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North Berwick Witch Trials
The North Berwick witch trials were the trials in 1590 of a number of people from East Lothian, Scotland, accused of witchcraft in the St Andrew's Auld Kirk in North Berwick on Halloween night. They ran for two years, and implicated over seventy people. These included Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell, on charges of high treason. The "witches" allegedly held their covens on the Auld Kirk Green, part of the modern-day North Berwick Harbour area. The confessions were extracted by torture in the Old Tolbooth, Edinburgh. One source for these events is a 1591 pamphlet ''Newes from Scotland''. King James VI wrote a dissertation on witchcraft and necromancy titled ''Daemonologie'' in 1597. The North Berwick trials were among the more well known of the large number of witch trials in early modern Scotland between the early sixteenth century and the mid-eighteenth century. The Danish connection This was the first major witchcraft persecution in Scotland, and began with a sensational ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Berwick Witches
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is related to the Old High German ''nord'', both descending from the Proto-Indo-European unit *''ner-'', meaning "left; below" as north is to left when facing the rising sun. Similarly, the other cardinal directions are also related to the sun's position. The Latin word ''borealis'' comes from the Greek '' boreas'' "north wind, north", which, according to Ovid, was personified as the wind-god Boreas, the father of Calais and Zetes. ''Septentrionalis'' is from ''septentriones'', "the seven plow oxen", a name of ''Ursa Major''. The Greek ἀρκτικός (''arktikós'') is named for the same constellation, and is the source of the English word ''Arctic''. Other languages have other derivations. For example, in Lezgian, ''kefer'' can mean b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doctor Fian
John Fian (''alias Cunninghame'') (died 27 January 1591) was a Scottish schoolmaster in Prestonpans, East Lothian and purported sorcerer. He confessed to have a compact with the devil while acting as register and scholar to several witches in North Berwick Kirk. He was accused of bewitching townsfolk, preaching witchcraft, and, along with Agnes Sampson and others, raising storms to sink the fleet of King James VI of Scotland and his wife Anne of Denmark as they returned from Copenhagen, having been married in Oslo. He along with several other witches were arrested, examined and put to torture, in what would become known as the North Berwick witch trials. Apprehension His apprehension was caused by a confession from Gillis Duncan which afterward prompted his examinations as a sorcerer. Fian first openly confessed that he bewitched a gentleman to fall into fits of lunacy once every 24 hours. To verify this, Fian caused the same gentleman to come before the presence of King ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agnes Sampson
Agnes Sampson (died 28 January 1591) was a Scottish healer and purported witch. Also known as the "Wise Wife of Keith", Sampson was involved in the North Berwick witch trials in the later part of the sixteenth century. Background Sampson lived at Nether Keith, a part of the Keith Marischal barony, East Lothian, Scotland. She was considered to have healing powers and acted as a midwife.Chambers, 210. The indictment against her indicated that she was a widow, with children. In the spring of 1590, James VI returned from Copenhagen after marrying Anne of Denmark, daughter of the King of Denmark-Norway. The Danish court at that time was greatly perplexed by witchcraft and the black arts, and this must have impressed King James. The voyage back from Denmark was beset by storms. In the following months a witch hunt began in Denmark, the Copenhagen witch trials, started by the Danish admiral Peder Munk. One of its victims was Anna Koldings, who gave the names of five women, incl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Berwick Witches
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is related to the Old High German ''nord'', both descending from the Proto-Indo-European unit *''ner-'', meaning "left; below" as north is to left when facing the rising sun. Similarly, the other cardinal directions are also related to the sun's position. The Latin word ''borealis'' comes from the Greek '' boreas'' "north wind, north", which, according to Ovid, was personified as the wind-god Boreas, the father of Calais and Zetes. ''Septentrionalis'' is from ''septentriones'', "the seven plow oxen", a name of ''Ursa Major''. The Greek ἀρκτικός (''arktikós'') is named for the same constellation, and is the source of the English word ''Arctic''. Other languages have other derivations. For example, in Lezgian, ''kefer'' can mean b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kronborg
Kronborg is a castle and stronghold in the town of Helsingør, Denmark. Immortalized as Elsinore in William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet'', Kronborg is one of the most important Renaissance castles in Northern Europe and was inscribed on the UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2000. The castle is situated on the extreme northeastern tip of the island of Zealand at the narrowest point of the Øresund, the sound between present Denmark and the provinces of present Sweden that were also Danish at the time the castle was built. In this part, the sound is only wide, hence the strategic importance of maintaining a coastal fortification at this location commanding one of the few outlets of the Baltic Sea. The castle's story dates back to a stronghold, ''Krogen'', built by King Eric VII in the 1420s. Along with the fortress Kärnan in Helsingborg on the opposite coast of Øresund, it controlled the entranceway to the Baltic Sea. From 1574 to 1585, King Frederick II had the medieval fortr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anna Koldings
Ane Koldings also called Anne or Anna (died 1590) was an alleged Danish witch. She was one of the main suspects in the Copenhagen witch trials the summer of 1590, which were held as a parallel to the famous North Berwick Witch trials in Edinburgh in Scotland. The winter of 1589, Princess Anne of Denmark departed from Copenhagen to marry King James VI of Scotland. A great storm arose, which almost caused the ship to sink. The ship of the princess eventually harbored in Oslo, Norway. James VI joined her there, and the wedding took place in Norway instead of in Scotland, as had been planned. In the spring of 1590, after a few months at the Danish court, James VI and Anna returned to Scotland. Their voyage from Denmark was also beset by storms. The Danish court at that time was greatly perplexed by witchcraft and the black arts, and this must have impressed on the young King James. In the summer of 1590, a great witch hunt was instituted in Copenhagen. The Danish minister of financ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Copenhagen Witch Trials
The Copenhagen witch trials of 1590 was the first major witch trial in Denmark. It resulted in the execution of seventeen people by burning. It was closely connected to the North Berwick witch trials in Scotland. Background In the winter of 1589, Princess Anne of Denmark departed from Copenhagen to marry King James VI of Scotland. A great storm arose, which almost caused the ship to sink. The ship of the princess eventually harbored in Oslo in the Danish province of Norway, James VI joined her there, and the wedding took place in Norway instead of in Scotland, as had been planned. In the spring of 1590, after a few months at the Danish court, James VI and Anna returned to Scotland. Their voyage from Denmark was also beset by storms. The Danish court at that time was greatly perplexed by witchcraft and the black arts, and this must have impressed on the young King James. At this point, the number of witch trials had been small in Denmark since the case of Doritte Nippers in 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christoffer Valkendorff
Christoffer Valkendorff (1 September 152517 January 1601) was a Danish-Norwegian statesman and landowner. His early years in the service of Frederick II brought him both to Norway, Ösel and Livland. He later served both as Treasurer and ''Stadtholder'' of Copenhagen and finally as Steward of the Realm from 1596 to 1601. He owned Glorup Manor on Funen from 1535 to 1601, whose current main building he constructed, although it has later been adapted in the Neoclassical style. He constructed the old Town Hall in Bergen, and he also constructed Svindinge Church, on Funen, one of the best preserved Renaissance style churches in Denmark. He founded the dormitory Valkendorfs Kollegium in Copenhagen where the street Valkendorfsgade is named after him. Early life and education Valkendorff was born into the wealthy Valkendorff family on 1 September 1525 at Glorup Manor, the son of privy councillor Henning Valkendorff by his second wife Sidsel (Cecilie) Jørgens-datter Friis. His father died ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peder Munk
Peder Munk of Estvadgård (1534–1623), was a Danish navigator, politician, and ambassador, who was in charge of the fleet carrying Anne of Denmark to Scotland. The events of the voyage led to witch trials and executions in Denmark and Scotland. Career Peder Munk was the son of Ludvig Munk (d. 1537) and Kirstin Pedersdatte Lykke. He was born at Lønborggård, Lønborg, Ringkøbing, Denmark, on 22 April 1534. Peder's younger brother Ludvig Munk was also a sailor and a soldier, whose daughter Kirsten Munk married Christian IV of Denmark in 1615. Peder Munk's main estate from 1566 was Estvadgård in Skive Kommune. In 1575 Peder Munk was made Admiral of Denmark, the Admiral of the Realm or 'Rigsadmiral', and in 1588 was one of the council, the Rigsraadet of regents for Christian IV. Peder Munk is said to have provided a miniature warship for the young king in a Jutland lake. On 20 August 1589 Peder Munk and others accepted an agreement at Helsingør over the rule of the islan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trier Witch Trials
The Witch Trials of Trier took place in the independent Catholic diocese of Trier in the Holy Roman Empire in present day Germany between 1581 and 1593, and were perhaps the largest documented witch trial in history in view of the executions. They formed one of the four largest witch trials in Germany alongside the Fulda witch trials, the Würzburg witch trial, and the Bamberg witch trials. The persecutions started in the diocese of Trier in 1581 and reached the city itself in 1587, where they were to lead to the death of about 368 people - possibly the largest mass execution in Europe in peacetime. The number counts only those executed within the city itself, and the true number of executed people, counting everyone executed in all witch hunts within the whole diocese, was therefore even larger. The exact number of executions has never been established; a total of 1000 has been suggested but not confirmed. The witch trials In 1581, Johann von Schönenberg was appointed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anne Of Denmark And Contrary Winds
Anne of Denmark (1574-1619) was the wife of King James VI and I, and as such Queen of Scotland from their marriage by proxy on 20 August 1589 and Queen of England and Ireland from 24 March 1603 until her death in 1619. When Anne intended to sail to Scotland in 1589 her ship was delayed by adverse weather. Contemporary superstition blamed the delays to her voyage and other misfortunes on "contrary winds" summoned by witchcraft. There were witchcraft trials in Denmark and in Scotland. The King's kinsman, Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell came into suspicion. The Chancellor of Scotland John Maitland of Thirlestane was thought to be Bothwell's enemy, Maitland was lampooned in a poem ''Rob Stene's Dream'', and Anne of Denmark made Maitland her enemy. Historians continue to investigate these significant events. The use of the phrase was not particular to the sea voyages of Anne of Denmark and James VI of Scotland. His great-grandmother Margaret Tudor had written to Henry VIII ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
