On beautiful summer days when peace and quiet reign in Mollösund it’s hard to imagine the time when people lost their lives in the cruellest way when neighbours and acquaintances accused them of practising magic. Some believed that witches were only figments of the imagination, while others put faith in what educated priests and judges said about black magic. In a witch trial in Marstrand in 1669 Bohus governor Harald Stake ordered local officials in Orust and Tjörn to “detect, ransack and judge” everyone in the area who was guilty of performing black magic. This gave many the “possibility” of accusing suspected people and investigating strange things.

Accusations eventually resulted in trials, where the standard of evidence varied enormously. At the first hearing, the accused admitted or denied the offence. In the case of an early admission, others were often pointed out as able to perform magic, and these people were also questioned. The accused told of events that had so far been unexplained, and the amount of evidence increased in this way. They testified that people who could perform magic had “inflicted illness” on people, summoned up storms that sank ships and taken part in ceremonies with Satan as a guest. Even handicapped people were blamed of witchcraft, and the expression arose, “You don’t get a hunchback without having something to atone for.”

One man was accused of having said to a girl that she would never marry. This prediction turned out to be true, as she never did marry, and he was accused of having magical powers. The man denied the charge and had to undergo a test of his Christian faith, which he passed with flying colours. However the audience knew that “evil powers can provide the correct answers”. To force a confession they continued with water tests, fasting and torture in the iron maiden. The water test was an old Danish trial method whereby the accused was tied up and thrown into the sea to see whether they would float or sink to the bottom. If the accused floated, it must have been the Devil who helped to prevent drowning.

The court announced its judgements with the motivation that they were of the opinion that “those who were absolutely guilty of witchcraft had cost others their lives.” Punishment could result in being burned alive at the stake or being decapitated and then burned. The latter was considered a much milder form of punishment. In other cases the accused were so weak that they died while incarcerated. Many withdrew their confessions at the execution, and begged for mercy, but it was too late. The only way to escape the accusations was for someone else to swear to the accused’s innocence. In this first witchcraft commission five Mollösund residents lost their lives. The witch hunts continued throughout the country, and before they ended no less than 29 people had been executed in Bohuslän.