Until much more recently than commonly believed, superstition and the fear of the unexplainable drove human societies to seek the roots of their misfortunes—and the solutions to their problems—in the occult.
In these historical eras where supernatural phenomena were woven into daily life, the existence of actual witches and sorcerers was perceived as a completely plausible fact. Over the centuries, countless individuals found themselves facing severe accusations of witchcraft. Their true stories deserve to be uncovered.
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Here are four “real” historical figures whose names were written across the pages of history.
1. Karin Svensdotter
Living in 17th-century Sweden, Karin Svensdotter shocked her community by claiming she had engaged in relations with the “King of the Fairies.”
During her trial in 1656, she testified that a handsome man dressed in gold had showered her with lavish gifts. She went on to state that she had been impregnated by this being on seven separate occasions, and that each infant had been carried away to the fairy realm. In early modern Swedish folklore, fairies were considered dangerous demonic entities, making any contact with them a capital offense.
“The ecclesiastical council advised the magistrate that the poor girl had clearly been driven mad under the malicious influence of Satan.”
Fortunately, the judge ruled that she was suffering from insanity rather than guilty of heresy, saving her from execution. The court ordered public prayers for her rehabilitation, and her family provided her with a protective cross.
2. Catherine Monvoisin (“La Voisin”)
Catherine Monvoisin was a notorious French fortune teller, sorceress, and healer married to a Parisian jeweler. She developed a thriving commercial enterprise creating everything from love philters to abortifacients.
Her dark reputation eventually reached the highest echelons of the French nobility, counting Madame de Montespan—the official mistress of King Louis XIV—among her elite clientele. She was eventually arrested during the infamous “Affaire des Poisons” (Affair of the Poisons), a massive conspiracy trial that accused prominent nobles of witchcraft, murder, and treason. After confessing to poisoning plots and organizing black masses, La Voisin was sentenced to death and burned at the stake in 1680.
3. Alice Kyteler
Dame Alice Kyteler holds the historical distinction of being the first person officially tried for witchcraft in Ireland during the early 14th century. Suspicion arose when her four wealthy husbands died in rapid succession from mysterious, debilitating illnesses.
Following the death of her fourth spouse, her stepchildren accused her of sorcery and lethal poisoning to secure financial control over the estates. A raid on her residence uncovered suspicious ritualistic objects, leading to charges of sacrificing animals to demonic entities. Despite the high-stakes trial, Alice managed to exploit her political connections to escape to England, vanishing from the records and never facing execution.
4. Úrsula Southeil (“Mother Shipton”)
Known famously as Mother Shipton, she remains one of England’s most legendary prophetesses, whose ominous vaticinations and verses were regarded as astonishingly accurate decades after her passing.
Úrsula was born with severe physical deformities, which quickly led local villagers to label her the “devil’s daughter.” Despite being marginalized and heavily stigmatized as a sinister witch, she was never legally prosecuted by the state. She lived to the advanced age of 73, and her collected prophecies were published for the first time in 1641, eighty years after her natural death.
