1655: Grete Adrian, Ruethen witch
July 5th, 2013 Headsman
On this date in 1655, Grete Adrian heard her final condemnation as a witch, then was ushered to the marketplace of Ruethen where she was beheaded and burned.
A remarried widow, Grete was the daughter of a woman who in her own day had been suspected of witchcraft; Grete had lost siblings to witch-hunts during the recent Thirty Years War.
The family history with devilry would help to implicate her when allegations arose that she had produced milk by conjuration and turned into a wolf to kill a neighbor’s horse. Grete didn’t stand up to the torture very long; within a couple of days she agreed that she had taken the devil as a lover, cast malevolent spells, attended witches’ covens, and all the usual Hexenprozesse stuff. All she asked was for quick execution.
In 2011, schoolchildren from Ruethen’s Friedrich-Spee-School — its namesake was a noted critic of torture and witch trials in the 17th century — successfully petitioned local authorities to issue a blanket posthumous pardon for 169 men, women and children executed for witchcraft between 1573 and 1660 … Grete Adrian included.
On this day..
- 1945: Harold Pringle, the last Canadian military execution - 2020
- 2010: Akram al-Samawi - 2019
- 1530: Johnnie Armstrong, border reiver - 2018
- 1723: Thomas Athoe the Elder, and Thomas Athoe the Younger - 2017
- 1453: The garrison of Poucques, Jacques de Lalaing's cannonball killers - 2016
- 2007: Jafar Kiani, stoned - 2015
- 1731: Jose de Antequera, Paraguayan comunero rebel - 2014
- 1691: Jack Collet, sacrilegious burglar - 2012
- 1983: Aleksandr Kravchenko, in Chikatilo's place - 2011
- 1917: Gasim, by Lawrence of Arabia - 2010
- 1600: Jean Livingston, Lady Waristoun - 2009
- Themed Set: The Ballad - 2009
- 1947: Ding Mocun, not as hot a lay in real life - 2008
Entry Filed under: 17th Century,Beheaded,Burned,Capital Punishment,Death Penalty,Execution,Germany,History,Public Executions,Torture,Witchcraft,Women
Tags: 1650s, 1655, friedrich spee, grete adrian, july 5, ruethen
