This Is How the “Witch Hunts” Unfolded in What Is Now Slovakia: Cases, Verdicts, and the End of Executions

Witch-hunting was not exclusively a “medieval” oddity—its peak came only in the early modern period. Across Europe, tens of thousands of people (especially women) fell victim; modern estimates put the figure at roughly 40,000–60,000 executions, while higher numbers found in older texts are now considered exaggerated by historians ⁽¹⁾. In the territory of the former Kingdom of Hungary (which included Slovakia), trials were typically handled by secular and municipal courts, not by a centralized church inquisition ⁽²⁾.

Early Hungarian laws and “milder” punishments

Even in the Middle Ages, the death penalty for witchcraft was not a given. In the law codes of King Coloman (1095–1116), the famous stance even appears that “no inquiry should be made about strigae, because they do not exist” (“de strigis vero quae non sunt, nulla quaestio fiat”). Although practice hardened in later centuries, there is broad agreement that the Hungarian milieu long maintained a more cautious approach, addressing many acts through penance, the pillory, or banishment ⁽³⁾.

The water test and other ordeals

The evidentiary “arsenal” also included ordeals—so-called judgments of God. The water test (the bound accused was thrown into water) was used only rarely in our region, but it is documented in Košice in 1517. The result was absurd: if the person “floated,” they were to be guilty; if they drowned, supposedly innocent. For that reason, ordeals gradually receded, and church authorities stopped recognizing them ⁽⁴⁾.

The first known-by-name woman executed in Pressburg (Bratislava)

Agatha Toott Borlobaschin became the first “witch” executed in Pressburg whose name is known. After accusations of “harm-doing” and “consorting with the devil,” she was convicted following torture and burned at the stake on 24 May 1602 near Michael’s Gate. The site is commemorated by a memorial relief at the junction of Hurbanovo Square and Župné Square ⁽⁵⁾.

Not everything ended at the stake

In the 16th century, the number of trials grew, but not every case ended in execution. Municipal records also show verdicts of acquittal (if enough witnesses could be produced) or banishment, especially when the evidence appeared weak. Suspicions were often triggered by personal disputes, jealous neighborly feuds, livestock diseases, crop failures, or family tragedies for which “magical” explanations were sought ⁽²⁾.

Krupina—the best-known “Slovak” trials (1620–1744)

Krupina ranks among the darkest chapters. Historical sources here record dozens of cases—lectures and regional research cite around 45 trials; the first executions are documented as early as 1620 and the last in 1741 ⁽⁶⁾. Under torture, the accused described “flying to sabbaths,” “bringing frost to vineyards,” or “harm-doing with ointments”—typical elements of contemporary demonology.

Zuzana Semelínová and verdicts without fire

Among the first known victims was Zuzana Semelínová (1620), accused by a Krupina burgher of having “bewitched” his son. After a confession (forced by torture), a capital sentence followed—yet in some cases courts opted for beheading by sword instead of burning. In the decades that followed, extensive testimonies were written down, full of “flights on a cat” or “summoning storms,” meant to confirm a “pact with the devil” ⁽⁷⁾.

The fire (1675) and a wave of denunciations

The great fire of Krupina in 1675 led to another wave of denunciations and chain confessions—new names often emerged from the statements of those already under torture. Such “cascading” confessions are also known from the surrounding area (and from Central Europe more broadly) ⁽⁶⁾.

The last executions (1741)

The last three people burned in Krupina are traditionally considered to be Anna Štibická, Judita Pelioniska, and Doriša Koziarka (1741). In Doriša’s case, her deceased husband was even exhumed and burned as well—posthumously labeled a “dangerous warlock.” Brutal methods (the Spanish boot, burning with candles, crushing fingers) are also illustrated by the local museum exhibition of instruments of torture ⁽⁸⁾.

Southern Slovakia: the “great trial” in Šamorín (1691)

Trials also occurred in the south. Šamorín (Somorja) is known for the “great trial” of 1691, notable for its scope and the number of defendants. The state of surviving documents shows how local authorities proceeded—torture, repeated confrontations, chain denunciations. These are actual municipal protocols from 1688–1692 (preserved in editions of the state archive) ⁽⁹⁾.

How many cases were there in the Kingdom of Hungary?

For the Kingdom of Hungary, a total of about 554 cases is often cited, of which 403 ended in a capital sentence (figures drawn from historians’ overviews and popular-history outputs by TASR and museums). At the same time, it should be noted that some records have been lost, so the numbers may vary ⁽¹⁰⁾. For comparison with Europe: current research works with ~40,000–60,000 executed (not “hundreds of thousands”) ⁽¹⁾.

How it ended: the Enlightenment and intervention by the monarchy

In the Habsburg monarchy, policy gradually shifted. Maria Theresa ordered that disputed cases be forwarded to higher authorities, and in 1768 she adopted a criminal code (Constitutio Criminalis Theresiana), which abolished the burning of witches and significantly curtailed torture. Although the last executions in the broader region occurred before that year (e.g., Maria Pauer in 1750 in Salzburg), after 1768 “witchcraft” trials in our area effectively came to an end ⁽¹¹⁾.

A “neighboring trace”: the Moravian trials in Velké Losiny

For a sense of what mass trials looked like “just across the border,” northern Moravia is instructive. Velké Losiny and Šumperk (1678–1696) remain a symbol of Central European witch-hunting: they affected more than a hundred victims and are associated with the inquisitor Jindřich František Boblig of Edelstadt. The topic is commemorated by municipal exhibitions in Šumperk and memorials in Losiny, Mohelnice, and Sobotín ⁽¹²⁾.

How to see it in person: a short video from the Krupina exhibition

Watch a short clip about instruments of torture and the history of the trials in Krupina (a museum introduction to the topic):

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Sources

1. Encyclopaedia Britannica – Salem witch trials (background and estimates of European executions) – https://www.britannica.com/event/Salem-witch-trials
2. The Slovak Spectator – Witch trials in Slovakia – https://spectator.sme.sk/c/20061461/witch-trials-in-slovakia.html
3. Krisztián Sz. Kristóf – Witch Hunting in Hungary (MTA/REAL) – https://real.mtak.hu/78777/1/SzKristof_WitchHuntinginHungaryABCClio2004_u.pdf
4. Projustice (Comenius University Faculty of Law) – Punishing witches under the oldest Hungarian decrees – https://www.projustice.sk/pravne-dejiny/trestanie-carodejnic-podla-najstarsich-uhorskych-dekretov
5. Bratislavské noviny – This is where the first witch in Pressburg was burned (Agatha Toott Borlobaschin) – https://www.bratislavskenoviny.sk/aktuality/stare-mesto/55654-tu-upalili-prvu-bosorku-v-presporku-pamatna-tabula-zahadne-zmizla-teraz-osadili-novu
6. TASR/teraz.sk – A historian on the Krupina trials (overview and figures) – https://www.teraz.sk/regiony/v-thurzovom-dome-historik-priblizi-ca/715813-clanok.html
7. D. Deneš – Witch trials in Krupina (master’s thesis, Masaryk University) – https://is.muni.cz/th/jhxoq/Carodejnicke_procesy_v_Krupine.pdf
8. Aktuality.sk – Krupina was a town of witches (last executions in 1741, exhibition) – https://www.aktuality.sk/clanok/42KWveP/krupina-bola-mestom-bosoriek-upalovali-ich-aj-za-vypustanie-vetra-z-vreca-a-mraz-vo-viniciach/
9. Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic – Yearbook of the State Archive (Šamorín 1688–1692, protocols) – https://www.minv.sk/swift_data/source/verejna_sprava/saba_psa/publikacie/Archivum_Sala_2_SK.pdf
10. TASR (summary figures and popular-history outputs on the Kingdom of Hungary) – https://www.teraz.sk/regiony/v-thurzovom-dome-historik-priblizi-ca/715813-clanok.html
11. Habsburger.net – Constitutio Criminalis Theresiana (1768) and the restriction of torture – https://www.habsburger.net/en/chapter/torture-and-execution
12. Kudy z nudy (CZ) – Witch trials in the Losiny region (overview and places of remembrance) – https://www.kudyznudy.cz/ceska-nej/historicke/carodejnicke-procesy-ve-velkych-losinach