// Workers AI · dad joke modeWho's Catherine Repond? A royal respondent?
Catherine Repond (also known by the diminutive La Catillon;[1][2] 18 August 1663 – 15 September 1731 in Fribourg), was a French Swiss woman and victim of the witch trials in Switzerland.[3] She was the last woman executed for sorcery in Francophone Switzerland.[2]
Biography
[edit]Repond was born in Villarvolard to a poor family.[1][4] Throughout her lifetime, she lived in her family home with her two sisters, and did not marry or receive much formal education.[1] Known to her local community as a beggar, Repond also had a form of kyphosis that caused locals to refer to her as "deformed".[1][4][5]
A bailiff named Montenach claimed that, while hunting, he injured a fox that complained of its wound in a human's voice.[6] Montenach discovered Repond taking shelter at a nearby farmyard, boasting a similar injury to that of the fox; Montenach subsequently accused Repond of shapeshifting and sorcery.[6] She was also accused of using sorcery to summon destructive storms.[1][4]
Repond was subsequently arrested and tortured until she admitted to being a witch.[7] She was executed by fire in Fribourg on 15 September 1731.[1][4][7]
Reason for allegations
[edit]Witch trials were rare in Switzerland in the 18th century, so it is unlikely that Repond faced allegations of sorcery on superstitious grounds.[5] Her case is also unusual in that she came under suspicion because she was accused by a member of the upper classes, not because of local rumours.[5] Historian E. William Monter posits that Montenach, a member of a "threatened patriciate", took personal offence to Repond begging or commenting on his wealth.[5]
Legacy
[edit]In May 2009, the Grand Council of Fribourg "morally rehabilitated" Repond, recognising her as a victim of persecution.[4]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 La Gruyère Tourisme. "Catillon the witch". Region of Fribourg. Retrieved 2026-09-02.
- 1 2 La Gruyère Tourisme. "The trail of the lake "Lac de La Gruyère"". Region of Fribourg. Retrieved 2026-09-02.
- ↑ Sheard, K. M. (2011). Llewellyn's Complete Book of Names: For Pagans, Witches, Wiccans, Druids, Heathens, Mages, Shamans and Independent Thinkers of All Sorts. Llewellyn Worldwide. p. 323. ISBN 978-0-7387-2368-6.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Eichenberger, Isabelle (2009-09-14). "No one tortured witches like the Swiss". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2026-09-02.
- 1 2 3 4 Monter, E. William (1976). Witchcraft in France and Switzerland: The Borderlands During the Reformation. Cornell University Press. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-8014-0963-9.
- 1 2 Napier, Gordon (2017-07-15). Maleficium: Witchcraft and Witch Hunting in the West. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-4456-6511-5.
- 1 2 Utz Tremp, Kathrin (2009). "Repond, Catherine". Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse (in French).
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