WEBVTT 00:00:17.199 --> 00:00:21.219 From the unexplained to the mundane, join us 00:00:21.219 --> 00:00:44.359 on our journey to the fringe. We don't actually 00:00:44.359 --> 00:00:46.640 use, I don't think we use that much AI in our 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:49.439 podcast. And also there's no ways. And there's 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:51.600 only one eye in Journey to the Fringe. And if 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:54.719 you omitted that eye, people would still probably 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:56.060 be like, oh yeah, Journey to the Fringe. Yeah, 00:00:56.240 --> 00:00:59.600 it's true. It could be omitted. What else would 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:01.399 it be? That's the thing about it. With that eye 00:01:01.399 --> 00:01:03.880 missing. So you probably can't spell it without 00:01:03.880 --> 00:01:06.739 AI. Anyhow, we're deep thinking podcast. That 00:01:06.739 --> 00:01:09.180 was Taylor and Chelsea getting into the spooky 00:01:09.180 --> 00:01:11.590 season, I think. Yeah. I think that's what we're 00:01:11.590 --> 00:01:13.750 doing, because Chelsea's kind of been left with 00:01:13.750 --> 00:01:16.430 some direction, kind of. So I'll just, I'll let 00:01:16.430 --> 00:01:18.629 her take it. I love this season. And of course, 00:01:18.629 --> 00:01:21.069 I'm already in the spirit. Well, it's October 00:01:21.069 --> 00:01:24.170 1st, maybe. What's the date today? Yeah, we get 00:01:24.170 --> 00:01:26.569 into the spirits heavy here. It's October 3rd. 00:01:26.569 --> 00:01:29.109 Usually while... Yeah, we're heavy into the spirits. 00:01:29.409 --> 00:01:32.549 So we've all heard of the Salem Witch Trials. 00:01:32.730 --> 00:01:35.790 How much we know about it is questionable, but 00:01:35.790 --> 00:01:38.650 at least heard about it. That is not what we're 00:01:38.650 --> 00:01:42.260 talking about today. Today, we're talking about 00:01:42.260 --> 00:01:45.599 the witch trials and witch trials adjacent that 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:48.340 you haven't heard of. And I'm going to give you 00:01:48.340 --> 00:01:52.519 those details now. First up is the Pendle Witches. 00:01:52.540 --> 00:01:57.030 This is going back to 1612 England, which The 00:01:57.030 --> 00:02:00.209 Pendle Witch Trials are one of the most notorious 00:02:00.209 --> 00:02:03.650 witch trials in the UK, apparently. Not to me 00:02:03.650 --> 00:02:06.469 anyway, but apparently to someone, because that's 00:02:06.469 --> 00:02:09.129 what I heard about my research. It's one of the 00:02:09.129 --> 00:02:12.310 most notorious. Much of what is known about the 00:02:12.310 --> 00:02:15.090 Pendle Witch Trials comes from the book, The 00:02:15.090 --> 00:02:18.849 Wonderful Discovery, by this guy called Thomas 00:02:18.849 --> 00:02:23.069 Potts, who was the clerk to the Lancaster Azaziz. 00:02:23.509 --> 00:02:27.419 Azazez. Azaz -ez. As is this. That's not the 00:02:27.419 --> 00:02:30.180 guy from the Ouija board is it? As is this. No. 00:02:30.180 --> 00:02:32.840 No, that's Zaza, never mind. I was like, what 00:02:32.840 --> 00:02:35.520 the hell are you talking about? Before you ask 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:38.819 what the word is that I can't pronounce is, the 00:02:38.819 --> 00:02:42.580 Lancaster Azazes were part of the old English 00:02:42.580 --> 00:02:46.599 court system. Azazes were traveling courts, and 00:02:46.599 --> 00:02:49.800 instead of everyone traveling to London for trials, 00:02:50.259 --> 00:02:53.020 judges from the royal courts would travel around 00:02:53.020 --> 00:02:55.900 the country to hold court sessions in different 00:02:55.900 --> 00:02:59.030 towns. They mainly dealt with serious crimes 00:02:59.030 --> 00:03:02.389 like murder, treason and robbery and actually 00:03:02.389 --> 00:03:06.169 became known as the Hanging Court. Because, I 00:03:06.169 --> 00:03:08.150 mean, they're dealing with, probably. They didn't 00:03:08.150 --> 00:03:10.330 come to a decision, probably because they couldn't 00:03:10.330 --> 00:03:12.530 get a decision, right? They always ended up with 00:03:12.530 --> 00:03:15.030 a hung jury. Very doubtful. It's probably more 00:03:15.030 --> 00:03:17.629 that they were hanging people when they're dealing 00:03:17.629 --> 00:03:20.090 with things like murder, treason, and robbery 00:03:20.090 --> 00:03:24.430 back in the 1612s. Am I right? Or the high profile 00:03:24.430 --> 00:03:27.030 cases, I'm guessing, like a witch in the air. 00:03:27.150 --> 00:03:30.689 Yeah, yeah. See, you get it. So the Lancaster, 00:03:30.710 --> 00:03:33.229 as it says, I don't know how to pronounce this 00:03:33.229 --> 00:03:42.610 word, where the session I said yes. S sizes, 00:03:43.030 --> 00:03:46.430 okay. It's a size. What? I googled it and the 00:03:46.430 --> 00:03:48.449 first thing the definition and a way to say it. 00:03:49.849 --> 00:03:52.849 A size. That's how you say it? Yeah. Oh, I was 00:03:52.849 --> 00:03:56.909 way off. So you know. Okay, I was trying to pronounce 00:03:56.909 --> 00:04:00.060 too much of the letters in there. So. Potts was 00:04:00.060 --> 00:04:02.819 instructed to write the account of the Pendle, 00:04:02.840 --> 00:04:06.039 which is trial, by the trial judges, completing 00:04:06.039 --> 00:04:10.159 it by November 1612. While it was revised by 00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:13.659 Judge Bromley before publication in 1613, the 00:04:13.659 --> 00:04:16.839 book is not a verbatim transcript of the trial, 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:20.209 but just vibes. or reflection of the events, 00:04:20.209 --> 00:04:22.230 as they put it. It's kind of like the people 00:04:22.230 --> 00:04:25.829 who would sketch in the courtroom. Yeah. And 00:04:25.829 --> 00:04:28.009 it's never like a picture perfect. We're going 00:04:28.009 --> 00:04:30.170 to hang these in art gallery. But they give you 00:04:30.170 --> 00:04:32.470 a general idea. Do you think those guys are going 00:04:32.470 --> 00:04:35.910 off five? Yeah, they are. Although not entirely 00:04:35.910 --> 00:04:38.550 comprehensive, Potts's account is considered 00:04:38.550 --> 00:04:42.110 generally trustworthy, provided readers understand 00:04:42.110 --> 00:04:44.629 it is based on written material rather than direct 00:04:44.629 --> 00:04:47.610 testimony. OK, so more about the Pendle Witch 00:04:47.660 --> 00:04:52.339 They took place in 1612 in a religious and politically 00:04:52.339 --> 00:04:54.540 turbulent England. We've got to set the scene. 00:04:54.860 --> 00:04:58.540 Where fear of witchcraft was rising due to Protestant 00:04:58.540 --> 00:05:01.959 and Catholic tensions. The reign of King James 00:05:01.959 --> 00:05:05.420 I, influenced by his obsession with witchcraft, 00:05:05.720 --> 00:05:08.600 fueled by his experiences in Scotland. I'm not 00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:11.139 sure what those were, but it might have something 00:05:11.139 --> 00:05:14.000 to do with the witchcraft. Saw a strict stance 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:17.980 on witches, marked by his book, Day Menon. and 00:05:17.980 --> 00:05:20.720 laws against witchcraft. And when I saw the way 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:23.959 that he spells his daemonology, it kind of reminds 00:05:23.959 --> 00:05:28.300 me of Aleister Crowley with how he spelled demons, 00:05:28.500 --> 00:05:31.439 daemons, whatever it was. And a quick Google 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:35.000 King James I of England is James VI of Scotland 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:38.040 who is Mary Queen of Scots's kid. Oh, that would 00:05:38.040 --> 00:05:41.199 explain a lot for what happens in this episode. 00:05:41.399 --> 00:05:44.720 Okay. okay i'm glad you just came up with that 00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:48.300 thank you it really enlightened me at least also 00:05:48.300 --> 00:05:50.379 apparently the first stewards which i think is 00:05:50.379 --> 00:05:52.819 no they're the winzers aren't they the current 00:05:52.819 --> 00:05:56.000 family what are you talking about the the lines 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:58.120 that they technically are the stewards flow through 00:05:58.120 --> 00:06:01.170 the that's the steward dynasty is King James 00:06:01.170 --> 00:06:03.129 starts the Stuart dynasty. I don't know because 00:06:03.129 --> 00:06:05.629 like King Charles is part of the Windsor dynasty. 00:06:05.790 --> 00:06:07.610 I have no idea what you're talking about. Okay. 00:06:07.629 --> 00:06:10.430 I don't know. For people who talk vaguely about 00:06:10.430 --> 00:06:12.550 royals, mostly just gossip about them. They do. 00:06:12.810 --> 00:06:14.769 It's mostly gossip. We talk very little about 00:06:14.769 --> 00:06:16.870 it. That's actually, that's why we're so good 00:06:16.870 --> 00:06:18.629 at it. Yes. Because we don't know nothing about 00:06:18.629 --> 00:06:22.790 them. In Lancashire, where the trials occurred, 00:06:23.069 --> 00:06:25.850 the people had long resisted religious conformity, 00:06:26.129 --> 00:06:28.649 with many clinging to Catholicism despite the 00:06:28.649 --> 00:06:31.670 Protestant rule. The cultural and religious landscape 00:06:31.670 --> 00:06:34.529 set the stage for the Pendle Trials, as local 00:06:34.529 --> 00:06:36.709 authorities were eager to uncover witchcraft 00:06:36.709 --> 00:06:39.449 in an area already seen as wild and lawless. 00:06:39.720 --> 00:06:42.399 The trials were triggered by a series of events 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:45.819 in early 1612, beginning with the accusation 00:06:45.819 --> 00:06:49.480 that Alizon DeVice had cursed the peddler, John 00:06:49.480 --> 00:06:52.970 Law, causing him to suffer a stroke. This led 00:06:52.970 --> 00:06:55.970 to an investigation by Roger Nowell, a local 00:06:55.970 --> 00:06:58.810 justice of the peace, who uncovered confessions 00:06:58.810 --> 00:07:02.050 from several members of two families, the Devices 00:07:02.050 --> 00:07:05.170 and the Chaddixes. The last thing was Devices? 00:07:05.529 --> 00:07:07.829 Yeah. I could be way off on how I'm pronouncing 00:07:07.829 --> 00:07:10.589 this. It just seemed really weird. Yeah. It could 00:07:10.589 --> 00:07:12.990 be, you know, this is like back in the 1612s, 00:07:12.990 --> 00:07:16.050 so it could be like Divises. Yeah, it could be 00:07:16.050 --> 00:07:19.529 the DC Opera. Those things are sold now. Anyhow. 00:07:20.029 --> 00:07:22.550 The family's had a long history of being suspected 00:07:22.550 --> 00:07:26.149 of witchcraft, with the elderly matriarchs Demdike 00:07:26.149 --> 00:07:29.230 and Chaddix. The local communists have been waiting 00:07:29.230 --> 00:07:32.129 generations for their opportunity to bring a 00:07:32.129 --> 00:07:34.230 trial against this family for witchcraft. It 00:07:34.230 --> 00:07:39.420 sounds like it. It's been there for a while. 00:07:39.779 --> 00:07:42.579 But both were accused of making pacts with the 00:07:42.579 --> 00:07:45.879 devil. In my experience, not such a bad guy. 00:07:46.259 --> 00:07:49.040 I think there might have been a lot of overreaction, 00:07:49.079 --> 00:07:52.379 but that's just me in my experience. The subsequent 00:07:52.379 --> 00:07:55.360 investigations uncovered accusations and counter 00:07:55.360 --> 00:07:57.839 accusations between the two families with the 00:07:57.839 --> 00:08:00.699 devices blaming Chaddix for a string of deaths 00:08:00.699 --> 00:08:03.279 and misfortunes, while Chaddix and her family 00:08:03.279 --> 00:08:06.449 retaliated with accusations against against the 00:08:06.449 --> 00:08:09.250 devices. This was more likely due to competition 00:08:09.250 --> 00:08:12.410 over resources like healing and begging. Eventually, 00:08:12.589 --> 00:08:14.870 the families were implicated in the deaths of 00:08:14.870 --> 00:08:17.629 several local people, leading to the arrest of 00:08:17.629 --> 00:08:21.209 14 individuals. My notes are vague. You may need 00:08:21.209 --> 00:08:23.389 to just read this book if you want to know why 00:08:23.389 --> 00:08:25.490 they were implicated in the deaths of several 00:08:25.490 --> 00:08:28.279 local people. For now, we'll just leave it at 00:08:28.279 --> 00:08:30.300 that. It sounds like several families within 00:08:30.300 --> 00:08:33.840 the community have the equivalent of the pin 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:36.840 and red yarn cork board connecting everything 00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:39.000 to these families. Yes. In the community. Yeah, 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:41.740 the whodunit map. Yeah, that's how I'm assuming 00:08:41.740 --> 00:08:44.059 this happened. It was either the devices. And 00:08:44.059 --> 00:08:47.139 you might be on either side, like you just fucking 00:08:47.139 --> 00:08:49.779 hate one of them. Maybe you like the other. Maybe 00:08:49.779 --> 00:08:52.039 you're impartial to the other, but there's one 00:08:52.039 --> 00:08:54.379 that you just hate and everything's their fault. 00:08:54.570 --> 00:08:57.350 I think that's the vibes we're getting. At the 00:08:57.350 --> 00:08:59.970 trials, which took place in Lancaster in York 00:08:59.970 --> 00:09:02.690 in the summer of 1612, the accused were charged 00:09:02.690 --> 00:09:05.269 with causing harm through witchcraft, including 00:09:05.269 --> 00:09:08.389 the deaths of 10 people. The trials were notorious 00:09:08.389 --> 00:09:11.269 for the testimony of a young girl, Jeanette Device, 00:09:11.429 --> 00:09:14.009 who acted as a key witness for the prosecution 00:09:14.009 --> 00:09:17.320 despite her age. She testified against her own 00:09:17.320 --> 00:09:20.639 family, possibly under pressure from the magistrate 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:23.620 Roger Nowall, which helped secure convictions, 00:09:23.899 --> 00:09:26.220 though some of the accused, such as Alice Gray, 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:29.379 were found not guilty. In total, ten of the Pendle 00:09:29.379 --> 00:09:32.059 Witches were found guilty and hung, while one 00:09:32.059 --> 00:09:39.049 died in prison and another was acquitted. okay 00:09:39.049 --> 00:09:42.429 despite her age okay so young probably saying 00:09:42.429 --> 00:09:45.470 she's young at the time the 1600s like i think 00:09:45.470 --> 00:09:48.350 you're an adult like 13 yeah so probably very 00:09:48.350 --> 00:09:51.629 young yeah the pendle witch trials of 1612 were 00:09:51.629 --> 00:09:54.529 part of a larger pattern of witch hunts in england 00:09:54.529 --> 00:09:57.210 but were notably severe with the trials accounting 00:09:57.210 --> 00:10:00.769 for over two percent of the total witch executions 00:10:00.769 --> 00:10:05.169 during this period wow yeah These events also 00:10:05.169 --> 00:10:07.730 reflect how accusations of witchcraft could be 00:10:07.730 --> 00:10:10.529 driven by economic and social factors, with some 00:10:10.529 --> 00:10:13.090 individuals using witchcraft as a way to gain 00:10:13.090 --> 00:10:16.149 power or income in a time of widespread superstition 00:10:16.149 --> 00:10:19.980 and religious tensions. Next up is the Würzburg 00:10:19.980 --> 00:10:24.460 and Bamberg witch trials. This is back to 1620s 00:10:24.460 --> 00:10:27.720 Germany. Mass executions in Europe's witch hunting 00:10:27.720 --> 00:10:30.740 peak. The Würzburg witch trials which took place 00:10:30.740 --> 00:10:34.720 between 1625 and 1631 in the Catholic Prince 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:38.080 Fischlprick of Würzburg in the Holy Roman Empire 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:40.799 were amongst the largest and deadliest mass witch 00:10:40.799 --> 00:10:43.559 hunts in history. These trials resulted in the 00:10:43.559 --> 00:10:46.700 execution of hundreds of people, including men, 00:10:46.779 --> 00:10:49.039 women, and children from all social classes. 00:10:49.299 --> 00:10:52.039 The trials were deeply influenced by the ongoing 00:10:52.039 --> 00:10:55.340 Thirty Years War and the Catholic Counter -Reformation 00:10:55.340 --> 00:10:59.909 as Prince Bishop Philip Adolf von Ehrenberg. 00:11:00.389 --> 00:11:03.590 It's not to solidify Catholic. It was a mouthful. 00:11:03.769 --> 00:11:06.090 But he has like every bad name in German. It's 00:11:06.090 --> 00:11:09.149 true. Prince Bishop Philipp Adolf von Ehrenberg. 00:11:09.250 --> 00:11:11.789 Okay. It could be worse, but it's not great. 00:11:12.009 --> 00:11:15.200 That's one, two, three, four, five, six. And 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:17.019 there's a Vaughn in there, so I think that's 00:11:17.019 --> 00:11:21.320 good. Sought to solidify Catholicism in a region 00:11:21.320 --> 00:11:24.139 straddling Protestant and Catholic territories. 00:11:24.620 --> 00:11:27.899 It is estimated that around 900 people were executed 00:11:27.899 --> 00:11:32.259 in the Prince Bishopric with 157 confirmed executions 00:11:32.259 --> 00:11:35.399 in the city of Wurzburg itself. I think that's 00:11:35.399 --> 00:11:37.840 a lot. It's Wurzburg, right? Wurzburg, yeah. 00:11:38.080 --> 00:11:56.379 Okay, is the war on the witches? The trials were 00:11:56.379 --> 00:11:58.659 initiated under the influence of the Counter 00:11:58.659 --> 00:12:02.259 -Reformation Zeal of Bishop Philip Adolf von 00:12:02.259 --> 00:12:05.000 Ernberg, who aimed to eliminate perceived threats 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:07.960 to Catholic Orthodoxy, including witchcraft. 00:12:08.190 --> 00:12:11.389 A witch commission was established which employed 00:12:11.389 --> 00:12:15.350 brutal methods including torture to extract confessions. 00:12:15.649 --> 00:12:18.129 The accused were often forced to name others 00:12:18.129 --> 00:12:21.110 leading to a rapid expansion of the trials which 00:12:21.110 --> 00:12:24.169 began with ordinary citizens and escalated to 00:12:24.169 --> 00:12:26.590 include members of the clergy and even children. 00:12:26.950 --> 00:12:29.730 Those accused were charged with a range of offenses 00:12:29.730 --> 00:12:32.830 from murder to engaging in satanic rituals and 00:12:32.830 --> 00:12:36.210 were executed by burning often after being tortured. 00:12:36.370 --> 00:12:39.659 This is insane. It really is. 1600s, you don't 00:12:39.659 --> 00:12:41.539 want to be there. If you're ever time traveling, 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:44.580 don't do it. Probably go for it. Oh, maybe not 00:12:44.580 --> 00:12:46.919 forward. Maybe a little back. I probably go back 00:12:46.919 --> 00:12:49.960 to like the 80s or 90s or something. That seems 00:12:49.960 --> 00:12:52.759 like a good time. Depending on your skin color, 00:12:52.940 --> 00:12:55.379 you got very different eras you can go to, but 00:12:55.379 --> 00:12:57.960 like Europe during that time for anybody is pretty 00:12:57.960 --> 00:13:00.039 different. Yeah, I'd probably just do the 80s 00:13:00.039 --> 00:13:01.980 if it were me to play it safe. That was a pretty 00:13:01.980 --> 00:13:04.299 good time. I was there just for the end, but 00:13:04.299 --> 00:13:08.740 it was decent. Maybe early 90s seems okay. Just 00:13:08.740 --> 00:13:11.139 an aside before we get back to apparently which 00:13:11.139 --> 00:13:13.759 in German is Hexa. Oh, I like that! Which I'm 00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:15.860 curious if that's where we get Hex from. It very 00:13:15.860 --> 00:13:18.220 well could be. Seems about right. I'm gonna go 00:13:18.220 --> 00:13:21.169 with yes. The trials were characterized by Widespread 00:13:21.169 --> 00:13:24.070 fear and accusation sounds like it with entire 00:13:24.070 --> 00:13:26.830 community suspecting one -third of the population 00:13:26.830 --> 00:13:29.529 of the witchcraft I wonder if anybody is thinking 00:13:29.529 --> 00:13:32.450 about the devices over here if they're that renowned 00:13:32.450 --> 00:13:34.990 Do you think? Somebody's got their own court. 00:13:35.110 --> 00:13:37.809 Yeah. Yeah, somebody like went over there Yeah, 00:13:37.889 --> 00:13:39.710 and they're just like you ever hear about the 00:13:39.710 --> 00:13:43.429 devices fucking bunch of son of bitches Yeah, 00:13:43.429 --> 00:13:47.210 which is terrible which is all of them many high 00:13:47.210 --> 00:13:49.889 -profile victims were involved including previous 00:13:49.799 --> 00:13:52.720 children and nobles, which led to some of the 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:55.779 executions becoming infamous. The public nature 00:13:55.779 --> 00:13:58.299 of the trials, with brutal executions taking 00:13:58.299 --> 00:14:01.299 place in the city, attracted widespread attention. 00:14:01.559 --> 00:14:04.139 I mean, sounds like it. Do you hear what's going 00:14:04.139 --> 00:14:06.820 on in Wurzburg? There are freaking witches accusing 00:14:06.820 --> 00:14:12.960 everybody. There's either witches or you're dead. 00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:18.480 In 1629, a letter from a counselor described 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:21.220 the growing fear and constant arrests, with hundreds 00:14:21.220 --> 00:14:23.460 of people, including many prominent figures, 00:14:23.539 --> 00:14:26.480 being accused and executed. The trials reached 00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:31.460 a crescendo in 1629 when an estimated 157 people 00:14:31.460 --> 00:14:34.279 were executed in Wurzburg, with many more dying 00:14:34.279 --> 00:14:37.309 in surrounding areas. The trials eventually ended 00:14:37.309 --> 00:14:41.090 in 1631 after public condemnation, particularly 00:14:41.090 --> 00:14:43.730 from the Holy Roman Emperor and complaints from 00:14:43.730 --> 00:14:46.289 the influential families of the victims. The 00:14:46.289 --> 00:14:49.809 Prince Bishop's death in 1631 and the occupation 00:14:49.809 --> 00:14:53.190 of Würzburg by Swedish forces under Gustavus 00:14:53.190 --> 00:14:56.669 Adolphus marked the end of the persecution. Despite 00:14:56.669 --> 00:14:59.190 the horrific loss of life, the Würzburg witch 00:14:59.190 --> 00:15:01.990 trials had a lasting legacy influencing witch 00:15:01.990 --> 00:15:04.909 trials in other regions, particularly in Germany. 00:15:05.129 --> 00:15:08.110 I find this one so crazy just because people 00:15:08.110 --> 00:15:10.710 were being tortured and they're literally giving 00:15:10.710 --> 00:15:14.470 anybody's name and I don't know why I guess when 00:15:14.470 --> 00:15:17.129 you're being tortured like you're not just going 00:15:17.129 --> 00:15:19.850 down alone they're like really pressing you for 00:15:19.850 --> 00:15:21.870 like who are you in this with and they're not 00:15:21.870 --> 00:15:24.809 taking no I'm not a witch is an answer they need 00:15:24.809 --> 00:15:28.409 to know like who's in this with you harder when 00:15:28.409 --> 00:15:30.710 you say that. Yeah. So I guess you're just like, 00:15:30.990 --> 00:15:34.230 uh, the president of the United States, probably. 00:15:34.490 --> 00:15:38.029 It would be notable that the pope had to step 00:15:38.029 --> 00:15:41.049 in and say, whoa, guys, you're a little too violent 00:15:41.049 --> 00:15:44.909 here. And at that time, the pope, like, I just 00:15:44.909 --> 00:15:47.710 saw a thing about how the pope had his own executioner 00:15:47.710 --> 00:15:50.850 for a while. It was probably around this time. 00:15:51.049 --> 00:15:53.669 Yeah. I mean, they are, oh, what do you call 00:15:53.669 --> 00:15:57.019 it when they go on their, um, trips to the holy 00:15:57.019 --> 00:15:59.960 land. What are you going to say? What do they 00:15:59.960 --> 00:16:03.340 call those? When all the Nazis go to Jerusalem 00:16:03.340 --> 00:16:06.039 and they take it for Christianity. What do they 00:16:06.039 --> 00:16:10.700 call those? The parting the Red Sea. No. Right? 00:16:11.659 --> 00:16:14.519 The pilgrimage, isn't it? It's not a pilgrimage 00:16:14.519 --> 00:16:16.299 because they're killing people along the way. 00:16:16.320 --> 00:16:19.740 I'm sorry. I have no idea what you're talking 00:16:19.740 --> 00:16:23.460 about. They kill people along the way? Yeah. 00:16:24.190 --> 00:16:26.450 i've never heard of this is this something that 00:16:26.450 --> 00:16:29.649 still happens no it well kind of we're kind of 00:16:29.649 --> 00:16:33.009 living through it right now but go to the holy 00:16:33.009 --> 00:16:36.570 land what do you call it he's real no that's 00:16:36.570 --> 00:16:39.870 a whole other thing crusades the crusades oh 00:16:39.870 --> 00:16:44.809 i am unfamiliar so i guess yeah the i think there's 00:16:44.809 --> 00:16:47.389 probably a crusader or another going on time 00:16:47.389 --> 00:16:49.450 and he's like whoa guys you gotta back off you're 00:16:49.450 --> 00:16:51.669 being a little too violent i think i have to 00:16:51.669 --> 00:16:54.990 look into this crusades because this sounds insane 00:16:54.990 --> 00:16:59.049 maybe it should be a halloween episode sure maybe 00:16:59.049 --> 00:17:08.890 next year It's the hardest on me. It's kind of 00:17:08.890 --> 00:17:13.930 Christmas, see what you think about it. Either 00:17:13.930 --> 00:17:16.130 that or we're just gonna redo the script for 00:17:16.130 --> 00:17:23.049 a small one. It's either that or that. We only 00:17:23.049 --> 00:17:26.829 got two options. There's no more ideas, guys. 00:17:29.769 --> 00:17:32.069 Put the best ones on it. They said that's all 00:17:32.069 --> 00:17:35.009 that's left. We literally had all our best ideas 00:17:35.009 --> 00:17:37.410 on our first Christmas month. We probably did 00:17:37.410 --> 00:17:41.450 it for two months. We did too much. Too hard, 00:17:41.789 --> 00:17:48.650 too fast. Okay, we're on to the next witch trip. 00:17:50.970 --> 00:17:53.750 Enough about Christmas. We're talking about Halloween. 00:17:58.029 --> 00:18:01.990 Okay, next one. Torsaker witch trials. Probably 00:18:01.990 --> 00:18:04.509 really mispronouncing this because now we're 00:18:04.509 --> 00:18:08.890 into Sweden in 1675 and I only know Sweden from 00:18:08.890 --> 00:18:11.930 Ikea's and I can't even pronounce those. So this 00:18:11.930 --> 00:18:15.089 is the largest witch execution in Swedish history 00:18:15.089 --> 00:18:19.470 and the Torsaker witch trials take place in 1675 00:18:19.470 --> 00:18:24.119 in Torsaker Parish, Sweden. In one day, 71 people, 00:18:24.599 --> 00:18:28.500 65 women, and 6 men were beheaded and burned. 00:18:28.740 --> 00:18:30.960 This event was part of the larger witch hunt 00:18:30.960 --> 00:18:35.319 frenzy known as Stora Ovasendet, which is an 00:18:35.319 --> 00:18:38.240 Ikea cabinet now that's spread across Sweden. 00:18:39.339 --> 00:18:41.500 Don't laugh. You can take your hat off on your 00:18:41.500 --> 00:18:45.450 weekends. that spread across Sweden following 00:18:45.450 --> 00:18:49.329 a witch trial in Dalarna in 1668. I didn't think 00:18:49.329 --> 00:18:52.009 the British would come out as like the even -minded 00:18:52.009 --> 00:18:54.549 people in dealing with their witches, with only 00:18:54.549 --> 00:18:56.809 getting rid of about a dozen of them. It was 00:18:56.809 --> 00:18:59.190 pretty big though, it was two percent, which 00:18:59.190 --> 00:19:01.950 it doesn't seem like a big percent, but... Wow, 00:19:02.150 --> 00:19:05.109 this one kills 65. I don't think Sweden has a 00:19:05.109 --> 00:19:07.690 population. It is probably about half at this 00:19:07.690 --> 00:19:10.470 point. I know, it just gets crazier and crazier, 00:19:10.650 --> 00:19:13.190 right, in these witch trials. I didn't even order 00:19:13.190 --> 00:19:15.950 it that way it just sort of happened on vibes 00:19:15.950 --> 00:19:19.890 in swedish which is hexa really so that can't 00:19:19.890 --> 00:19:21.970 be spelled differently but it's the same way 00:19:21.970 --> 00:19:23.630 yeah it's almost like they share the same root 00:19:23.630 --> 00:19:26.869 language yeah don't be sarcastic with me sometimes 00:19:26.869 --> 00:19:30.250 i need you to be serious is it serious do they 00:19:30.250 --> 00:19:32.670 apparently it could be rotunga what's the root 00:19:32.670 --> 00:19:37.069 language in german i don't know Oh, I thought 00:19:37.069 --> 00:19:39.710 you knew. German, a root language? Having that 00:19:39.710 --> 00:19:42.089 you said that. I thought Germanic was the root 00:19:42.089 --> 00:19:44.130 language for like most of Eastern Europe. It 00:19:44.130 --> 00:19:46.630 is for English. Central Europe, I guess. I didn't 00:19:46.630 --> 00:19:49.609 know if it might still have a root. Yeah. Okay. 00:19:49.730 --> 00:19:54.130 Lutheran clergy, including Laurentius Christophori 00:19:54.130 --> 00:19:57.609 Peranius, were tasked with investigating witchcraft, 00:19:57.930 --> 00:20:03.579 and Horneus... The horneus of them. Okay. zealously 00:20:03.579 --> 00:20:08.059 pursued accusations in Torsaker with many of 00:20:08.059 --> 00:20:10.339 the charges stemming from children who claim 00:20:10.339 --> 00:20:13.059 the accused had abducted children for satanic 00:20:13.059 --> 00:20:16.079 rituals. It's a satanic panic all over again. 00:20:17.339 --> 00:20:19.579 Did they take them down a toilet to the basement? 00:20:19.579 --> 00:20:23.380 They probably did. People were flying like it 00:20:23.380 --> 00:20:26.140 was just off the hook. The children were subjected 00:20:26.140 --> 00:20:29.200 to extreme methods of interrogation, including 00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:32.579 whipping and near drowning to extract confessions. 00:20:32.740 --> 00:20:35.299 The trial led to about a hundred people being 00:20:35.299 --> 00:20:38.079 accused, though it's unclear how many were convicted 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:41.599 and executed. The execution was brutal. After 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:44.519 a final sermon, the prisoners were led to a site 00:20:44.519 --> 00:20:47.730 called the Mountain of the Stake. Oh no, where 00:20:47.730 --> 00:20:50.970 they were decapitated and then burned. Oh no. 00:20:51.130 --> 00:20:53.089 If you're gonna do this to somebody, that is 00:20:53.089 --> 00:20:55.529 the right order, I think. Yeah, you wouldn't 00:20:55.529 --> 00:20:58.450 want to be burned then decapitated. No. Yeah, 00:20:58.450 --> 00:21:01.190 yeah. The families of the victims participated 00:21:01.190 --> 00:21:03.990 in the grim task of burning the bodies. While 00:21:03.990 --> 00:21:06.809 the Torsacker trials were among the largest, 00:21:06.829 --> 00:21:10.390 they were also dubious in their legality. Local 00:21:10.390 --> 00:21:13.170 authorities bypassed the required confirmation 00:21:13.170 --> 00:21:15.750 of sentences from the High Court, making the 00:21:15.750 --> 00:21:19.720 execution unlawful. Despite this no further executions 00:21:19.720 --> 00:21:22.799 took place in Torsaker. The witch trials in Sweden 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:26.700 continued until 1676, eventually ending when 00:21:26.700 --> 00:21:29.759 the authorities realized the child witnesses 00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:37.559 had fabricated their testimonies. It's funny 00:21:37.559 --> 00:21:40.079 because the satanic panic never actually ended 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:43.140 that way, the most recent one. No, it's kind 00:21:43.140 --> 00:21:45.140 of still going. It's true. It was never really 00:21:45.140 --> 00:21:49.180 put to rest. This one did. No one ever really 00:21:49.180 --> 00:21:51.079 said, yeah, the kids are kind of full of shit. 00:21:51.200 --> 00:21:54.440 This one really did. I will celebrate them for 00:21:54.440 --> 00:21:56.119 that. At least they were like, you know what? 00:21:56.200 --> 00:21:59.380 That's the end of that. That was fake. In 1975, 00:21:59.599 --> 00:22:02.259 a memorial stone was erected in Torsacker to 00:22:02.259 --> 00:22:05.160 honor the victims of this horrific event, and 00:22:05.160 --> 00:22:08.599 horrific it was. That is a crazy story, which 00:22:08.599 --> 00:22:11.339 takes us to the witch hunts in Scotland mentioned 00:22:11.339 --> 00:22:15.000 earlier, especially in the North Berwick witches, 00:22:15.319 --> 00:22:18.720 bring us back to 1590. before all of these I 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:22.740 think. accused of trying to kill King James the, 00:22:22.740 --> 00:22:26.640 what's V1? That's six? Six, yeah. James the sixth 00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:29.259 of Scotland, but Kim James the first of England. 00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:30.859 Yeah, see, and you said that in the beginning, 00:22:30.980 --> 00:22:33.359 see? It's all coming together now. Yeah. Yeah, 00:22:33.559 --> 00:22:36.160 thank you for that. The North Berwick Trials, 00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:39.160 which began in 1590, were among the earliest 00:22:39.160 --> 00:22:42.019 and most significant witch hunts in Scotland, 00:22:42.380 --> 00:22:45.480 implicating over 70 people and lasted, this is 00:22:45.480 --> 00:22:48.759 nothing now, and lasted over two years. Trials 00:22:48.759 --> 00:22:51.240 were set off by a sensational case involving 00:22:51.240 --> 00:22:54.400 the royal family of Denmark and Scotland. King 00:22:54.400 --> 00:22:57.900 James VI, while en route to Mary Anne of Denmark, 00:22:58.279 --> 00:23:00.819 faced severe storms at sea, which were blamed 00:23:00.819 --> 00:23:06.240 on witchcraft. She's Danish witches. Can you 00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:08.660 imagine? I should start blaming everything on 00:23:08.660 --> 00:23:18.240 witchcraft again. Causing all these waves. I'm 00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:20.059 gonna bring it back. I'm gonna start blaming 00:23:20.059 --> 00:23:23.240 things on witches. I think it's a good scapegoat, 00:23:23.240 --> 00:23:27.339 right? I'm gonna take a witchcraft. Yeah Too 00:23:27.339 --> 00:23:31.119 much of it. Yeah. No, it's like the rain is outside. 00:23:31.119 --> 00:23:34.759 I'm just okay Piece of iron. I was just gonna 00:23:34.759 --> 00:23:37.420 say is it cuz you're encountering too much witchcraft 00:23:37.420 --> 00:23:39.579 on a certain day? Or is it because you want to 00:23:39.579 --> 00:23:43.359 practice? I think I'm gonna take it as I think 00:23:43.359 --> 00:23:45.599 there's witchcraft directed at me for the day. 00:23:45.940 --> 00:23:47.980 You know what? That's progressive. I think that's 00:23:47.980 --> 00:23:51.180 very progressive of us to be requesting that 00:23:51.180 --> 00:23:54.460 in the future. Danish witches confess to using 00:23:54.460 --> 00:23:58.380 sorcery to summon storms and this news prompted 00:23:58.380 --> 00:24:01.839 Kim James to set up his own tribunal in Scotland 00:24:01.839 --> 00:24:04.359 where several people including women and nobles 00:24:04.359 --> 00:24:07.380 were accused of witchcraft. They can just freely 00:24:07.380 --> 00:24:10.000 go ask the witches about it in Denmark. They're 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:12.740 like, oh yeah, yeah, we did that. We kind of 00:24:12.740 --> 00:24:15.000 deserved it. And they don't do anything about 00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:18.200 it. They feel so freely able to see that out 00:24:18.200 --> 00:24:21.099 in the open in Denmark. Denmark's a fucked up 00:24:21.099 --> 00:24:24.299 place from what I know about it. From everywhere 00:24:24.299 --> 00:24:26.319 else in Europe at the time, apparently. Free, 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:29.839 so free. And you know what? That wind that you 00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:34.700 experienced, that was me. That was me. I just 00:24:34.700 --> 00:24:37.180 had a new spell, had to try it out. I didn't 00:24:37.180 --> 00:24:40.349 kill you. Look at that, you're lucky. You just 00:24:40.349 --> 00:24:43.730 got delayed. Many of the accused allegedly held 00:24:43.730 --> 00:24:46.930 covens in North Berwick with confessions extracted 00:24:46.930 --> 00:24:50.190 through brutal torture in Edinburgh. Among the 00:24:50.190 --> 00:24:53.490 most notable accused were Aiden Assamson. Such 00:24:53.490 --> 00:24:57.390 a Scottish name. An elderly woman who was tortured 00:24:57.390 --> 00:25:00.029 into confessing her involvement in witchcraft 00:25:00.029 --> 00:25:03.490 and attending a Sabbath with 200 witches. Oh 00:25:03.490 --> 00:25:07.309 my god. That really caught 70? Yeah! That was 00:25:07.309 --> 00:25:10.029 the 10th talk of its day! That's not even that 00:25:10.029 --> 00:25:13.690 much compared to the 200. Yeah. They barely dent 00:25:13.690 --> 00:25:16.250 in their witch population in Scotland. Yeah. 00:25:16.569 --> 00:25:20.450 And Dr. John Fian, a schoolmaster who was also 00:25:20.450 --> 00:25:22.309 tortured and eventually burned at the stake. 00:25:22.349 --> 00:25:25.170 It doesn't sound confess to being a witch though, 00:25:25.210 --> 00:25:27.789 or they would have said no didn't look like he 00:25:27.789 --> 00:25:31.269 did confess to that at all Just a teacher. Yes 00:25:31.269 --> 00:25:36.099 Just also a man which I don't know They can't 00:25:36.099 --> 00:25:39.900 be witches, right? Like they're warlocks or wizards. 00:25:40.299 --> 00:25:42.519 I think warlocks is technically the proper term. 00:25:42.660 --> 00:25:44.779 Well, technically they're all falling into the 00:25:44.779 --> 00:25:47.240 same thing right now because they're not discriminating 00:25:47.240 --> 00:25:49.700 about... I haven't heard anything other than 00:25:49.700 --> 00:25:53.180 witch. They are the minority when it comes to 00:25:53.180 --> 00:25:55.180 people who were... That's not true. We heard 00:25:55.180 --> 00:25:57.660 another term. Apparently the male term for a 00:25:57.660 --> 00:26:00.980 witch is teacher. Yes. That's true, but I believe 00:26:00.980 --> 00:26:03.440 it is warlock. I don't know. Yeah, I'm pretty 00:26:03.440 --> 00:26:05.380 sure that's the right term. Yeah, let's go with 00:26:05.380 --> 00:26:07.859 pretty sure on the podcast. We're pretty sure 00:26:07.859 --> 00:26:11.240 about it. GLS Duncan, another accused, named 00:26:11.240 --> 00:26:14.279 numerous individuals as accomplices including 00:26:14.279 --> 00:26:17.519 Agnes Sampson and Dr. Fian. The trials were not 00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:20.500 only religious but politically charged as they 00:26:20.500 --> 00:26:23.660 implicated figures like Francis Stewart, 5th 00:26:23.660 --> 00:26:27.109 Earl of Bothwell, and a supernatural plot. While 00:26:27.109 --> 00:26:29.829 many were executed, the trials brought attention 00:26:29.829 --> 00:26:32.690 to the brutal methods used during witch hunts, 00:26:32.890 --> 00:26:36.109 including the use of searching for witch marks 00:26:36.109 --> 00:26:40.309 and other forms of torture. Now, I did want to 00:26:40.309 --> 00:26:42.789 elaborate a little more on these witch marks, 00:26:43.170 --> 00:26:46.190 which was physical evidence used in the witch 00:26:46.190 --> 00:26:48.630 trials of a person being - Yeah, it was your 00:26:48.630 --> 00:26:50.329 deal with the devil, right? Like the devil had 00:26:50.329 --> 00:26:52.390 to leave a mark on you for you to be a witch? 00:26:52.470 --> 00:26:55.289 Basically, yes. So a witch's mark was a supposed 00:26:55.289 --> 00:26:58.680 physical sign on the body that people in the 00:26:58.680 --> 00:27:01.839 time were looking at believed showed someone 00:27:01.839 --> 00:27:04.039 was a witch so yes it could have been like a 00:27:04.039 --> 00:27:07.059 pact with the devil what have you and you know 00:27:07.059 --> 00:27:10.400 what people from the 15 to 1600s are known for 00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:14.519 impeccably beautiful skin, unblemished. Oh, completely. 00:27:14.740 --> 00:27:17.799 Such good skincare back then. We can't even touch 00:27:17.799 --> 00:27:20.319 it in this day and age. What we're looking for 00:27:20.319 --> 00:27:23.079 that would count as a witch's mark would be a 00:27:23.079 --> 00:27:27.900 mole, a birthmark, scar, a skin take, an extra 00:27:27.900 --> 00:27:31.220 nipple. Witch hunters would look for these marks 00:27:31.220 --> 00:27:33.940 during trials, and if they found one, they might 00:27:33.940 --> 00:27:36.539 poke it with a needle. If it didn't bleed or 00:27:36.539 --> 00:27:39.640 it didn't hurt, they took it as evidence of witchcraft. 00:27:39.900 --> 00:27:43.079 In reality, of course, these were just normal 00:27:43.079 --> 00:27:45.960 human features, obviously, I mean, we all know 00:27:45.960 --> 00:27:47.980 that. Could you imagine if you knew that they 00:27:47.980 --> 00:27:50.140 were looking for something that didn't hurt? 00:27:50.559 --> 00:27:53.440 Even if it didn't hurt, you'd be like, ow! Yeah, 00:27:53.960 --> 00:27:56.259 that's what I assume. Yeah, you would pretend 00:27:56.259 --> 00:27:59.500 that it hurt. You've been tortured while this 00:27:59.500 --> 00:28:02.579 is going on, so maybe you just can't register 00:28:02.579 --> 00:28:04.279 the pain. That's true, that's true. Because you've 00:28:04.279 --> 00:28:07.920 been put through a lot of pain. Yeah, so... Basically, 00:28:08.119 --> 00:28:10.660 it was an ordinary spot on the body that you 00:28:10.660 --> 00:28:14.500 got from making a pact with the devil and superstitious 00:28:14.500 --> 00:28:17.039 people misinterpreted as proof of witchcraft. 00:28:17.400 --> 00:28:19.740 Back to the story, the trials and their aftermath 00:28:19.740 --> 00:28:23.200 left a significant cultural legacy. King James 00:28:23.200 --> 00:28:27.720 VI writings on witchcraft including his triaties, 00:28:27.839 --> 00:28:30.299 I don't know what that means, demonology, maybe 00:28:30.299 --> 00:28:33.079 he rewrote it, maybe he wrote another chapter, 00:28:33.359 --> 00:28:37.309 hard to say. were influenced by the trials and 00:28:37.309 --> 00:28:39.890 spread to other regions including New England 00:28:39.890 --> 00:28:42.869 where similar witch hunts took place. In March 00:28:42.869 --> 00:28:45.990 2022 the Scottish government issued a formal 00:28:45.990 --> 00:28:48.450 apology for the prosecution of witches during 00:28:48.450 --> 00:28:51.750 the 16th and 17th centuries. The events of the 00:28:51.750 --> 00:28:55.049 North Berwick witch trial have also been immortalized 00:28:55.049 --> 00:28:58.529 in literature and popular culture including Shakespeare's 00:28:58.529 --> 00:29:02.410 Macbeth which drew on themes from the trials 00:29:02.410 --> 00:29:05.099 as well as novels and songs. that reflect the 00:29:05.099 --> 00:29:07.559 tragic history of these early witch trial hunts. 00:29:07.660 --> 00:29:10.259 And I wonder if it was also a racist trope against 00:29:10.259 --> 00:29:12.599 the Scottish at the time that they were full 00:29:12.599 --> 00:29:15.859 of warcraft. Yeah, it could have, yes. Because 00:29:15.859 --> 00:29:19.920 for us, personally, it's full of druids. Yes, 00:29:20.259 --> 00:29:26.279 of course, the McDucks. We all know that by this 00:29:26.279 --> 00:29:32.000 point. Okay! Last but not least we got the Icelandic 00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:35.059 witch trials which were unusual because it's 00:29:35.059 --> 00:29:37.680 Iceland and second because most of the accused 00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:40.660 were men and we were just kind of talking about 00:29:40.660 --> 00:29:42.940 that but they're still called the witch trials 00:29:42.940 --> 00:29:46.160 so they're Do you have it? Probably not. The 00:29:46.160 --> 00:29:49.819 witch trials in Iceland were influenced by Danish 00:29:49.819 --> 00:29:52.920 authorities during the 17th century when Iceland 00:29:52.920 --> 00:29:56.259 was under Danish rule. These trials were introduced 00:29:56.259 --> 00:29:59.500 as part of the efforts to enforce religious conformity 00:29:59.500 --> 00:30:02.420 following the Reformation. Unlike much of Europe, 00:30:02.680 --> 00:30:05.460 where witchcraft was associated with Satan and 00:30:05.460 --> 00:30:08.440 often resulted in the persecution of women, Iceland's 00:30:08.440 --> 00:30:11.819 view on magic was shaped by older Norse traditions 00:30:11.819 --> 00:30:14.559 that distinguished between black which was evil 00:30:14.559 --> 00:30:18.240 and white which was good magic. Initially, Icelanders 00:30:18.240 --> 00:30:20.839 didn't see the magic as inherently linked to 00:30:20.839 --> 00:30:23.829 the devil. The first sign of witchcraft persecution 00:30:23.829 --> 00:30:28.269 came in 1564. This is a good length of time before 00:30:28.269 --> 00:30:30.710 what we've been talking about. After a decree 00:30:30.710 --> 00:30:33.930 ordered the reporting of all heresy, early trials 00:30:33.930 --> 00:30:36.809 did not view witchcraft through the lens of Christian 00:30:36.809 --> 00:30:39.750 demonology, but were focused on the harmfulness 00:30:39.750 --> 00:30:43.589 of black magic. For example, in 1554, a priest 00:30:43.589 --> 00:30:46.789 was exiled for using black magic to try and seduce 00:30:46.789 --> 00:30:50.079 a girl. jeez that's yeah pretty tame compared 00:30:50.079 --> 00:30:51.880 to some of the other magic that we've heard about 00:30:51.880 --> 00:30:56.279 like inconveniencing a king's ship with the waves 00:30:56.279 --> 00:30:59.839 however and that guy was like yeah i did that 00:30:59.839 --> 00:31:03.779 wasn't punished in any way i'm a good witch i 00:31:03.779 --> 00:31:08.839 make shit happen However, by the 17th century 00:31:08.839 --> 00:31:12.119 Danish clergy brought with them Christian ideas 00:31:12.119 --> 00:31:15.359 of witchcraft, particularly the notion of witches 00:31:15.359 --> 00:31:18.700 making pacts with the devil. They just loved 00:31:18.700 --> 00:31:21.880 that! They loved the packs of the devil. This 00:31:21.880 --> 00:31:24.759 shift in belief was formalized by the introduction 00:31:24.759 --> 00:31:28.920 of the Danish Witchcraft Act in Iceland in 1630. 00:31:29.039 --> 00:31:32.039 Over the next few decades, witch trials escalated, 00:31:32.299 --> 00:31:36.900 peaking between 1667 and 1685. What set Iceland 00:31:36.900 --> 00:31:39.700 apart from other European witch trials was the 00:31:39.700 --> 00:31:42.359 fact that most of those accused were men. Out 00:31:42.359 --> 00:31:46.259 of 22 executions, 20 were men. Wow. On the last 00:31:46.259 --> 00:31:49.599 one, we saw only like a few percent were men. 00:31:50.099 --> 00:31:52.099 Chelsea, I just want to frame this because I 00:31:52.099 --> 00:31:54.480 looked it up while you're doing this part. The 00:31:54.480 --> 00:31:58.119 population of Iceland in the 1700s peaked at 00:31:58.119 --> 00:32:03.839 50 ,000 and in about 1769 it was 46 ,000. So 00:32:03.839 --> 00:32:06.180 20 people is a significant amount of people. 00:32:06.660 --> 00:32:10.720 Wow, that's crazy. This male dominance in the 00:32:10.720 --> 00:32:13.539 trials... linked to Icelandic traditions where 00:32:13.539 --> 00:32:17.319 magic had been primarily practiced by men, particularly 00:32:17.319 --> 00:32:21.220 those skilled in learning, which was associated 00:32:21.220 --> 00:32:23.619 with literacy and higher education. I'm curious, 00:32:23.640 --> 00:32:27.859 you did a like paranormal tour in Iceland, right? 00:32:27.980 --> 00:32:30.200 I don't know if it was... They didn't really 00:32:30.200 --> 00:32:31.819 talk about the witchcraft. I was gonna ask. They 00:32:31.819 --> 00:32:34.240 talked about apples. They talked about a murder 00:32:34.240 --> 00:32:36.460 -suicide that happened like a hundred years ago, 00:32:36.579 --> 00:32:38.519 but they didn't really talk about the witch trials. 00:32:40.519 --> 00:32:44.720 Witchcraft execution in Iceland occurred in 1683, 00:32:45.420 --> 00:32:48.779 and the practice ended by 1686 when Denmark passed 00:32:48.779 --> 00:32:52.200 a law requiring descendences for witchcraft to 00:32:52.200 --> 00:32:55.119 be approved by the High Court in Copenhagen. 00:32:55.480 --> 00:32:58.500 Following this, Copenhagen refused to confirm 00:32:58.500 --> 00:33:01.180 any more executions for witchcraft, marking the 00:33:01.180 --> 00:33:03.859 end of the trials in Iceland. The last condemned 00:33:03.859 --> 00:33:08.990 witch, Clemus Svidjernsen? The Jarnson -Nasson? 00:33:09.190 --> 00:33:13.630 Bjornson? Bjorn -Nasson. Bjornasson. That's what 00:33:13.630 --> 00:33:16.170 I'm going with. Was transferred to Copenhagen 00:33:16.170 --> 00:33:21.910 in 1692, but he was never executed. And that 00:33:21.910 --> 00:33:25.670 is... the witch trials. It actually, it surprised 00:33:25.670 --> 00:33:29.069 me a lot how many males were taken up in this, 00:33:29.490 --> 00:33:32.190 as well as, at least in some of them, rich people, 00:33:32.549 --> 00:33:35.069 like well -off people. Usually they get off scot 00:33:35.069 --> 00:33:36.609 -free with most things. It was only that one. 00:33:36.789 --> 00:33:39.269 Well, no, the king got involved in one of them. 00:33:39.450 --> 00:33:43.130 He encountered some waves. Yeah, he might have 00:33:43.130 --> 00:33:45.710 accidentally done the magic, but I don't think 00:33:45.710 --> 00:33:47.609 he was doing the magic. I don't think he was 00:33:47.609 --> 00:33:50.009 doing the magic. You got to think somewhere along 00:33:50.009 --> 00:33:52.089 the line, though, one of the king was doing some 00:33:52.089 --> 00:33:54.369 magic. Right? Well, you wrote a whole book on 00:33:54.369 --> 00:33:57.170 the date. Yeah, at least one had to have done 00:33:57.170 --> 00:34:00.819 some magic. Wait! Is he the King James that redid 00:34:00.819 --> 00:34:03.559 the Bible? The first one? There has to be like 00:34:03.559 --> 00:34:06.019 so many King James's though. Yeah, but you think 00:34:06.019 --> 00:34:07.880 they would reference which King James it was 00:34:07.880 --> 00:34:09.880 if it wasn't the first one? Well, you would think, 00:34:09.880 --> 00:34:13.480 but this is my episode. No, sorry, I'm just thinking 00:34:13.480 --> 00:34:16.280 I never put this together until just now that 00:34:16.280 --> 00:34:18.559 this one who's obsessed with demons and hunting 00:34:18.559 --> 00:34:21.500 down witches is also the one who may have created 00:34:21.500 --> 00:34:23.579 the Bible that we use today. Well, that would 00:34:23.579 --> 00:34:26.400 be nice, wouldn't it? Yeah, almost like it's 00:34:26.400 --> 00:34:29.780 a weird blasphemous book. in that version. Huh. 00:34:30.139 --> 00:34:32.599 That would be an interesting twist. One that 00:34:32.599 --> 00:34:35.440 we didn't expect. You know what? While you're 00:34:35.440 --> 00:34:37.980 pondering that, I do have to tell you that the 00:34:37.980 --> 00:34:41.079 last person executed for witchcraft in Europe, 00:34:41.119 --> 00:34:46.599 at least, was Anna Gjoldi in 1782. Do you know 00:34:46.599 --> 00:34:50.280 where? No. Europe. Gotcha. Yeah. Europe for sure. 00:34:50.300 --> 00:35:00.590 Okay. It's not geographically that big of a place, 00:35:01.329 --> 00:35:04.269 so you get the general idea of it. And this was 00:35:04.269 --> 00:35:07.039 very Europe -centric. It was, yeah, because I 00:35:07.039 --> 00:35:09.320 think there were at least one more which trial 00:35:09.320 --> 00:35:11.360 you could have done in North America, but it 00:35:11.360 --> 00:35:13.619 was very European. I like that. Yeah. Because 00:35:13.619 --> 00:35:16.000 then you can shift from there and do different 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:18.619 areas. Yeah, we can't put all our eggs in one 00:35:18.619 --> 00:35:21.780 basket from the holiday episode as we've worked 00:35:21.780 --> 00:35:25.300 with Christmas. Don't explore everything too 00:35:25.300 --> 00:35:30.250 early. Yeah, so that's witch trials. That's Halloween 00:35:30.250 --> 00:35:33.269 episode number one. I hope it got you into the 00:35:33.269 --> 00:35:36.489 spirit of practicing witchcraft Yeah, and you're 00:35:36.489 --> 00:35:38.909 legally allowed to in Canada. They got they got 00:35:38.909 --> 00:35:41.929 rid of that law. It's true. So Yeah, you can't 00:35:41.929 --> 00:35:44.469 be hung. It's for trial. Well, not only how does 00:35:44.469 --> 00:35:46.409 it go again? I don't think it's illegal to pretend 00:35:46.409 --> 00:35:47.929 to practice witchcraft anymore I'm pretty sure 00:35:47.929 --> 00:35:49.909 they got rid of section 3 5 the Canadian criminal 00:35:49.909 --> 00:35:52.230 code that was in there Yeah, pretending practice 00:35:52.230 --> 00:35:55.570 witchcraft my favorite law. I think it's gone. 00:35:55.570 --> 00:36:05.699 Well, anyhow Thank you for listening to Journey 00:36:05.699 --> 00:36:08.039 to the Fringe. 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