Maren Spliid, Spliids or Splids, (c. 1600 – 9 November 1641), was an alleged

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

, probably the best known victim of the persecution of witches in Denmark.

The first trial

Maren Thomasdatter Splids originated from the village of Grimstrup in

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport town and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban population of 71,698 (1 January 2022)

. She was the wife of a wealthy and successful tailor in the town of

Ribe Ribe () is a town in south-west Jutland, Denmark, with a population of 8,257 (2022). It is the seat of the Diocese of Ribe covering southwestern Jutland. Until 1 January 2007, Ribe was the seat of both a surrounding municipality and county. It ...

in Jutland and ran an inn in one of her husband's houses. She was an independent woman with a sharp tongue. Didrik the tailor, an unsuccessful professional competitor to her husband, accused her of sorcery in 1637. He claimed that one night he had been awoken by three witches; two were unknown by him, but the third was Maren. They had held him down, and Maren blew into his mouth. The day after he was sick, and vomited up an object he thought was moving. The object was brought forward and observed by priests and the bishop, who declared it to be unnatural. But her husband stood by her side and managed to have her acquitted of the charges.

The second trial

Didrik then gathered witnesses to support his cause and went straight to King

Christian IV of Denmark Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian mon ...

, in 1639. The king declared that the case should be opened again, and that Maren should bring 15 character witnesses to swear her free from the charges. She did not manage to get them, and was therefore judged guilty of the charges in 1640, but freed by the higher court. The matter was now brought before the highest court, where the king was a judge. The king had Maren brought to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

and

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. definitions of tortur ...

d her, despite the fact that the law forbade torture of prisoners before they were judged. The torture made her admit guilt and accuse a number of other people as witches. The judgement was; "Because Maren Spliid personally and here before the court as well as in earlier confessions, said that she had used sorcery, and thereby misused the holy sacrament of communion, we found her as a sorceress, and on her life suffer fire and stake". In Denmark, witches were often burned alive at the stake. The day after the verdict, Maren was executed outside of Ribe. So many people had come to see it that the priest could hardly get to her. She was given a half bottle of alcohol to steady herself with and a bag of gunpowder on her back to make the death quicker. Then she was tied to a ladder, and the ladder was thrown into the fire.

Aftermath

In 1652, eleven years after this execution, Anna Bruds was burned in Ribe as a witch. After this the witch hunt in Denmark was less intense, though the last convicted witch in Denmark,

Anne Palles Anne Palles (1619 – 4 April 1693) was an alleged Danish witch. She was the last woman to be legally executed for sorcery in Denmark. Background In 1692, the cunning woman Karen Gregers Madsens from Lommelev was accused of poisoning. She wa ...

, was executed in 1693. Together with Norway, Denmark burned more witches than the other countries in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

. Many people were burned between 1540 and 1693, especially in

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

and Northern Norway.

References

*Andersen, John, Torben Andersen, Thomas Wad (1987) ''Heksenes historie'' (Stavnsager) *Guillou, Jan (2003) ''Häxornas försvarare'' (Inbunden) *Holm, Gretelise (1981) ''Maren Splids - En heks fra Ribe'' (Munksgaard)

External links

Memorial Plaque - Maren Splid - Ribe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spliid, Maren 1600s births 1641 deaths People executed for witchcraft Executed Danish people Executed Danish women 17th-century Danish businesspeople 17th-century Danish businesswomen People executed by Denmark by burning 17th-century executions by Denmark People from Ribe Witch trials in Denmark

The first trial

The second trial

Aftermath

References

Related reading

External links