Mechteld ten Ham

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Mechteld ten Ham (died 25 July 1605) was an alleged Dutch witch in the city of 's-Heerenberg in the Netherlands.

The witch trial in which Mechteld was to be a victim broke out in a period of hard times for the city, which suffered under plundering and the plague when the witch hysteria spread. People wanted someone they could punish to blame, and Mechteld was a person with different habits and a different personality. Mechteld was arrested and accused of sorcery, and the trial against her represent the judging of an alleged witch by certain ordeals. One was the ordeal of weight. Another was the ordeal of water. Mechteld failed to pass the tests she was exposed to, was judged guilty of sorcery and sentenced to be burned alive at the stake. This sentence was carried out on 25 July 1605.

The last witch trial in the Netherlands was the Roermond witch trial in the city of Roermond, where sixty-four people were burned to death for sorcery.