The Reformation did not of course alter the belief in the forms and effect of witchcraft. If anything the activities increased when exorcism and benedictions came from approved usage. One important change, however, was that the State, the Crown, now presumed to be highest instance even in religious cases. The Crown was, as Melanchthon put it, custodian of both the tablets of the Law of Moses (custos utriusque tabulae). Once the ranks had joined within the Church and a new, fairly uniform generation of Protestant priests had come to office under Gustav Wasa’s sons it can be seen how the clerics tried to influence the secular trials of witchcraft cases. The courts, however, were not prepared to accept any large-scale extension of the statutes on witchcraft, although demands for such an extension had evidently been put forward and discussed. ”Though there may be several opinions in this matter, it is, however, finally agreed upon and decided to keep within the limits given in the Law of Sweden which states that there must be a valid case and six witnesses, or a personal spoken confession, before anyone is condemned to death.” (Stockholm 1593) The Church’s demands for a systematic purge were demonstrated in no uncertain terms at the Great Inquisition conducted by Archbishop Abraham in 1596 in the south. The methods he employed aroused the indignation of both peasants and nobility and incurred severe criticism from Duke Karl, the regent. ”Evangelical penance is to be performed without physical violence (sine vi corporali). The archbishop’s methods are highly reminiscent of the papal tyranny. Inquiries and punishments are matters of urgency for the secular authorities.” 2.3. During the decades around 1600 we find trials taking place in which continental ideas and legal practice can be distinguished. Interrogations on journeys to Blåkulla and maleficium are accompanied by water ordeals, shaving and formal torture. Apart from a few notable exceptions these trials are restricted to Götaland in the south. Torture was in principle forbidden in Swedish legal proceedings, and was rarely used except in political trials. It is therefore significant that coercive methods were openly and regularly employed in witchcraft cases, often by direct royal decree. In 1614 a bailiff in Småland who used torture was brought before the Court of Appeal. The local court in a defence petition pointed out that torture was used in a witchcraft interrogation. The suspect had been questioned about maleficium ”and nothing else”. Other praxis also indicates that both the Court of Appeal and the Crown, at least up to circa 1620, regarded torture as justifiable and suitable in witchcraft cases. Later on other methods become more common against suspects who refuse to confess their crime. They are condemned to death and are led out to the place of execution ”in the firm belief that they were about to die”. A priest reminds them of the conditions for the salvation of the soul and urges them finally to confess. Those who then submit are executed on the spot, those 327
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