The Witch trials in Denmark are poorly documented, with the exception of the region of Jutland in the 1609–1687 period. The most intense period in the Danish witchcraft persecutions was the great witch hunt of 1617–1625, when most executions took place, which was affected by a new witchcraft act introduced in 1617.

Sorcery was first criminalized in Denmark in the county laws of Scania and Zealand from 1170, which followed the contemporary principle that magic was prohibited only in combination with murder, which was a common principle in other contemporary laws against sorcery in the Middle Ages. Whether anyone was executed in Denmark for sorcery during the Middle Ages is unknown due to lacking documentation.

In the 16th century, the first known executions for witchcraft are documented in Denmark as taking place in 1540. The law had not changed, but the attitude toward witchcraft had become more strict as had the praxis of the law. Danish theologian Pedar Palladius wrote in the 1530s that godly people should "hunt witches down like wolves.'

In the Köbenhavnske recess from 1547 it was stated that a testimony from a criminal was not a legal ground for a death sentence, and that torture was prohibited prior to a guilty verdict. The 1558 case of Gertrud Skomagers led to a new law, which banned local judges from executing anyone for sorcery before their verdicts had been confirmed by the High court. The Kalundborgske recess from 1576 forbade the enforcement of any execution issued by a local court until confirmed by the high court. The 1576 law had a moderating effect on the witchcraft persecutions in Denmark up until 1617.

The Witchcraft Act of 1617 sorted sorcery crimes in two categories: those using magic without associating with the Devil should be exiled, while those who consorted with the Devil and who had made a pact with him should be executed by burning, regardless if they had performed magic or not. The witchcraft act of 1617 was in effect until 1686.

The Danish witch trials are not well documented. With some exceptions, such as the famous Copenhagen witch trial (1589) and the Køge Huskors (1608–1615), only the documentation of the region of Jutland from the period of 1609 to 1687 are preserved well enough to enable a proper investigation. Documentation of the witch trials in other parts of Denmark are preserved only partially or not at all.

In 1530, two women, "the wives of Lars Kylling and Jørgen Olsen", were executed by burning for sorcery on Bornholm and thus the first documented executions for sorcery in present-day Denmark. However, the island of Bornholm was not Danish at that time, and the first witchcraft executions in Denmark proper were, therefore, the fragmentary known case of Karen Grottes and Bodil Lauritzen in Stege in 1539 or 1540. In 1543, a there was a large witchcraft persecution in Malmö centered around Gyde Spandemager, which attracted more attention and are more well documented.

The Copenhagen witch trials in 1590–91 against Anna Koldings and her accused accomplices was connected to the first famous witch trial in Scotland, the North Berwick witch trials of 1590. The Gyldenstierne-sagen and the Nakkebølle-sagen were two big witchcraft cases in the 1590s which was essentially caused by feuds among the Danish noble families.