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A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern period or about 1450 to 1750, spanning the upheavals of the Reformation and the Thirty Years' War, resulting in an estimated 35,000 to 50,000 executions. The last executions of people convicted as witches in Europe took place in the 18th century. In other regions, like Africa and Asia, contemporary witch-hunts have been reported from sub-Saharan Africa and Papua New Guinea, and official legislation against witchcraft is still found in Saudi Arabia and Cameroon today.
Geske, also known as Horgeske was the central figure of a witch trial in Stockholm. Her trial belonged to the first of the witch trials in Sweden in which the Sabbath of Satan in Blockula, the Devils pact and the Devil's mark were mentioned.
Johan Johansson, usually known as the Gävle Boy, was a young Swedish boy remembered for being a witness in witch trials and for bearing substantial responsibility for the Katarina witch trials in 1676.
Brita Zippel, also called Britta Sippel was an alleged Swedish witch, known as "Näslösan", one of the victims of the Katarina witch trials during the great witch hunt known as "Det Stora oväsendet" in Sweden between 1668-1676. Together with her sister Anna Zippel.
Maren Spliid, Spliids or Splids,, was an alleged Danish witch, probably the best known victim of the persecution of witches in Denmark.
The Vardø witch trials, which took place in Vardø in Finnmark in Northern Norway in 1621, was the first major witch trial of Northern Norway, and one of the biggest witch trials in Scandinavia. It was the first of the three big mass trials of Northern Norway, followed by the Vardø witch trials (1651–1653) and the Vardø witch trials (1662-1663), and one of the biggest witch trials in Norway.
Werewolf witch trials were witch trials combined with werewolf trials. Belief in werewolves developed parallel to the belief in European witches, in the course of the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. Like the witchcraft trials as a whole, the trial of supposed werewolves emerged in what is now Switzerland during the Valais witch trials in the early 15th century and spread throughout Europe in the 16th, peaking in the 17th and subsiding by the 18th century. The persecution of werewolves and the associated folklore is an integral part of the "witch-hunt" phenomenon, albeit a marginal one, accusations of lycanthropy involved in only a small fraction of witchcraft trials.
The witch trials of Vardø were held in Vardø in Finnmark in Northern Norway in the winter of 1662–1663 and were one of the biggest in Scandinavia. Thirty women were put on trial, accused of sorcery and making pacts with the Devil. One was sentenced to a work house, two tortured to death, and eighteen were burned alive at the stake.
Mariane Theresia Sophie Stebnowska also called Zofia Stępkowska or Stempkosta was a Swedish opera singer and harpist of Polish origin. She has been referred to as one of the more notable stage artists of the Gustavian era Royal Swedish Opera. She was the maternal grandmother of the famous ballerina Marie Taglioni.
Anna Jönsdotter, also known as Anna Pehrsönernas moder, was the mother of the Swedish politician Jöran Persson, the powerful adviser of king Eric XIV of Sweden. She was rumored to be a witch, and considered to have wielded a significant and disliked influence over her son and the affairs of state. She has been referred to by the name "Anna Pehrsönernas moder".
The Finspång witch trial was a witch trial which took place in Finspång Östergötland in Sweden in 1617. Between seven and nine women died as a result. It has a special place in Sweden's history as one of the very few larger witch trials in Sweden outside the period of 1668–1676, which was otherwise the time of the real witch hunt in Sweden. Also because it seems that the condemned were executed by burning, which was not the common way of execution for witch craft in Sweden. It was the biggest witch trial in Sweden before 1668, and resulted in the biggest execution for sorcery in Sweden outside of the 1668–76 witch hunt.
The Brage Prize is a Norwegian literature prize that is awarded annually by the Norwegian Book Prize foundation. The prize recognizes recently published Norwegian literature.
Karsten Alnæs is a Norwegian author, historian, and journalist, who has dual degrees in history and literature from the University of Oslo. He worked as a journalist and taught at the Norwegian School of Journalism. His bibliography includes 15 novels, 3 children’s books, a collection of novellas, and a number of non–fiction works.
Thuridur Olafsdottir was an alleged Icelandic witch. She was executed for sorcery by burning together with her son Jon Tordarson. She was the only woman who is confirmed to have been executed for witchcraft on Iceland.
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.
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 and given attention.
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 Iceland were conducted by the Danish authorities, who introduced the belief in witchcraft as well as the Danish Witchcraft Act in the 17th century, and then stopped the persecutions. Similar to the case of Witch trials in Latvia and Estonia, the witch trials were introduced by a foreign elite power in an area with weak Christianity, in order to ensure religious conformity. Iceland was uncommon for Europe in that magic as such was viewed favorably on the island, and the majority of those executed were men, which it had in common with only the witch trials in Finland.
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 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.
References
- Alnæs, Karsten, Historien om Europa. Uppvaknande 1300–1600, Bonnier, Stockholm, 2004 (The History of Europe. Awakening, 1300–1600) (in Swedish)
- Vikingarna vid världens ände (Populär Historia)