Krystyna Ceynowa, also spelled as ''Cejnowa'' (died 1836), was an ethnic Polish victim of murder by lynching and an alleged

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

. Accused of

sorcery Sorcery may refer to: * Magic (supernatural), the application of beliefs, rituals or actions employed to subdue or manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces ** Witchcraft, the practice of magical skills and abilities * Magic in fiction, ...

, she was subjected to the ordeal of water and drowned in Ceynowa (today Chałupy). She was the last person in Poland and among the last people in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

to be subjected to lynching on the grounds of sorcery and witchcraft.

Background

Krystyna Ceynowa was the

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can so ...

of a

fisherman A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or rec ...

, living at Ceynowa on the

Hel Peninsula Hel Peninsula (; pl, Mierzeja Helska, Półwysep Helski; csb, Hélskô Sztremlëzna; german: Halbinsel Hela or ''Putziger Nehrung'') is a sand bar peninsula in northern Poland separating the Bay of Puck from the open Baltic Sea. It is l ...

, in the

Province of Prussia The Province of Prussia (; ; pl, Prowincja Prusy; csb, Prowincjô Prësë) was a province of Prussia from 1829 to 1878. Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1829 from the provinces of East Prussia and West Prussia ...

. She was regarded as suspicious by the community for various reasons, including the fact that she never went to church, and it was said that black

crow A crow is a bird of the genus '' Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifica ...

s were attracted to her chimney. This gave her a bad reputation in the eyes of the congregation and people suspected that she was a witch. However, the authorities at that time were not willing to conduct a witch trial, which at that time were illegal.

The murder

In 1836, she was taken captive by a lynch mob determined to test her to see if she was a witch. Her suppressors were called from

Zoppot Sopot is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, and has the status of the county, being the smallest city ...

, and she was subjected to the ordeal of water during an illegal trial. The ordeal took place in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

— she was transported in a boat and thrown overboard. To the disbelief of many, she remained afloat for a long time, which was taken as an evidence of witchcraft, as none realized that her gown and skirt had acted as a buoy. When Ceynowa did not drown, the people found her to be a real witch and killed her with their paddles or (according to another account) she was stabbed to death. Her case demonstrates that a belief in witchcraft continued among the public long after the legal authorities stopped accepting the charges of witchcraft, and that people occasionally took the law into their own hands when they suspected witchcraft.

References

Sources

Chałupy

Last European witch
* Klaus Klöppel, Olaf Matthei: ''Polnische Ostseeküste'' (The Polish East coast) * Nils Freytag: ''Hexenglauben im 19. Jahrhundert'' (Witch hunt in the 19th-century) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ceynowa, Krystyna 1836 deaths Lynching deaths Polish murder victims Year of birth unknown Witch hunting 19th-century Polish people Witchcraft in Poland

Background

The murder

See also

References

Sources