The Courts say Anna Goldi Did Not Use Powerful Spells
By Joy J. Fine
When looking through history to try to understand why so many women were tortured and put to death because someone claimed they used powerful spells to cause harm to others the case of Anna Goldi stands out as an interesting example. The claim is that Anna was the last woman to be executed in Europe for being a witch. This is particularly strange as it was supposed to be during a time when the people of Europe were denying superstitions and moving on but the truth was that a woman like Anna was dangerous to the male community and claiming she was a witch became the only way for them to protect themselves.
Anna Goldi, known to some as Anna Goldin, first arrived in 1765 in one of the small towns in Switzerland known as Glarus. She quickly found employment there as a housekeeper. Over the next several years she worked for some of the more prominent families in Glarus and in the villages around there. She was an attractive woman, well built, with thick dark hair, dark eyes and a creamy complexion. She was a woman who the men looked at and she was always interested in looking back. Some said she had powerful spells that made them want her. Anna was fond of seducing the men she worked for as well as any man who had money or came from a family who did; single or married, it did not matter. But, in that time having an adulterous relationship was actually against the law. A man could lose his family, his money and standing, everything he had simply by being caught in an adulterous relationship.
Some wonder what Anna was doing, they question what she thought she would get out of life by continuing this behavior. She had a long term affair with a doctor who was considerably younger than she was. The claim is that when she discovered she was pregnant she left the village, had her baby and gave the child away. This was supposed to have occurred in 1774. Shortly after that she got a job housekeeping for another doctor, and local politician, and began a relationship with him. Once again she became pregnant. This time she decided that she no longer wanted all the responsibility and none of the support so she complained to someone at the church. She was encouraged to go to the town administrators and report this doctor for adultery. This would have ended his career both as a doctor and a judge. He could not let that happen.
Before she had the chance to take further action the doctor claimed that she used powerful spells to try to kill one of his daughters by using her powers of witchery to place sewing needles in the bread his daughter ate. He went on to state that his poor child threw up over one hundred of these sewing needles. He accused her of this malicious show of her witchcraft and demanded she be arrested. Based on his charges a price was put on her head and she was quickly arrested and tortured. The tortures were so horrid that she soon confessed to having made a pact with the devil. Not long after that she gave birth to her second child. The baby did not live long. Again she was accused of using powerful spells, but this time it was to murder her own child. She went to trial and although she withdrew her confession she was found guilty of murder and executed in 1782.
She is said to be the last witch executed in Europe. Yes, the powerful spells she was supposed to be capable of conjuring up could not save her life. Recently, in the fall of 2007, the Swiss parliament, after much rallying and agreement from both the protestant and Catholic churches agreed that the trial was illegal and that her name was to be cleared. Two hundred and twenty five years after being decapitated because she was accused of using powerful spells the name of Europe’s supposed last witch has been cleared.
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