Bybrannen i Fredrikstad i 1653 og trolldomsprosessen mot søstrene Anne og Marte Halvorsdøtre Rimer

Abstract

On an evening at the beginning of January 1653, a fire erupted in Fredrikstad, which quickly laid the bulk of the northern part of the city in ashes. There, most of the city's leading citizens lived, and they suffered major economic losses due to the fire. The urban history from 1960 portrays how the fire led to a witchcraft trial against the two daughters of the city's deceased executioner. They were marginalized and shunned and therefore became victims of the hateful atmosphere that prevailed in the city after the fire. One of the sisters got a death sentence and ended her life on the fire. The second sister had to leave the city and the counties under Akershus within three days, and she would lose her life if she showed up there again. Others who have written about the fire of the city, have since recounted the account of Anne Rimer’s death penalty and death at the stake as a sorceress as a historical fact. One of the leading experts on the Norwegian witchcraft trials stated in 1998 that Anne got a death sentence for causing the fire, but not for witchcraft. As other researchers have accepted this interpretation, it is now current research status. This paper will take a closer look at the sources that can elucidate the witchcraft trial against the sisters Anne and Marte Rimer.