Szeged witch trials
Encyclopedia
The Szeged witch trials, which took place in the city of Szeged
in Hungary
in 1728-1729, was perhaps the largest witch-hunt
in Hungary. It led to the death of 14 people by burning.
Among the people accused was the former judge and richest citizen of the town, 82-year-old Dániel Rózsa, said to be the leader of the witches, and Anna Nagy Kökényné, a midwife who had accused him of witchcraft.
On 23 July 1728, 13 people, six men and six women, were burned at the stake for witchcraft on on a peninsula of the Tisza, called Boszorkanysziget (Island of Witches).
Witch trials had occurred in Hungary since the 16th century, but did not reach any high level until the 1710s and 1720s, when the real panic arrived. In 1756, Empress Maria Theresia of Austria, queen of Hungary, ordered that all cases of witchcraft must be confirmed by the high court, which more or less ended the witch trials; the last person in Hungary was executed for witch craft in 1777.
Szeged
' is the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county town of Csongrád county. The University of Szeged is one of the most distinguished universities in Hungary....
in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
in 1728-1729, was perhaps the largest witch-hunt
Witch-hunt
A witch-hunt is a search for witches or evidence of witchcraft, often involving moral panic, mass hysteria and lynching, but in historical instances also legally sanctioned and involving official witchcraft trials...
in Hungary. It led to the death of 14 people by burning.
The trials
The witch trial was instigated by the authorities, which decided on this measure to remove the problem of the public complaints about the drought and its consequences of famine and epidemics by laying the responsibility on people among them, which had fraternized with the Devil. If they were killed, the problems would be solved; God did not like the people, and thus they were being punished. A fear arose in the Habsburg empire that witches had begun to be organized like military units. A particular fear in Hungary was that witches were also vampires.Among the people accused was the former judge and richest citizen of the town, 82-year-old Dániel Rózsa, said to be the leader of the witches, and Anna Nagy Kökényné, a midwife who had accused him of witchcraft.
On 23 July 1728, 13 people, six men and six women, were burned at the stake for witchcraft on on a peninsula of the Tisza, called Boszorkanysziget (Island of Witches).
Witch trials had occurred in Hungary since the 16th century, but did not reach any high level until the 1710s and 1720s, when the real panic arrived. In 1756, Empress Maria Theresia of Austria, queen of Hungary, ordered that all cases of witchcraft must be confirmed by the high court, which more or less ended the witch trials; the last person in Hungary was executed for witch craft in 1777.
External links
- http://web.t-online.hu/passant/sakkversenyek/szeged.html
- http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/witch/witchlist.html
- http://www.caboodle.hu/nc/directories/category/subcategory/single_page/witch_island
- http://www.puszta.com/eng/programs/cikk/szeged
- http://books.google.se/books?id=1QXiWBGboHMC&pg=PA409&lpg=PA409&dq=szeged+witch+trial+1728&source=web&ots=by3KNmPPOd&sig=g8fXzE60ahJaMhk16EYqP4LeeCo&hl=sv
- http://books.google.com/books?id=tWqoKVtZId4C&pg=PA88&lpg=PA88&dq=1775+Doruchowo+&source=web&ots=hMKq40abT-&sig=j7ZpEN1kiqJPomLYfoaiEzZpXxo&hl=sv#PPA68,M1