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.
See also
*
Dummy, the Witch of Sible Hedingham
Dummy, the Witch of Sible Hedingham ( – 4 September 1863) was the pseudonym of an unidentified elderly man who was one of the last people to be accused of witchcraft in England in the 19th century. He died after being beaten and thrown into a ri ...
*
Anna Klemens
*
Barbara Zdunk
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