Scary Hunt: the most famous witches of the Middle Ages

The Middle Ages were a very difficult time for women. Any passerby could accuse the girl of witchcraft, and most often empty words reached the ears of those who thought they had the right to judge and execute. In the period from the XIV to the XVIII century, about 40-50 thousand so-called witches were burned in Europe. Most often, mass hysteria (the Salem Court, for example) began with specific persons — these girls.

In Stockholm, it was believed that witches kidnap children. Malin Matsdotter, an unfortunate laundress, was accused of witchcraft and sentenced to be burned alive — a terrible execution common in Europe, but never used in Sweden. At the trial, Malin refused to repent, declared herself innocent and went to the pillar with her head held high. She became the first and last woman burned alive in Sweden. Rumor has it that it was decided because the municipality was just scared: even burning at the stake, Malin did not utter a single word — and everyone knows that witches are not afraid of pain.

The famous Salem witch trial began with this woman. In 1692, Bridget owned two taverns at once, wore provocative outfits and, as it turned out later, was actually engaged in witchcraft at her leisure. During a search of Bridget's house, dolls for spoilage were found, studded with needles. One depicted a recently deceased man—proof that stunned the residents of Salem. At the trial, Bridget behaved extremely audaciously, which quickly led to her execution. The bloody spectacle caused an attack of mass hysteria in society — in a short time 70 more "witches" went to the bonfire.

The weaver Koldings was accused of deliberately causing a storm to ruin the ship of Queen Anne, who was traveling from Copenhagen to Scotland. Indeed, the caravel almost sank in a severe storm and was forced to stop in Norway. Koldings, nicknamed the Mother of the Devil, was arrested on charges of the mayor of Kronborg, who decided to curry favor with the king. During the torture, Anna not only confessed everything, but also named five more of her accomplices, including the mayor's wife. In the early spring morning, all the girls were burned right at the walls of Kronborg.

In 1613, more witches were burned in the Netherlands than in most of Europe. The first to go to the bonfire was Entien Gillis, a midwife accused of cursing newborn babies. Entien was already behind bars when a real plague began in the town of Straelen, which claimed the lives of hundreds of babies. After another torture, the girl pointed out the "assistants", the famous Roermond trial took place, at which 63 "witches" were burned.

German witch hunter (part-time abbot and mayor of Fulda) Balthazar von Dernbach arrested Merga Bin on charges of murdering her husband by witchcraft. The pregnant widow was not released from torture — the Inquisition considered the devil himself to be the father of the unborn child. Merga was quickly sentenced and burned, after which Dernbach got into a taste and spent the next three years chasing witches all over Hesse, as a result of which 250 more people were executed. The Fulda witch trials that went down in history ended only with the death of the abbot himself.