Eric Clauesson

Who was Eric Clauesson?

Eric Clauesson was a Swedish man executed for sorcery, theft and heresy, though in reality, this was an execution for Paganism. His case illustrates the fact that the old Pre-Christian Pagan Norse religion still lived in Sweden as late as in the 15th century.

Eric Clauesson worked as a servant to Hans Persson on the Swedish island of Värmdö. In 1492, he was put before the court in Stockholm, where he confessed that he had sworn himself to the old Nordic god Odin to escape poverty, and that he had stolen from his master several times. This was a peculiar case; Eric was to be judged for Paganism, which could be seen as a form of heresy, but officially for sorcery, an unusual crime in Sweden at this point, and it is hard to determine if this was a witch trial or a trial of heresy. Eric himself clearly meant the old Pagan god Odin; but Oden, like other Pagan gods, was by the church considered to be devils, and therefore, "Oden" was translated to "Satan" by the court, and Eric was thereby to be judged as a Devil-worshipper. This was, by all accounts, a trial of heresy, against paganism.

The verdict was that he should be executed by the breaking wheel and hanged for the theft. For his other, religious crime, of "the highest matter" against "God and his immortal soul", he was sentenced to be burned at the stake; as the religious crime was more important the theft, this was the punishment that was to be carried out. While Swedish law did not actually mention such crimes at the time, the verdict can be seen as a sign that the Catholic Church at that point held a strong position in Sweden, similar to that of the continent, where cases of heresy were more common.