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:

They say there are no witches in Szeged,
But they’re as plenty as blades of grass in a meadow.
A witch cursed me, they say:
A brown-eyed girl from Szeged with eyes like sloes.

Be careful, friend, guard your heart well—
Don’t go to Witch Island!
Every Szeged girl goes there,
That’s where they gain their witching ways.

Budapest’s Witch Mountain

Behind many witch trials were not just superstitions and religious laws but also social tensions, fear of the unknown, jealousy, and malice. Among the accused were often midwives, healers, and women who defied social norms or possessed unusual knowledge. According to an article in Nők Lapja, Gellért Hill—long considered a meeting place for witches—frequently appears in Hungarian folklore and court records as a site where witches allegedly revelled with the devil and performed rituals.

The end of witch trials

By the mid-18th century, under the reign of Maria Theresa, witch trials in Hungary began to fade. Her decrees introduced stricter legal procedures to prevent arbitrary rulings, shifting oversight of the trials to the Royal Chancellery and ending ecclesiastical and local judicial autonomy. The last known witch trials in Hungary took place during this period. While Hungary’s witch trials were indeed bloody and tragic, they were less widespread and lasted a shorter time compared to those in other European nations due to the country’s legal system and social structure.

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