South Germany - New Grid

Trier Witch Hunt

1581-1593

Archbishop-Elector of Trier

Johann VII von Schonenberg

Johann VII von Schonenberg in power

1581-1599

Peter Binsfeld occupation

Suffragan bishop

Peter Binsfeld publication and date

Of the Confessions of Warlocks and Witches, 1589

A long-standing struggle for power between the Trier town council and the prince-bishop was decider in favour of X

Prince-Bishop

HRE - How many prince-electorates

7

HRE - How many secular principalities

43

HRE - How many ecclesiastical principalities

32

HRE - How many independent earldoms/lordships

140

HRE - How many imperial abbacies

70

HRE - How many imperial cities

75

HRE - How many territories with independent jurisdictions within the Empire's boundaries

2000

From X onwards, the local Jesuit college kept in custody young boys who claimed that they had attended sabbats and that they could also identify witches. - Trier

1585

In the Xs a series of poor harvests resulted in harsh economic conditions in Trier. People sought scapegoats for their misery. Pressure from the local population may have driven the authorities in Trier to act

1580

All but X harvests from 1580-99 were destroyed - Trier

2

Between 1587 and 1593, X people were burned alive for sorcery in X villages - Trier

368, 22

At Coblenz, the seat of the Prince-Archbishop of Trier, X witches were burnt in 1629

24

Where is the seat of the Prince-Archbishop of Trier

Coblenz

Who was Councillor to the prince-bishop, Chancellor of the University, Chief-prosecutor - Trier

Dietrich Flade

Flade - Accused by one of the boys at the local Jesuit college. He was tortured, confessed and burnt in X

1589

In X, X villages were left with only one female inhabitant in each. Trier

1588, 2

How many victims of Trier were men?

108

Former mayor of Trier, denied that he was a witch. He was taken by the hangman to the torture room and bound, then 'pulled him up high, secured the cord to the wall, and beat on the rope with a stick, thereby inflicting great pain on the bound prisoner'

Niclas Fielder

On average, how many did 306 witches each name? Trier

20

Which member of Trier's society was described as "like a nobleman of the court, dressed in silver and gold, while his wife vied with noblewomen in dress and luxury."

Executioner

Prince Bishop of Wurzburg 1626-1630

Philipp von Ehrenberg

Prince Bishop of Wurzburg 1616-1618

Julius von Mespelbrunn

Imperial law that prohibited all Calvinist worship and restored Catholic ownership of land stolen by the Protestant Princes of the Reformation. Interpreted to be Ferdinand ordering the persecution of protestants as witches.

Edict of Restitution 1629

Prince Bishop used it to create religious conformity within the electorate - According to which historian? - Wurzburg

Levak

At X - Mespelbrunn accused protestants of witchcraft to consolidate the return to Catholicism he had engineered

Freudenberg

The Year Without Summer

1628

Thirty Years War dates

1618-1648

Between 1626-1631, some X people were executed - Wurzburg

900

In the time of Mespelbrunn, some X witches were executed

300

In 1617 alone, X witches were executed. - Wurzburg

300

When was the 28th Burning in Wurzburg after?

Candlemas, 1629

During the 28th Burning in Wurzburg, whose infant daughter was executed?

Dr Schultz

During the 28th Burning in Wurzburg, which vicar of the cathedral was burnt alive?

Bernhard Mark

During the 23rd Burning in Wurzburg, how old were the 2 prince's sons that were burnt?

14, 10

During the 23rd Burning in Wurzburg, how old was David Crolen's boy

9

How many Wurzburg Catholic priests were burnt?

19

In Wurzburg, of known ages, X% were aged 50 or over

59%

More than X% of the 160 witches accused between 1627-29 were children - Wurzburg

25

Frederich Spee von Langenfeld publication + date

Cautio Criminalis, 1631

Which protestant city was Cautio Criminalis published anonymously in ?

Hamlin

In which year was Ehrenberg accused himself

1629

When did King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden occupy Wurzburg

1631

Prince Bishop of Bamberg 1609-1622

Johann von Aschhausen

Prince Bishop of Bamberg 1623-1633

Johann von Dornheim

When was Johann von Aschhausen prince Bishop?

1609-1622

When was Johann von Dornheim prince Bishop?

1623-1633

Former administrator of St Martin's Church, Bamberg

Dumler

Which Church in Bamberg was Dumler the former administrator of

St Martin's

The X permitted the accused an advocate or lawyer to represent them in court- but this had been denied at the Bamberg Trials

Carolina Code

The X established that cases of witchcraft should be heard in the civil courts but in Bamberg they were being heard behind doors by the commissioners

Carolina Code

In a church in Bamberg Mary holds a chalice whilst Protestant clergy in black robes have X in their mouths

Snakes

Which church depicts Protestants as the Devil? Where?

St Michael, Zeil

Officially controlled by the Bishop of Bamberg,

Local Protestant parishioners failed to renounce their faith. New Catholic ministers threatened and chased out the area

Marktzeuln

In X, Aschhausen introduced how many measures? Prioritised the conversion of Protestant parishes to Catholicism

1609, 6

- Ordered an investigation in which any person practicing magic would be punished
- Coincided with nearby Protestant rebellions in nearby Bohemia
- Contrary to the laws of the Catholic Church and the Empire, sorcerers and fortune tellers were at work in Bamberg.

1610 Ordinances

Who gave the funeral service for Aschausen, in which he blamed the rise of Protestantism for the outbreak of the 30 years war

Frederik Forner

Frederik Forner publication

A display of the weaponry of God against all Superstition, Divination, Enchantments and Devil Worship

Construction of the Drudenhaus in X - Inside the specially built 'witch prison' the walls were lined with scriptural excerpts.
Bamberg

1627

From X parish records were checked to see who had failed to receive Catholic communion. Non-conformists were reported to the official commission on witchcraft - Many then fled
Bamberg

1628

X% of Germany's total population perished during the war

20%

Whose diary suggests that the petition produced the frost of X may have triggered some of the trials - Bamberg

Hans Langhans, May 1626

Mayor of Zeil

Hans Langhans

Silver imports from America had declined from X

1610

Gold florin reduced its gold content from X% to X% in 1626

79-77%

Daughter of Johannes Junius

Maria Anna Junius

Maria Anna Junius theory for the trials - explained in her memoirs

Inflation

Trials peaked in X - the same year that frost destroyed the wine crop

1629

How many witches did Aschhausen claim 1609-1622

300

How many witches did Dornheim claim 1626-30

600

In 1617 alone, X victims were claimed. Bamberg

102

How many people were charged in 1626

59

In Zeil, how many were executed or died in custody

30

In X, how many suspects from Zeil were sent to the Court at Bamberg

1627, 130

In Zeil X women were sent for execution, X of them were described as 'wise women.'

7, 2

X% of those tried 1616-1622 were women - Bamberg

81.1%

X% of those brought to trial 1623-32 were women - Bamberg

72.2%

X of those brought to trial were executed 1623-31 - Bamberg

93%

Cathedral chancellor, arrested after both his wife and daughter had been executed. He came under suspicion because he had petitioned the imperial court to intervene in the cases of women in Bamberg (attempt to save them from execution). Executed alongside his son Adam. In his confession, he named Johannes Junius.

Georg Haan

Lord Mayor of Bamberg, aged 55, Burgomaster, Tortured so extensively he agreed to confess to whatever the witch-commissioners wanted, Admitted to Devil's pact, having sex with a succubus, dancing at a sabbat. Also named fellow witches, including relatives and friends. He and all his family, except for one daughter, were executed in 1628

Johannes Junius

Accused and detained of witchcraft, her husband was a Bamberg official and escaped to the Imperial city of Nuremberg. Despite a letter from Ferdinand and the Pope saying the trial should be sent to the imperial Holfrat for review, and if he did not obey this he would be punished
Dornheim rushed the trial through and had her executed before the letters arrived. May 1630.

Dorothea Flock

Admitted that after extensive coin flipping, money had lost its value, and she was forced to turn to the Devil

Margaretha Eissmennin

Prostituted herself to a man in a black feather hat to free herself of poverty and suffering

Margaretha Gusbacherin

Confessed entered relationship with rich man to avoid poverty, Interpreted by accusers as a pact with the Devil

Kunigudta Rindterin

In November 1626, admitted that she had been part of a plot to freeze and destroy all of Bamberg's crops

Katharina Merckhlerin

X households became victims along the X, main street of Bamberg. These were all well respected households

17, Lange Gasse

Son of a well known Catholic-reformer at the Imperial Court. Had been a vocal outspoken critic of the trials.

Georg Eder

Confessed under torture that he had been Baptised by the Devil in 1611. Also that he was responsible for the frost that had destroyed the wine crop 1615-16. Executed in 1628.

Hans Langhans

Alongside Langhans, X other members of the Zeil town council or mayors office were executed

10

X and X both held senior positions on the Town Council of Zeil. They were both executed on the 10th November 1626.

Conrad Merklein, Conrad Orter

By 1629 both the X and the X families had been wiped out.

Merklein, Orter

- First part usually involved recounting how the accused became involved with the Devil
- Second part described a death threat given to them by their demon or familiar to force co-operation
- Oath of loyalty of mock baptism in presence of demons or other initiates

Typical confessions of witches from X

Bamberg

Petition of X - The Emperor sent a letter to Dornheim criticising him for the over-zealous use of torture and the blatant disregard of imperial decrees. She had been tortured X times without confessing and confined for X years in a dungeon.

Barbara Schwartz, 8, 3

When was the petition of Barbara Schwartz

September 1630

In X, X people in Zeil were killed by the torture method of Scalding water baths to which lime had been added

1630, 6