Salem witch trials Salem witch trials The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused, nineteen of whom were found guilty and executed by hanging (fourteen women and five men). One other man, Giles Corey, was pressed to death for refusing to plead, and at least five people died in jail. It was the deadliest witch hunt in the history of the United States. Twelve other women had previously been executed in Massachusetts and Connecticut during the 17th century. Despite being
Vardø witch trials (1621) Vardø witch trials (1621) The Vardø witch trials ("Heksejakten i Vardø"), which took place in Vardø in Finnmark in Northern Norway in 1621, was the first major witch trial of Northern Norway, and one of the biggest witch trials in Scandinavia. On 24 December 1617 Eastern Finnmark in northern Norway suffered a terrible storm, where "sea and sky became one." This happened suddenly, "as if loosened from a bag." A great majority of the male population was out at sea at that time and were surprised by the storm, which sank ten boats and drowned forty men. The same year,