Witch Burning - Tumblr Posts
Another one of my finds during my time in Bratislava, Slovakia, last December.
This plaque, located in Hurbanovo Square, commemorates the first recorded witch burning in Bratislava –that of Agáta Toot Borlobaschinová– on May 24th, 1602. Agáta was condemned to the stake for, allegedly, “communing with a devil, flying on a broom, and blinding a woman by sewing shut the eye of a toad.”
On May 2002, on the four hundredth anniversary of said happening, a bronze plaque designed by Slovak sculptor L’udmila Cvengrošová was laid, amidst a political debate concerning the relevance of such dark events in Bratislava’s history. However, the placement was successfully achieved under the argument that the plaque served as an incentive for cultural, religious and social tolerance in the twenty-first century.
The plaque was stolen sometime in 2014, the responsible of which remains unknown. However, in 2019, it was replaced by a resembling stone plaque, fashioned by Roman Kovrižnych from BeArt Slovakia (shown in the photograph).
Even though the Slovakian territory was far from being the epicentre of witch hunting and burning in Europe between the XIV and XVII centuries, I find it incredibly important to continue to have such lieux de mémoire (sites of memory). This particular one allows us to acknowledge the countless women who, for over three hundred years, were the target of mysoginistic acts committed in the name of religion.
Photo: My own
Further reading:
Power of God
