Witchcraft

10-10-2025

Halloween is in full swing and this year we are digging into our archives to find witches!

Czopernicza - The witches

Otrovačica - The poisoner

Sorcières - Witches

The ghost of a man buried alive





Czopernicza - The witches

We start in Croatia, with two truly spooky documents from our content provider Hrvatski državni arhiv, the Croatian State archives.

In 1715 two women, Barbara Kosec and Doroteja Stančić, testified about how they become czopernicze, witches. The document is dated 9 September 1715. Below is a translation of the document; you can find a transcription in the original old Croatian here, and the full digitised document here: HR-HDA-706_Obitelj Čikulini-Sermage_kut_50_fasc_8_1.pdf

Statements by Barbara Kosec and Doroteja Stančić about how they joined the witches and which other persons practiced magic

In the year of Our Lord 1715, on the 9th day of September, in the castle of the most illustrious Count Ivan Franjo Čikulin, Barbara “Chichko”, the wife of Ivan Kosec, before any torture, declared that a black dog with very large teeth and claws had come to her and had lain down beside her; she says that if she had at that moment received the seal [i.e., the diabolic mark], then she would not have had to sleep with her husband. After that, the cattle were scratched/marked. Likewise she declared that in her sleep a dog kept coming to her with teeth and claws like the devils painted in the church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Bistrica, and that he stood above her with his mouth open. Among other things she stated that she had been with those witches whom she had seen in her dream—that “Barberićka” had been with three young Christian girls (she does not know if they were her daughters or others); likewise Jana Konelić—and that they knew how to go wherever they wished and that there they saw many kinds of goods, ribbons in every color, and all other fineries.

She further declared that she drew wine from an oak, although she did not see an oak but an empty cottage and an empty barrel from which she drew the wine, and that the witches there drank it; and she states that she herself is a true witch. And she declared that [illegible: “in the st…”] she prepared food, that many people came, and that she prepared food for them and gave them to eat.

Furthermore she says that in that drinking and merrymaking there were present: old “Čukanečka Kata,” old “Černiakovicha,” Marko Bartolović, Matija Novošela’s son; in Oroslavje, Paulina, Matija on Bugetić’s [farm]; also Mara Horvatić, a serf of Lord Ilijašić—who were always with her whenever they were engaged in witchcraft dealings.

In the presence of me, Gjuro (Georgius) Merzljak, judge of the nobles of the County of Zagreb. (m.p.)

Doroteja Stančić declared that she is a true witch and that for one year she has been among them, and that Jalsa Šterkovićka took her out from home in madness and brought her to the house, and that on that fateful night Šterkovićka gave her to drink.

Likewise, that a black cat came to her and sealed her under the armpit. The old woman “Šlukachka,” Šterković’s frontier-woman; the old “vukica” [she-wolf] from Šterković’s, with her husband Filip—this year they made a “tucha” [harmful spell/beating-magic] on Medved [Medvednica mountain], and that around the Stubica area they did the greatest harm, and in their own village; and that she herself flew to Medved, and that three times this year they poured/laid that “tucha.” Bara Galović was one year among them and was on Medved, quod pulos (!) comederint [Latin: “that they ate chickens (?)” – unclear], and that these three are true witches. Of Fuflavoga, son of Štefančić Koščević, she declares that the sister’s son was swayed [bewitched]; and “Revdivusta” she did not see afterwards. As for how “Berina” leaned/bent toward the north wind, she likewise declared that [missing text] the herdsman was against a witch and that he can disperse the sea in a cloud when he puts him on the fire; likewise that the three from Stubica said in prison that they would like to confess so that they would not fear torture and that they [missing text] taught her.

In the presence of me, Gjuro Merzljak, judge of the nobles of the County of Zagreb. The same, (m.p.).

The above-written Doroteja Stanišić and Elizabeta Stepjković, to Lady Stanko, the widow of the noble Ivan Stepanić, confessed to being witches, because they, together with other witches, had been upon the Medved mountain.

In the presence of the same judge of the nobles. (m.p.)






Otrovačica - The poisoner

Still from our Content Provider Hrvatski državni arhiv, the Croatian State archives, a lawsuit from the 7th January 1710 where the nobles Kristofor Mikulić and Magdalena Budor file a complaint against Magdalena Vedriš, the wife of Petar Vedriš, one of their tenants. The case was heard by deputy judge Nikola Kupinić in Bedenica, with county judge Baltazar Balogh as witness. Magdalena is accused of witchcraft, poisoning, apostasy, and a pact with the devil, and the plaintiffs request to torture the woman to extract confession and potential accomplices, and suggest death by burning as final sentencing. The court date is set for 23 January at Berislavec.

You can find a transcription of the text, in Latin, here. Here is a translation in English:

Bedenica, 7 January 1710. Complaint of Kristofor and Magdalena Mikulić against the serf Magdalena Vedriš for witchcraft and poisoning. Action brought by the nobles Kristofor Mikulić—master of the united imperial and royal posts of Radonice and Berislavec—and Lady Magdalena Budor, his wife, as plaintiffs, against Magdalena Oszman, wife of Petar Vedriš, a tenant of the said lords the plaintiffs, as the party summoned to answer; heard before me, Nikola Kupinić, sworn assessor of the Counties of Zagreb and Križevci and of the free royal city of Gradec (Zagreb), acting as deputy judge in the present cause (or, if I should be lawfully impeded, before another judge to be appointed at the fixed term); in the presence of me, Baltazar Balogh, judge of the nobles of the County of Zagreb, acting as witness—proceedings as follows.

That some years ago, when she had scarcely passed the threshold of youth, the said defendant, having joined the company and number of the devil’s followers in various magical practices, and having cultivated mutual dealings with such followers and imitators of that nefarious art, with counsel to harm the human race by every diabolical device she had practised, and with a wholly deliberate intent—setting aside divine and human laws—first rebelled forever against God most good and great, her Creator and Redeemer; then utterly abjured the Catholic Christian faith sacramentally conferred on her at the baptismal font; shamefully and sacrilegiously denied the Most Holy Trinity in its essence; and renounced all the sacraments, rites, benefits, indulgences, and merits established and observed by the holy Roman Church and its councils. Whence it is easy to believe that she voluntarily delivered herself as a perpetual bond-slave to the devil, author of all wicked professions; and, bound by an oath of fealty under his banner and service, solemnly covenanted—whether in the devil’s presence or before his appointed lieutenant—to do all things devised in contempt of God her Creator and Redeemer and against the divine Majesty, mankind, and animals, and gave herself (alas!) to the diabolic art and wicked magical practices. Thus, on various occasions, places, and pretexts well known to the said defendant, she began without interruption to harm mankind (as has been premised) and other living beings.

To that end, she lived and consorted with the demon by methods known to her; and by such unlawful and evil compact (as is credible) procured many abortions, or else consecrated to her chief devil unborn or even born children—whether lawfully or unlawfully conceived—unbaptised; or, if baptised, first subjected them to depraved magical habits; nor refrained from using the corpses of such children for magical purposes. Inflamed with unspeakable hatred against the human race and its subjects, and urged on by her aforesaid chief, she, together with her accomplices—whenever and however summoned and revealed—often produced harmful frost, horrible hail, indescribable drought and aridity; thereby causing unexpected sterility of the earth and the greatest failure of crops, consequently the closest famine, and finally the most abundant death of men. No less, without any offence given or any reason, she sapped the strength and robust health of many people by blowing on them, by ointments and touch, by composing and mixing various poisons, herbs, leaves, powders, and roots; she brought upon them long wasting sickness, torpor of the heart, and ultimately death. Further, by her prior art, stealing milk from her neighbour’s cows or causing blood to flow and applying it to her own beasts, she bewitched the animals of neighbours or of any who offended her in any way, inflicting on them very grievous loss. In short, she exerted all the powers of her mind and body, in grievous outrage of the divine Majesty and to the harm of the human race, in imitation of the devil and his lieutenant; and, in confirmation of the aforesaid, in the year 1708, around the feast of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ just past, she came (doubtless with poisons and malefices prepared) to the house of the worthy Lovro (Lourens) Sagud in the holding of Jertovec, within the bounds of the ruined castle of Zelina in the County of Zagreb; and there, having asked Dorotea Nemčić, wife of the said Sagud, for wheat and not obtained it, she so infected their little daughter Agata with a method of sorcery well known to herself that the girl’s flesh was immediately afflicted with very severe diseases—until the said defendant, urged by the child’s parents, returned to the child and, by imprinting a kiss upon her, restored her to her former health.

Likewise, in the same year around the feast of the Ascension of the Lord just past, coming to the cellar of the noble Petar Hadaš on the height called Seremetov Vrh in the aforesaid County of Zagreb, she asked for wine to drink; when it was refused by Petar’s brother Franjo, she soon caused the death of about forty young cockerels belonging to the Hadaš household. Similarly, in the year 1706, around the feast of Easter, she came to the house of the worthy Juraj (George) Sagud, tenant of the Zagreb nuns in the aforesaid holding of Jertovec in the same county and bounds; and there, after first tickling under his shoulders with her sorcerous and magical hands, and after asking him for a drink which he refused, and after throwing a spinning tool (called a distaff) through the window, the said defendant was so enraged that she bewitched the said George Sagud in such a manner that for the space of an entire week he was forced—by the said defendant’s magical art—to be carried here and there through wastes and byways, crossroads and fourways, and into deep valleys around those parts, by a certain horse (doubtless black, that is, the devil in the form of a horse) upon which she sat; and only after very frequent prayers and subsequent feasts and entertainments did the fevers subside after a long time. She deprived him of many animals; turned milk-products into blood; and perpetrated many other enormous magical works of this sort, devised by the doing and contrivance of the devil, to be more fully declared in law. Thus she made herself manifestly a witch, sorceress, and poisoner, and did not fear thereby to become a perpetual enemy of God most good, of men, and of animals; nor did she fear to incur the punishment established everywhere in general by canon and civil laws and by the sanctions of the Realm.

Wherefore the aforesaid lords plaintiffs, by virtue of the aforesaid laws and constitutions, seek judgment and justice upon the aforesaid matters as everywhere enacted; and, in accordance with the contents of this action and the demerits of the said defendant, request that effective justice be administered: namely, that the said defendant, as a manifest witch, sorceress, and poisoner, and therefore a perpetual and open enemy of her Creator and Redeemer, of the human race and other living beings, be put to torture first—to reveal her many accomplices and partners in such nefarious acts and to renounce magical and poisonous practices—and finally be condemned to the ultimate penalty of death, namely to be burned alive at the stake.

So stated according to the aforesaid laws. Given at Bedenica on the seventh day of January in the year of Our Lord 1710.

Read, corrected, and compared with the original by me, Nikola Kupinić, deputy judge in the aforesaid cause. The same, in my own hand.

Baltazar Balogh, judge of the nobles of the County of Zagreb, as witness, in my own hand.

To Magdalena Oszman, wife of Petar Michael, now entered as the party defendant: a court date is assigned by the middle official of the aforesaid territorial lords and plaintiffs for the 23rd day of January, and, as needed, on other lawful days of the aforesaid month and year, at the court in the holding of Berislavec in the County of Zagreb; and the defendant is hereby certified to appear by virtue of the present notice. Nikola Kupinić, deputy judge.

Here is the full original document: Vještice.pdf







Sorcières - Witches

From the Archives départementales de la Côte-d'or, a glimpse of the economy of witchunt: from the 1450s, the list of paid people for the execution of a witch: Robin Le Roy, executor of high justice in the bailiwick of Autun, receives payment for the execution carried out on Friday, 24 May 1452 of Jehannette de Baugy, a witch, who was burned for her misdeeds; the inquisitor of the faith, his chaplain, and two sergeants of the bishop of Autun, who delivered the said Jehannette de Baugy to the justice of Glennes on Thursday, 23 May 1452, where, on Friday the 24th, the said inquisitor preached; the nobleman Pierre de Thoisy, lord of Gamay, councillor, bailiff of Autun and Montcenis, who came, he and his retinue of five on horseback, to accompany the justice of said Glennes on Thursday evening, and remained there; Jehan Bouley, Guillaume Le Roy, and Jehan Chastellain, who built the scaffolds for the sermon; the food expenses of Robin Le Roy, executor of high justice in the bailiwick of Autun; the person who made the stake for tying her, and the reimboursement of the purchase of one hundred logs for burning her.


Almost 100 years later, the ledger by Laurent de Gorrevod, nobleman of the Burgoundian State, which contains the documents on the inquiry into the property that Claudine La Cresta might have possessed, she having been condemned to the stake as a witch; and the payment to the hangman for the execution of Stéphanette, condemned to be burned in 1517-1518:







The ghost of a man buried alive

The L-Arkivji Nazzjonali ta' Malta hold a terrible secret: on the 6th December 1907, Valletta-born Antonio Azzopardi killed shop owner Giuseppe Camenzuli, known as Żabbatu, outside his own shop, the ‘Omdorman’ emporium. Azzopardi was tried for his crimes and spent several months in an asylum; however, he was eventually found of sound mind, and convicted to death penalty on the 19th October 1908. After unsuccessfully trying to have the death penalty converted to life imprisonment, he was executed at the Corradino Prison on the 27th October 1908, and buried in the cemetery of the Civil Prisons.

However, the following year, one of the people who assisted at the execution, Dr Fredrick Bernard, came forward to denounce that the execution was mishandled, and that the coroner had signed the death certificate without a proper post-mortem examination; in short, Dr Bernard claimed that Antonio Azzopardi had been buried alive!

The news spread, and the Corradino prison cemetery, where Azzopardi is still buried, quickly became a place of pilgrimage, reaching 200 or 300 visitors per day. Furthermore, rumors of a ghost appearance started to be reported: for example, as you can read in a report from 1917,

"a woman went to the Prison Cemetery on a day other than a Monday; there was a man at the gate who let her in and the same man was again there when she came out. As soon as she got outside, she turned round to thank the man, but to her astonishnent he had vanished"

You can find the full report here: 1917_NAM_CSG 01_4200 (1) 2.pdf

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This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution (BY) licence. You can copy, redistribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the licensed object, even commercially, as long as you attribute the rights holder as described in the licence.

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This object is in the public domain, but has been digitised as the outcome of a public-private partnership, where the terms of the contractual agreement limit commercial use for a certain period of time. You can copy, redistribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the object for non-commercial use only.

This object has been identified as an Orphan Work in the country of first publication and in line with the requirements of the national law implementing Directive 2012/28/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on certain permitted uses of orphan works.

You are free to use this object in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. Please note that you are responsible for your own use, including the need to obtain other permissions e.g. with regard to publicity, privacy or moral rights.

This object is in the public domain, but is subject to known legal restrictions other than copyright which prevent its free re-use. Please contact the providing institution for more information.

This object is currently in copyright. Please contact the providing institution for more information and in order to acquire additional permissions for re-use.

The copyright status of this object has not been evaluated yet. Please contact the providing institution for more information.

You are free to use this object in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. Please note that you are responsible for your own use, including the need to obtain other permissions e.g. with regard to publicity, privacy, or moral rights.

This object is currently in copyright and the rights holder(s) have allowed re-use for educational purposes only. You are free to use this object in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. Please note that you are responsible for your own use, including the need to obtain other permissions e.g. with regard to publicity, privacy or moral rights.

Please contact the providing institution for more information and in order to acquire additional permissions for any other uses.

This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution, ShareAlike (BY-SA) licence. You can copy, redistribute, remix, tweak and build upon the licensed object, even for commercial purposes, as long as you attribute the rights holder as described in the licence, and you license your adaptations of the object under the same terms.

This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution, ShareAlike (BY-SA) licence. You can copy, redistribute, remix, tweak and build upon the licensed object, even for commercial purposes, as long as you attribute the rights holder as described in the licence, and you license your adaptations of the object under the same terms.

This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution, No Derivates (BY-ND) licence. You can copy and redistribute the object, even commercially, as long as no alteration is made to the object and you attribute the rights holder as described in the licence.

If you remix, transform or build upon the object, you may not distribute the modified material.

This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution, Non-Commercial (BY-NC) licence. You can copy, redistribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the licensed object for non-commercial use only and as long as you attribute the rights holder as described in the licence.

This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution, Non-Commercial, ShareAlike (BY-NC-SA) licence. You can copy, redistribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the licensed object for non-commercial use only, as long as you attribute the rights holder as described in the licence, and as long as you license your adaptations of the object under the same terms.

This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivates (BY-NC-ND) licence. You can copy and redistribute the object for non-commercial use only, as long as no alteration is made to the object and as long as you attribute the rights holder as described in the licence.

If you remix, transform or build upon the object, you may not distribute the modified material.

This object is in the public domain, but has been digitised as the outcome of a public-private partnership, where the terms of the contractual agreement limit commercial use for a certain period of time. You can copy, redistribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the object for non-commercial use only.

This object has been identified as an Orphan Work in the country of first publication and in line with the requirements of the national law implementing Directive 2012/28/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on certain permitted uses of orphan works.

You are free to use this object in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. Please note that you are responsible for your own use, including the need to obtain other permissions e.g. with regard to publicity, privacy or moral rights.

This object is in the public domain, but is subject to known legal restrictions other than copyright which prevent its free re-use. Please contact the providing institution for more information.

This object is currently in copyright. Please contact the providing institution for more information and in order to acquire additional permissions for re-use.

The copyright status of this object has not been evaluated yet. Please contact the providing institution for more information.

You are free to use this object in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. Please note that you are responsible for your own use, including the need to obtain other permissions e.g. with regard to publicity, privacy, or moral rights.

This object is currently in copyright and the rights holder(s) have allowed re-use for educational purposes only. You are free to use this object in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. Please note that you are responsible for your own use, including the need to obtain other permissions e.g. with regard to publicity, privacy or moral rights.

Please contact the providing institution for more information and in order to acquire additional permissions for any other uses.

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