the local priest of Älvdalen, a picturesque Swedish town, after her younger brother claimed she had led goats across water in a manner reminiscent of Moses.
Gertrud accused Märet of teaching her witchcraft and introducing her to the devil. During the trial, Gertrud’s father testified that Märet had ridden him like a horse to Blockula. Märet’s younger sister also claimed under questioning that they had ridden cows to Blockula, where they killed the animals and consorted with the Devil. Märet refused to confess, sparing her from execution at that time. However, as the witch trials intensified in Sweden, the laws requiring confessions for executions were altered. When Märet was accused again during the Mora Witch Trials, she was found guilty. In 1672, she was beheaded, following Swedish tradition, before her body was burned.
1. Entjen Gillis
Entjen Gellis, a Dutch midwife, admitted to causing the deaths of unborn and newborn children during the 1613 Roermond witch trials, the most lethal year for accused witches in the Netherlands. Authorities stormed the rural town of Straelen, apprehending Gillis and thirteen others. They were blamed for spreading illnesses and causing miscarriages, becoming central figures in a widespread trial triggered by the unexplained deaths of numerous infants, elderly individuals, and livestock.
In a drastic response, officials detained 63 suspected witches and swiftly condemned them to death. Similar to previous confessions, they attributed their actions to the devil’s influence. However, unlike Karin Svensdotter’s case, no leniency was shown to those accused in Roermond.
