The dark history of witch trials in Hungary

The history of witch trials in Hungary hits closer to home than we might think: people who became victims of fear and superstition, often within their own communities. While witch hunts in Hungary were not as bloody or widespread as in other parts of Europe, hundreds of people were accused between the 16th and 18th centuries—many of them innocent. These trials not only shed light on a darker past but also show how social dynamics and human fears helped shape our history.

Witch trials in Hungary

Hungary’s witch trials occupy a unique place among the medieval and early modern European witch hunts. Unlike in Western Europe, where persecution was frequent and brutal, Hungary followed a different path. The first major legal intervention came in the early 12th century from King Coloman the Learned, who ruled that people should not speak of “strigas”—bloodsucking witches—effectively curbing the spread of superstition-based witch trials, as noted by Birtokélet. Nevertheless, from the 16th to 18th centuries—especially during the war-torn and politically unstable period of the tripartite division of Hungary—two major waves of persecution emerged, during which hundreds were accused of witchcraft.

The Szeged witch hunt

As detailed in Gergely Brandl’s doctoral dissertation, one of the most infamous and tragic episodes of Hungarian witch trials occurred in the early 18th century in Szeged. In 1728 alone, over twenty people were accused of witchcraft in the city. Twelve of them—both men and women—were burned at the stake on Witch Island. Confessions were often extracted under torture, and the accusations targeted not only marginalised individuals but also members of the local elite. As such, political and financial motivations may have influenced many of the verdicts. The theme is also portrayed in Sándor Lukácsy’s play Rebeka: