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Malin Matsdotter or Mattsdotter, also known as Rumpare-Malin was an alleged Swedish witch. She is known as one of few people in Sweden confirmed to have been executed by burning for witchcraft, and the only one to be executed by this method during the famous witch hunt Det Stora oväsendet in Sweden during 1668–1676, which ended with her execution.
Marigje Arriens or Marichgen Ariaens was an alleged Dutch witch, long thought to be the last to be executed for sorcery in the Dutch Republic.
Anna Eriksdotter or Anna Ersdotter called Sotpackan, was a Swedish woman who was executed for witchcraft. She was the last person to be executed for witchcraft in Sweden.
Anne Palles was an alleged Danish witch. She was the last woman to be legally executed for sorcery in Denmark.
The Thisted witch trial, also known as Besættelsen i Thisted, took place in Thisted in Denmark in 1696–1698. It has been referred to as the last witch trial in Denmark, and the end of the belief in witchcraft among the Danish authorities.
The Channel Islands Witch Trials were a series of witch trials in the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey between 1562 and 1661.
Margaret Bane also called Clerk, was a Scottish midwife and prominent victim of The Great Scottish Witch Hunt of 1597.
Johanne Nielsdatter or Johanne Nilsdatter, was a Norwegian woman who was executed for witchcraft. Her execution is the last confirmed execution for witchcraft in Norway.
Martha van Wetteren was a Flemish woman who was executed for witchcraft. She was the last person to be executed for witchcraft in the Spanish Netherlands.
The Põlula witch trials took place in the manor Põlula in Estonia in 1542. It centered around the noblewoman Anna Zoyge, who was accused by her husband Johann Meckes of having murdered her father-in-law with the assistance of five accomplices, who were all executed for witchcraft.
Johan Pistorius, was a Danish grenadier. He was judged guilty of making a Satanic pact, and was the last person executed for witchcraft in Denmark.
Sweden was a country with few witch trials compared to other countries in Europe. In Sweden, about four hundred people were executed for witchcraft prior to the last case in 1704. Most of these cases occurred during a short but intense period; the eight years between 1668 and 1676, when the witch hysteria called Det stora oväsendet took place, causing a large number of witch trials in the country. It is this infamous period of intensive witch hunt that is most well known and explored.
In the Holy Roman Empire, witch trials composed of the areas of the present day Germany, were the most extensive in Europe and in the world, both to the extent of the witch trials as such as well as to the number of executions.
The Witch trials in Denmark are poorly documented, with the exception of the region of Jylland in the 1609–1687 period. The most intense period in the Danish witchcraft persecutions was the great witch hunt of 1617–1625, when most executions took place, which was affected by a new witchcraft act introduced in 1617.
The Witch trials in the Spanish Netherlands were among the more intense witch-hunts, along with those of the Holy Roman Empire and France. In an area recently affected by a religious war, the Spanish Inquisition encouraged witch trials as a method to ensure religious conformity. In this, it was similar to the Witch trials in Latvia and Estonia.
The witch trials in Norway were the most intense among the Nordic countries. There seems to be around an estimated 277 to 350 executions between 1561 and 1760. Norway was in a union with Denmark during this period, and the witch trials were conducted by instructions from Copenhagen. The authorities and the clergy conducted the trials using demonology handbooks and used interrogation techniques and sometimes torture. After a guilty verdict, the condemned was forced to expose accomplices and commonly deaths occurred due to torture or prison. Witch trials were in decline by the 1670s as judicial and investigative methods were improved. A Norwegian law from 1687 maintained the death penalty for witchcraft, and the last person to be sentenced guilty of witchcraft in Norway was Birgitte Haldorsdatter in 1715. The Witchcraft Act was formally in place until 1842.
The witch trials in the Netherlands were among the smallest in Europe. The Netherlands are known for having discontinued their witchcraft executions earlier than any other European country. The provinces began to phase out capital punishment for witchcraft beginning in 1593. The last trial in the Northern Netherlands took place in 1610.
The Witch trials in Finland were conducted in connection to Sweden and were relatively few with the exception of the 1660s and 1670s, when a big witch hunt affected both Finland and Sweden. Finland differed from most of Europe in that an uncommonly large part of the accused were men, which it had in common with the witch trials in Iceland. Most of the people accused in Finland were men, so called "wise men" hired to perform magic by people. From 1674 to 1678, a real witch hysteria broke out in Ostrobothnia, during which twenty women and two men were executed.
The Katarina witch trials took place in the Katarina Parish in the capital of Stockholm in Sweden in 1676. It was a part of the big witch hunt known as the Great noise, which took place in Sweden between the years 1668 and 1676, and it also illustrated the end of it.
Aagt Germonts (1621-?), was a Dutch woman who was accused of witchcraft.
References
- W. F. Emck, Kroniek van Gorinchem. Geschiedkundige en andere aanteekeningen in chronologische volgorde 1230-1927, Gorinchem 1929, p. 68.
- Hans de Waardt, Sorcery and society, Holland 1500-1800, 1991
- http://www.rijnmond.nl/nieuws/118518/De-Heks-van-de-Helmsteeg
- http://www.vergetenverhalen.nl/2015/09/21/de-heks-van-de-helmsteeg/