The 10 unusual male witch trials of early modern Europe uncover a shadowy chapter where men, not just women, found themselves tangled in accusations of sorcery, devilry, and supernatural intrigue. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, tens of thousands were put to death for witchcraft, and while the majority were women, a surprising handful of men faced the same fiery fate.
10 Unusual Male Cases of Witchcraft
10 John Fian
In the waning months of 1589, King James VI of Scotland set sail for Scandinavia to wed Princess Anne of Denmark. A ferocious storm stalled the royal vessel, and Danish officials hastily blamed the tempest on witchcraft, arresting and executing six alleged witches. Back in Scotland, rumors swirled that a cabal of sorcerers had plotted to sink the king’s ship, and a schoolmaster named John Fian was named as a chief conspirator.
Legend has it that Fian possessed uncanny abilities: he could glide through the air and unlock doors merely by exhaling upon their locks. One particularly outlandish tale recounts how he instructed a local boy to steal pubic hair from his sister for a love charm, only to be duped with cow hair, which allegedly caused a cow to fall hopelessly in love with him.
Captured on charges of treason and witchcraft, Fian endured brutal torture. He initially confessed, escaped, was recaptured, and then endured further torment that left his nails ripped out and his legs crushed. Despite his defiant refusal to recant, King James VI remained unconvinced. Ultimately, Fian was strangled and then burned at the stake in Edinburgh in January 1591.
9 Thomas Weir
Thomas Weir, a hardened veteran of the English Civil War and a respected, devout elder in Edinburgh, would have seemed an unlikely witch. Yet in 1670, a sudden and shocking breakdown revealed a lifetime of hidden sins. From the age of 16 until she was 50, his sister Jane reported that Weir had repeatedly taken advantage of her, and he had also committed acts of bestiality with mares and cows, as well as illicit affairs with his stepdaughter and maid.
When the scandal leaked, both siblings were arrested for incest. Jane corroborated the lurid accusations and added that her brother and she were witches. Weir openly confessed to witchcraft, claiming he had consorted with the Devil and that his walking stick was, in fact, a wand.
While Jane eventually showed remorse and was convicted of witchcraft, Weir remained unrepentant. Both were sentenced to death, though only Jane received a formal witchcraft conviction. Their tragic end underscores how even the most pious could fall under the dark cloud of witch hysteria.
8 John Walsh
Not every practitioner of magic in early modern Europe was deemed malevolent. In England and Wales, the so‑called “white witch” performed benevolent deeds, often called a cunning‑man, wise‑woman, or conjuror to avoid the stigma attached to the word witch. Despite their popularity among locals, these folk healers were not immune to legal scrutiny.
In August 1566, John Walsh, an English white witch, was detained in Essex and interrogated about his alleged powers. He claimed communion with fairies and asserted he could discern when a person had been bewitched. Walsh also spoke of a familiar—a supernatural helper that could appear as a dog, bird, or a cloven‑footed man—capable of identifying thieves and revealing the locations of stolen goods.
Walsh swore he never harmed anyone with his magic. The ultimate fate of his case remains murky; English courts typically hanged witches rather than burn them, and convictions were rare. It is possible Walsh was acquitted and released, but the historical record offers no definitive answer.
7 Thomas Looten
In September 1659, merchant Thomas Looten found himself embroiled in a macabre rumor: a neighbor boy had died after receiving a plum from Looten. The townsfolk whispered that the fruit was bewitched, and the boy’s untimely death seemed to confirm their fears. Seeking to clear his name, Looten boldly petitioned the bailiff to arrest him and grant a formal trial.
Confident he would prevail without a lawyer or counter‑evidence, Looten’s optimism quickly dissolved. Witnesses testified against him, and a torturer claimed to have discovered the Devil’s mark upon his body. Under the strain of a garrote, Looten confessed to attending sabbaths and claimed his wealth derived from demonic sources.
The confession suited the authorities perfectly. Looten died in jail a day after his admission, his wounds proving fatal. His corpse was burned publicly, and his property seized and sold to cover court expenses, sealing his grim legacy.
6 Quiwe Baarsen
The Sami, Indigenous peoples of Scandinavia, possessed a deep shamanic tradition. For centuries, Norwegians consulted Sami shamans, who claimed the ability to foretell the future and journey beyond their bodies. Central to their rites was a ritual drum that induced trance and allowed the shaman’s spirit to wander.
In 1625, shaman Quiwe Baarsen was hired by a Norwegian named Niels Jonsen to conjure wind for a voyage to the village of Hasvåg. Later, Jonsen’s wife returned, requesting another wind spell to guide her husband’s ship home. Baarsen obliged, but the ensuing gale proved too fierce, and Jonsen and his crew drowned in the storm.
Two years later, in May 1627, Baarsen stood trial in Hasvåg. He openly admitted to creating wind for Jonsen’s vessel and explained the workings of his drum. The Christian court, however, interpreted his testimony as proof of witchcraft, holding him responsible for the drownings and sentencing him to be burned at the stake.
5 Andrew Man
Today, fairies are seen as harmless folklore, yet early modern interrogators sometimes regarded them as demonic disguises or delusions wrought by Satan. Those who claimed intimate contact with fairies could find themselves prosecuted for witchcraft.
In Scotland, several trials mentioned the Queen of Elphame, a fairy monarch married to an angel named Christsonday. Andrew Man, an elderly man tried in 1597, proclaimed a sexual relationship with this fairy queen. He recounted meeting her at the tender age of seven, after which she granted him the power to heal any animal or human.
Man also boasted of other supernatural abilities: stealing a cow’s milk, foretelling the future, and summoning his familiar—Christsonday—by uttering the word “Benedicite.” He even claimed to have kissed Christsonday’s bottom in reverence. To the inquisitors, these bizarre admissions reeked of devilry, and Man was ultimately burned at the stake for witchcraft.
4 Johannes Junius
Between 1624 and 1631, the German city of Bamberg witnessed a wave of hysteria that saw nearly 300 people burned for witchcraft. The paranoia seeped even into the city’s governance, and in June 1628, mayor Johannes Juniur was interrogated after alleged sightings of him at nocturnal sabbaths.
Initially steadfast in his innocence, Junius eventually cracked under torture. He confessed to encountering a demon woman who transformed into a goat, threatening to snap his neck unless he surrendered his soul. The demon reappeared, introducing more infernal entities, and forced Junius to renounce God and worship Satan.
Adopting the name Krix, Junius claimed the demon woman became his lover, urging him to murder his children—a command he resisted, prompting the demon to beat him. In a final act of defiance, Junius penned a secret letter to his daughter, declaring his confessions were “sheer lies” crafted to stave off further torture. He also noted that some of his accusers confessed to perjury and apologized before meeting their own ends.
3 William Godfrey
In 1609, farmer William Godfrey rented a house in New Romney, England, to a couple named John and Susan Barber. The Barbers soon reported eerie dripping and knocking sounds emanating from the ceiling, convincing them the house was haunted. After the birth of their child, Susan swore three familiars sent by Godfrey attempted to steal the infant.
The Barbers abandoned the residence, and the next occupants, the Holtons, suffered similar spectral disturbances. When the Holtons’ son fell ill in 1614, he died an hour after Godfrey visited the house, further cementing his reputation as a malevolent force.
Neighbors finally pressed charges in April 1617. William Clarke, a man convinced Godfrey had bewitched his ducks, became the first witness. During the prolonged trial, Clarke and Godfrey even got into a physical altercation after Godfrey jested about cursing Clarke’s mare. Despite the mounting testimonies, the court acquitted Godfrey in February 1618, instead fining Clarke for assault.
2 Chonrad Stoeckhlin
Chonrad Stoeckhlin was a healer and horse‑wrangler residing in Oberstdorf, Germany. In 1579, he claimed a guardian angel whisked him away on nocturnal journeys to a “strange and distant place.” Accompanied by ethereal travelers known as night phantoms, Stoeckhlin’s voyages allegedly endowed him with powerful healing abilities and the capacity to identify witches.
Armed with these revelations, Stoeckhlin accused a woman named Anna Enzensbergerin of witchcraft in 1586. While Enzensbergerin faced arrest, Stoeckhlin himself was seized for his own alleged sorcery. Authorities interpreted his night‑phantom tales as evidence of witchcraft, viewing his guardian angel as a demonic entity and the distant realm as a sabbath.
Further damning testimony emerged when Enzensbergerin and another accused woman confirmed that Stoeckhlin’s mother had been a witch. After enduring the customary torture, Stoeckhlin confessed that his stories were true. Ironically, the man who once brandished the title “witch‑finder” was sentenced to burn at the stake in January 1587.
1 Louis Gaufridi
In 1609, French priest Father Romillon grew convinced that two nuns, Madeleine and Louise, were possessed by demons. Their convulsions and screams during exorcism attempts intensified the suspicion. Madeleine accused a priest named Louis Gaufridi of raping her at the age of nine and of using spells to fill her with demonic forces.
Months passed without any improvement, and additional accusations surfaced during a second exorcism. In February 1611, Gaufridi was apprehended and interrogated. He admitted to being a witch, explaining that he had discovered a magical tome among his uncle’s belongings. While reading, he inadvertently summoned a demon who struck a bargain: in exchange for his soul, the demon would advance Gaufridi’s career and make any woman fall irrevocably in love with him.
Both Gaufridi and Madeleine testified that they had attended sabbaths together. In April of the same year, Gaufridi was strangled and burned at the stake. Unsurprisingly, Madeleine herself was later charged with witchcraft, receiving a life sentence that was reduced after she served ten years.
Tristan Shaw runs a blog called Bizarre and Grotesque, where he writes about crime, folklore, and unsolved mysteries.