Johan Pistorius (d. 1722), was a Danish grenadier. He was judged guilty of making a
Satanic pact, and was the last person executed for witchcraft in Denmark.
Johan Pistorius was a soldier in the Danish army with the rank of grenadier. He was arrested and accused of the crime of making a pact with the Devil. He was not put on trial by the Danish authorities, but by a military court. He was judged guilty and sentenced to be executed by a military court martial. He confessed to the crime. He claimed to have been inspired to the pact after reading a book about
Doctor Faust
Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540).
The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroad ...
.
The court faculty of Professors in Copenhagen recommended the king to confirm his sentence after they had interrogated him - which was unusual - and deemed that his regret was not sufficient, and that he should be executed as a public warning against the crime of Devil's Pact after having made a public confession of regret, which resulted in the public burning of the infamous pact at
Nytorv
Nytorv ( English: New Square or New Market) is a public square in the centre of Copenhagen, Denmark. Together with the adjoining Gammeltorv it forms a common space, today part of the Strøget pedestrian zone. The square is dominated by the imposi ...
square, followed by the execution of Pistorius the following day.
[Tyge Krogh, Louise Nyholm Kallestrup, Claus Bundgård Christensen, ]
Cultural Histories of Crime in Denmark, 1500 to 2000
'
While
Anne Palles
Anne Palles (1619 – 4 April 1693) was an alleged Danish witch. She was the last woman to be legally executed for sorcery in Denmark.
Background
In 1692, the cunning woman Karen Gregers Madsens from Lommelev was accused of poisoning. She wa ...
is often called the last witch to be executed in Denmark, she was in fact only the last woman to be executed for witchcraft in Denmark, as Johan Pistorius was executed circa thirty years after her. There were death sentences for witchcraft in Denmark long after this. In 1733 a student, and in 1752 a farmer, were sentenced to life imprisonment with forced labor for Satanic pact, and as late as in 1803, two craftsmen received death sentences for the same crime, although none of the sentences were actually carried out. People were also lynched for witchcraft in Denmark long after the formal persecution stopped: the most known cases being that of
Dorte Jensdatter, who was apprehended by the villagers who tied her up in her own home and burned it down after having accused her of causing death by magic, and the last lynching of witchcraft, in which
Anna Klemens was lynched after having been pointed out for sorcery by a
cunning woman
Cunning may refer to:
* Cunning (owarai), a Japanese comedy group
* Cunning folk, a type of folk magic user
* Cunning (surname), a list of people with Cunning as a surname
See also
* Cunningham
*
*
* Sneak (disambiguation)
Sneak or Sneaky m ...
in Brigsted at
Horsens
Horsens () is a city on the east coast of Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 61,074 (1 January 2022) and the municipality's population is 94,443 (), making it the 8th largest city in De ...
in 1800.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pistorius, Johan
1722 deaths
People executed for witchcraft
Executed Danish people
People executed by Denmark by decapitation
18th-century Danish people
18th-century executions by Denmark
Witch trials in Denmark