Witchcraze in Southern Germany: 1590-1630

Question 1

Trier

Answer 1

• Hunts associated with Peter Binsfeld, who later wrote an influential book on Witchcraft

3 Factors which helped Binsfeld Persecute Witches:

• 1580s: poor harvests resulted in harsh economic conditions, people sought scapegoats for their misery
• Long standing struggle for power between Trier town council and the Prince-Bishop
• New Jesuit college supported Binsfeld’s campaign against Witchcraft

Events:

• 1587 Dr Dietrich Flade accused of attending Sabbat by one of Jesuit boys, Flade had been councillor to bishop as chancellor of university and as chief-prosecutor
• Flade tortured and confessed, then burned in 1589
• Possible that accusations of witchcraft used for political and social revenge, or that Trier authorities wanted to make money by confiscating the possessions of the rich victims
• Trier hunt led to over 1,000 deaths

Question 2

Würzburg

Answer 2

• Climax of hunts during reign of Prince-Bishop Philipp Adolf von Ehrenberg
• 1626-1631: around 900 executed, including nobles and mayors; Catholic Priests and Ehrenberg’s own nephew
• 1631: Adolf died and King Gustavus of Sweden took over, hunts ended
• Friedrich Spee von Langenfeld: Jesuit and was convinced that not a single witch he had led to stake had been guilty
• Langenfeld: Wrote book condemning activities in Würzburg, had considerable effect in halting persecutions in many parts of Germany

Question 3

Bamberg: Main Events

Answer 3

• Small, independent, Catholic Bishopric in Germany
• Hunts began under Prince-Bishop Johann Gottfried von Auschhausen: wanted to re-Catholicise diocese and invited Jesuits to Bamberg, he burned 300 witches (including 102 in 1617)
• Prince-Bishop Johann Georg II Fuchs von Dornheim: took leading role in persecutions and resulted in death of around 600 people, built special ‘Witch-House’ with room for 30-40 prisoners and had a torture chamber
• 1620s: Bamberg devastated by war and series of crop failures, famines and plagues > Scapegoating

A-Typical Witches:

• Dr George Haan: leniency as a judge made him a suspected Witch Sympathiser, wife and daughter arrested in 1627, son fled to imperial court and gained an injunction forbidding Dornheim from proceeding against the women
• Haans: Wife and Daughter had already been tortured and had confessed and had already been burned before son returned, Haans and son arrested and forced to confess > burned in 1628
• Johannes Junius: Had been Lord Mayor of Bamberg, Haans confessed to seeing him at a sabbat, torture so extensively he agreed to confess to whatever Witch-Commissioners wanted
• Junius: Confessed to Devil’s Pact; Having sex with Succubus and Dancing at Sabbat > he and his family (except 1 daughter) executed in 1628

Emperor:

• As burnings increased, some fled to Rome, Prague or Imperial Court at Regensburg to plead for intervention
• Dornheim didn’t listen to HRE

Question 4

Bamberg: Torture, Reaction and Imperial Opposition

Answer 4

Methods of Torture:

• Most Witches kept in Drudenhaus prison which contained a special torture chamber
• Walls of Drudenhaus covered in Biblical text for either moral help for prisoners or protection of wardens against spells etc.
• Examples of Devices: Thumbscrews, Stocks, Leg Vices, Prayer Stool, Scalding Water Baths and Linsten Chamber
• After sentencing on way to being burned further punishment could be given e.g. cutting off right hand
• Many burned alive without preliminary strangulation

Chain-Reaction:

• Those tortured naming accomplices drove up number of people being accused
• Led to people of all classes being accused, many richer people’s property confiscated and families had to pay for their trial and execution
• No correlation to say more or less Protestants accused, even though Dornheim hated them

Imperial Opposition:

• Imperial Court attempted to restrain Dornheim’s zeal
• Emperor Ferdinand II ordered release of George Haan but was ignored by Dornheim
• HRE forced to intercede in case of Dorothea Flock (accused Witch)
• April 1630: HRE issued directive to account for charges against him but was ignored by Dornheim, further directive banned all future proceedings against Dorothea and Pope prepared to intervene but Dornheim had already killed her
• 1630 and 1631: more directives imposed, HRE said in all future trials basis for the accusation had to be made public and that D’s allowed legal counsel, appointed new head Witch-Commissioner in Bamberg (Man who was opposed to hunts)

End of Bamberg Terror:

• 1632: Swedish and Saxon troops occupied Bamberg, forcing Dornheim to flee
• 1633: Dornheim died in exile

Question 5

Cologne

Answer 5

• Westphalia: around 2,000 burned between 1626-1634
• Westphalia Prince-Elector Archbishop Ferdinand had been educated in Trier during their 1590s hunt
• Series of devastating crop failures seemed to spark hunts
• Ferdinand intervened when hunts gathered momentum at local levels, appointed Witch-Commissioners to control situation
• Commissioners out of control, implemented their own policies and terrorised region

Question 6

Witchcraze in Southern Germany: Conclusion

Answer 6

• Areas with strong governments that had control of lower courts had less persecutions
• Major Habsburg cities, e.g. Prague and Vienna, became refuges for Witch suspects
• Majority of states avoided persecutions and there were only a few trials in some of the Prince-Bishoprics
• However, Catholic states more susceptible to hunts, 9 Catholic Prince-Bishops caused over 6,000 deaths
• Individuals huge part of hunts e.g. Westerstetten and Dornheim