“Times were bad, the harvest had been a very bad one. Some people would starve in the year ahead. Only the hel-blár – those as black as death itself can make the journey to Hel, the underworld; as a draugr. At one of his preachings someone, which he had arranged, asked him if he had the power to reveal witches… in just five months there was no one left to tell of old Hörgrlund.
You see, everything has an origin. All is related, each part has a purpose to play. All we have to do is discover how“
In 1673 Samuel Eberlein was a dictator. The first bishop of the Diocese with blood on his hands. Then two years later, the Torsåker witch trials in 1675 at Torsåker parish in Sweden were the largest witch trials in Swedish history. In a single day 71 people (65 women and 6 men) were beheaded and then burned. Eberlein was a copacious reader, and read everything from Kant to the tales of the inquisitors, described in the book called Häxhammaren – The Witch Hammer. This was a book that told how the faithful could disclose, convict and condemn a witch. Women were the targets for these evil men. In Germany, the number of poor souls burned is believed to be about one hundred thousand.
Eberlein’s influence grew, as did the size of his office. Eight years later, in 1681 Samuel Eberlein became the 26th Bishop of Skara. By that time he had a lot to lose. If the deeds in his past ever got out – he would lose his privileges. So he made sure these stories never had a soil to grow in, banishing anyone who fouled his good name.
Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tors%C3%A5ker_witch_trials