This is a list of people executed for witchcraft, many of whom were executed during organized witch-hunts, particularly during the 15th–18th centuries. Large numbers of people were prosecuted for witchcraft in Europe between 1560 and 1630.[1]
Until around 1450, witchcraft-related prosecutions in Europe centered on maleficium, the concept of using supernatural powers specifically to harm others. Cases came about from accusations of the use of ritual magic to damage rivals.[1] Until the early 15th century, there was little association of witchcraft with Satan.[2] From that time organized witch-hunts increased, as did individual accusations of sorcery. The nature of the charges brought changed as more cases were linked to diabolism. Throughout the century, several treatises were published that helped to establish a stereotype of the witch, particularly the Satanic connection. During the 16th century, witchcraft prosecutions stabilized and even declined in some areas.[2] Witch-hunts increased again in the 17th century. The witch trials in Early Modern Europe included the Basque witch trials in Spain, the Fulda witch trials in Germany, the North Berwick witch trials in Scotland, and the Torsåker witch trials in Sweden.
There were also witch-hunts during the 17th century in the American colonies. These were particularly common in the colonies of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Haven. The myth of the witch had a strong cultural presence in 17th century New England and, as in Europe, witchcraft was strongly associated with devil-worship.[3] About eighty people were accused of practicing witchcraft in a witch-hunt that lasted throughout New England from 1647 to 1663. Thirteen women and two men were executed.[4] The Salem witch trials followed in 1692–93, culminating in the executions of 20 people. Five others died in jail.
It has been estimated that tens of thousands of people were executed for witchcraft in Europe and the American colonies over several hundred years. The exact number is unknown, but modern conservative scholars estimate around 40,000–50,000. Scholar Carlo Ginzburg of the University of Bologna, in his work Night Battles, estimates the number between 3-4 million people. Common methods of execution for convicted witches were hanging, drowning and burning. Burning was often favored, particularly in Europe, as it was considered a more painful way to die.[5] Prosecutors in the American colonies generally preferred hanging in cases of witchcraft.[5]
Name | Lifetime | Nationality | Death | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ancient Greece (Lemnos) | Unknown. | |||
Han Dynasty | Committed suicide after rebelling against Emperor Wu of Han in the midst of a witch hunt. His father later realized he had been wrong. | |||
Burned to death. | ||||
Confessed under torture to summoning demons; burned to death and beheaded. | ||||
Norwegian Greenland | Burned to death. | |||
Papal States | Confessed to having flown on the back of a demon; burned to death. | |||
Bavaria | Convicted of witchcraft and thrown in the Danube to drown, following accusations by her father-in-law Ernest, Duke of Bavaria. | |||
Guirandana de Lay | Aragon | Woman accused of witchcraft; burned at the stake. | ||
Italy | Tortured and burned on the stake in Bologna. | |||
Narbona Dacal | Spain | Accused of witchcraft during the trial by the Inquisition. Burned at the stake. | ||
Catherine Peyretone | d. 1519 | Accused of witchcraft; burned to death in Montpezat, France. | ||
Accused of witchcraft by King James V; burned to death. | ||||
Burned to death. | ||||
The first woman executed for witchcraft in Sweden; beheaded. | ||||
The first woman executed for witchcraft in England; hanged. | ||||
Lucca | Burned to death. | |||
Executed in 1572 for witchcraft | ||||
Serial child murderer; convicted of witchcraft and lycanthropy, and burned to death. | ||||
Burned to death. | ||||
The trial of Violet Mar is believed to have influenced the views on witchcraft held by James VI of Scotland | ||||
Nobleman and explorer accused by Sir Francis Drake of witchcraft, mutiny and treason; beheaded | ||||
Confessed to witchcraft and hanged. | ||||
Only person to be executed for witchcraft in Vienna; burned to death. | ||||
Bavaria | Midwife who confessed to child murder, witchcraft and vampirism; burned to death. | |||
Burned to death. | ||||
Bavaria | One of 32 women convicted of witchcraft in a witch hunt in Nördlingen, burnt at the stake.[6] | |||
Burned to death. | ||||
Kerstin Gabrielsdotter | d. 1590 | Sweden | The only member of Swedish nobility to be charged with witchcraft; Unknown.[7] | |
Midwife, garrotted and burned to death during the North Berwick witch trials. | ||||
Burned to death for sorcery. | ||||
Alice Samuel and her family; hanged. | ||||
Executed in Kirkwall | ||||
Gwen ferch Ellis | c.1542 – 1594 | Wales | The record of her trial is the earliest record of trial and execution on charges of witchcraft in Wales. She was first accused of Witchcraft in 1594. She was found guilty and hanged before the year's end at Denbigh town square in 1594.[8] [9] | |
Liège | Roman Catholic monk; beheaded | |||
Tried and burnt | ||||
Bavaria | Tortured and burned to death. | |||
Unknown. | ||||
Hesse | Convicted as part of the Fulda witch trials and burned to death. | |||
Confessed under torture and was burned to death. | ||||
Spanish Netherlands | Confessed to being a witch; was strangled and burned to death; Led to the execution of Anne Nouville. | |||
Sortname | Franziska Soder | Rheinfelden, Switzerland | Burned as a witch. Her husband paid 320 Gulden as "confiscation" to the Gentlemen' Chamber in Rheinfelden.[10] | |
Beheaded after her second trial for witchcraft. | ||||
d. | Hanged during Pendle witches hunt | |||
Unknown. | ||||
Strangled; burned to death survived by 2 children moved to Singer Louisiana – Still living witch's Scalloway | ||||
Executed in Kirkwall | ||||
Margaret Quaine | Executed in Castletown, Isle of Man with her son, John Cubbon. Margaret's mother was also accused of Witchcraft several decades prior. Wiccan Priest Gerald Gardner erected a plaque in their memory on the Smelt Monument in Castletown Square. | |||
A mother and two daughters, the daughters were hanged. | ||||
Pomerania | Confessed to murder and witchcraft under torture; beheaded, corpse burned. | |||
Noblewoman who confessed to cursing the marital bed of a rival; beheaded. | ||||