My current research is centred on the development of tools and methods for applying artificial intelligence to historical research, focusing mainly on Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, and Spanish sources. 

Most of my published research centres around questions of belief and the connection between belief and action in early modern Europe, specifically in Norway and Spain. The three areas that I have been most focused on have been witchcraft trials, the Spanish Inquisition, and wars of religion. The majority of my scholarly work has been published in English, while my textbooks and books of popular history are in Norwegian.

I have through a number of years worked as Principal Investigator on an extensive database of trials of faith in the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions, EMID. 

Journal review

• Gunnar W Knutsen (2005). Gustav Henningsen: The Salazar Documents. (external link)
• Gunnar W Knutsen (2007). Lu Ann Homza, ed. and trans. The Spanish Inquisition 1478–1614: An Anthology of Sources. (external link)
• Gunnar W Knutsen (2013). Witchcraft and Magic in the Nordic Middle Ages, Stephen A. Mitchell. (external link)
• Gunnar W Knutsen (2009). Republican States and church. From antiquity to the presnt day. (external link)
• Gunnar W Knutsen (2005). Finn Fuglestad: Spanias og Portugals historie. (external link)

Conference lecture

• Gunnar W Knutsen (2012). Cuentos de lo sobrenatural en los procesos de superstición en Valencia y Barcelona. (external link)
• Gunnar W Knutsen (2008). The Spanish Inquisition and Protestant soldiers in Spanish service. (external link)
• Gunnar W Knutsen (2006). Roundtable: Historical Research from Historical Databases. (external link)
• Gunnar W Knutsen (2007). Torture in Witchcraft cases in secular courts and the Inquisition in Catalonia. (external link)
• Gunnar W Knutsen (2011). Servants of Satan and masters of demons. The Spanish Inquisition and trials for superstition. (external link)

Research report

• Sølvi Sogner; Erling Sandmo; Gunnar W Knutsen et al. (1998). Fact, fiction and forensic evidence. The potential of judicial sources for historical research in the early modern periode. (external link)
• Gunnar W Knutsen (1998). Trolldomsprosessene på Østlandet. En kulturhistorisk undersøkelse. (external link)

Academic article

• Jean Pierre Dedieu; Gunnar Winsnes Knutsen (2020). El danés peligroso. Semblante humano de Gustav Henningsen. Evocación a cuatro manos.. (external link)
• Gunnar W Knutsen (2003). Norwegian witchcraft trials: a reassessment. (external link)
• Gunnar Winsnes Knutsen (2020). Witchcraft and Slavery in Cartagena de Indias. (external link)
• Gunnar W Knutsen (2006). The decline and end of witch trials in Scandinavia. (external link)
• Gunnar Winsnes Knutsen (2018). EMID – The Early Modern Inquisition Database. (external link)
• Bjørn Bandlien; Gunnar W Knutsen (2008). Kjetterinkvisitorer i Norge. (external link)
• Gunnar W Knutsen; Daniel Muñoz Navarro (2010). Prosecuting the French: patterns of trials against French defendants in Valencia, 1566-1686. (external link)
• Gunnar W Knutsen (2010). En norsk sjømann i Den spanske inkvisisjonen. (external link)
• Gunnar W Knutsen (2008). El Santo Oficio de la Inquisición en Barcelona y soldados protestantes en el ejercito de Cataluña. (external link)
• Gunnar W Knutsen; Anne Irene Riisøy (2007). Trolls and witches. (external link)
• Gunnar W Knutsen (2012). Historias de lo sobrenatural. (external link)
• Gunnar Winsnes Knutsen (2025). Nye perspektiver på lensherrene : Forskningsstatus og muligheter i studiet av Norges styresmenn 1537–1660. (external link)
• Gunnar W Knutsen (2005). Trolldomsprosessenes opphør i Skandinavia. (external link)
• Gunnar W Knutsen; E. William Monter (2004). A Dissertation: A discussion between E. William Monter and Gunnar W. Knutsen on Spanish witch trials. (external link)
• Jean-Pierre Dedieu; Gunnar Winsnes Knutsen (2023). La cause de foi dans l’Inquisition espagnole Entre droit et repentance. (external link)
• Gunnar W Knutsen (2005). Religious Life in Seventeenth Century Norway Seen Through the Eyes of the Spanish Inquisition. (external link)
• Gunnar Winsnes Knutsen (2024). Alimenter des bases de données grâce à l’intelligence artificielle : Quelques exemples concrets pour souligner les défis actuels de l’historien. (external link)

Non-fiction monograph

• Gunnar Winsnes Knutsen (2014). I inkvisisjonens klør. (external link)
• Bodil Chr. Erichsen; Gunnar W Knutsen (1996). Tingbok for Aker 1685. (external link)

Doctoral thesis (PhD)

• Gunnar W Knutsen (2004). Servants of Satan and masters of demons. (external link)

Academic commentary

• Gunnar W Knutsen (2006). Charles Dellon i Inkvisisjonens klør. (external link)

Academic monograph

• Gunnar W Knutsen (2009). Servants of Satan and Masters of Demons : The Spanish Inquisition's Trials of Superstition, Valencia and Barcelona, 1478-1700. (external link)
• Gunnar W Knutsen (2013). Religionskrig i Europa 1450-1700. (external link)
• Gunnar Winsnes Knutsen (2025). Acquittals in the Spanish Inquisition. (external link)

Master’s thesis

• Gunnar Winsnes Knutsen (1996). Trolldomsprosessene på Østlandet. En kulturhistorisk undersøkelse. (external link)

Popular science article

• Alejandro Ayala Wold; Gunnar Winsnes Knutsen (2023). Den spanske borgerkrigen. (external link)

Textbook

• Gunnar W Knutsen (2006). Lange linjer i historien. (external link)
• Gunnar Winsnes Knutsen (2008). Långa linjer i historien. (external link)

Academic book chapter

• Gunnar W Knutsen (2002). Where Did the Witches Go? Spanish Witches After Their Trials. (external link)
• Gunnar Winsnes Knutsen (2023). La ordenanza real de 1617 y los procesos por brujería en la Noruega moderna. (external link)
• Gunnar Winsnes Knutsen (2017). Después de la condena: supuestas hechiceras y brujas en Valencia después de sus procesos inquisitoriales. (external link)
• Gunnar Winsnes Knutsen (2014). Topics of Persecution: Witchcraft Historiography in the Iberian World. (external link)
• Gunnar Winsnes Knutsen (2017). Katolske bergensere et århundre etter reformasjonen. (external link)

Professional article

• Gunnar Winsnes Knutsen; Marie Jenssen (2025). De som styrte landet : Lensherrer i Norge 1537–1661. (external link)

See a complete overview of publications in Cristin.

My newest project is the study of the king's lieutenants in Norway in the periode between 1536 and 1660.

Godly Power and Witchcraft in the Danish Realms (1559-1660)

The Early Modern Inquisition Database (EMID)