Johan Pistorius (d. 1722), was a Danish grenadier. He was judged guilty of making a

Satanic pact A deal with the Devil (also called a Faustian bargain or Mephistophelian bargain) is a cultural motif exemplified by the legend of Faust and the figure of Mephistopheles, as well as being elemental to many Christian traditions. According to t ...

, and was the last person executed for witchcraft in Denmark. Johan Pistorius was a soldier in the Danish army with the rank of grenadier. He was arrested and accused of the crime of making a pact with the Devil. He was not put on trial by the Danish authorities, but by a military court. He was judged guilty and sentenced to be executed by a military court martial. He confessed to the crime. He claimed to have been inspired to the pact after reading a book about

Doctor Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroa ...

. The court faculty of Professors in Copenhagen recommended the king to confirm his sentence after they had interrogated him - which was unusual - and deemed that his regret was not sufficient, and that he should be executed as a public warning against the crime of Devil's Pact after having made a public confession of regret, which resulted in the public burning of the infamous pact at

Nytorv Nytorv (English: New Square or New Market) is a public square in the centre of Copenhagen, Denmark. Together with the adjoining Gammeltorv it forms a common space, today part of the Strøget pedestrian zone. The square is dominated by the imposin ...

square, followed by the execution of Pistorius the following day.Tyge Krogh,

Louise Nyholm Kallestrup Louise Nyholm Kallestrup (born 1975) is a Danish historian. She is a professor at the University of Southern Denmark (Odense) and the director of its Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies who specializes in the Early Modern Period. Best know ...

, Claus Bundgård Christensen,
Cultural Histories of Crime in Denmark, 1500 to 2000
' While

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 ...

is often called the last witch to be executed in Denmark, she was in fact only the last woman to be executed for witchcraft in Denmark, as Johan Pistorius was executed circa thirty years after her. There were death sentences for witchcraft in Denmark long after this. In 1733 a student, and in 1752 a farmer, were sentenced to life imprisonment with forced labor for Satanic pact, and as late as in 1803, two craftsmen received death sentences for the same crime, although none of the sentences were actually carried out. People were also lynched for witchcraft in Denmark long after the formal persecution stopped: the most known cases being that of

Dorte Jensdatter Dorte Jensdatter (1672–1722), was a Danish murder victim. She was burned alive by her neighbors, after being accused of witchcraft. Dorte Jensdatter was unmarried and supported herself by spinning in the village Øster Grønning in Salling. She ...

, who was apprehended by the villagers who tied her up in her own home and burned it down after having accused her of causing death by magic, and the last lynching of witchcraft, in which

Anna Klemens Anna Klemens (1718–1800) was a Danish murder victim and an alleged witch. She was lynched and accused of sorcery in Brigsted at Horsens in Denmark, a lynching considered to be the last witch lynching in her country and, most likely, in all Scandi ...

was lynched after having been pointed out for sorcery by a

cunning woman Cunning may refer to: * Cunning (owarai), a Japanese comedy group * Cunning folk, a type of folk magic user * Cunning (surname), a list of people with Cunning as a surname See also * Cunningham Cunningham is a surname of Scottish origin, se ...

in Brigsted at

Horsens Horsens () is a city on the east coast of Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 61,074 (1 January 2022) and the municipality's population is 94,443 (), making it the 8th largest city in D ...

in 1800.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pistorius, Johan 1722 deaths People executed for witchcraft Executed Danish people People executed by Denmark by decapitation 18th-century Danish people 18th-century executions by Denmark Witch trials in Denmark