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Julia Jane Cunningham

April 27th, 2006


History 4330
Modern Germany
Dr. Robert Cole

The German Witch Craze and its Social context


Germany or the Holy Roman Empire during the mid-sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries was a land of change, conflict and turmoil. Within this upheaval the prosecution
of witches became even more prevalent than it had in previous centuries. A belief in
witches and their power was a natural part of everyday religious life. To begin to
understand witchcrafts role within the lives of Germans and the reasoning behind the
mass witch trials that began in many German principalities around 1550, there is needs
also be a careful analysis of what witchcraft was in late medieval, early modern Germany.
In addition the social context of the major witch hunts must be addressed. The
understanding and prosecution was affected by the Reformation, Counter-Reformation
and the Thirty Years War.
Witchcraft by the Fifteenth Century
Witchcraft in the late medieval period and the early modern period went through a
major shift, in terms of comprehension. During the late medieval period witchcraft or
sorcery was divided into two major categories: white magic and black magic. White
magic includes such practices as magical healing or rudimentary forms of divination to
tell fortunes locate lost objects or identify enemies.1This form of witchcraft was accepted
much more within society that black magic. Black magic is defined by the involvement
of maleficium, this was witchcraft or magic that was defined as harmful. This is the type
of magic that was apart of local fear of witchcraft. This was the practice of setting the
natural order of things on its head. Witches who practices black magic were said to be
1

Levack, Brain P. The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe (Longman Group: 1987) 10.

able to cause hailstorms, untimely frosts, sickness in both man and beast, impotence,
miscarriages and even death.2 This distinction between whit and black magic can be seen
within the legal code of the day. The Carolina or criminal code of 1532 stuck to the
ancient distinction.3 But with the work of Jacob Sprenger and Heinrich Institoris and their
work Malleus Maleficarum this distinction was lose. This is because the distinction
became blurred because of the belief that all magic came from the devil and therefore no
matter what kind of magic one was practicing there was still the heresy of a pact with the
devil in order to gain the gift to perform these acts.4 This idea that witches were devil
worshippers or in league with the devil resounded with the development of dissent within
the catholic church.
The Reformation
When Martin Luther posted his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg, this
act ushered in an era in which people questioned the theology and practices of the
Catholic leadership and church. From this came many Protestant sects that had their own
understanding of the will of God, salvation and the role of the devil. Within this shift of
theology also came hostility and hatred. The Reformed theology of men such as Martin
Luther and John Calvin was attack furiously by the catholic authorities. Martin Luther
was even accused of being of demonic origins. This story was told by a bishop in the year
1565 and goes:
In the guise of a merchant who made and sold jewelry, the Devil came
to Wittenberg, where he sought lodgings with on of the citizens because he
dared not trust his precious wares to a common inn; at the same time, he
promised fair payment in return for the kindness. But when had lured the
daughter of his host onto his embrace by means of gifts and coaxing words and
2

Midelfort, H.C.Erik Heartland of the Witch craze: Central and Northern Europe, History Today.
(February, 1981) 27-28.
3
Midelfort, H.C.Erik Heartland of the Witch craze: Central and Northern Europe, History Today.
(February, 1981) 29.
4
Levack, Brain P. The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe (Longman Group: 1987) 8, 10.

other inducements to sensuality, he finally made bold to lie with her, and then
soon vanished, never to appear again. The girls womb swelled more and more
the day, and when she was about to enter labor she displayed strange and terrible
symptoms, and the evidence clearly indicated that the offspring had not been
legitimately conceived. As a young lad, the boy progressed so rapidly in school
that he easily outstripped his comrades of the same age, while still disguising the
circumstances of his life. Then he became a monk, at his fathers prompting,
and ravished a young nun , rejecting the monastic life. Coming to Rome in
search of a better position, he failed in his hopes and incurred the hostility of the
Holy Father the Pope and the Cardinals. He took counsel with his father as to
how to gain revenge for the denial of his requests, and he was advised by him
to compose a brief commentary upon the Lords Prayer, so that he might in
this way attain his wishes. His explication was woven so skillfully and boldly
that it was commended not only by the mob, but also by many of the educated.
This fearsome Bear, seeing the favorable attitude of the common people
toward himself, began to range farther abroad day by day, with voice and pen,
striving against the indulgences of the Roman See, and against certain other
Roman institutions, until he was refuted and put to shame and overcome. It
would take too long to relate the details; a word to the wise is sufficient. All
learned person call this man the Bear; and the name of one that I am
describing is all too well known; it would be wrong to mention that name in the
chair of the word of God. In sum, he is the font and origin of all heresy 5

This story illustrates the disdain and hatred felt for Luther even though it is complete
false. Because of the fact that witches were believed to be in league with the devil, the
argument can be made that any follower of Luther was a follower of the devil and
therefore could be practicing witch craft and therefore were guilty of great heresies. This
and other theological arguments like it contributed to the mass witch-hunts of the time.
But these theologies were only held and completely understood by the theologians and
lawyers that prosecuted the accused witches.
The Accusers
Witch accusations came not from the theologians or lawyers but from the locals
themselves. These accusations had very little to do with the great religious understanding
of witches and their pact with the devil. These accusations were more in context of the
disruption of everyday life. Such was the case in Urach, in 1529, which is about 75km
from Stuttgart. Here the small daughter of Hans Bott had been bewitched and there was a
5

Weyer, Johann Witches, devils and doctors in the Renaissance (Center for Medieval and early Renaissance
Studies: 1991) 243-244.

suspect named. Here the courts were very hesitant to integrate her and were cautious of
doing so with other forms of supernatural powers, such the use of Sacramentals.6 But this
was not always the case. Once an accusation had been made an arrest warrant would be
given to the Bailiff of the district or area. He would then arrest the accused and then she
would go through an integration that was a series of tortures which were applied in hopes
of gaining a confession7. This would then be followed by the public trial itself.
The Counter-Reformation
Here is where the idea of mass hunts and prosecutions comes into play. This was
not limited to just one geographical area or one time. Different parts of the Holy Roman
Empire went through its own mass witch hunt in its own time. But the largest majority of
these witch trials took place with German principalities that were prince-bishoprics and
ecclesiastical states. Between 1587 and 1593 Archbishop-elector of Tier sponsored a
witch-hunt that resulted in the burning of 368 witches from twenty-two different villages.
These hunts were so horrific, in terms of numbers, that by 1585 two of these twenty-two
villages had only one female inhabitant each.8 Within the principality of Saxony-Anhalt
in 1589, there were 133 witches killed at the convent of Quedlinburg in just one day. At
the Abbey of Fulda, Prince-Abbot Balthasar von Dernbach conducted a reign of terror
during the first decade of the seventeenth century in which his Minster Balthasar Ross is
known to have boasted of sending over 700 witches to burn at the stake. Within these 700
it is known that no less 205 of them were sent between the years of 1603 and 1605 alone.9
6

Scribener, Robert W. Popular Culture and popular Movements in Reformation Germany (The Hambledon
Press: 1987) 257-261.
7
Clark, Stuart Thinking with Demons: the Idea of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe (Oxford University
Press: 1997) 379.
8
Midelfort, H.C.Erik Heartland of the Witch craze: Central and Northern Europe, History Today.
(February, 1981) 27.
9
Midelfort, H.C.Erik Heartland of the Witch craze: Central and Northern Europe, History Today.
(February, 1981) 27.

At the Frstprobstei of Ellwagen, ecclesiastical leaders burned 390 witches between the
years of 1611 and 1618. The Teutonic Order at Megenthein executed 124 witches during
the years of 1628-30. The Prince-Bishop of Wrzburg endure a frightful panic of
witchcraft during the 1620s which resulted in Bishop Philipp Adolf von Ehrenberg
executing 900 people, which included his own nephew, 19 catholic priest and several
small children.
Even with these large numbers the ecclesiastical states were not the only places
where mass witch hunts took place. Many secular states also tried and executed large
numbers of witches. The Duchy of Braunschweig-Wolfenbttel executed 53 witches
between 1590 and 1620. The Duchy of Bavaria executed over 2,000 witches during this
time. Why such a great increase in the number of witches being burned during the latter
half of the sixteenth century and the beginning of the seventeenth century?
The Thirties Year War
During this time the conflict between Catholics and Protestants was increasing in
intensity and violence. Many German princes allowed those not of their prescribed faith
to be persecuted. With religious unrest and also the rise is political and social unrest, as
many princes changed their religion overnight the common man and woman was looking
for an explanation. Their daily lives had been disrupted and no matter what religion they
may prescript to there was the hint that the devil had a hand it in some way. As the
numbers of witches executed increases so to does the violence and turmoil experienced
by many Germans. By 1618, with the Defenestration of Prague, war over religion and
political power seems to be on the horizon. It comes with the coronation of King
Ferdinand of Bohemia as Holy Roman Emperor on August 18th, 1619. With his

coronation the Protestant nobles of Bohemia rebel and start a war with Ferdinand.
Ferdinand gains the support of Bavaria, Spain, and Saxony. This rebellion is ended at the
Battle of White Mountain on November 8th, 1620. But this is just the beginning of a war
that begins on religious principles but soon becomes a war of greed and ambition. And
unfortunately the Holy Roman Empire becomes the battleground and the people become
victims. During this time the German people must endure plague and being constantly
attacked by each of the armies and it is the peasants, common folk, which suffer the most.
This war along with the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation had
completely disturbed the daily lives of the German people. Death is brought to their
doorstep. Their economy and livelihoods are destroyed. The reasons behind the war itself
are not completely clear to anyone. But answer must be found and some sense of
normalcy must be found. Here the medieval ideals of witch craft and its negative role in
society are brought into the forefront.
Historiography of the Witch Trials
Many historians have argued that this was just a delusion or that there were
ulterior motives, however probably that is the fact that witches and the power of God and
the Devil really existed to the people of this time. Witch craft and the belief in it resulted
from two major components that made up witchcraft. The first being the maleficium, this
belief had a solid base in reality because it was the actions that were done to others and
could be seen. The actual practice of these is a practice that dates all the way back to
ancient Rome, where people were known to inscribe curses on lead tablets, dedicate the
tablet and then drive nails through the tablet.10 Also the practice of divination also dates
back to Ancient Rome and Greece. The second component is that of diabolism or the
10

Levack, Brain P. The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe (Longman Group: 1987) 11.

worship of the devil along with the display of devilish behavior11. This component is
more difficult to establish because it is all based on theory and very few accusations
actually include this. Many times it is not brought forth until the confession of the witch,
herself. Many times this will come in the form of explaining that one entered in a pact
with the Devil or a collective worship of the Devil (witches Sabbath).12 But these
examples came from forced confessions that were obtained through the art of torture. The
fact they were obtain this was along with the confession itself brings into question the
credibility of these facts.
The other reasons that the witch hunts were so incredibly wide spread in mass
quantities was the fact that the actual prosecution and execution of witches was held at a
local level. This meant that depending on which German principality that one lived in
would depend on what form of punishment would be enforced also how serious the
accusations were taken. These local proceedings however were influenced by the German
legal system, which allowed bishops and other ecclesiastical leaders an unparallel degree
of influence within their assigned territories.13 This means that witch craft was not just
prosecuted in terms of the secular law of the land but also in terms of church heresy
because of the implication of diabolism. It also permitted university professors to become
full members of the judicial mechanism of the area and they brought with them their own
theories of both witchcraft and legal proceedings.14

11

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/dictionaries/difficultwords/data/d0004548.html

12

Levack, Brain P. The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe (Longman Group: 1987) 12-13.
Midelfort, H.C.Erik Heartland of the Witch craze: Central and Northern Europe, History Today.
(February, 1981) 30.
14
Midelfort, H.C.Erik Heartland of the Witch craze: Central and Northern Europe, History Today.
(February, 1981) 30.
13

The witch-hunts of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries have
resounded through out not just Germany but all of Europe. During this time there are also
witch hunts in Denmark, Sweden, France, England and Scotland. Even after 1648 when
the hunts began to lose momentum their influence could still be felt in such places as the
colonies of New England in the 1690s. Here too there had been great upheaval within
society. King Philips War had just ended and there were many refugees who had fled
from Maine to towns such as Salem. This along with the upheaval in England with the
English civil war, questions of why and how this all happened were brought up. Here also
the accusations were based on diabolism but maleficia.
The Witch hunts also made a mark on the art of the time. Men such as Hans
Baldung Grien and Albrecht Drer went to great lengths to bring a face to the ideas
behind the trials and the trials themselves. They painted both components of witch craft.
The ideas such as the Devils Sabbath and the Pact with the devil along with the actual
maleficia inflicted on others. These paintings and sketches have brought a human face to
the theories and theology of the day.
During the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries Germany was a place of
turmoil and change for more than just one reason. It was a battlefield for the
Reformation, Counter-Reformation and the Thirty Years War. In the midst of all of these
changes the reality of the possibility that the devils hand was in this was brought to light
through the accusing, prosecuting and execution of over 36,000 witches. These witch
trials have been looked at on their own but a greater understanding can be found through
looking at them in context of the society of the day. The fact that witch craft and the devil
were very real and also that they were correlated to the lose of peace, prosperity and

normalcy in daily life must be taken into account. The mass witch hunts were horrific and
the role of women within society was degraded but this happened in part because of the
superstitious lives that the common man lived during this time.

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