Torsåker parish is in the Diocese of Härnösand. It is where the Torsåker witch trials

Torsåker witch trials

The Torsåker witch trials took place in 1675 in Torsåker parish, Sweden. 71 people: 6 men and 65 women were beheaded and then burned, all in a single day...

 took place in 1675.

History

The Torsåker witch trials

Torsåker witch trials

The Torsåker witch trials took place in 1675 in Torsåker parish, Sweden. 71 people: 6 men and 65 women were beheaded and then burned, all in a single day...

 began when Laurentius Christophori Hornæus

Laurentius Christophori Hornæus

Laurentius Christophori Hornaeus , also known as Lars Christophri Hornæus, was a minister and witch-hunter in Torsåker and Ytterlännäs, Sweden.-Birth and education:He was born as Lars Christoffersson in Härnösand in 1645...

 of Ytterlännäs parish, was told by Johannes Wattrangius, of Torsåker parish, to investigate witchcraft

Witchcraft

Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...

 in his parish. Ytterlännäs and Torsåker were both in the Diocese of Härnösand. Hornæus was zealous in his work, and by the time his task was complete, 71 people, 65 women, roughly one fifth of all women in the region, and six men, had been beheaded and burned. This was 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 Sweden, and as all executions were held during one day, very likely one of the largest mass killings of accused witches in recorded history.

Ministers

• 1. Dominus Suno [before 1341], he was minister in the 1330's and died before 1341. A letter to Archbishop Peter Filipson (1332-1341) from him is extant.