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Geske, or ''Horegeske'', (Floruit 1597), was an alleged Scandinavian witch, Swedish woman of Danish descent, put on trial for witchcraft. Her trial was one of the first witch trials in Sweden, the first Swedish witch trial involving references to the Devil and was potentially the first Swedish witch trial where the sabbath of Satan was mentioned. ==Geske's trial== In September 1597, Geske and another woman, Brita Åkesdotter, widow of Hans Profoss, were put on trial accused of witchcraft in the city of Stockholm. Her nickname Horegeske means "Whore-Geske", and she was possibly a prostitute. According to the documents of the trial, she was originally from Denmark. Geske was accused of depriving people of "power and courage". A widow and her son claimed she had put them through much hardship, despite the fact that they had submitted to her blackmail and given her a "''Gold-ring, money and a piece of gold",'' while Brita was accused of having left magical butter and the feet of a rooster in a house and thereby making the family of that house sick. Both of them denied the accusations. The known witch Karin, who was known for her ability to point out magicians, testified that both Horegeske and Brita belonged to ''"The breed that are riding" ''. Karin claimed that she had often seen them at the Sabbath of Satan in Blåkulla and they both had the mark of him on their bodies - and she added, that Brita recently had had intercourse with the Devil. She encouraged the court to undress Brita so they would be able to see her mark, and claimed that Geske's mark was up her nose. The claims of Karin represented a change in attitude about sorcery and magic in Sweden; until the late 16th century, magic was not seen as a very serious crime in Sweden, nor did it involve references to the devil; this is perhaps the first time the Devil was mentioned in a Swedish witch trial. The records of 1597 states; ''" she was not of the good kind; she was also of the breed that rides to Blockula and it is not long since she fucked with the Devil. But she was encouraged to tell the truth and not to show lies and fraud."'' Karin adds, that she herself and many other women in the city often had sex with the Devil, and the trial against Geske and Brita grew until about over ten women were suspected, and was in danger of becoming a mass trial. Many reports came into the court about magic, where they were said to have hidden bites of bones from humans and animals "and many other such evil things, that were hidden under the floor of her cottage". The absence of any real witch law and the lack of experience in dealing with witch trials, however, made the authorities unwilling to let the whole affair develop into a mass trial, which might have been the reason that Geske and Brita were, in the end, treated with mildness. The court remained doubtful about her guilt. The authorities kept Geske in prison for some time, though it is not known what happened to Brita, or to Geske after this. The poor documentation is typical of Swedish witch trials before 1668. During the witch trials of the 1590s most of the condemned witches were not executed; the normal punishment was whipping. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Geske」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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