Anne Pedersdotter: the woman behind the “witches’ stone”
A memorial in Nordnes remembers victims of witchcraft trials. One of them was executed in Bergen in 1590.
Anne Pedersdotter was the widow of Absalon Pederssøn, a well-known Bergen figure. That did not protect her from accusations of witchcraft. She was convicted and burned at the stake in Nordnes in 1590. Centuries later, in 2002, a monument called Heksesteinen was unveiled near the site associated with her execution, commemorating victims of Norway’s witchcraft trials.
It is easy to turn the story into a supernatural tale. The documents, however, show a real person who suffered a real conviction. The story’s interest lies less in asking whether Anne “was a witch” than in understanding how suspicion and accusations could lead a woman to her death.
The memorial offers a different pause from Bergen’s viewpoints and façades. It asks us to remember the city’s mistakes as well.