This group will consist of a small portion of the many women, men, and children who have been persecuted for witchcraft. To list them all would be impossible as many have gone unrecorded. Each of these women is worthy of a post in their own right, however, they don’t all have accurate images or ample information for this narrative. If I ever expand this project into other mediums, I’ll certainly break these all apart, but for the sake of brevity and inclusion I’d rather group them together now to get their names out and their legacies continued.
The important backdrop for this group is the time period that modern witches and pagans refer to as The Burning Times. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, Europe and America were thrust into a moral panic and hysteria over alleged satanic witches. Most of those accused were midwives, healers, poor women, women suffering from mental health issues, and women who were practicing preChristian traditions. The power structure of Christianity has been largely to blame, with a deep seated resentment still existing within many occult circles. This has become part of the tradition’s collective trauma- with the ramifications and fears of persecution still existent. Many witches fear a return to the Burning Times, when any old woman was burned at the stake for merely existing below the poverty level.
The total number of those murdered under the guise of witch accusations varies widely by source. Many historians have argued that the number is anywhere between 40,000 and 60,000. Other sources, however, have claimed the number is closer to 100,000 with potentially hundreds of thousands more unaccounted for. It has even been suggested that there were 392,000 in Great Britain alone. The highest number, and number that has become part of popular legend, is approximately 9 million (with the fullness of the Crusades and Spanish Inquisition included). It will never be certain how many women, men, and children were killed, and truthfully the numbers game is irrelevant in the face of trauma. Any genocide, no matter how big or small, is a moral stain on our history.
The Burning Times were a systematic rooting out of female power and autonomy, and non-christian practices. The midwives and healers posed a threat to the structures and systems of politics and medicine, while those allegedly practicing “the old ways” posed a threat to the intensifying grip of Christianity—both groups challenging the patriarchy. Most of the following women were (wrongfully) believed to have had sexual intercourse with Satan, signing their names into his black book with their blood. Each of their trials and executions is important to remember, as their lives have given us the freedom to practice witchcraft as openly as many of us are able to do today. Their fight will never be over.
Angele de la Barthe (~1230- 1275): Eccentric French noblewoman and possibly the first executed for heretical sorcery during the medieval witch hysteria, prior to the Burning Times. Burned at the stake.
Alice Kyteler (1263- ~1325): First recorded woman condemned for witchcraft in Ireland. Fled the country.
Merga Bien (~1560s- 1603): German heiress accused of witchcraft during the Fulda Witch Trials of 1603-1605. The first of approximately 250 witches in Fulda to be executed. Burned at the stake.
Walpurga Hausmännin (died 1587): Austrian midwife accused of witchcraft, vampirism, and probable accusations of child murder. She was marched through the streets. She was stopped 5 times before they reached her place of execution, at which point both of her breasts and her arms were torn off, one at a time at each stop. Burned at the stake.
Anna Koldings (died 1590): Danish witch and main suspect in the witch trials in Copenhagen in 1590, parallel to the famous North Berwick Witch Trials mentioned with Agnes Sampson (#65). Burned at the stake.
Margaret Jones (1613-June 15th 1648): First woman executed for witchcraft in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Margaret was a midwife and practiced medicine, which contributed to her accusation. Hanged.
Florence Newton: The Witch of Youghal. Irish woman accused of witchcraft around 1661 and one of the most notable witch trials in Irish history. Court documents missing—no verdict is confirmed.
Maret Jonsdotter (1644- September 1672): First woman accused of witchcraft in Sweden during the hysteria known as “The Great Noise” (1668-1676). Around 280 people were killed. Decapitated and burned at the state.
Malin Matsdotter (1603-August 5th, 1676): Swedish witch who was the last executed during “The Great Noise” in Sweden. Burned at the stake.
Moll Dyer (died ~1697): Maryland woman accused of witchcraft and chased into the cold winter night by an angry mob. Her body was later found frozen to a large stone.
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