# List of people executed for witchcraft

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.

## Background

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. Until the early 15th century, there was little association of witchcraft with Satan. 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. 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. 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. 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. Prosecutors in English-speaking countries generally preferred hanging in cases of witchcraft.

## List of people executed for witchcraft

| Name | Lifetime | Nationality | Death |
| Theoris of Lemnos | before 323 BC | Greek (Lemnos) | Unknown. |
| Petronilla de Meath | c. 1300–1324 | Irish | Burned to death. |
| Stedelen | d. c. 1400 | Swiss | Confessed under torture to summoning demons; burned to death and beheaded. |
| Kolgrim | c. d. 1407 | Norse | Burned to death. |
| Matteuccia de Francesco | d. 1428 | Italian | Confessed to having flown on the back of a demon; burned to death. |
| Agnes Bernauer | c. 1410–1435 | German | Convicted of witchcraft and thrown in the Danube to drown, following accusations by her father-in-law Ernest, Duke of Bavaria. |
| Guirandana de Lay | d. 1461 | Spanish | Woman accused of witchcraft; burned at the stake. |
| Gentile Budrioli | d. 1498, 14 July | Italian | Tortured and burned on the stake in Bologna. |
| Narbona Dacal | d. 1498 | Spanish | Accused of witchcraft during the trial by the Inquisition. Burned at the stake. |
| Hatuey | C. 1478 - 1512 | Cuban | Accused of rebellion and witchcraft; burned at the stake in Baracoa, Cuba. |
| Catherine Peyretone | d. 1519 | French | Accused of witchcraft; burned to death in Montpezat, France. |
| Janet, Lady Glamis | d. 1537 | Scottish | Accused of witchcraft by King James V; burned to death. |
| Gyde Spandemager | d. 1543 | Danish | Burned to death. |
| Lasses Birgitta | d. 1550 | Swedish | The first woman executed for witchcraft in Sweden; beheaded. |
| Agnes Waterhouse | c. 1503–1566 | English | The first woman executed for witchcraft in England; hanged. |
| Polissena of San Macario | d. 1571 | Italian | Burned to death. |
| Janet Boyman | d. 1572 | Scottish | Executed in 1572 for witchcraft |
| Gilles Garnier | d. 1573 | French | Serial child murderer; convicted of witchcraft and lycanthropy, and burned to death. |
| Soulmother of Küssnacht | d. 1577 | Swiss | Burned to death. |
| Violet Mar | d. 1577 | Scottish | The trial of Violet Mar is believed to have influenced the views on witchcraft held by James VI of Scotland |
| Thomas Doughty | d. 1578 | English | Nobleman and explorer accused by Sir Francis Drake of witchcraft, mutiny and treason; beheaded |
| Elleine Smith | d.1579 | English | Accused of bewitching her neighbour |
| Ursula Kemp | c. 1525–1582 | English | Confessed to witchcraft and hanged. |
| Elisabeth Plainacher | 1513–1583 | Austrian | Only person to be executed for witchcraft in Vienna; burned to death. |
| Walpurga Hausmannin | d. 1587 | German | Midwife who confessed to child murder, witchcraft and vampirism; burned to death. |
| Ane Koldings | d. 1590 | Danish | Burned to death. |
| Rebecca Lemp | d. 1590 | German | One of 32 women convicted of witchcraft in a witch hunt in Nördlingen, burnt at the stake. |
| Anne Pedersdotter | d. 1590 | Norwegian | Burned to death. |
| Kerstin Gabrielsdotter | d. 1590 | Swedish | The only member of Swedish nobility to be charged with witchcraft; Unknown. |
| Agnes Sampson | d. 1591 | Scottish | Midwife, garrotted and burned to death during the North Berwick witch trials. |
| Marigje Arriens | c. 1520–1591 | Dutch | Burned to death for sorcery. |
| Witches of Warboys | d. 1593 | English | Alice Samuel and her family; hanged. |
| Allison Balfour | d. 1594 | Scottish | Executed in Kirkwall |
| Gwen ferch Ellis | c.1542 – 1594 | Welsh | 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. |
| Jean Delvaux | d. 1595 | Belgium | Roman Catholic monk; beheaded |
| Andrew Man | d. 1598 | Scottish | Tried and burnt |
| Pappenheimer Family | d. 1600 | German | Tortured and burned to death. |
| Mary Pannal | d.1603 | English | Unknown. |
| Merga Bien | 1560s–1603 | German | Convicted as part of the Fulda witch trials and burned to death. |
| Mechteld ten Ham | d. 1605 | Dutch | Confessed under torture and was burned to death. |
| Nyzette Cheveron | d. 1605 | Spanish Netherlands | Confessed to being a witch; was strangled and burned to death; Led to the execution of Anne Nouville. |
| Franziska Soder | d. 1606, October 8 | Rheinfelden, Switzerland | Burned as a witch. Her husband paid 320 Gulden as "confiscation" to the Gentlemen' Chamber in Rheinfelden. |
| Elin i Horsnäs | d. 1611 | Sweden | Beheaded after her second trial for witchcraft. |
| Alice Nutter | d. 1612 | England | Hanged during Pendle witches hunt |
| Pendle witches | d. 1612 | England | Unknown. |
| Evaline Gill | d. 1616 | Scotland | Strangled; burned to death survived by 2 children moved to Singer Louisiana – Still living witch's Scalloway |
| Elspeth Reoch | d. 1616 | Scotland | Executed in Kirkwall |
| Margaret Quaine | d. 1617 | Isle of Man | 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. |
| Witches of Belvoir | d. 1618 | England | A mother and two daughters, the daughters were hanged. |
| Sidonia von Borcke | 1548–1620 | Pomerania | Confessed to murder and witchcraft under torture; beheaded, corpse burned. |
| Christenze Kruckow | 1558–1621 | Denmark-Norway | Noblewoman who confessed to cursing the marital bed of a rival; beheaded. |
| Elizabeth Sawyer | 1572-1621 | England | Poor woman executed at Tyburn. |
| Anne de Chantraine | 1601–1622 | France | Strangled and then burned at the stake. |
| Rhydderch ap Ifan, Lowri ferch Ifan, and Agnes ferch Ifan | 1622 (date of execution) | Wales | Indicted for felonious witchcraft at Caernarfon. It’s claimed that they were responsible for the death and bewitchment of Marged Huws of Llanbedrog. Though they pleaded not guilty, they were found guilty and hanged. |
| Jón Rögnvaldsson | d. 1625 | Iceland under Danish rule | Burned to death. |
| Katharina Henot | 1570–1627 | Cologne | Postmistress; burned to death. |
| Johannes Junius | 1573–1628 | Holy Roman Empire | The mayor of Bamberg who was accused of hosting a witches' Sabbat and engaging in sexual intercourse with a succubus. Subjected to repeated torture and burned to death during the Bamberg witch trials |
| Georg Haan | d. 1628 | Holy Roman Empire | Sued Prince Bishop Johann Georg Fuchs von Dornheim in 1627 and left for Speyer. Shortly after he left, his wife and daughter were accused and burned. Upon his return in 1628 he was executed for witchcraft in the Bamberg witch trials |
| Kempfin | d. 1629-1630 | Holy Roman Empire | Accused by 13 witnesses of putting a 'frost' on the wine and grain crop during the Bamberg witch trials |
| Urbain Grandier | 1590–1634 | France | Convicted following the Loudun possessions and burned to death. |
| Johann Albrecht Adelgrief | d. 1636 | Royal Prussia | Executed after claiming to be a prophet. |
| Maren Spliid | c. 1600–1641 | Denmark | Burned to death. |
| Elizabeth Clarke | c. 1565–1645 | England | The first woman persecuted by the Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins; hanged. |
| Adrienne d'Heur | 1585–1646 | France | Burned to death. |
| Alse Young | c. 1600–1647 | Connecticut Colony | The first person recorded to have been executed for witchcraft in the American colonies; hanged. |
| Margaret Jones | d. 1648 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | The first person to be executed for witchcraft in Massachusetts Bay Colony; hanged. |
| Mary Barnes | c. 1631-Jan 1663 | Connecticut Colony | The last person to be executed for witchcraft, along with Nathaniel and Rebecca Elson Greensmith, in Hartford, CT |
| Alice Lake | 1620–c. 1650 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | Wife of Henry Lake; hanged in Massachusetts. |
| Mrs. Kendall | c. 1650 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | Hanged at Cambridge, Massachusetts. |
| Elizabeth Bassett | born. 1651 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | Accused but not executed because she was pregnant. (Husband John Proctor Jr was executed for being a Witch) Elizabeth died sometime after 1703. The cause is unknown but not from Witch trials. |
| Jeane Gardiner | d. 1651 | Bermuda | Executed in Bermuda. |
| Michée Chauderon | d. 1652 | Switzerland | Confessed under torture to summoning demons and was the last person executed for sorcery in Geneva. |
| Goodwife Knapp | d. 1653 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | Hanged at Fairfield, Connecticut. |
| Katherine Grady | d. 1654 | England | Accused of being a witch, tried, found guilty, and hanged aboard an English ship en route to Virginia from England. |
| Marged ferch Rhisiart (Margaret ferch Richard) | 1655 (date of execution) | Wales | Indicted for bewitching Gwen Meredith. It’s said that Gwen fell ill and died at the end of December. Marged pleaded not guilty but was found guilty and sent to her death by hanging in 1655 outside Beaumaris courthouse, Ynys Môn. |
| Ann Hibbins | d. 1656 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | The fourth person executed for witchcraft in Massachusetts Bay Colony; hanged on Boston Common |
| Marketta Punasuomalainen | 1600s–1658 | Swedish Finland | Cunning woman, burned to death. |
| Ursula Corbet | d. March 14, 1661 | England Worcester | Accused of being a witch, tried, found guilty of poisoning her husband of three weeks. Known as the white witch of Worcester who lived at Defford, near Pershore. |
| Daniel Vuil | d. 1661 | New France | Shot with muskets on October 7, 1661. He was accused of causing the demonic possession of a girl, although his Protestantism and selling alcohol to the First Nations people were also factors. The only person to be executed for witchcraft in New France. |
| Anna Roleffes | c. 1600-1663 | Brunswick-Lüneburg | Decapitated and burned on December 30, 1663. She was one of the last witches to be executed in Braunschweig, Germany and the complete account of her trial still exists. She is better known as Tempel Anneke. |
| Goodwife Greensmith | d. 1663 | Connecticut Colony | Hanged at Hartford, Connecticut |
| Isabella Rigby | d. 1666 | England | Believed to be the last person hanged for witchcraft in Lancashire. |
| Lisbeth Nypan | c. 1610–1670 | Denmark-Norway | Cunning woman accused of making people sick to earn money; burned to death. |
| Thomas Weir | 1599–1670 | Scotland | Strangled and burned to death. |
| Märet Jonsdotter | 1644–1672 | Sweden | Beheaded |
| Anna Zippel | d. 1676 | Sweden | Beheaded for abducting children. |
| Brita Zippel | d. 1676 | Sweden | Beheaded for sorcery. |
| Malin Matsdotter | 1613–1676 | Sweden | Burned to death. |
| Rachel Flemynge/Fleming | 1678 (date of death) | Wales | First accused of witchcraft in 1668 at Glamorgan. Accused further of witchcraft practices, sentenced to death by burning, but died on the day of her execution. |
| Anne Løset | d. 1679 | Denmark-Norway | Burned to death. |
| Peronne Goguillon | d. 1679 | France | Burned to death; one of the last women to be executed for witchcraft in France. |
| Catherine Deshayes | c. 1640–1680 | France | Also known as La Voisin; burned to death following the Affair of the Poisons |
| Antti Tokoi | d.1682 | Swedish Finland | Accused and convicted of witchcraft, blasphemy, disgracing priests, and healing. |
| Ann Glover | d. 1688 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | Last person hanged for witchcraft in Boston. |
| Alice Parker | d. 1692 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | Hanged during the Salem witch trials. |
| Ann Pudeator | d. 1692 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | Hanged during the Salem witch trials. |
| Bridget Bishop | c. 1632–1692 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | The first person to be tried and executed during the Salem witch trials. |
| Elizabeth Howe | 1635–1692 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | Hanged during the Salem witch trials. |
| George Burroughs | c. 1650–1692 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | Congregational pastor, executed as part of the Salem witch trials. |
| George Jacobs | 1620–1692 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | Hanged during the Salem witch trials. |
| Giles Corey | c. 1611–1692 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | Crushed to death for refusing to plead during the Salem witch trials. See peine forte et dure. |
| John Proctor | c. 1632–1692 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | Hanged during the Salem witch trials. |
| John Willard | c. 1672–1692 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | Hanged during the Salem witch trials. |
| Margaret Scott | d. 1692 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | Hanged during the Salem witch trials. |
| Martha Carrier | d. 1692, August 19 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | Hanged during the Salem witch trials; her children had claimed she was a witch while undergoing torture. |
| Martha Corey | 1620s–1692 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | Hanged during the Salem witch trials |
| Mary Eastey | 1634–1692 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | Hanged during the Salem witch trials |
| Mary Parker | d. 1692 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | Hanged during the Salem witch trials. |
| Rebecca Nurse | 1621–1692 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | Hanged during the Salem witch trials |
| Sarah Good | 1655–1692 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | One of the first to be convicted in the Salem witch trials. |
| Samuel Wardwell | 1643–1692 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | Hanged during the Salem witch trials. |
| Sarah Wildes | 1627–1692 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | Hanged during the Salem witch trials. |
| Susannah Martin | 1621–1692 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | Hanged during the Salem witch trials. |
| Wilmot Redd | 1600s–1692 | Massachusetts Bay Colony | Hanged during the Salem witch trials. |
| Mima Renard | d. 1692 | Portuguese Brazil | Prostitute, was accused by popular belief to bewitch men; burned to death. |
| Anne Palles | 1619–1693 | Denmark-Norway | The last person officially executed for witchcraft in Denmark; beheaded. |
| Viola Cantini | 1668–1693 | Italy | Burned to death on May 10, 1693, after caught performing vampirism on her dying son and cursing members of the village. |
| Paisley witches | d. 1697 | Scotland | Also known as the Bargarran witches, the last mass execution for witchcraft in western Europe. |
| Elspeth McEwen | d. 1698 | Scotland | Stangled then burned at the stake. |
| Anna Eriksdotter | 1624–1704 | Sweden | The last person executed for sorcery in Sweden. |
| Laurien Magee | 1689-1710 | Ireland | Burnt at the stake as part of the Islandmagee witch trial. |
| Mary Hicks | d. 1716 | England | Mary and her daughter Elizabeth were to be the last Witches executed in England in Huntingdon. |
| Janet Horne | d. 1727 | Scotland | Last British person to be executed for sorcery; burned to death. |
| Catherine Repond | 1662–1731 | Switzerland | Strangled and burned to death. |
| Helena Curtens | 1722–1738 | Electoral Palatinate | One of the last people to be executed for witchcraft in Germany. |
| Bertrand Guilladot | d. 1742 | France | Priest who confessed to having made a pact with the devil |
| Maria Renata Saenger von Mossau | 1680–1749 | Bavaria | One of the last to be executed for witchcraft in Germany. |
| Maria Pauer | 1730s–1750 | Austria | Last person executed for witchcraft in Austria; beheaded. |
| Ruth Osborne | 1680–1751 | England | Murdered by an unruly mob during a "trial by ducking". |
| Ursulina de Jesus | d. 1754 | Portuguese Brazil | Accused of removing her husband's virility to avoid having children; burned to death. |
| Anna Göldi | d. 1782 | Switzerland | Beheaded; last person to be executed for witchcraft in Europe |
| Maria da Conceição | d. 1798 | Portuguese Brazil | Accused and convicted of witchcraft to produce medicines and potions to attract men. |
| Leatherlips | 1732–1810 | Wyandot people | Native American leader, sentenced to death for witchcraft and executed by tomahawk. |
| Barbara Zdunk | 1769–1811 | Prussian Poland | Burned to death. |
| Ngema Makhemu | d. 2000, October | South Africa | Accused of witchcraft and burned to death by lynch mob, along with housemates Mbhejile Sibiya, Hlengiwe Ntuli, Samukelisiwe Masikane, Khanyisane Ngema, and Siyabonga Masikane. |
| Ama Hemmah | d. 2010 | Ghana | Accused of being a witch; burned to death. |
| Amina bint Abdulhalim Nassar | d. 2011, December | Saudi Arabia | Public execution by beheading |
| Muree bin Ali Al Asiri | d. 2012, June | Saudi Arabia | Public execution by beheading |
| Ahmed Kusane Hassan | d. 2020, September | Somalia | Public execution by firing squad |
| Sangweni Jostina | d. 2021, April | South Africa | Brutally beaten and burned alive. (3). |
| Solani Mchunu | 18 June 2023 | South Africa | Strangled to death. |
| Unidentified 85 year old woman | 12 February 2024 | South Africa | Target of an arson attack. |
| Dugulu Purti (husband) Suku Horo (wife) Daskir Purti (daughter) | 12 October 2024 | India | Stripped, beaten with sticks, stabbed to death with sharp weapons. |

## Images

* Agnes Bernauer, executed in 1435
* Catherine Deshayes aka La Voisin, executed in 1680
* Urbain Grandier, executed in 1634
* Execution of Ann Hibbins on Boston Common, June 19, 1656. Sketch by F.T. Merril, 1886
* Giles Corey being crushed to death, 1692
* Martha Corey was executed in 1692
* The Trial of George Jacobs who was executed in 1692. Painting by Thompkins Matteson, 1855
* Agnes Waterhouse was executed in Chelmsford, England in 1566