logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2024
32m 35s

Inside the Witch Trials: Iceland | The M...

History Hit
About this episode

When we think of the witch trials, we often think of women being charged.


Whilst misogyny was at the heart of many of the witch trials, this isn't the full story.


In this second episode of a limited series, Inside the Witch Trials, we go back to the the Westfjords of Iceland, to find out why it was mostly men, not women, who were burned at the stake for witchcraft.


How did society differ to the rest of Europe at this time? How did Iceland's history of magic impact ideas around witchcraft? And what hope did you have if you were accused of being a witch?


Kate is joined by Dr. Ólína Kjerulf Þorvarðardóttir, Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Bifröst.


This episode was edited and produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.


Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign here for up to 50% for 3 months using code BETWIXT


You can take part in our listener survey here.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Nov 21
Did Henry VIII Have An Affair With Anne Boleyn's Sister?
<p>She was 'the Other Boleyn Girl' - Anne's sister, Mary, who supposedly had an affair with King Henry VIII. Such drama!</p><br><p>What evidence is there that the two got betwixt the sheets together? How likely was it?!</p><br><p>Joining Kate today is the historian and author, Es ... Show More
38m 50s
Nov 18
The Truth About Roald Dahl
<p>The Twits, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda. Roald Dahl wrote some of the world's most loved children's books.</p><br><p>But what do we know about the man himself? Was he really a spy? Was he a good husband? And why have some editions of his books been edited?</p><br ... Show More
48m 34s
Nov 14
Sex and Scandal of Medieval Royals
What did Queen Isabella of France do to deserve the nickanem She-Wolf? What sex scandals happened in the 14th century? And why did the Black Death improve peoples' sex lives?!Joining Kate today is the fantastic author and historian, Helen Carr, to take us back to this time to fin ... Show More
53m 49s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2024
Bonus episode: Witches in Art
This is a (Halloween special!) bonus episode that explores the image of Witches in Art, as told by Professor Lyndal Roper! What is a witch? Where does it stem from? Why is she so often an old woman, who is harmful and evil? How did this perpetuate the way women were treated in hi ... Show More
29m 31s
Oct 2021
Women and Witch Hunts in Scotland and England
<p>Season 3, Episode 11. Between 1450 and 1750, some 100,000 Europeans were tried for witchcraft, and some of the most intense periods of witchy panic took place in Scotland and England. Most, but not all, of these so-called witches were women. During this special Halloween episo ... Show More
47m 35s
Apr 2025
The Salem Witch Trials
For more than two centuries, between the late 1400s and early 1700s, a terror of witches gripped Europe. From Scotland to Spain, thousands of people were accused, tortured and executed. But as the hysteria faded in Europe, it crossed the Atlantic. In 1692, in New England, it took ... Show More
58m 58s
Nov 2024
The Witches of Lorraine
<p>**This episode contains brief descriptions of tortures**</p><br><p>Between 1570 and 1630 there was intense persecution as thousands of people were accused of being witches in Lorraine, a small duchy on the borders of France and the Holy Roman Empire. Suspicion spread like a de ... Show More
42m 33s
Mar 2025
Ireland's Witchcraft Trials
<p>In 1711, a wave of terror gripped the Islandmagee peninsula in County Antrim. First there was the haunting and supernatural murder of a local clergyman's wife. Then 18-year-old Mary Dunbar suffered violent convulsions, levitation and vomiting of pins, feathers, and buttons, sp ... Show More
44 m
Aug 2024
Salem Witch Trials: Hysteria & Accusations
<p>First of two episodes on the Salem Witch Trials. We begin the story as accusations are made throughout the town of Salem and a climate of fear is palpable. Maddy Pelling takes Anthony Delaney into the most famous witch trials of all time.</p><br><p>Written by Maddy Pelling. E ... Show More
47m 55s
Nov 2024
Part One: Witches: Witches Were Pretty Cool Even Though They Didn't Really Exist
Margaret tells you about the history of European witchcraft and the witch trials and how it all came down to a contest between Catholics and Protestants to see who could murder the most people.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 
22m 38s
Oct 13
Voices of Thunder: Radical Women of the 17th Century
In 17th-century England, women weren’t asked what they believed, they were generally told to obey. But amid civil war, revolution, and religious upheaval, a remarkable group of women risked everything to speak out. They preached, prophesied and published their defiance, surviving ... Show More
46m 58s
Sep 27
CLASSIC: The Malleus Maleficarum: A Real-life Witch Hunter's Bible
During Europe's period of witchcraft hysteria, one enterprising (and failed) witch hunter sought to bolster his reputation by creating an authoritative text on the existence, discovery and persecution of witches. While it may seem silly now, the Malleus Maleficarum was a runaway ... Show More
33m 46s