Gyldenstierne-sagen ('Gyldenstierne Affair') was a witch trial which took place in Denmark between 1596 and 1598. Alongside the

Nakkebølle-sagen Christence (Christenze) Akselsdatter Kruckow (circa 1558 – 26 June 1621) was a Danish noblewoman who was executed for witchcraft after having been accused twice. She is one of the most well known victims of the witch hunt in Denmark, and one of ...

, it was one of two big witchcraft cases in the 1590s which was essentially caused by feuds among the Danish noble families.Kallestrup, Louise Nyholm: Heksejagt. Aarhus Universitetsforlag (2020) In 1596, the noblewoman Anne Hardenberg (1566-1625) gave birth to a dead child, after several years of depression. She blamed her misfortune on witchcraft, which resulted in the execution of three peasant women, whom her husband Johan Rud arrested, imprisoned and interrogated in his private estate. When one of the tortured women pointed out the noblewoman Karen Gyldenstierne, who was the long-standing enemy of Johan Rud, the whole case was transformed in to a slander case which was put before the king, who in 1598 dissolved it by encouraging the two noble families to reconcile.

References

{{Witch Hunt Witch trials in Denmark 1596 in Europe 16th century in Denmark 1590s in Denmark