When societies crumble under drought, disease, or religious strife, scapegoats often emerge. In most historic witch hunts, women—especially the elderly, poor, or socially ostracized—bore the brunt of suspicion. While men occasionally faced accusations, the overwhelming majority of the condemned were female. Yet nothing short of a scandal could land a woman before a judge. How did seemingly ordinary circumstances become damning evidence? Below are ten truly outrageous reasons that sent women to the gallows.
10 Being Too Sick to Get Out of Bed and Go to Church
In modern times, staying home when ill is a civic duty; in 17th‑century Massachusetts, the Puritans demanded relentless church attendance. Sarah Osburn, a 49‑year‑old Salem resident, had already sparked controversy by marrying a much younger indentured servant and claiming her late husband’s estate, contrary to his will. When the afflicted girls Abigail Williams and Betty Parris alleged that Osburn had attacked them, her past scandals offered little defense. Moreover, villagers noted she had missed church services for three years.
Osburn, bedridden by chronic illness, told magistrates that a “lying spirit” had urged her to avoid church. She insisted she defied the spirit and kept attending until her health failed. The officials remained unconvinced, imprisoning her pending trial. The filthy, rat‑infested Salem jail proved fatal for the frail woman; after nine weeks she died before any verdict could be rendered.
9 Featuring in Someone’s Nightmare
The final and deadliest wave of Scottish witch trials erupted in 1661 in Lothian. Beatrix Leslie, an elderly midwife from Dalkeith, was a prime target—her argumentative nature and use of folk remedies made her suspect. After two girls she cared for died, the couple she had served claimed they suffered terrifying nightmares in which Leslie attacked and devoured them.
Thirty years later, when Salem’s courts debated the admissibility of spectral evidence, Scottish precedent was cited. Victims often described a specter—a phantom version of the accused or an animal they had become—tormenting them in dreams. Leslie’s alleged nightmare victims provided sufficient cause for witch‑finder John Kindcaid to examine her. He pricked her for the devil’s mark and forced her to touch the corpses of the girls, claiming the bodies bled at her touch. Under duress, Leslie confessed to meeting the devil twice and agreeing to serve him, and was executed in September 1661.
8 Having a Cat Named Satan
In 1566 Chelmsford, England, a seemingly trivial pet name sealed a woman’s fate. Elizabeth Francis, an elderly pauper with a tarnished reputation, faced three trials for witchcraft. She confessed that her grandmother had given her a cat that spoke, demanding drops of her blood. The cat allegedly helped her poison livestock, humans, and even provided instructions for an abortion after a lover impregnated her.
When the lover fell ill and died after Francis used the potion, the cat was blamed for the murder. Although a clerical error reduced her sentence to a year in prison instead of death, her sister Agnes Waterhouse was not so fortunate. Waterhouse, tried alongside Francis, was accused of gifting the cat—named Satan—to her sister, thereby inheriting its magical abilities. She faced charges of killing her husband and spreading sickness. While Waterhouse denied using the cat for murder, she admitted instructing Satan to maim neighbors’ barn animals. Her 18‑year‑old daughter Joan testified against her, claiming she had heard her mother invoke the devil through the cat and had tried, unsuccessfully, to exorcise the animal. This testimony secured Waterhouse’s place in history as England’s first woman executed for witchcraft.
7 Healing a Sick Child
Anna Goldi, often cited as Europe’s last person executed for witchcraft, endured a life of hardship. Born into poverty, she was twice impregnated by men who never married her, and lost one infant. Accused of killing the child, she endured public humiliation in the pillory. In 1780, she entered the service of Johann Tschudi, a wealthy physician in Glarus, Switzerland.
When Tschudi’s children began finding pins in their food, Goldi was dismissed on suspicion of harming them. Within a week, his young daughter fell violently ill—Tschudi later claimed the child was vomiting pins. Goldi was summoned back to prove her innocence, as local custom dictated that only the one who caused a child’s illness could heal it. Under threat of torture, she tended the girl, and the child’s health miraculously improved. Ironically, this recovery convinced Tschudi that Goldi had indeed poisoned the child initially. She was arrested, tortured, and eventually confessed to a pact with the devil to harm the girl as revenge for previous mistreatment. Goldi was beheaded in 1782. Rumors suggested a secret affair between Goldi and Tschudi, and the physician allegedly fabricated charges to protect his reputation.
6 Being Identified as a Witch by a Child
Children, with their belief in fairies and Santa, were often enlisted as witnesses in witch trials. While the Salem girls are the most famous, many other cases relied on youthful testimony. In 1670s Sweden, a single witch panic resulted in several hundred executions. Seventy‑one of these took place in the parish of Torsaker, each victim identified by children.
The hunt, spanning 1674‑75, was orchestrated by Laurentius Hornaeus, a ruthless priest who instructed two young boys to linger outside church services and point out witches entering the congregation. He taught them that witches bore a distinctive mark on their foreheads, visible only to children. The boys complied, leading to numerous arrests. Hornaeus employed threats and torture to extract further accusations, with children claiming witches kidnapped them for devilish rites. The ensuing mass trial culminated in the execution of one‑fifth of the parish’s female population.
5 Being in an Abusive Marriage
Bridget Bishop of Salem was notorious for her fiery disputes—not only with neighbors but also with her own husband, Thomas Oliver, her second of three spouses. Oliver was widely regarded as abusive, and Bishop frequently retaliated. Their public quarrels attracted attention, and after a heated argument on a Sabbath day, both were ordered to either pay a hefty fine or stand in the pillory for a day.
Oliver’s adult daughter covered his fine, while Bishop endured the pillory, publicly branding her reputation. When Oliver later fell ill and died, Bishop inherited his estate, leaving his children from a previous marriage destitute. Suspecting sorcery, the step‑children accused Bishop of bewitching Oliver to claim his wealth. Although she was initially found not guilty, the accusation tarnished her standing, leading to her conviction and execution as the first victim of the Salem trials.
4 Losing a Loved One to a Natural Disaster
On Christmas Eve 1617, a violent storm devastated the Norwegian fishing village of Vardo, drowning all the men who were out at sea. The surviving women, left to care for their families, faced suspicion from authorities already wary of the remote community. The harsh climate, with endless mist and snow, fueled rumors that the nearby mountains concealed an entrance to hell.
The area, inhabited by the Indigenous Sami—non‑Christian folk who practiced magic—was quickly targeted. Scottish naval captain John Cunningham was appointed Governor of Finnmark, establishing his base at Vardohus to launch a witch hunt. Under interrogation and torture, resident Mari Jogensdatter confessed that she and other women had summoned the storm as revenge for personal disputes. Several women corroborated her story, claiming they had attended a witches’ sabbath, drank wine, and consorted with the devil. They identified wealthy neighbor Kirsti Sorensdatter as the coven leader.
Both Sorensdatter and Jogensdatter were burned at the stake, igniting Norway’s first major witch hunt. Eventually, ninety more women from Vardo were executed, and the village endured two subsequent hunts that claimed hundreds of lives.
3 Having Argumentative Male Relatives
Rebecca Nurse, a 71‑year‑old respected Salem resident, seemed an unlikely target. Both she and her husband were esteemed community members. However, their move from Salem Towne to Salem Village placed them in a land‑ownership dispute with the affluent Putnam family. Thomas Putnam and his brothers claimed rights to land that Rebecca’s brother Jacob Towne was receiving.
When Putnam’s daughter Ann claimed affliction by a witch, Putnam leveraged the accusation to target the Towne family. Nurse was among those accused. Though the initial trial found her not guilty, the afflicted girls’ hysteria forced the jury to reconsider, ultimately convicting her and sentencing her to death. Several other women from prominent families, including Nurse’s sister Mary, were also executed.
2 Having Veins in Your Eye
Margaret Aitken, dubbed the Great Witch of Balwearie, turned the witch‑hunt on its head. Arrested for witchcraft in 1597, she confessed and claimed she could identify any witch by examining the pattern of veins in a person’s eye. This method promised a quicker alternative to the traditional search for the devil’s mark, which required full‑body inspection and painful pricking.
James VI enthusiastically backed her, organizing a national tour where Aitken examined suspected witches across Scotland. Those she labeled as witches were arrested and tortured into confession. Historians speculate she fabricated this ability to buy time or avoid execution, using the authorities’ desperation to her advantage. After months of sending hundreds of women to their deaths, Aitken’s fraud was exposed, and she was executed.
1 Having a Parent Who Was a Witch—Even if You Were a Child
The final Vardo witch trials of 1661‑62 hinged on accusations against children of previously executed witches. Sisters Ingeborg (12) and Karen Iversdatter (8) were detained at Vardohus in December 1662, their mother having been burned months earlier. Alongside them, twelve‑year‑old Maren Olsdotter, who had lost both her mother and aunt to witch trials, was held in the infamous “witches’ hole.”
Desperate for release, the girls gave vivid confessions: they claimed they could transform into cats, attend a witches’ sabbath, and drink wine with Satan. Maren even described touring hell with an evil spirit. Though too young for execution, their testimonies implicated numerous adult women, leading to further trials and burnings.
When two accused witches presented witnesses asserting the girls had been threatened with torture, the children were labeled liars. Maren, who had offered the most fantastical accounts, was sent to a workhouse, while the other girls were freed.
These ten bizarre allegations illustrate how everyday actions, personal misfortunes, and even innocent childhood fantasies could be twisted into damning evidence, sealing the fates of countless women throughout history.