Anne Pedersdotter

Anne Pedersdotter (died April 7, 1590) was an alleged Norwegian witch. Her case was one of the most documented of the many witch trials in Norway in the 16th and 17th centuries. Together with Lisbeth Nypan, she was perhaps the most famous victim of the accusation in Norway.

Anne Pedersdotter was born in the city of Trondheim as the daughter of an official, sister of the official of Trondheim, Sören Pedersson. In 1552, she married Absalon Pedersson Beyer, a Lutheran clergyman and professor in theology in the city of Bergen where they lived.

In 1575, Anne was accused of having killed her husband's uncle, Bishop Gjeble Pedersson, by sorcery to make her husband bishop, but she was freed from the charges through her husband's connections, when he managed to get her a pardon from the King of Denmark. The year after this, she became a wealthy widow, freed from taxes by the king, but once accused of witchcraft, she was always considered a witch. She lived isolated, and she reacted with hostility and by arguing with people, and the rumours became worse and worse over the years.

In March 1590, she was finally accused a second time. She refused to attend the trial and was fetched to it by force. During the trial, she was accused of having murdered six people by making them sick by magic; the witnesses were friends and neighbours, and her maid Elina accused her of having used her as a riding horse to a witches' Sabbath where the witches planned to burn down the city, and others claimed they had seen her in the presence of demons.

During the trial, Anne displayed "willpower, clearsight and skill". On the accusation of having killed a child, she replied; "Many children die in the town, I have not killed them all". Despite protests from some ministers in Bergen clergy, she was sentenced to death. In Norway, witches were generally burned alive, and Anne received this sentence. On the way to the execution, she cried out her innocence several times.

Anne Pedersdotter was burned alive at the stake in the city of Bergen on the 7 April 1590. Her case is regarded as the starting point of the many witch trials in Norway in the 17th century, especially in Finnmark from 1621.