Margareta Remmer

Margareta Remmer, was a Swedish official's wife. She was one of the people accused of witchcraft in the Katarina witch trials during the witch hunt known as the Great noise, which took place in Sweden in 1668–1676. During her trial, the child wittnesses were exåosed for perjury, which resulted in the entire Katarina witch trials being dissolved, and consequently in the entire Great noice witch hunt ending.

Life

Margareta Remmer was born Margareta Staffandotter. She married Jakob Remmer, a Captain of the Royal City Guard in Stockholm, which functioned as the equivalent of the City Police.

During the Katarina witch trials in 1676, she was accused of having abducted children to Witches' Sabbath in Blockula. Remmer was implicated in witchcraft during previous trials in the Katarina witch trials, when her name was mentioned a number of times. Anna Zippel first mentioned Remmer during her trial, when she named her aquaintances to illustrate that she had influential friends. Remmer herself admitted a connection to Brita Zippel when she acknowledge that she had giften the poor Brita Zippel bread on several occasions. The expert wittness Lisbet Carlsdotter spread a story that she had seen three witches on top of the Brunkebergsåsen: Margareta Remmer, Anna Simonsdotter Hack and Karin Ambjörnsdotter - the other two of whom had been convicted for witchcraft.

During May and June, the condemned Anna Simonsdotter Hack testified that she had seen Remmer at the witche's sabbath with children around her. Remmer replied to Hack: "May God show you mercy when you lie on my like that". Remmer was now arrested and placed in prison awaiting her trial. During the trial against Malin Matsdotter in July, Malin's daughter Annika Eriksdotter testified to have seen not only her mother, but also Remmer at the witche's sabbath.

Trial

The trial of Margareta Remmer was opened by the Witchcraft Commission on 6 September 1676. A number of wittnesses testified against her. The accusations against her were the same as those against the previous people accused. Both children and teenagers accusted her of having abducted her to the witche's sabbath in Blockula. Adult wittnesses accused her of having abducted their children to the witches sabbath. Her main accuser were Rittmaster Peder Gråå. Gråå was an enemy of her husband, who prevously had Gråå charged and convicted of smuggling. Peder Gråå and his wife now accused Remmer's wife of having abducted their children to Blockula. These accusations was quickly adopted by several other children, who accused her of the same as Gråå. Since Margareta Remmer was the wife of a wealthy man, several wittnesses described her as being dressed in elegant fashion during her visit at the witche's sabbath. Among her accusers were Lisbeth Carlsdotter and one of the two Myra maids, Annika Henriksdotter: Lisbeth Carlsdotter and Annika Henriksdotter were expert wittnesses who had testified against many of the accused and participated in the witch rumours spread during the trials.

Margareta Remmer made a good impression before the court. The fact that she cried before court made a good impression since, according to contemporary demonology, a witch could not cry, and with words and gestures assured the court of her innocence "so poignant that she could make a stone cry". She behaved with humble respect before the court, but defended herself with calm dignity and eloquence. She pointed out that those who testified against her where not aquainted with her, and that those who were - her friends and family members - could testify that the allegations were unfounded.

Her husband Jakob Remmer was enraged at the accusations against his wife and defended her not only before the court but also outside of it. He reportedly threatened the expert wittness Lisbeth Carlsdotter with a cane outside of the court room, assured that if he had believed that his wife was a witch he would have tore his house down and burned her himself. Peder Broméen noted that Jakob Remmer had said that he wished the Devil would take the all the child wittnesses.

During the trial of Margareta Remmer, the Witchcraft Commission started to question the reliability of the child wittnesses. After the trial against Dufvans Margareta, the Commission had decised to question the child wittnesses more carefully, and this was enforced during the Remmer trial. The Commission decided to scrutinize the testimonies and the protocoll. The court started to ask the child wittnesses to repeat their testimonies, rather than to confirm their previous written testimony. The children were subjected to harder pressure than before, and their testimonies more strictly scrutinized. This caused many children to waver in their testimonies.

The maid of Remmer testified that Lisbeth Carlsdotter and Annika Henriksdotter had attacked Remmer in the stairs outside of the court room and that the mother of Lisbeth had said that she had other women decapitated before. Several wittnesses confirmed this testimony. One wittness testified that several children had talked about taking back their testimonies, and that Lisbeth Carlsdotter had threathened one of them, struck one of them on her nose and said: "You damn bitch, should I take back my words that would cost me life and honor, my name is known among both gentlemen and counts, but Devil knows who you are". The Commission started to feal doubt when informed that the wittnesses, who testified against someone accused of having sinned against God, themselwes swore so much. One of the Commissioners, the priest Eric Noraeus, pointed out that Lisbeth Carlsdotter had been heard swearing twenty times in a row.

11 September

On 11 september 1676, several child wittnesses broke down under the increasing pressure from the new interrogation method of the court, and started to confess that they had comitted perjury against not only Remmer but also against the previous suspects. Even Lisbeth Carlsdotter and the Gävle Boy eventually confessed perjury.

The breakthrough started with the interrogation of the Hans Kristiernsson, 13 years old, and Annika Thomasdotter, 15 years old, daughter of a corporal of the city guard. They both claimed that Remmer had taken them to Blockula, but their testimonies could not be verified against each other, which resulted in intense pressure from the court. Annika Thomasdotter finally broke down and stated that all children who denied that they had been at the witches' sabbath were pressured by the Myra maids who bullied them until they said that they have been, and she added:

"Yes, because many have threathened saying that I take children to Blockula unless I say that I am taken there myself. I have asked God to open my mind so I will find know if I have been in Blockula, but I have never seen any sign that I have ever visited the place".

Pressured if she chould name anyone else who had comitted perjury, she named Kerstin Jakobsdotter, 16 years old.

Kerstin Jakobsdotter was summoned and testified that it was the Myra maids who had started to spread the rumour that she used to be abducted to Blockula, and that the Myra maids and Lisbeth Carlsdotter had abused her physically and threathened her until she agreed to testify against Remmer. After this a breakthrough occurred, and one child wittness after the other confessed that ever since the start of the Katarina witch trials, they had lied because they had been threathened and pressured by the Gävle Boy, by Lisbeth Carlsdotter and by the two Myra maids, Annika Henriksdotter and Agnis Eskilsdotter.

Lisbet Carlsdotter was summoned and confronted with the child wittnesses who now claimed that they had lied and that none of them had ever been in Blockula. Lisbet Carlsdotter stated: "I stand by my word and my testimony even if you should destroy me". Next, the Myra maid Annika Henriksdotter was confronted with the penitent child wittnesses. When she testified that all the children had been in Blockula, they all denied her testiomony. An identical scene occurred when the other Myra maid Agnis Eskilsdotter was called. The Myra maids were then both arrested and charged for perjury.

When Lisbet Carlsdotter was recalled, she was informed that the lies had now been exposed and that further lies from her would cause her to suffer in this world and in the next. When she was promised amnesty if she confessed, she confessed that she burst in to tears and confessed that she had lied all along.

On 11 september, the testimonies of all the child wittnesses were declared invalid since they had been exposed with having talked them through with each other beforehand.

Aftermath

On 27 September 1676 Margareta Remmer was freed from all charges. On 6 October she was officially declared innocent and that everyone who directed new accusations against her were liable to punishment. The perjury of the child wittnesses did not only free Remmer: this event also resulted in the dissolution of the entire Katarina witch trial. Two women who had already been condemned to death and was avainting their execution, Dufvans Margareta and Karin Ambjörnsdotter, were both freed. All of the suspects who were imprisoned on the charge of witchcraft and sat in prison avaiting their trial, were one by one freed from all charges and released.

The Witchcraft Commission informed the legal courts in the rest of the country that the child wittnesses had been lying and that such testimonies in the future could be expected to be lies as well and that no further such charges would be accepted, which resulted in the end of the entire Great noise witch hunt in Sweden. The Witchcraft Commission itself stopped their activity and was to be formally dissolved the following year.

After the end of the witch trials, legal persecution were directed toward the former wittnesses, who where now formally accused of perjury. The Remmer couple were particularly active in these proceedings. Jakob Remmer, Captain of the City Gaurd (Police Force) had the city guards gather and arrest the wittnesses who were thrown in jail. Margareta Remmer demanded the perjurors be punished, and the court assured that they would "see if they could give her that pleasure". Several of the former witchcraft wittnesses were to be legally sentenced for perjury and punished by pillorying and in some cases by execution.