Gertrud Svensdotter

Gertrud Svensdotter (1656–1675) was a Swedish peasant girl. She was the witness and accuser in the witch trial against Märet Jonsdotter in 1668, the trial that unleashed the great witch hysteria in Sweden called Stora oväsendet (Great Noise), involving a series of witch trials in many parts of the nation and lasting until 1676.

Gertrud Svensdotter is one of the 999 mythical, historical and notable women who are displayed on the handmade white tiles of the Heritage Floor as part of Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party art installation (1979). Her name there is, however, erroneously spelled as "Gertrude Svensen".

Gertrud was the daughter of the farmer Sven Hwass: her last name Svensdotter was a patronymic meaning "daughter of Sven". In 1664, her mother died in childbirth, and she was sent to Älvdalen in Dalarna to live with her grandfather Jon. When he died the year after, she became the foster daughter of her paternal aunts, Elin Jonsdotter and Chirstin Jonsdotter in Åsen. Gertrud seems to have been particularly close to Chirstin, who was never involved in the future witch trial or accused herself. In 1652, she had been the target of an investigation by the authorities because she had taken a married man as a lover, a man who refused to end their affair despite the authorities ordering him to do so, but she was never punished for it. The family of Gertrud belonged to the more well off among the peasantry.

In the autumn of 1667, Gertrud tended a herd of sheep with the shepherd boy Mats Nilsson. They had a fight, and Gertrud beat Mats up. Later, Mats Nilsson claimed that Gertrud had led the sheep over Eastern Dalälven by walking on the water at Hemmansäng by Åsen. She was twelve years old at the time.

Gertrud Svensdotter was then interrogated by the priest, Lars Elvius, who encouraged her to say that she had indeed walked on water, and that she had done so by magic, which had been given to her by the Devil. After long talks with the vicar, Gertrud said that while she lived with her parents in Lillhärdal in Härjedalen, a neighbour's maid had taken her to the Devil. The name of the maid was Märet Jonsdotter.

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