The story of Alith Ruyters, Witch Trials Roermond 1613

The Witch Trials of Roermond: From Darkness to Awareness — and the Female Rage of Alith Ruyters

For centuries, the witch hunts left scars across the world. Tens of thousands of people  (mostly women, but note, also men) were accused, tortured, and executed for invented crimes. In the Netherlands, the first recorded case occurred in 1413, when a woman in Maastricht was hanged and then burned. Over the next four centuries, many more would share her fate, until the last execution in 1823.

Among all Dutch cities, Roermond holds the tragic distinction of being the country’s “witch capital.” Around the year 1613, roughly one hundred people  were accused, hunted, tortured, and murdered in and around the city.

These were innocent people, unprotected and defenseless against the hysteria of the time. Guided by Malleus Maleficarum, the infamous “Witch Hammer,” a handbook for witch hunters,  interrogators used “professional” methods of questioning that often amounted to torture.

Confessions were rarely voluntary; silence was treated as guilt.

Once your name was spoken, your fate was almost sealed. If you did not die during interrogation, you were taken to the Galgenberg. There, you were tied to the stake by the executioner. As a grim “mercy,” those who confessed were strangled or burned, sometimes even both. Sometimes those who confessed early were strangled before they burned, as a small mercy.

The accusations were severe: from causing miscarriages and livestock diseases to failed harvests and mysterious deaths. Under torture, confessions were forced, and suspects were compelled to name other alleged witches as well.

People believed that sorcerers and witches had formed a pact with the devil and participated in so-called witches’ sabbaths. Such acts were considered heresy and therefore crimes against God, punishable by death.

Want to learn more about the Witch Trials in Roermond? 

This definately is a top tier travel tip if you are going to visit Roermond. Madam Elisabeth curates walking-tours through the city of Roermond. Where she shows the places where the witch trials were held, these accused lived, how they lived and she gives you all the intel. Elisabeth grew up in Roermond where she has roamed across the streets where the supposed witches and sorcerers lived. 

For more information, please visit her website (it is in Dutch, but with a simple translation you can read all about it) 
- Heksentoer Roermond  - 

The Legacy of Fear: From Witch Hunts to Femicide

The witch persecutions have left a lasting imprint on how women are perceived and how they perceive themselves. The contempt, silencing, and violence inflicted upon women in the past continues as an undercurrent in today’s society.

The term femicide is now tragically familiar worldwide.

Facts about contemporary violence against women:

• Every day, 137 women globally are killed by a partner, ex-partner, or family member.

• 1 in 3 women worldwide has experienced physical or sexual violence.

• In the Netherlands, one woman is killed every eight days due to violence.

• 53% of Dutch women and 19% of men experience sexual boundary-crossing behavior.

• 1 in 5 women in the Netherlands faces partner violence.

These numbers show that the witch hunts may belong to history, but the structures that enabled them still echo today.

Hexpositie: Bringing Light Where Darkness Once Ruled

Hexpositie is an artistic initiative created to raise awareness about these issues through art.
In Roermond, the very place where darkness once reigned, we shine light on femininity, female power, and the stories of those who were silenced.

Each contributing artist selects one or more individuals from the list of victims documented by the Nationaal Heksenmonument. From sparse historical fragments and collective memory, artists create works that honor the victims, restore dignity, and celebrate the strength, beauty, and wisdom of the feminine.

This blog is written with gratitude to the Roermondse Vrouwenraad, Marianne Smitsmans, Greet Noorda, Gino Vrancken, Meta van Appeven, and many others who support this remembrance.

Our Contribution to Hexpositie: “FEMALE RAGE!” — Honoring Alith Ruyters

Our artwork, FEMALE RAGE!, tells the story of Alith Ruyters, a woman whose life and death embody both the injustice of the witch trials and the primal, erupting anger that such injustice awakens.

Who Was Alith Ruyters?

Alith Ruyters
Married to Peter Leemkuyl (alias ahm Trepgen)
Lived on Sint-Jansstraat 19 in Roermond

In December 1613, a neighbor, Tryn van Vierssen, told a group of women in the street that a witch lived among them. Alith, sensing the accusation pointed at her, reacted with fear and anger.
That moment of emotion was enough. Her outburst became “evidence.” She was seized and arrested.

Between 20–23 December 1613, Alith was interrogated. Under pressure, terror, and possibly torture, she accused several others, including Tryn van Vierssen, a tailor named Roeloff Conincx van Millich, her own daughter, and likely Naelken Coenckens: a woman her family believed had bewitched Alith’s stepdaughter.

On 23 December 1613, Alith retracted all accusations.

That same day, she was executed.

What FEMALE RAGE! Represents

1. The Rage of Being Wrongly Accused

Our work captures the fury born from helplessness, the explosive anger of a woman who is condemned simply for being emotional, outspoken, or afraid.
Anger becomes survival; rage becomes the last voice a woman can have. And thus, this idea still lingers on. In many occasions where a woman speaks up, she is called a witch, she is called emotional or hysteric. Up until this day, there are daily situations where we can't speak up and can't let ourselves hear. If we are soft, we arn't heard. If we are loud, we are hysteric witches. 
We worked with garnet and citrine, gemstones that amplify strength, fire, clarity, and feminine power.

2. The Betrayal She Was Forced to Commit

The piece incorporates snakes, Medusa’s symbol, representing betrayal, forced accusation, and the terrible dilemma of the tortured: accuse others, or die.

Alith was coerced into naming innocent people.
Later, she was branded a traitor for doing what she needed to survive.
Medusa reminds us that women have often been turned into monsters for responding to violence with any form of power.

3. The Scapegoat — The Goat

The goat in our work symbolizes the zondebok: the scapegoat.
Alith was branded a witch because of her “mania,” her emotional eruption, her refusal to be quiet. She became the vessel for collective fear.
In the form of the animal’s silhouette, one can see the shape of female ovaries: a symbol of the feminine body, the seat of strength and creation.

4. The Circle of Memory

Around the work runs the inscription of Alith’s name and the date of her execution, a circle of remembrance that ensures she is no longer voiceless.

The Pendant, the Black Tree, and the Stories That Continue

The pendant hangs from a blackened tree, both enclosed within a protective dome.
This tree extends delicate black tendrils outward: new growth that symbolizes the stories now allowed to unfold again, branching into a future we cannot yet see. They represent how the voices once silenced begin to move, breathe, and reach out into the world once more.

The tree is black not out of darkness alone, but as a reminder that these are not gentle or pretty histories. Its color embodies the weight of grief, injustice, and suffering. Yet from this shadow, the branches still stretch forward. Because especially in the blackest burned soil, memory grows, transforming past pain into new understanding.

Together, the pendant and the tree form a living memorial:
a protected space where the story of Alith (and of all those who suffered, and still do)  can be witnessed, honored, and continued.

Wolfstone — Our Collaboration