Case file · High strangeness
The Thisted possessions
From 1696, women in the Jutland town of Thisted showed signs of demonic possession, and the priest Ole Bjørn accused local people of witchcraft.
1696 CE · 56.96, 8.69 · status: explained
The account
The case grew into a national scandal. A royal commission in 1698 concluded that the possessions were faked; the accused were cleared and the priest was removed from office.
The sceptical view
The official verdict was fraud and suggestion, an early example of a court rejecting possession evidence in Denmark.