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40 Real People Executed for Witchcraft

Tim Flight October 15, 2019 27 min

17. Anne de Chantraine confessed to witchcraft to avoid torture, but the authorities tortured her anyway before strangling and burning her to death

Anne de Chantraine found unlikely fame long after her death when this video board game starring her was released in the early 1990s. Amazon

We haven’t room to discuss torture here, but don’t doubt it was a dreadful prospect. Beyond the pain, refusing to ‘confess’ made interrogators suspect demons were helping the accused resist, and just increased its intensity. Take Anne de Chantraine, for instance. This pretty 19-year-old Belgian girl was arrested for witchcraft – does it matter why?! – in 1622. Rather than face torture, she gave a lurid confession to all manner of diabolic activities. Unfortunately, her confession was so compelling that her interrogator wanted to hear more. He thus resorted to torture anyway, before burning poor Anne at the stake in 1622.

Written by

Tim Flight

I am a freelance historical and literary writer based in West Yorkshire, UK. I read for a funded PhD in English at the University of Oxford (Magdalen College) and graduated in 2016. I am a former lecturer in Medieval English Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London. My publications include peer-reviewed articles in academic publications, and pieces in mainstream magazines such as History Today and Fortean Times. For more information, please see www.drflight.co.uk