The 17th century witch trials in northern Moravia: was everything really as we thought?

The witch trials in northern Moravia claimed nearly two hundred lives and remain one of the darkest episodes in the history of today's Czechia. In Blood in Bohemia, a special series of Czechast, Vít Pohanka and Rob Cameron revisit the story with historian Jaroslav Čechura. The episode explores both the traditional interpretation of the trials and a thought-provoking new perspective on their origins.

Hammer to the Witch|Photo: © Barrandov Studio a.s.

The witch trials that swept through northern Moravia during the late seventeenth century have become a symbol of fear, torture and injustice. More than a hundred people lost their lives in the main wave of persecutions, while many others saw their families and communities destroyed. Yet, as the latest episode of Blood in Bohemia shows, the story is more complex than it is often portrayed.

A European tragedy

Photo: T. Colley, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

Although the Moravian witch trials occupy a unique place in Czech history, they formed part of a much broader European phenomenon. Tens of thousands of people were executed for witchcraft between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, particularly in the German-speaking regions of Central Europe.

Historian Jaroslav Čechura argues that northern Moravia's geographical and cultural position helps explain why the persecutions became so extensive: "Northern Moravia was historically a German-speaking region. What mattered was that it was part of this wider German-speaking cultural world." So, according to Jaroslav Čechura, the phenomenon spread from neighbouring Silesia, where witch hunts were even more intense.

More than one interpretation

Hammer to the Witch|Photo: © Barrandov Studio a.s.

The episode revisits the well-known story of the woman whose theft of a consecrated host triggered the trials on the Velké Losiny estate. It also examines the lasting influence of Otakar Vávra's classic 1969 film Hammer to the Witch, which portrayed inquisitor Jindřich

František Boblig as the embodiment of judicial corruption and greed.

Jaroslav Čechura|Photo: Jan Sklenář, Czech Radio

Jaroslav Čechura, however, offers a different perspective. In his recent book The Chronicle of One Madness, he argues that the trials were not the beginning of the story but a violent legal reaction to activities that had been taking place for years.

"The witch trials were essentially the legal reaction to something that had been going on for a long time. They were the response, not the beginning of the story."

His interpretation has prompted debate among historians, many of whom continue to emphasise the role of torture, fear and judicial abuse in driving the persecutions.

Why the story still matters

The episode also explores lesser-known aspects of the trials, including the alleged witches' gatherings at Petrovy kameny in the Jeseníky Mountains, the predominance of women among the accused, and even Heinrich Himmler's fascination with European witch hunts. During the Second World War, the SS created a vast archive documenting thousands of historical witchcraft cases, some of which Čechura has studied firsthand.

Names of the victims of the witch trials in Jeseník|Photo: Jitka Mládková, Radio Prague International

Beyond the historical debate, Blood in Bohemia places the Moravian witch trials within their wider European context. While northern Moravia witnessed one of the largest witch persecutions in the Czech lands, it was ultimately just one chapter in a continent-wide tragedy—one that still serves as a reminder of how fear, suspicion and the search for scapegoats can overwhelm justice.

Listen to Blood in Bohemia to get the full picture.