By Linda Hall •
Updated: 30 Nov 2024 • 13:06 • 2 minutes read
Women put to death in the Netherlands because they were believed to be witches will have a monument to them in Roermond (Limburg).
Susan Smit, Bregje Hofstede and Manja Bedner, three feminist campaigners decided in 2023 that women who were hanged or burned alive deserved a monument and created the Nationaal Heksenmonument (National Witches Monument) foundation in 2023.
The first time that a woman was killed for witchcraft in the Netherlands was 1472 and official records show that 248 women died over the centuries in 44 different towns and cities. The last was executed in 1674 but, as the National Witches Monument website points out, it was impossible to know exactly how many lost their lives.
Archives are incomplete, and people who succumbed during interrogation were often not recorded at all.
89 witches put to death in Roermond
Roermond, Oudewater and Montferland put themselves forward for the monument, as all have a history of witch trials and executions.
The foundation requested feedback from the public as to where the monument should be located and Roermond was eventually chosen because 89 “witches” were put to death there. The monument will be sited next to the Rattentoren, all that remains of the mediaeval town and the prison where women suspected of witchcraft were incarcerated.
Oudetwater was soon out of the running as the accused received a fairer deal there as supposed witches were weighed on scales that are still on display at the Witches Weighhouse.
If their weight matched their body mass, this indicated that they were too heavy to fly on a broomstick, thus proving their innocence. No-one who stepped onto the official scales was ever found light enough to be a witch, records show.
Monument will raise awareness of contemporary misogyny
The monument, which is expected to be put in place by 2025 or 2026 at the latest, aims to contribute to restoring the reputations of the victims, the Nationaal Heksenmonument said.
“It will also raise awareness and education regarding persecution of witches and their cultural heritage in the form of contemporary misogyny, femicide and scapegoating,” the organisation said.
“Every eight days a woman is killed and witch hunts still take place in 44 countries, primarily in Africa and India,” the foundation said.
To date, the committee has raised over €40,000 for the monument and says more donations are still welcome to help its work that focuses on present-day violence against women.
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Originally from the UK, Linda is based in Valenca province and is a reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering local news. Got a news story you want to share?
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