‘He Promised Her So Many Things’: Witches, Sabbats, and Devils in Early Modern Denmark

This chapter investigates the impact of demonology, especially narratives of the witches’ sabbat, in Danish witch-trials. It identifies what demonological ideas of the witch surfaced in the trials, and how they interacted with and corresponded to popular narratives of witches and evil. The chapter suggests an explanation as to how demonological features were diffused at a local level, and why some ideas were more prominent than others. It introduces the key features of Danish witchcraft to international readers. During the sixteenth century, Danish legislation on witchcraft was expanded by procedural regulations. The part of witchcraft that received most attention was in fact the benevolent part, referred to in the Regulation as “secret arts,” a term also found in Hemmingsen.