The Last Witch: When the Burnings Finally Stopped

Introduction: The Final Executions

The witch hunts did not end with a dramatic proclamation or sudden awakening. They faded gradually, execution by execution, trial by trial, until one day—no more witches burned. The last witch executions occurred at different times across Europe: 1727 in Scotland, 1775 in Germany, 1782 in Switzerland. Three centuries of persecution ended not with revolution but with exhaustion, skepticism, and the slow triumph of reason over fear.

This is the sixteenth article in our Witch Hunts series, completing our examination of resistance and survival. We now explore the final victims, the factors that ended the witch hunts, and how Europe emerged from its darkest chapter.

The Last Victims: Final Executions by Region

Scotland: Janet Horne (1727)

Who: Elderly woman from Sutherland, Scotland

Accusation: Turning her daughter into a pony and having her shod by the Devil

Reality: Daughter had deformed hands and feet (likely congenital)

Trial: Found guilty of witchcraft

Execution: Burned in a tar barrel at Dornoch (1727)

Significance:

• Last person executed for witchcraft in Britain
• Occurred 9 years AFTER Witchcraft Act was repealed (1736)
• Local authorities ignored the law
• Her execution shocked the nation, accelerated reform

Germany: Anna Maria Schwägel (1775)

Who: Servant in Kempten, Bavaria

Accusation: Witchcraft and having sex with the Devil

Trial: Convicted by local court

Execution: Beheaded and burned (1775)

Significance:

• Last legal execution for witchcraft in Germany
• Occurred during the Enlightenment
• Caused scandal and outrage
• Led to reforms prohibiting witch trials

Switzerland: Anna Göldi (1782)

Who: Servant in Glarus, Switzerland

Accusation: Bewitching her employer's daughter (needles found in girl's milk)

Reality: Likely had affair with employer, daughter's illness was natural

Trial: Officially charged with "poisoning," not witchcraft (witchcraft trials already illegal)

Execution: Beheaded (June 13, 1782)

Significance:

• Last legal execution for witchcraft in Europe
• Occurred 7 years before French Revolution
• Authorities tried to hide it was a witch trial
• 2008: Swiss parliament officially exonerated her

Poland: Barbara Zdunk (1811)

Who: Woman in Prussia (then part of Poland)

Accusation: Witchcraft

Fate: Murdered by mob (not legal execution)

Significance: Last known witch-related killing in Europe

Why Did the Witch Hunts End?

1. The Enlightenment: Triumph of Reason

Intellectual shifts (17th-18th centuries):

• Scientific method: Empirical evidence, experimentation, skepticism
• Rationalism: Reason over superstition
• Natural law: Universe governed by laws, not demonic intervention
• Religious tolerance: Decline of religious warfare

Key thinkers:

• René Descartes (1596-1650): Rationalism, doubt as method
• Isaac Newton (1643-1727): Natural laws, mechanical universe
• John Locke (1632-1704): Empiricism, religious tolerance
• Voltaire (1694-1778): Attacked superstition and religious persecution

2. Legal Reforms: Higher Standards

Changes in legal systems:

• Torture banned: Confessions under torture deemed invalid
• Evidence standards raised: Material evidence required, not just accusations
• Right to defense: Legal representation guaranteed
• Appeals process: Higher courts could overturn convictions
• Presumption of innocence: Burden of proof on prosecution

Key legal changes:

• 1682: France banned torture in witch trials
• 1712: Prussia ended witch trials
• 1736: Britain repealed Witchcraft Act
• 1775: Austria-Hungary banned witch trials

3. Skeptical Writings: Changing Minds

Cumulative impact of skeptical works:

• Reginald Scot (1584)
• Friedrich Spee (1631)
• Balthasar Bekker (1691)
• Christian Thomasius (1701) - German jurist who argued against torture

Result: Intellectual climate shifted from belief to skepticism

4. Social Exhaustion: Too Many Deaths

Communities devastated:

• Labor shortages from executions
• Economic damage
• Social fabric torn apart
• Families destroyed

Elite victims:

• When wealthy, powerful people were accused, support for trials waned
• Authorities realized no one was safe
• Self-preservation ended enthusiasm

5. Religious Changes: Less Emphasis on Devil

Theological shifts:

• Less focus on Satan's active power
• More emphasis on God's sovereignty
• Decline of apocalyptic thinking
• Religious wars ended (Peace of Westphalia, 1648)

6. Economic Changes: Rise of Capitalism

New economic order:

• Capitalism required stable, predictable legal systems
• Witch trials disrupted commerce
• Property rights needed protection
• Rational economic actors needed rational laws

The Repeal of Witchcraft Laws

Britain: Witchcraft Act 1736

What it did:

• Repealed previous witchcraft laws
• Made witchcraft no longer a crime
• Made pretending to be a witch a crime (fraud, vagrancy)

Significance: Witchcraft redefined from real supernatural crime to fraud

Other Repeals

• France: 1682 (Louis XIV banned witch trials)
• Prussia: 1714
• Austria: 1766
• Poland: 1776
• Spain: Effectively ended 1614, formally repealed later

The Transition Period: Lingering Beliefs

Unofficial Persecution Continued

Even after legal end:

• Mob violence against suspected witches
• Social ostracism
• Informal "trials" and punishments
• Swimming tests and other folk methods

Examples:

• 1751: Ruth Osborne (England) - killed by mob in swimming test
• 1808: Ann Izzard (England) - scratched by mob (drawing witch's blood)

Belief Persisted

Folk belief in witchcraft continued:

• Rural areas slower to change
• Cunning folk still consulted
• Protective charms still used
• Witch accusations in gossip and slander

The Aftermath: Reckoning and Regret

Public Apologies (Historical)

Salem (1697):

• Day of fasting and repentance declared
• Judge Samuel Sewall publicly apologized
• Ann Putnam Jr. apologized (1706)

Massachusetts (1711):

• Colony reversed convictions
• Paid reparations to families

Modern Apologies and Exonerations

20th-21st centuries:

• 1957: Massachusetts formally apologized for Salem
• 2001: Last five Salem victims officially exonerated
• 2008: Switzerland exonerated Anna Göldi
• 2022: Scotland issued formal apology (First Minister Nicola Sturgeon)

Memorials and Remembrance

• Salem: Witch Trials Memorial (1992)
• Bamberg: Memorial plaques and museum
• Würzburg: Memorial stone
• Various European cities: Plaques, monuments, educational sites

What Replaced Witch Trials?

New Forms of Persecution

The scapegoating impulse didn't disappear:

• Anti-Semitism: Blood libel, pogroms
• Colonialism: "Civilizing" indigenous peoples
• Racism: Slavery, segregation, lynching
• Political persecution: Red Scares, McCarthyism
• Moral panics: Satanic Ritual Abuse (1980s-90s)

The Witch Hunt as Metaphor

"Witch hunt" entered language as term for:

• Unjust persecution
• Mass hysteria
• Scapegoating
• Political persecution

Examples:

• Arthur Miller's The Crucible (1953) - Salem as allegory for McCarthyism
• Modern political rhetoric - "This is a witch hunt!"

Lessons: Why It Matters Today

The Mechanisms of Persecution

• Fear + scapegoating = violence
• Torture produces false confessions
• Mass hysteria overrides reason
• Marginalized groups are vulnerable
• Economic motives drive persecution

The Importance of Due Process

• Presumption of innocence
• Right to legal defense
• Standards of evidence
• Protection from torture
• Independent judiciary

The Power of Skepticism

• Question authority
• Demand evidence
• Resist mass hysteria
• Protect the vulnerable
• Speak truth to power

Conclusion: The Burnings Stopped, The Lessons Remain

The last witch burned in 1782. The last legal execution ended. But the lessons of the witch hunts endure: how fear becomes violence, how scapegoating destroys communities, how reason must triumph over hysteria. The witch hunts ended not because humanity became enlightened overnight, but because brave individuals resisted, skeptics spoke out, and eventually, exhaustion and reason prevailed.

In the next article, we will explore Reclaiming the Witch: Feminist Spirituality & the Craft. We will examine how modern witches reclaim the persecuted identity, how feminism embraced the witch as symbol of female power, and how contemporary witchcraft honors those who burned.

The burnings stopped. But we must never forget why they started.

For Anna Göldi, the last to die. For Janet Horne, burned after the law changed. For all the last victims. We remember, and we learn.