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Wicca | Richard M.Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Western Tradition | 474 | 46049 Golden Chap. D av First Pages 08/25/2005 p.437 Application File
Münster-Schröer, Erika. 2000. “Hexenverfolgungen in Jülich-Berg name was Charlier—remained an influential authority
und der Einfluss Johann Weyers.” Spee-Jahrbuch7: 59–102. for German and French theologians alike; eve n
Rowlands, Alison, and Rita Voltmer. 2002. “The Persecution of Protestants re f e r red to him.
Witches and the Practice of Lordship (‘Hexenverfolgung und
Named after his hometown Gerson-lès-Barby, situat-
Herschaftspraxis’), Wittlich, Germany, 11–13 October 2001
ed in the diocese of Reims, Gerson began his studies in
(Conference Report).” German History20: 221–224.
Paris in 1377, receiving a professorship from its theo-
Rummel, Walter. 1991a. Bauern, Herren und Hexen. Studien zur
logical faculty in 1392. Three years later he was elected
Sozialgeschichte sponheimischer und kurtrierischer Hexenprozesse
chancellor of the Un i versity of Paris. In spite of long
1574–1664.Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht.
———. 1991b. “Hexenverfolgungen in den Manderscheider absences, he held this office until he died on July 12,
Territorien (1528–1641).” Pp. 37–48 in Die Manderscheider. 1429, at an abbey near Lyons. This eminent critic and
Eine Eifler Adelsfamilie. Herrschaft–Wirtschaft–Kultur.Koblenz: reformer was referred to as the “most Christian theolo-
Rheinland-Verlag GmbH. gian” (doctor christianissimus, a flattering parallel to the
Schleichert, Sabine. 1993. “Hexenprozesse in der Landgrafschaft “most Christian king” of France) and is now considered
Hessen-Kassel.” Hessisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte43: a moderate nominalist, whose teachings favored mysti-
39–76.
cism more than scholasticism. He played a leading part
Schormann, Gerhard. 1977. Hexenprozesse in Nordwestdeutschland.
in the early fif t e e n t h - c e n t u ry conciliar movement that
Hildesheim: Lax.
attempted to heal the schism in the Western Churc h ;
Schulte, Rolf. 2001. Hexenverfolgung in Schleswig-Holstein vom
Gerson saw councils as a higher authority than the
16.–18. Jahrhundert.Heide: Boyens and Co.
pope. His pastoral ethics gave a major impetus to pro-
Stebel, Heinz Jürgen. 1968. Die Osnabrücker Hexenprozesse.Bonn:
Dissertationsdruck München. moting the Ten Commandments as Christian va l u e s
Vater, Andrea. 1988. Hexenverfolgungen in nassauischen above the seven deadly sins, reversing common practice
Grafschaften im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert.Marburg: during the Middle Ages.
Dissertationsdruck Darmstadt. Gerson considered the belief in magically charged
Voltmer, Rita. 2001a. “Hexenprozesse in der Herrschaft Kail unter items such as amulets, or calling on sorc e rers or sorc e re s s-
Dietrich II. von Manderscheid-Kail (1591–1613).” Pp. 47–52, es, as serious offenses against the First Commandment.
402–403 in Oberkail. Geschichte eines Dorfes in der südlichen
In Ge r s o n’s book on sins, Le miroir de l’ âme( Mi r ror of
Eifel.Edited by Erich Gerten, Jörg Kreutz, and Claus Rech.
the Soul), both actions we re described as a most serious
Oberkail: Ortsgemeinde Oberkail.
offense, falling within the definition of apostasy. In
———. 2001b. “Zwischen Herrschaftskrise,
September 1398, under his chairmanship, the faculty of
Wirtschaftsdepression und Jesuitenpropaganda.
theology of the Un i versity of Paris issued twe n t y - e i g h t
Hexenverfolgungen in der Stadt Trier (15.–17. Jahrhundert).”
Jahrbuch für westdeutsche Landesgeschichte27: 37–107. p ropositions of superstition which he probably also
———. 2002. “Hochgerichte und Hexenprozesse. Zur drafted. In 1402 he repeated the condemnation of magic
herrschaftlich-politischen Instrumentalisierung von practices in his essay De erroribus circa artem magicam
Hexenverfolgungen.” Pp. 475–525 in Hexenprozesse und (Concerning Misconceptions about Magical Arts), giv-
Gerichtspraxis.Edited by Herbert Eiden und Rita Voltmer. ing further reasons. Misconceptions and blasphemy
Trier: Spee. included not only the belief in other gods and entities,
———, and Franz Irsigler. 2002. “Die europäischen
but also summoning demons by invocations or incanta-
Hexenverfolgungen der Frühen Neuzeit-Vorurteile, Faktoren
tions, even if veiled by Christian formulas. Even magical
und Bilanzen.” Pp. 30–45 in Hexenwahn. Ängste der Neuzeit.
a rts with some good purpose, such as the search for pro-
Edited by Rosmarie Beier-de Haan, Rita Voltmer, and Franz
tection against ghosts, constituted idolatry. Ge r s o n
Irsigler. Berlin: Deutsches Historisches Museum
s t r i ved especially to oppose the process of blending
———. 2003. “Germany’s First ‘Superhunt’?”-Rezeption und
Konstruktion der so genannten Trierer Verfolgungen (16.–21. Christian with so-called heathen beliefs by stressing that
Jahrhundert). Pp. 225–258 in Realität und Mythos. Christian prophets we re not magicians, whose acts, he
Hexenverfolgung und Rezeptionsgeschichte.Edited by Katrin thought, relied fundamentally on a tacit or expre s s e d
Moeller and Burghart Schmidt. Hamburg: Dobu pact with demons.
Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Dokumentation und Buch. Gerson related learned and popular magical practices,
Walz, Rainer. 1993. Hexenglaube und magische Kommunikation im naming both as errors of belief. The He b rew Bible pun-
Dorf der frühen Neuzeit. Die Verfolgungen in der Grafschaft
ished these violations by death. In De erro r i b u s , Ge r s o n
Lippe.Paderborn: Schöningh.
both summarized and advanced the dominant view of
Wilbertz, Gisela. 1978. “Hexenprozesse und Zauberglaube im
magic by contemporary theology. On one hand, the
Hochstift Osnabrück.” Osnabrücker Mitteilungen84: 33–50.
Inquisition could now prosecute magic and conduct
s o rc e ry trials, because of the attested here s y. On the oth-
Gerson, Jean (1363–1429) er hand, Gerson continued a theological deve l o p m e n t
Ge r s o n’s teaching about sorc e ry provided an intellectual begun by Thomas Aquinas, arguing that sorc e ry was not
s o u rce of legitimacy and justification for later witchcraft p owe rful in itself but only in connection with the
trials. Until the early sixteenth century, Gerson—his re a l Devil—a foundation of later demonology. Se p a r a t i n g
Gerson, Jean 437 |
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p ro t e c t i ve from aggre s s i ve spells had now become more by other spells: two small statues, re p re s e n t i n g
d i f ficult, although other elements that would later Gesualdo and Leonora, transfixed by nails and pins; a
belong to the witch paradigm we re still missing. key and lock buried under the prince’s favorite passage-
Secluded in his abbey, the aged Gerson support e d way, together with a crucifix and a large loaf of bread;
Joan of Arc in 1429 by declaring her God’s agent and some hair and toenails from corpses placed in a lock.
thus opposing numerous rumors that she was a heretic. Last but not least, Paulella sold Aurelia a magic spirit,
However, he died before her trial started. trapped in a carafe, which told her—in Greek and in
falsetto—what Gesualdo was doing.
ROLF SCHULTE
In 1590, Ge s u a l d o’s bodyguards had murd e red both
TRANSLATED BY JAN VAN DER CRABBEN his first wife and her noble love r, a Carafa. This time,
Gesualdo was once again in a position to re venge him-
See also: AQUINAS,THOMAS;FRANCE;INQUISITION,MEDIEVAL;
JOANOFARC;MALEFICIUM;PACTWITHTHEDEVIL;PARIS,UNI- self through subordinates by ordering his mistre s s
VERSITYOF. imprisoned in his castle at Gesualdo, together with the
References and further reading: local f a t t u c c h i e ra (witch) who had re c ruited Pa u l e l l a ,
Chartularium universitatis Parisiensis.1975 (1944). Part IV, pp. Polisandra Pez zella (a priest’s daughter, previously pun-
32–35 and 261–266 in University Records and Life in the ished for blasphemy by an episcopal court), and her
Middle Ages. Edited and translated by Lynn Thorndike. New a p p rentice. Howe ve r, the priest’s legal status put him
York: Norton.
b e yond Ge s u a l d o’s reach (we do not know if he was eve n
Francq, H. G. 1971. “Jean Gerson’sTheological Treatise and
a r rested), and the prince’s other actions provoked a juris-
Other Memoirs in Defence of Joan of Arc.” Revue de
dictional quarrel between his baronial judge, Cesare
l’Université d’Ottawa41: 58–80.
Stabiano, and the local bishop of Ave l l i n o. Despite a
Gerson, Jean. 1966. “Le miroir de l’âme.” Pp. 196–206 in Oeuvres
t h reat of excommunication, Stabiano had his prisoners
complètes.Edited by Palémon Glorieux. Vol. 7.1. Paris: Desclée.
———. 1973. “De erroribus circa artem magicam.” Pp. 77–90 in t o rt u red and refused to surrender them to a notoriously
Oeuvres complètes.Edited by Palémon Glorieux. Vol. 10. Paris: lenient ecclesiastical court. We know nothing of the fate
Desclée. of Po l i s a n d r a’s apprentice, who was probably released or
Peters, Edward. 1978. The Magician, the Witch and The Law. a l l owed to escape, but both Ge s u a l d o’s mistress and the
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. local witch probably died in their lord’s dungeons.
Wayman, Dorothy. G. 1957. “The Chancellor and Jeanne D’Arc.” Thus the scandal was snuffed out as quietly as possi-
Franciscan Studies17: 273–305.
ble. Although their only child, a boy, had died at age
five in 1600, Carlo Gesualdo’s wife had two brothers, a
Gesualdo, Carlo (1566–1613) cardinal and a duke, and he could not afford a second
Gesualdo was the most illustrious victim of witchcraft marital scandal or a formal separation. Leonora suffered
in Baroque Italy, suffering lengthy and severe illness in f rom chronic ill health, fashionably labeled as melan-
1603 through the spells of his concubine, Aurelia cholia. She returned to Modena, complaining that the
d’Arrico, and her accomplices. women imprisoned in the castle of Gesualdo had con-
Gesualdo was a many-faceted personality. Be s t-k n ow n tinued to cast spells even after their deaths. Her hus-
today as a composer of sacred music and madrigals b a n d’s death in 1613 probably gave her some re l i e f ;
(Stravinsky ranks among his posthumous admirers), he remaining a widow for twenty years, she died at age sev-
was also prince of Venosa, ruling almost two dozen fiefs enty-six. Only Carlo Ge s u a l d o’s music remains, thus
in the Kingdom of Naples, and a reputedly violent man re versing Sh a k e s p e a re’s famous re m a rk that “the evil
who had his first wife murd e red before re m a r rying a that men do lives after them; the good is oft interre d
Modenese princess, Leonora d’Este. Mo re ove r, he with their bones.”
e n j oyed intimate connections with the hierarchy of
ANNIBALE COGLIANO;
p o s t - Tridentine Catholicism: himself the grand-
n e p h ew of Pope Pius IV, Ge s u a l d o’s maternal uncles ARRANGED BY WILLIAM MONTER
included St. Carlo Borromeo, and a paternal uncle had
See also: DELLAPORTA,GIAMBATTISTA;INQUISITION,ROMAN;ITALY;
been Cardinal-Archbishop of Naples. LOVEMAGIC;MELANCHOLY;NAPLES,KINGDOMOF;SPELLS.
In the best traditions of Neapolitan love magic References and further reading:
described a generation earlier by Giambattista De l l a Cogliano, Annibale. 2004. Il Principe, l’amante, la strega.Naples:
Po rta, the spells applied to Gesualdo invo l ved va r i o u s Edizione Scientifiche Italiane.
incantations and conjurations, including some sacre d Gray, Cecil, and Philip Heseltine. 1991. Carlo Gesualdo: The Man
i n g redients (the Eucharist, holy water) supplied by a and His Music.Oxford: Clarendon Press.
local priest, Antonio Paulella. The most bizarre spell,
which may explain Gesualdo’s illness, involved serving Gheyn II, Jacques De (1565–1629)
the prince a slice of bread containing his own sperm Netherlandish draughtsman, engrave r, and painter, de
and his mistress’s menstrual blood. It was supplemented Gheyn addressed the themes of monsters, witchcraft, and
438 Gesualdo, Carlo |
Wicca | Richard M.Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Western Tradition | 476 | 46049 Golden Chap. D av First Pages 08/25/2005 p.439 Application File
Jacques de Gheyn’s Witches’ Sabbat, also called La Cuisine des Sorcières (The Witches’ Kitchen).Surrounded by demons, familiars, and a snake,
witches concoct, while their sister witches depart for the Sabbat. (TopFoto.co.uk)
related topics in several drawings from the first decade of ( Description of the Inconstancy of Evil Angels and
the seventeenth century. Born in Antwe r p, de Gh e y n Demons, 1612, 1613, and 1623).
trained with Hendrick Goltzius in Haarlem (1585–1590)
and opened workshops in Amsterdam (1590–1595), Intellectual Environment
Leiden (1596–1600), and The Hague (1600–1629), Like most artists engaged in the re p resentation of witch-
w h e re he re c e i ved commissions from the St a d h o l d e r’s craft, de Gheyn was a member of the educated elite and
c o u rt . m oved in circles where witchcraft was discussed. In
The nucleus of his witchcraft oeuvre is formed by Leiden he established connections with the newly found-
scenes of an assembly of old women engaged in differe n t ed university and the publishing business, and was cer-
acts of witchcraft, often situated near or in ruins, and tainly acquainted with its professors of medicine and phi-
studies of monstrous rats and toads, skulls, and sorc e ry losophy who, in 1594, had negatively advised the court
books (Van Re g t e ren Altena = VRA 1983, cat. nos. 50, of Holland about the validity of the water ordeal (swim-
131, 493, 510–530, 538 recto, 539 recto, 743, 867, 892, ming test). In 1602, after de Gheyn had already move d
1050; Meij 1986, cat. no. 70; Nürnberger 1999, cat. no. to The Hague, the publisher Thomas Basson, originally
35; Löwensteyn forthcoming: a gathering of young and f rom England, re c e i ved the request to translate Re g i n a l d
old witches, signed and dated 1605). An elaborate design S c o t’s D i s c overie of Wi t c h c ra f tinto Dutch. The curators of
of witches in an ove rcast landscape was pre s u m a b l y Leiden Un i versity and others in the academic communi-
e n g r a ved by Andreas Stock and published by Nicolaes de t y, who favo red toleration tow a rd individuals accused of
C l e rck in Delft (Filedt Kok 1990, 279–280). The Po l i s h witchcraft, especially old women, supported the pro j e c t .
a rtist Jan Ziarnko included elements of this engraving in S c o t’s Ontdecking van tove ry ( Di s c overie of Wi t c h c r a f t )
his print illustrating the Sabbat for Pi e r re de Lancre’s a p p e a red in 1609 with a Dutch version of Leiden’s
Tableau de l’inconstance des mauvais anges et demons p rofessorial advice. De Gheyn drew his witches while his
Gheyn II, Jacques De 439 |
Wicca | Richard M.Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Western Tradition | 477 | 46049 Golden Chap. D av First Pages 08/25/2005 p.440 Application File
friend Basson was translating Scot. De Gheyn had cer- References and further reading:
tainly remained in contact with Basson, whose son Filedt Kok, Jan Piet. 1990. “Jacques de Gheyn II. Engraver,
Gove rt married de Gh e y n’s sister Anna in 1608. De Designer and Publisher-I.” Print Quarterly7, no. 3: 247–281.
L ö wensteyn, Machteld. 1986. “Helse hebzucht en we reldse we l l u s t .
Gh e y n’s 1603 drawing of The Devil sowing tare s
Een iconografische interpretatie van enkele heksenvo o r s t e l l i n g e n
( Ma t t h ew, 13: 24–30), a parable traditionally cited in
van Jacques de Gheyn II.” In Kwade Mensen. Toverij in
pleas for religious tolerance, with flying witches in the
Ne d e rl a n d .Edited by Willem de Bl é c o u rt and Marijke Gi j s w i j t -
b a c k g round, may indicate that he shared the enlightened
Hofstra. Volkskundig Bu l l e t i n12, no. 1: 241–261.
attitude of Basson and his companions. Also, de Gh e y n’s
———. 1987. “Toveren en spinnen. De evangeliën van de
witchcraft iconography with its focus on old women and spinrokken in beeld gebracht.” Pp. 133–147 in Nederland
occasional hints at their melancholic hallucinations betoverd. Toverij en hekserij van de veertiende tot in de twintigste
makes this plausible (Löwensteyn fort h c o m i n g ) . eeuw.Edited by Marijke Gijswijt-Hofstra and Willem Frijhoff.
Amsterdam: De Betaafsche Leeuw.
———. (forthcoming). The Witch in the Mirror. Images of Faith
Iconographic Tradition and
and Temptation in Netherlandish Art (1500–1650).
Interpretation
Meij, A.W. F. M., ed. 1986. Jacques de Gheyn II, 1565–1629:
In Antwe r p, de Gheyn would have seen demonological Drawings.Rotterdam: Museum Boymans-Van Beuningen.
scenes in the tradition of Hi e ronymus Bosch or Pi e t e r Exhibition Catalogue National Gallery of Art, Washington,
Brueghel the El d e r. In the course of de Gh e y n’s care e r, he D.C., March 9–May 11, 1986.
could not fail to have been exposed to depictions of Nürnberger, Ulrike. 1999. “Jacques de Gheyn II. Hexensabbat.”
demons and witches by other artists as well, including cat. no. 35 in Linie, Licht und Schatten. Meisterzeichnungen
und Skulpturen der Sammlung Jan und Marie-Anne
Hans Baldung [Grien], Cornelis van Oo s t s a n e n ,
Krugier-Poniatowski.Edited by Alexander Dückers. Berlin:
Ba rtholomeus Sp r a n g e r, Jacob Isaacz van Sw a n e n b u r g ,
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin—Preussischer Kulturbesitz und
and Frans Francken II, either in the original, or as a copy
G+H Verlag.
or variation. Clear influences we re Ba l d u n g’s woodcut of
Regteren Altena, I. Q. van. 1983. Jacques de Gheyn. Three
a witches’ Sabbat and the pendant prints depicting Sa i n t
Generations.3 vols. The Hague / Boston / London: Martinus
James and He rm o g e n e s designed by Breughel (VRA cat. Nijhoff.
nos. 519, 522). In addition, De Gh e y n’s direct or indi- Swan, Claudia. 1999. “The Preparation for the Sabbat by Jacques
rect knowledge of demonological literature other than de Gheyn II. The Issue of Inversion”Print Quarterly16, no. 4:
S c o t’s tract is proved by his use of the motif of Diana and 327–339.
He rodias, the lady captains of the witches’ flight (V R A ,
Ghosts
cat. no. 522), a stock item since the Canon Ep i s c o p i .
Various attempts have been made to interpret de Ghosts are innately difficult to define; as the dead
Gh e y n’s enigmatic re p resentations. Recently it was returned to or existing in the physical world, ghosts
demonstrated that the left-handedness of the witches in m a ystill have many and varied forms, qualities, and
the large print (VRA, cat. # 519) was intentional, intro- purposes. In medieval and early modern Eu ro p e
ducing the motif of inversion inherent to the phenom- ( c a .1200–1750), these variations stem from the dive r s e
enon of witchcraft (Swan 1999, 335–339). The print as s o u rces for the widespread beliefs in ghosts: biblical, clas-
a whole should be interpreted within the conceptual sical, Germanic, and folkloric. Of particular import a n c e
f r a m ew o rk of inversion. De Gheyn confronted the to medieval ghost beliefs was the doctrine of purgatory,
s u n-bathed city teeming with church towers in the d e veloped and disseminated in the thirteenth and four-
distance with the clouded world of the witches and teenth centuries. As a “home” for souls between the fire s
demons in the fore g round, re s p e c t i vely symbolizing of hell and the bliss of heaven, purgatory provided an
faith in God and temptation by the Devil. Ad d i t i o n a l explanation for ghosts’ origins and intentions. T h e
emblematic motifs warn against the sin of avarice, the Protestant challenge to the doctrine of purgatory also
possession of earthly goods constituting the most evil of t h reatened the logic of ghost beliefs, although it did not
all devilish temptations. Specific motifs symbolizing the p re vent Protestants from continuing to believe that the
opposition of faith to temptation, a recurring theme in dead could return to or remain on earth and make
c o n t e m p o r a ry moral theology, often determines the demands of the living. T h roughout the En l i g h t e n m e n t
reading of Netherlandish witchcraft images. and into the twe n t y - first century, belief in ghosts persist-
Susceptibility to temptation frequently figured as a typ- ed, fostered by thousands of printed works adve rt i s i n g
ically female weakness (Löwensteyn forthcoming). “t rue ghost stories” and the application of such new tech-
nologies as photography to studying apparitions.
MACHTELD LÖWENSTEYN
Ancient and Medieval Ghosts
See also: ARTANDVISUALIMAGES;BALDUNG[GRIEN], HANS;
Biblical, classical, and Germanic texts provided strong
BRUEGHELTHEELDER,PIETER;CANONEPISCOPI;DEMONOLOGY;
FRANCKENII,FRANS;SABBAT;SCOT,REGINALD;SWIMMINGTEST; support for medieval beliefs in ghosts who had ambigu-
ZIARNKO,JAN. ous and frequently dangerous relationships with the
440 Ghosts |
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living. Biblical examples such as the ghost of Samuel qualities, ghosts had a mission to make people under-
(I Samuel 28:13) and condemnations of “ghosts and stand and experience God’s presence in the world.
familiar spirits” (Deuteronomy 18 and Isaiah 8) distin- Lavater’s angelology and stress on angelic assistance
guish between ghosts and spirits such as demons, but spread through many Protestant regions in the six-
leave many questions unanswered. Both classical and teenth century, taking on characteristics similar to those
Germanic sources described haunted houses and of the Catholic cult of guardian angels. Lavater’s stress
forests, wild nighttime hunts including both ghosts and on the possibility of ghosts’ demonic nature also reflect-
other supernatural beings, and ghosts who were so ed an increased focus on the demonic in many aspects
“alive” that they could conduct business, hold hands, of sixteenth-century thought; it was rare in medieval
and even have sex. The belief in ghosts was so strong in accounts of ghosts.
late Roman society that early Christian authors, such as Despite these challenges, many patterns of medieval
St. Augustine, were afraid any concessions in this area ghost beliefs and practices continued into the sixteenth
would reinforce widespread pagan belief in spirits. and seventeenth centuries among Protestants and
Instead, Augustine and his later followers argued that Catholics alike. Ghosts continued to visit their relatives,
apparitions were actually “spiritual visions,” immaterial ask for aid, and strive to conclude unresolved business.
images produced by the imagination. Many early ghost They followed people on voyages and physically pushed
stories depended on these ideas and made no distinc- and pulled the living, if necessary, to obtain their mys-
tion between a ghost seen while awake and a vision dur- terious ends. Moreover, sources for reports about ghosts
ing a dream of a person about to die. were also growing. Diaries, broadsheets, sermons, theo-
Building on these concepts, a “theology of ghosts” logical treatises, and other writings that noted ghostly
emerged in the late Middle Ages. Ghosts were frequent- phenomena circulated more freely because of changes
ly described as physical, corporeal entities who we re associated with the printing press. As prophets, ghosts
k n own to the percipient and who returned to this we re active during the English Civil War and
world to deliver a doctrinal or moral message. The dead Restoration and during the French Wars of Re l i g i o n .
appeared when funeral rites were improperly observed, Records of hauntings also made their way into judicial
when mourning or penitence was incomplete. As such, re c o rds; in the duchy of Ba varia accounts of specters
they affirmed the bonds linking the communities of the (Ge s p e n s t e r) earned special hearings from the ducal
living and the dead in Christian society. Moreover, they court and the archiepiscopal court of Augsburg.
emphasized the role of God in establishing these bonds
and rules by which heaven and earth functioned; as Enlightenment and
“marvels,” ghosts testified to the astonishing diversity of Scientific Ghosts
God’s creation while supporting beliefs about its under- With the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries came
lying order. challenges to traditional belief in ghosts. Some scholars
Ghosts we re also sources about humanity’s fate after and lawyers now saw ghosts as delusions of the unedu-
death, and from the thirteenth century they appeared in cated, the rustic, the dow n t rodden, and women.
an increasingly diverse array of sources. Ghosts re ve a l e d Despite Enlightenment skepticism, interest in ghost
the landscape of the dead—not only what would hap- stories, “true life” accounts, and even trials involving
pen, but how eve rything would look, feel, smell, sound, spectral evidence continued unabated. Writers such as
and even taste. As such, medieval ghosts re i n f o rced the Daniel Defoe, scientists such as John Beaumont, and
ideas about good works, intercession, and salvation that theologians such as Auguste Calmet all wrote influen-
we re spreading throughout medieval Eu rope. Me d i e va l tial works attesting to the reality of ghosts. Yet the qual-
ghosts also generally had personal connections to those ities and interests of ghosts, and the means by which
who saw them: kin, neighbors, confessors, bondsmen, people learned about them, were changing. By the
or clerics from the same community. Such social ties nineteenth century, challengers of Enlightenment ratio-
we re perc e i ved as also having a spiritual component, nality, such as Romantics, saw the ghost and the
forming essentially a transcendental kinship. spectral as aspects of an essential nature that the “mod-
ern” had wrongly abandoned. Their ghosts were ethere-
The Reformation and Ghosts al and enigmatic. They haunted places, unlike the
When in the 1520s Protestant reformers attacked the m e d i e val and early modern ghosts who primarily
doctrine of purgatory, theologically ghosts became haunted people.
homeless. The Zurich theologian Ludwig Lavater wrote By the later nineteenth century, belief in ghosts had
one of the earliest and most influential attempts to also taken a new manifestation inspired by the founda-
explain ghostly phenomena within a Protestant frame- tion of scientific societies devoted to the study of
work. Rather than challenge ghosts’ existence, he reclas- paranormal phenomena and whose membership
sified them; what people called ghosts were either included leading scientists of the day.The most famous
angels or demons. According to Lavater, whatever their was En g l a n d’s Society for Ps ychical Re s e a rch (SPR),
Ghosts 441 |
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founded in 1882, and its goal was to employ the latest his degrees (BA and MA) at Christ’s College,
scientific methods to the study of psychic phenomena, Cambridge, which in the later sixteenth century was a
including ghosts. Such societies used modern census hotbed of advanced Protestant thinking. In 1582 he
techniques to survey percipients, tape measures to obtained the living of All Saints, Maldon, a small bor-
check the thickness of walls and to search for hidden ough and seaport in southern Essex. After his
chambers; still cameras for indoor and outdoor photog- Puritanism provoked problems with the ecclesiastical
raphy; a fingerprinting kit; and even portable tele- authorities, the townsfolk retained him as a lecturer
phones for contact between investigators. Si g m u n d (that is,preacher). Gifford was admirably positioned to
Freud incorporated ghosts and the “u n c a n n y” into his study witch beliefs in a county experiencing steady
theories about the mind and human nature, as did a witchcraft prosecutions, and he published A Discourse
s c o re of lesser philosophers, psychologists, and scien- of the Subtill Practises of Devilles byWitches and Sorcerers
tists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth cen- in 1587 and A Dialogue Co n c e rning Witches and
turies. Movements such as spiritualism, mesmerism, Witchcraftes in 1593 (it would be republished in 1603).
and theosophy had a broad social appeal, and circ u l a- Gi f f o rd’s reputation for drawing heavily on local
tion of scientific texts such as the SPR’s Re p o rt on the beliefs about witchcraft rests mainly on the second
Census of Ha l l u c i n a t i o n s (1894) further legitimize d w o rk. A Dialogue Co n c e rning Witches and Wi t c h c ra f t e s
belief in ghosts. In populations traumatized by Wo r l d opens with one of its characters, Samuel, declaring his
War I, belief in ghosts and deathbed sendings flo u r- fear of witches. He constantly heard stories of how they
ished, and the 1920s and early 1930s saw the last resur- exercised their malice to maim and kill cattle, children,
gence in Europe of widespread, open belief in haunted and adult humans, he believed that there we re one or
people and places. Despite growing skepticism in the two witches in eve ry town and village in the county,
later twentieth and early twenty-first centuries about a and he described his fears of the strange animals he had
rational foundation for ghost beliefs, howe ve r, ghosts seen around his house, which, he was convinced, were
retained an active place in popular culture and media, w i t c h e s’ familiars. Samuel also had a great deal to say
and hundreds of societies with diverse credentials con- about cunning folk. But, despite providing these details
tinued to study “ghostly” and psychic phenomena. of local beliefs and concerns, Gi f f o rd’s work had an
agenda that placed it firmly in the mainstream of
KATHRYN A. EDWARDS
English Protestant demonology. He described popular
See also: CONTEMPORARYWITCHCRAFT(POST1800); DEMONS; beliefs as a first step tow a rd correcting popular erro r s
ENDOR,WITCHOF;FREUD,SIGMUND;HUNGARYANDSOUTH- about witchcraft. Gi f f o rd’s concern was to provide his
EASTERNEUROPE,MAGIC;METAMORPHOSIS;PEOPLEOFTHE
readers with an informed and theologically correct view
NIGHT(NACHTVOLK); POLTERGEIST;REVENANTS;SPECTRALEVI-
of witchcraft (expressed by another character in the
DENCE;STOECKHLIN,CHONRAD.
Dialogue,Daniel), which would facilitate more effective
References and further reading:
witch hunting devoid of what he re g a rded as wide-
Christian, William A. 1981. Apparitions in Late Medieval and
spread misconceptions on the subject. Gifford was not
Renaissance Spain.Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Edwards, Kathryn A., ed. 2002. Werewolves, Witches, and denying the reality of witchcraft or maleficium (harmful
Wandering Spirits: Traditional Belief and Folklore in Early magic), but rather attacking, via Daniel, the popular
Modern Europe.Kirksville, MO: Truman State University Press. conception of how it was performed and what it repre-
Finucane, R. C. 1982. Appearances of the Dead: A Cultural History sented. For example, Gifford stated firmly that witches
of Ghosts.London: Junction Books. should be hanged not for the harm that they did to
Gordon, Bruce, and Peter Marshall, eds. 2000. The Place of the humans and livestock, but rather for entering into a
Dead: Death and Remembrance in Late Medieval and Early
pact with the Devil. He also, like other En g l i s h
Modern Europe. NewYork: Cambridge University Press.
Protestant writers of his period, took a ve ry hard line
Marshall, Peter. 2002. Beliefs and the Dead in Reformation
against cunning folk, those “g o o d” witches to whom
England.NewYork: Oxford University Press.
the population resorted in large numbers, not least for
Oppenheim, Janet. 1985. The Other World: Spiritualism and
advice when they thought themselves bew i t c h e d .
Psychical Research in England, 1850–1914.NewYork:
Cambridge University Press. Moreover Gifford, along with other English demonolo-
Schmitt, Jean-Claude. 1998. Ghosts in the Middle Ages: The Living gists, stressed the absolute sovereignty of God, encour-
and the Dead in Medieval Society.Translated byTeresa Lavender aging his readers to take a providentialist view of their
Fagan. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. m i s f o rtunes and endure them with Job-like patience,
rather than attributing them to the malice of witches.
Gifford, George (d. 1620) Gifford’s writings on witchcraft thus demonstrated a
Gifford was a Puritan clergyman whose two tracts on broader Protestant concern with evangelizing and chris-
witchcraft are noteworthy for the evidence they provide tianizing the population. It should be remembered that
on popular beliefs about witchcraft and witches. for Gi f f o rd, like many other writers whom witchcraft
Gifford matriculated at Hart Hall, Oxford, but earned historians have identified as demonologists, witchcraft
442 Gifford, George |
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was just one of many areas in which it was necessary to described as members of a “sect,” probably diffused ear-
c o n f ront and correct popular misconceptions about lier over a vast area, who practiced rites of an ecstatic
religious matters. Apart from his two works on witch- agrarian cult to ensure the fertility of fields. Inquisitors
craft, Gi f f o rd wrote a number of theological tracts, tried them and interpreted their nocturnal gatherings as
their thrust being indicated by the title of one of the diabolical Sabbats. In 1976, he turned to the study of
first, A briefe Discourse of certaine Points of the Religion, popular mentalities by publishing Il formaggio e I vermi
which is among the common Sort of Christians, which (The Cheese and the Worms). There he scrutinized the
may be termed the Countrie Divinitie, published in moods and mind of Domenico Scandella, called
1581. For Gi f f o rd and many other Protestant writers, Menocchio, the unforgettable sixteenth-century miller
in both England and elsewhere, replacing this “countrie burned by the Inquisition. Afterward, he began toiling
d i v i n i t y” with a more theologically and scripturally on his most ambitious work that signaled a return to
informed view of witchcraft became the main objective the history of witchcraft, and in 1988 Storia Notturna
when considering the problem of witchcraft. T h u s ( Ecstasies: Deciphering the Wi t c h e s’ - Sa b b a t h )
Gi f f o rd’s writings on witchcraft, while undoubtedly a p p e a red. In a book of wide erudition and theore t i c a l
providing modern scholars with rich evidence on popu- purpose, Ginzburg attempted a characteristically bold
lar notions on the subject, demonstrate adva n c e d i n t e r p retation of the medieval origins of the witches
English Protestant thinking on the issue of witchcraft Sabbat stereotype, seen as part of a body of shamanistic
and remind us that works of demonology need to be myths and rituals.
c o n s i d e red in the broader context of their author’s Ginzburg certainly must be considered the most
entire corpus. imaginative early modern Italian historian of the 1970s
and 1980s and his works, translated into many lan-
JAMES SHARPE
guages, have been hailed as major contributions to the
See also:DEMONOLOGY;ENGLAND. study of the mentality of popular classes and to the
References and further reading: method known as micro h i s t o ry. This being granted,
Gifford, George. 1581. A briefe Discourse of certaine Points of the
some forty years after Night Battlesand fifteen since the
Religion, which is among the common Sort of Christians, which
publication of Ec s t a s i e s , we can now assess Gi n z b u r g’s
may be termed the Countrie Divinitie.London.
specific contribution to the study of beliefs about mag-
———. 1587. A Discourse of the subtill Practises of Devilles by
ic and witchcraft.
Witches and Sorcerers.London.
The Benandanti was not an anticipation of the new
———. 1593. A Dialogue Concerning Witches and Witchcrafters.
London. interpretative paradigm inaugurated by Keith Thomas’s
Hitchcock, James. 1967. “George Gifford and Puritan Witch Religion and the Decline of Ma g i c (1971). Julia Caro
Beliefs.” Archiv für Reformationgeschichte5: 90–99. Baroja’s influential Las brujas y su mundo(1961), trans-
Macfarlane, Alan. 1977. “ATudor Anthropologist: George lated in English in 1964 as The Wo rld of the Wi t c h e s
Gifford’sDiscourse and Dialogue.”The Damned Art: Essays in (and, curiously, never mentioned in Ginzburg’s works),
the Literature of Witchcraft. Edited by Sydney Anglo. London: makes a more suitable forerunner for that future trend.
Routledge and Kegan Paul.
After appearing in English, Night Battles soon flowe d
Wallace, Dewey D., Jr. 1978. “George Gifford, Puritan
into the continuing renewal of witchcraft studies begun
Propaganda and Popular Religion in Elizabethan England.”
byThomas’s work. Today, it has not escaped the fate of
Sixteenth Century Journal9: 27–49.
many path-breaking books: a closer reading and new
archival research have shaken some of its main assump-
Ginzburg, Carlo (1939– ) tions. In fact, there is no evidence in the trials for the
Former professor of history at Bologna University and existence of a “sect,” nor of an agrarian fertility cult.
now at the University of California at Los Angeles, Gi n z b u r g’s far-fetched reading of sources and his
Ginzburg’s provacative books have helped renew inter- neglect of late seve n t e e n t h - c e n t u ry trials made him
est in the study of witchcraft among early modern his- downplay the benandanti’s main role in Friulan society,
torians. At the Scuola Normale of Pisa, he built up a n a m e l y, their function as healers and cunning men to
strong interest in sixteenth-centuryItalian religious his- counter malefic witches.
tory under the direction of Delio Cantimori, and in Although Night Battleswas immediately acclaimed as
Marc Bloch and Lucien Febvre’s historiographical “rev- stimulating research, Ecstasies, on the contrary, received
olution” of the 1930s. Bloch’s voracious reading, amaz- an immediate negative reaction. The reason for this
ing skill to “invent” historical problems, and constant generally harsh criticism goes far beyond the book’s
eagerness to renew the historian’s craft must have left minor factual mistakes and inconsistencies, and must
some sort of genetic imprint on Ginzburg. be connected with Gi n z b u r g’s ultimately fatal urge to
Gi n z b u r g’s career had a precocious beginning. In reshape the rules of his discipline. In re t ro s p e c t ,
1966, I benandanti(Night Battles) appeared, a book on Gi n z b u r g’s reaction to some re v i ewers of The Cheese
a then rather we i rd topic. The protagonists we re and the Wo rm s seems significant; he postulated a need
Ginzburg, Carlo 443 |
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for changes in the standard of evidence and for new cri- By the end of the following summer, Cadière bro k e
teria of pro o f, specifically suited to an inve s t i g a t i o n from Girard because he had declined to permit her to
based on heterogeneous and unbalanced documenta- leave her convent and because he had begun to doubt
tion. Br i e fly, in Ec s t a s i e s this tendency to jettison the her claims to holiness. She confided to her subsequent
conventional burden of proof was rife. Ginzburg’s deci- confessor, Nicolaus Giraux, that Girard has seduced her
phering of the Sabbat was soon submerged by his search and helped her instigate an abortion; the anti-Je s u i t
for the fundamental stru c t u re of human nature. Hi s Giraux then concluded that Gi r a rd had bewitched his
narration wandered off seeking a shamanistic interpre- penitent with demons. Cadière was exo rcised to expel
tation for the origins of this myth, and in prose that the malign spirits and to prove that the Jesuit priest had
became exc e s s i vely allusive but hardly ever analytical, caused her demonic possession.
Ginzburg gathered a multiplicity of heterogeneous cul- This case of demonic possession and supposed sexual
tural data, blithely indifferent to their social contexts. i n t e rcourse (Cadière’s lawyers found—or cajoled—ten
Pa r a d ox i c a l l y, women—the protagonists of the Sa b b a t other women who claimed Gi r a rd had seduced them)
and main victims in the witch hunt—were again sacri- p roduced a pamphlet war in Provence that gained
ficed in the book. national, even international notoriety, and became
Ne ve rtheless, despite his questionable interpre t a- e m b roiled in the century-old struggle of Ja n s e n i s t s
tions, it seems fair to say that breadth of outlook fea- (Catholics who advocated strict asceticism and who fol-
tured constantly in Ginzburg’s writings. Moreover, each l owed St. Au g u s t i n e’s doctrine of predestination) and
of his major works was preceded or followed by original Jesuits, strongly committed to the role of free will in
essays, meant to give a fuller picture of his methodolog- achieving salvation. Gi r a rd’s enemies depicted him in
ical concerns. songs, lampoons, engravings, and broadsides (some
pornographic) as the successor to other lecherous sor-
OSCAR DI SIMPLICIO
c e rer-priests: Louis Gaufridy at Aix-en-Provence in
See also: BENANDANTI;CAROBAROJA,JULIO;HISTORIOGRAPHY;
1611, Urbain Grandier at Loudun in the 1630s, and
SABBAT;SHAMANISM;STOECKHLIN,CHONRAD;THOMAS,KEITH;
Thomas Boullé at Louviers in the 1640s.
TREVOR-ROPER,HUGH(LORDDACREOFGLANTON).
C a d i è re’s family managed to have the trial evo k e d
References and further reading:
f rom the ecclesiastical court at Toulon, which had
Ginzburg, Carlo. 1980. The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos
f a vo red Gi r a rd, to the p a rl e m e n t ( s ove reign judicial
of a Sixteenth Century Miller.Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
University Press. court) of Aix. In September 1731, its procureur-général
———. 1983. The Night Battles: Witchcraft and Agrarian Cults in (public prosecutor) recommended a guilty verdict, tor-
the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries.Translated by John and t u re, and execution for Cadière for false accusation,
Anne Tedeschi. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pretending saintliness, and debasement of religion. This
———. 1989. Clues, Myths, and the Historical Method.Translated f u rther inflamed a populace (already excited by the
by John and Anne Tedeschi. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins midnight public exorcisms of Cadière organized by her
University.
brother, a Dominican priest), prone to believe the tales
———. 1991. Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches’ Sabbath.
of Gi r a rd’s sexual and clerical abuse, and to accept
Translated by Raymond Rosenthal. NewYork: Random House.
Cadière’s claims to holiness. However, there is no con-
Molho, Tony. 2004. “Carlo Ginzburg: Reflexions on the
clusive evidence that the confessor had sexual relations
Intellectual Cosmos of a 20th-Century Historian.” History of
with his penitent, and it seems likely that Cadière had
European Ideas 30: 121–148.
applied her own menstrual fluid to help mimic the stig-
Girard, Jean-Baptiste (1680–1733) mata. The Jansenists, who had used the affair as an
Girard was a Jesuit priest, tried in 1731 in Aix-en- opportunity to attack all Jesuits, had waged their propa-
Provence for seducing and bewitching his nubile for- ganda war well.
mer penitent, Marie-Catherine Cadière, in the last Next month, the p a rl e m e n t , by one vote, acquitted
major witchcraft trial involving demonic possession to both Cadière and Girard, remanding the priest, because
take place in France. of his clerical irregularities, to a Church court (which
Arriving in Toulon in 1728, Girard became the spir- later exonerated him) and holding Cadière and her
itual director of the teenage Cadière, who aspired to family liable for court costs. The p a rl e m e n t’s failure to
become a saint. Gi r a rd wished to become known as a convict Gi r a rd sparked vandalism and disturbances in
maker of saints, and the bishop of Toulon and others Provence, including violence against Jesuits; the army
who desired fame for the city and diocese supported his had to re s t o re ord e r. Cadière soon left Provence for
endeavor. Cadière quickly gained a reputation as a liv- good; Girard moved to Dôle in 1732, dying there the
ing saint for her asceticism, visions, powers of divina- following year.
tion, and for having re c e i ved the stigmata. By What had happened? For some, primarily but not
November 1729, Cadière began to experience sexual e n t i rely from lower social groups, demons as well as
desires, trances, hallucinations, and assaults by demons. d e p r a ved sorc e rer-priests we re part of this world. Fo r
444 Girard, Jean-Baptiste |
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Jansenists and their allies, the public dissemination of of revealed religion. Although latitudinarian toward the
Gi r a rd’s alleged misbehavior and indiscretions pro- essentials of Christianity, Glanvill strongly defended
vided a great victory over the Jesuits by pre s e n t i n g the rights of the Church of England against dissenters,
them as licentious and evil. Cadière’s accusations, the both in his writings and as an active parochial clergy-
trial, and the enormous publicity weakened the Je s u i t man; his publications guided Anglican clergy and laity
o rder and presaged their expulsion from France in on such issues as plain preaching, the sacraments, and
1764. For many in France, the trial, charges, and tes- m o r a l i t y. He followed He n ry Mo re’s “Cambridge
timony smacked of superstition and credulity; the Platonism,” which used the world of spirits (and preex-
accusations of witchcraft and demonic possession istence of the soul) as support for the established
we re nothing but fabricated and fraudulent nonsense; c h u rch against enthusiastic dissenters, Ro m a n
the era of miracles had long passed. In this sense, the Catholics, and materialistic atheists.
trial and its outcome clearly belonged to the early In 1666, Glanvill published Some Ph i l o s o p h i c a l
Enlightenment and re a f firmed the French royal edict C o n s i d e rations Touching the Being of Witches and
of 1682 that had re d e fined the crimes of witchcraft
and magic as superstition.
RICHARD M. GOLDEN
See also: AIX-EN-PROVENCENUNS;BEWITCHMENT;DEMONS;
ENLIGHTENMENT;EXORCISM;FRANCE;LIVINGSAINTS;LOUDUN
NUNS;LOUVIERSNUNS;POSSESSION,DEMONIC;SKEPTICISM.
References and further reading:
Kreiser, B. Robert. 1982. “The Devils of Toulon: Demonic
Possession and Religious Politics in Eighteenth-Century
Provence.” Pp. 173–221 in Church, State, and Society Under the
Bourbon Kings of France. Edited by Richard M. Golden.
Lawrence, KS: Coronado.
Mandrou, Robert. 1968. Magistrats et sorciers en France au XVIIe
siècle: une analyse de psychologie historique.Paris: Plon.
McManners, John. 1998. Church and Society in Eighteenth-Century
France.2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon.
Parès, A. Jacques. 1928. Le procès Girard-Cadière.Marseille:
L’Institut historique de Provence.
Robbins, Rossell Hope. 1959. Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and
Demonology.NewYork: Crown.
The Tryal of Father John-Baptist Girard.1732. London.
Glanvill, Joseph (1636–1680)
Together with Henry More, Glanvill published the
most influential defense of the reality of spirits and
witches in post-Restoration England. Intended to
counter the fashionable skepticism of materialists and
atheists, their Saducismus Tr i u m p h a t u s ( Sa d d u c i s m
Conquered, 1681) joined the approaches of modern
empirical science to ancient erudition to offer both a
philosophical and a natural historical account of how
spirits acted in the world.
Born in Plymouth, Glanvill was educated at Oxford
after 1652. He held a series of livings in Somerset after
1660; in 1666, he acquired his most prestigious post,
the Abbey Church of Bath, which he kept until his
death. Powerful connections also got him a prebend in
Worcester Cathedral and a royal chaplainship in 1672.
In addition to his works on witchcraft, Glanvill pub-
lished on philosophical and scientific subjects, attack-
ing Aristotelianism and defending the new science of
Title page of Joseph Glanvill’sSaducismus Triumphatus (Sadducism
the Royal So c i e t y, whose moderate skepticism and Conquered),a late seventeenth-century defense of the reality of
experimentalism, he believed, best supported the truths witchcraft. (The British Library/Topham-HIP/The Image Works)
Glanvill, Joseph 445 |
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Witchcraft,responding to Thomas Hobbes and perhaps References and further reading:
to the 1665 edition of Reginald Scot. A second edition Bostridge, Ian. 1997. Witchcraft and Its Transformations
a p p e a red in 1667; a third, retitled A Bl ow at Mo d e rn c.1650–c.1750.Oxford: Clarendon.
Cope, Joseph I. 1956. Joseph Glanvill, Anglican Apologist.St. Louis,
Sa d d u c i s m , is dated 1668, although Samuel Pepys was
Missouri: Washington University Studies.
reading it on Christmas Day 1667. The third edition
Glanvill, Joseph. 1700. Saducismus Triumphatus; or, Full and Plain
contained the famous story of the Drummer of
Evidence concerning Witches and Apparitions.Edited by Henry
Tedworth, a poltergeist case that Glanvill had witnessed
More. 3d ed. London: A.L.
himself in January 1663 at Mr. Mompesson’s house in
Jacob, James R. 1983. Henry Stubbe, Radical Protestantism and the
Wi l t s h i re. Glanvill also had access to notes about the Early Enlightenment.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
witchcraft cases prosecuted by Ro b e rt Hunt in Jobe, Thomas. 1981. “The Devil in Restoration Science: The
Somerset between 1657 and 1665; but, although his Glanvill-Webster Debate.” Isis72: 343–356.
1666 book was addressed to Hunt, he never incorporat- Prior, Moody E. 1932. “Joseph Glanvill, Witchcraft and
ed most of this material into his work until the revised Seventeenth-Century Science.” Modern Philology30: 167–193.
edition, responding to John Webster’s 1677 Displaying Reprinted as pp. 299–325 in Levack, Brian P. ed. 1992.
Articles on Witchcraft, Magic and Demonology.Vol. 6,Witchcraft
of Supposed Wi t c h c ra f t , which he was preparing at his
in England.NewYork and London: Garland.
death, was published in 1681 by He n ry Mo re as
Saducismus Tr i u m p h a t u s . Because Gl a n v i l l’s work fol-
l owed the pattern set by Mo re’s Antidote Against At h e i s m
(1652) and More added greatly to the various editions Goat
of the Sa d u c i s m u s , they should really be seen as joint The goat has a limited role in literary descriptions of
authors. Their work proved the most influential defense witchcraft, but is quite prominent in pictorial represen-
of witchcraft for many years: revised editions appeared tations. It is either the animal on which witches are
in 1682, 1689, 1700, and 1726, and it set the pattern most frequently shown to ride through the air, or the
for similar collections of cases, including The Certainty physical shape that the Devil adopts at the witches’
of the Wo rld of Sp i r i t s (1692) by Gl a n v i l l’s long-time Sabbat. InTeutonic, Celtic, and Classical mythologies,
correspondent Richard Baxter. goats represented the life force and fertility. Christians
More and Glanvill were interested in witchcraft pri- subsequently associated the goat with lust. In the New
marily for the experimental evidence it offered for the Testament, goats were identified with the wicked, and
existence and nature of spirits, thus offering an antidote contrasted to the good sheep, while in the Hebrew
to materialist atheism. They provided a philosophical Bible the scapegoat carried the sins of the community.
account within which the action of devils, directly or By the late Middle Ages, the most popular animal
t h rough witches, could be reconciled with the new forms used to represent the Devil were the serpent, the
empirical science; but they also appealed to the weight dragon, the dog, and the goat.
of authentic testimony of witchcraft and related phe- In descriptions of the witches’ Sabbat, the De v i l
nomena as proof that such things were matters of fact sometimes appeared as a goat, but equally often as a
and could not be declared impossible a priori by those cat, dog, horse, fly, or man. As late as 1608, Fr a n c e s c o
skeptical of witchcraft. Hence their collection of such Maria Gu a z zo’s account of a diabolical Sabbat in his
cases, in which many members of the Royal So c i e t y, Compendium Ma l e fic a ru m (A Su m m a ry of Wi t c h e s )
including Robert Boyle and John Aubrey, joined enthu- described the Devil seated on his throne “in some ter-
s i a s t i c a l l y, was as central to the Baconian enterprise of rible shape, as of a goat or a dog” (Book I, chap. xii).
natural history as Gl a n v i l l’s other investigation into Howe ver the anonymous artist who illustrated the
such local phenomena as the Mendip lead mines or w o rk depicted the Devil with the head, horns, and tail
Bath’s spa waters. In turn, such contemporary evidence of a goat. In Jean Bodin’s De la démonomanie des sor-
re i n f o rced scriptural testimony for witchcraft. De s p i t e c i e r s ( On the De m o n - Mania of Witches) of 1580, the
Glanvill’s use of Hunt’s trial material, however, we lack Sabbat concludes by the Devil consuming himself in
evidence that he and Mo re we re interested in witches fire and witches collecting the ash to harm their vic-
either as threats to the established church or as harmful tims (Book II, chap. 4). Nicolas Rémy’s De m o n o l a t ry
agents within local communities. Instead, their work of 1595 acknowledged these different animal forms,
contributed to a lively intellectual and scientific debate but claimed that the Devil chose the shape of a goat
lasting well into the eighteenth century, when it formed w h e n e ver he was invo l ved in some cere m o n y, because
the chief target of such writers as Francis Hutchinson. the goat’s “rank smell” and his “obscene lascivious-
n e s s” accorded best with his diabolical nature (Book I,
JONATHAN BARRY c h a p. xxiii).
The identification of the Sabbat Devil with a goat in
See also: BAXTER,RICHARD;DEMONS;HOBBES,THOMAS;HUTCHIN-
SON,FRANCIS;MORE,HENRY;POLTERGEIST;SCIENCEANDMAGIC; the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries was possibly
SKEPTICISM;SOMERSETWITCHES;WEBSTER,JOHN. i n fluenced by widespread accounts of the 1459–1460
446 Goat |
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Witch riding a goat to the Sabbat, sixteenth-century woodcut. (Bettmann/Corbis)
p rosecutions of the French Waldensians or Vaudois in Goats also featured in witchcraft accounts and illus-
the northern French town of Arras. Though the docu- tration as animals on which witches rode through the
ments described the Devil appearing in differe n t air.While literary descriptions included the goat among
forms, the “kiss of shame” (the osculum infame) applied many possibilities for transportation, in pictorial
to the De v i l’s rear invo l ved a goat. In three Fre n c h images the goat represented the most common animal
manuscript versions of the Speculatio in secta Va l d e n s i u m depicted. In the first two decades of the sixteenth cen-
( Speculation on the Sect of the Waldensians, ca. 1460) tury, the images of Albrecht Dürer, Albrecht Altdorfer,
by the Cologne theologian Johann Ti n c t o r, written in Hans Schäuffelein, and especially Hans Ba l d u n g
the wake of the Arras trials, groups of Wa l d e n s i a n s [Grien] established the visual stereotype of a witch rid-
we re depicted kneeling around a goat with lighted ing a goat. The strongest grounds for this identification
c a n d l e s . seem to be the association of goats with the vice of lust,
A century later, the Devil was again shown as a goat and the interest that these artists had in the theme of
in a Sabbat scene of ca. 1570, which survives as a col- sexual disorder. For instance, Dürer emphasized this by
ored drawing in the Zurich collection of Johann Jakob the witch’s grasp of the goat’s horn, an allusion to her
Wick. In this case, as in most others from later decades, p owers of castration, while Baldung depicted a witch
the Devil appears as half man and half goat, depicted lighting her torch from a goat’s genitals. In such ways
either with the head of a goat or simply with horns and the goats included in pictorial representations of witch-
possibly hooves or a tail. Only with the famous etching craft helped fore g round sexual themes that we re more
of Jan Ziarnko in 1613 did the Devil take on the full fully elaborated in the demonological treatises.
appearance of a goat. This was followed by numero u s
illustrations, the most important of which is that in CHARLES ZIKA
Johannes Prätorius’s description of Walpurgis Night fes- See also: ANIMALS;ARRAS;ARTANDVISUALIMAGES;BALDUNG
tivities on the Blocksberg in 1668. [GRIEN], HANS;BODIN,JEAN;DEMONOLOGY;DEVIL;DOGS;
Goat 447 |
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DÜRER,ALBRECHT;GUAZZO,FRANCESCOMARIA;KISSOFSHAME; they had flown to witches’ Sabbats and caused bad
PRÄTORIUS,JOHANNES;RÉMY,NICOLAS;SABBAT;SEXUALACTIVI- weather by magical means. Goedelmann dismissed sex
TY,DIABOLIC;TINCTOR,JOHANN;VAUDOIS(WALDENESIANS); with the Devil, night flying, Sabbats, and the metamor-
WALPURGIS(WALPURIGS)NIGHT;ZIARNKO,JAN.
phosis of witches into animals as physical impossibili-
References and further reading:
ties. Confessions to these deeds were thus the result of
Anton, Blok. 1981. “Rams and Billy-Goats: A Key to the
the diabolic delusion of weak minds, as was the admis-
Mediterranean Code of Honour.” Man16: 427–440.
sion by a witch that she had raised hailstorms: only God
Rémy, Nicolas. 1974. Demonolatry.Translated by E. A. Ashton,
had the power to cause bad weather.
and edited with notes by Montague Summers. Secaucus, NJ:
University Books. Pp. 69–73 (Book I, chap. xxiii). In book three, Goedelmann discussed the legal treat-
Zika, Charles. 2002. Exorcising Our Demons: Magic, Witchcraft ment of witches. In opposition to French jurist Je a n
and Visual Culture in Early Modern Europe.Leiden and Boston: Bodin, who advocated treating witchcraft as a c r i m e n
Brill [see index]. e xc e p t u m , Goedelmann insisted that all types of witch
should be handled by German courts according to nor-
Goedelmann, mal legal procedure as laid down by the Carolina Code
Johann Georg (1559–1611) (Constitutio Criminalis Carolina), the criminal law code
A Lutheran jurist, Goedelmann was one of the most issued for the Holy Roman Empire in 1532. In adopt-
prominent late-sixteenth century opponents of witch ing this position, Goedelmann was influenced by the
hunting in Germany. His three-volume work on this work of witchcraft trial critic Hermann Witekind, and
theme, entitled Tractatus de magis, veneficis et lamiis by the legal opinions of Fr a n k f u rt jurist Jo h a n n e s
deque his recte cognoscendis et puniendis (A Treatise on Fi c h a rd and Lorenz Kirc h h o f, one of Go e d e l m a n n’s
Magicians, Sorcerers and Witches and How Properly to Rostock colleagues. In a detailed discussion of many
Identify and Punish Them), was published in Frankfurt specific points of law, Goedelmann argued that the evi-
am Main in 1591; a German translation followed in dence on the basis of which a suspected witch could be
1592. In the work, Goedelmann distinguished between a r rested and tort u red was to be subjected to rigoro u s
different categories of witches and argued that only s c rutiny and that suspects must be given adequate
those proved to have worked maleficium (harmful o p p o rtunity to defend themselves against the charges
magic) should be executed. He also dismissed as physi- brought against them. Goedelmann was generally criti-
cal impossibilities certain aspects of witchcraft belief. cal of witchcraft trials conducted in haste and on the
Of greatest importance was Goedelmann’s insistence basis of flimsy evidence. He pointed out that tort u re
that witchcraft should be treated according to normal was an unreliable method for obtaining the truth and
rules of legal procedure, and not as a crimen exceptum that judges would have to answer for any innocent
(the excepted crime), in the prosecution of which all blood that they shed.
the safeguards that usually worked to protect the Regarding the punishment of witches, Goedelmann
accused from over-hasty arrest and excessive torture a d h e red rigidly to Article 109 of the Carolina Code,
were ignored. which decreed that only those who worked harmful
Goedelmann was born in Tuttlingen in Swabia. He magic should be executed. Those who made a pact with
studied law at the universities of T ü b i n g e n , the Devil or who worked magic without causing harm
Wittenberg, Rostock, and Basel, where he graduated in we re, according to Goedelmann, to be given va r i o u s
1580. In 1583 he became a professor of law at the d i s c re t i o n a ry punishments, such as fines, flogging, or
University of Rostock, but stopped teaching in 1592 to banishment. The l a m i a e whose confessed crimes we re
become a court-counsellor (Ho f ra t) to the elector of impossible and the result of delusions needed medical
Saxony in Dresden, a position he held until his death. treatment and better instruction in God’s word. Again
His Tractatus originated from lectures he gave in following Weyer, Goedelmann thus suggested that the
Rostock in 1584 and from legal opinions he had writ- spiritual crime of apostasy was not worthy of the death
ten on the subject of witchcraft as a member of the penalty.
Rostock law faculty. In book one, Goedelmann chiefly T h e re we re inconsistencies in Go e d e l m a n n’s work .
discussed and criticized learned magicians and sorcerers For example, although the first two books of his
(Ma g i , S c h w a rz k ü n s t l e r, Za u b e re r), who deliberately Tractatus suggested a division between learned, power-
made pacts with the Devil that empowe red them to ful, maleficient, male magicians who willingly made
work harmful magic. Book two consisted of a far more pacts with the Devil, and weak-minded, powe r l e s s ,
sympathetic discussion of witches (He xe n , l a m i a e) . female witches who were deceived by the Devil, in book
Fo l l owing Johann We ye r, whose 1563 criticism of t h ree Goedelmann re f e r red to female sorc e re r s
witchcraft trials Goedelmann cited fre q u e n t l y, (Za u b e r i n n e n) who we re capable of working m a l e fic i-
Goedelmann defined witches as melancholy old u m . Despite such ambiguities, Go e d e l m a n n’s work
women, deceived by the Devil into believing that they made an important contribution to the deve l o p i n g
had had sex and entered into pacts with him, and that criticism of witch hunting. He made We ye r’s ideas
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available to a wider audience and, in his insistence that his doctor’s degree. (Baade 1992, 34). But neither his
witchcraft be treated as an ord i n a ry crime, fore s h a d- new title nor his move to Frankfurt am Main in 1606
owed such seve n t e e n t h - c e n t u ry witchcraft theorists as improved his financial situation. Goldast worked as an
Friedrich von Spee or Johann Matthäus Me y f a rt, who a u t h o r, editor, and lawye r, joining the court of
criticized legal abuses in witchcraft trials. Goedelmann’s Sa xe-Weimar in 1611 and becoming a councillor in
impact on contemporaries can be seen in the fact that 1613. But in 1615 he moved to the court of Count
his critics vilified him as a defender of witches, while Ernst II of Schaumburg-Bückeburg, where he remained
skeptics as far away as Catholic Ba varia also cited his until 1624. Because of the Thirty Years’War and Ernst
w o rk favo r a b l y. Second and third editions of his II’s death in 1622, Goldast left Bückeburg and moved
Tra c t a t u swe re published in 1601 and 1676, re s p e c t i ve l y. his library to the re l a t i vely safe city of Bremen. By
1625, Goldast was back in Frankfurt am Main, where
ALISON ROWLANDS
he had married Sophie Ottilie Jeckel in 1612 and had
See also: AGEOFACCUSEDWITCHES;BODIN,JEAN;CAROLINACODE two daughters with her.
(CONSTITUTIOCRIMINALISCAROLINA);CRIMENEXCEPTUM; A l ready during his service with the count of
DEMONOLOGY;FLIGHTOFWITCHES;LAMIA;MALEFICIUM;
Schaumburg, the Holy Roman Em p e ror Fe rdinand II
MELANCHOLY;MEYFART(MEYFAHRT), JOHANNMATTHÄUS;PACT
commissioned Goldast, a Swiss Reformed Protestant, to
WITHTHEDEVIL;SABBAT,SKEPTICISM;SPEE,FRIEDRICH;THUMM,
justify the imperial succession to the Bohemian crown
THEODOR;TORTURE;WEATHERMAGIC;WEYER,JOHANN;
against the Reformed rebels. In gratitude for these
WITEKIND,HERMANN.
works, Ferdinand appointed Goldast imperial council-
References and further reading:
Behringer,Wolfgang. 1997. Witchcraft Persecutions in Bavaria. lor in 1627 and simultaneously councillor to the
Popular Magic, Religious Zealotry and Reason of State in Early Catholic elector-archbishop of Tr i e r. His last position
Modern Europe.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. was his appointment in 1632 at Landgrave George II of
Clark, Stuart. 1990. “Protestant Demonology: Sin, Superstition Hesse-Darmstadt’s University of Giessen, where he was
and Society (c. 1520–c. 1630).” Pp. 45–81 in Early Modern p resumably named university chancellor. After
European Witchcraft. Centres and Peripheries.Edited byBengt Go l d a s t’s death in 1635, his library of 4,151 titles,
Ankarloo and Gustav Henningsen. Oxford: Clarendon.
including eve ry important ancient author as well as
———. 1997. Thinking with Demons. The Idea of Witchcraft in
many medieval and early modern works, was bought by
Early Modern Europe.Oxford: Oxford University Press.
the city of Bremen, where it still can be consulted
Kneubühler, Hans-Peter. 1977. Die Überwindung von Hexenwahn
( e xcept for the manuscripts given to Queen Christina
und Hexenprozess.Diessenhofen: Rüegger.
of Sweden).
Lorenz, Sönke. 1981. “Johann Georg Goedelmann—ein Gegner
des Hexenwahns?” Pp. 61–105 in Beiträge zur pommerschen Some of the 65 works Goldast published or wro t e
und mecklenburgischen Geschichte.Edited by Roderich Schmidt. extended to several volumes. Because many of them
Marburg/Lahn: J. G. Herder-Institut. we re purely collections of documents, he has been
Schmidt, Jürgen Michael. 2000. Glaube und Skepsis. Die Kurpfalz accused of an “uncritical, often compilatory treatment”
und die abendländische Hexenverfolgung 1446–1685.Bielefeld: (Müller 1995, col. 820), especially because some docu-
Verlag für Regionalgeschichte. ments we re questionable (Hoke 1971, col. 1736).
Go l d a s t’s special interests included imperial and
Goldast, Melchior (1578–1635) Bohemian law, medieval lyrics (first edition of Walther
A well-known lawyer and constitutional historian who von der Vo g e l weide), Swabian writers, and theology.
studied at universities of all three confessions (Catholic, His abundant editions helped German constitutional
Lutheran, and Calvinist), Goldast confirmed the neces- law to base itself not only on ancient but also on
sity of the witch hunt and confiscation in a work pub- medieval and early modern sources.
lished in 1629.
The son of an impoverished Reformed nobleman Goldast and Witchcraft
near Bi s c h o f s zell in the Swiss canton of T h u r g a u , While serving the dukes of Saxe-Weimar, Schaumburg-
Goldast showed an early far-reaching confessional ori- Bückeburg, the archbishop of Trier, and the landgrave
entation by studying philosophy and law first at the of Hesse-Darmstadt between 1611 and 1635, Goldast
Jesuit university of Ingolstadt (1595–1596) and then at encountered witchcraft trials. Goldast took a relentless
the Lutheran university of Altdorf near Nu re m b e r g position about witchcraft. His point of view was
(1597–1598). He worked in 1599 at the library of the explained in a 180-page book, finished in 1629 but not
St. Gallen monastery, registering charters and docu- published until 1661: Rechtliches Be d e n c k e n. Vo n
ments, before moving to Ge n e va in 1600 and 1601, Confiscation der Zauberer und Hexen-Güther (Juridical
where he worked at publishing manuscripts for his rich Considerations. On Confiscating the Pro p e rty of
p rotector Ba rtholomäus Schobinger. Goldast then Magicians and Witches). Presumably Goldast wrote
become secre t a ry to Duke He n ry of Bouillon, going this work in Frankfurt am Main in his capacity as a
with him to Heidelberg, where he presumably received councillor of Trier, influenced by the witchcraft trials in
Goldast, Melchior 449 |
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this territory. But his praise for the confiscation laws in Frage: Ob die Za u b e rer und He xen, Leib und Guth mit und zugle-
Schaumburg showed that he was previously acquaint- ich ve rw ü rcken, allso und dergestalt, dass sie nicht allein an Leib
ed with the subject. Goldast was undoubtedly exhort- und Leben, sondern auch an Haab und Guth, können und sollen
g e s t raffet we rden?; Sampt einve rleibten kurt zem Bericht, vo n
ing the authorities to conduct witch hunts; otherw i s e
m a n c h e rley Arth der zauberer und He xen und deren ungleicher
they would become guilty before both God and the
Be s t raffung; zu Erk l ä h rung und Erl ä u t e rung der Käyserl i c h e n
e m p e ro r. Go l d a s t’s position constituted an indire c t
Peinlichen Ha l s - Ge r i c h t s - Ordenung, Ca rol. V. Im p e rat. im 109.
a f f ront to his latest employer, Landgrave George II of
und 218. Art i c u l n .Bremen: Köhler. Reprint Go n zenbach: 1968.
Hesse-Darmstadt, who was very cautious in witchcraft
Gonzenbach. “Goldast.” Pp. 327–330 in Allgemeine Deutsche
trials. Goldast knew what he was talking about with Biographie.Vol. 9. Berlin: Duncker.
respect to “hard punishment,” because in 1603 his Hoke, R. 1971. “Goldast.” Cols. 1735–1737 in Handwörterbuch
brother had been executed on the wheel for murder at zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte. Vol. 1. Berlin: Erich Schmidt.
Strasbourg. Midelfort, H. C. Erik. 1972. Witch Hunting in Southwestern
Goldast had a ve ry wide-ranging definition of witch- Germany: 1562–1684: The Social and Intellectual Foundations.
craft. In the category of sorc e rers, he included not only Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Müller, Rainer A. 1995. “Goldast.” Cols. 820–821 in Lexikon für
people who committed harmful magic (S c h a d e n s z a u b e r) ,
Theologie und Kirche.Vol. 4. Freiburg: Herder.
those convicted of copulation with the Devil, or tre a s o n
Schecker, Heinz. 1930. Melchior Goldast von Haiminsfeld.Bremen:
against God, but also many others. For him, witchcraft
Bremer Bibliophile Gesellschaft.
began with petty superstition and the help of the De v i l .
Goldast included not only fortunetellers, and casters of
l ove magic (referring to the Malleus Ma l e fic a ru m [T h e Göldi, Anna (1734–1782)
Hammer of Witches, 1486]), but also astro n o m e r s , The last known person to be executed in Europe for the
r a t-catchers, jugglers, tightrope-walkers, and even such crime of witchcraft, Anna Göldi was beheaded in the
physicians as Paracelsus or Johann We yer as sorc e rers who Swiss canton of Glarus in 1782. A servant, Göldi was
h a ve either concluded a pact with the Devil or at least accused of poisoning the second-eldest daughter of her
used his help. For eve ry magician convicted of a pact with employer, Johann Jakob Tschudi, with a Läckerli (liter-
the Devil, Goldast demanded the death penalty by burn- ally a “tasty treat”; in this case, a piece of cake), so badly
ing, re g a rdless of any possible physical harm thro u g h that Gufen (pins) and wires grew in the girl’s stomach,
magic that might have occurred. He rejected the possibil- causing her to vomit almost daily for two months. The
ity of a conversion, proposed by such authors as We ye r, girl additionally suffered from “gout-like convulsions”
Anton Prätorius, or Johann Georg Goedelmann. Go l d a s t and spasms in her left leg. Children often exhibited
re s o l ved the contradiction with the Carolina Code, where such symptoms, which under closer examination
c o n fiscation in cases of lese-majesty was prohibited, by always turned out to be fraudulent; however, the fact
two methods. First, he changed the sense of the paragraph that Göldi was able to heal the girl ultimately persuad-
by replacing “n o t” by “w i t h” (“n i t” by “m i t”); second, he ed judges of her guilt. The trial of this “poisoness” was
re f e r red to a few territorial laws that ord e red confis c a- the only witchcraft trial that led to a death sentence
tions. In this manner, Goldast evaded the central axiom in Glarus.
“ubi leges non distinguunt, neque nos distinguere debemos” Born in Sennwald, in the present-day Swiss canton
( w h e re laws do not differ, we must not differ either) in of St. Gallen, Anna Göldi was the fourth of eight chil-
o rder to legalize confiscation policies actually in practice. dren and earned her living as a servant. At age twenty-
Because witchcraft was growing enormously in 1629, he f o u r, she gave birth to a son. No marriage took place,
c o n s i d e red a strict and relentless persecution necessary, however, and she secretly gave birth to a second child in
without respecting social rank oro r i g i n . 1765, while working in a clergyman’s house. This child,
whose father left for Dutch military duty, died in its
LUDOLF PELIZAEUS
first night. The death was labeled infanticide. Göldi was
See also: CAROLINACODE(CONSTITUTIOCRIMINALISCAROLINA); sent to the pillory and banished to her sister’s house for
GOEDELMANN,JOHANNGEORG;HESSE;LAWYERS;PARACELSUS, six years. Howe ve r, after only three years, she began
THEOPHRASTUSBOMBASTUSVONHOHENHEIM;PRÄTORIUS, working in Glarus for one of the area’s wealthiest fami-
ANTON;TRIER,ELECTORATEOF;WEYER,JOHANN. lies. Becoming pregnant by her employer’s son, she gave
References and further reading: birth to her third child (a son) in Strasbourg, France, in
Baade, Anne A. 1992. Melchior Goldast von Haiminsfeld.
1774, giving the child to a foundling home.
Frankfort: Lang.
After working satisfactorily for various families in
Coolidge, William Augustus Brevoort. 1911. “Goldast ab
Glarus, in 1780 she entered the service of Johann Jakob
Haiminsfeld, Melchior.” Encyclopedia Britannica:
Tschuldi, a doctor and Fünferrichter (local judge), and
http://48.1911encyclopedia.org/G/GO/GOLDAST_AB_HAIMIN
his family of five children. When Gufen were found in
SFELD_MELCHIOR.htmNovember 5, 2002.
Go l d a s ta bHa m i n s f e l d, Me l c h i o r. 1661. Be d e n c k e n,Re c h t l i c h e s , the breakfast milk of the family’s second-eldest daugh-
Von Confiscation der Za u b e rer und He xen-Güther: Ueber die t e r, Anne-Miggeli, following an argument with Göldi
450 Göldi, Anna |
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in October 1781, Tschudi immediately suspected the Hasler, Eveline. 1985. Anna Göldin. Letzte Hexe:Roman. Munich:
maid. She was quickly dismissed and fled to another dtv.
canton under an assumed name. Heer, Joachim. 1865. “Der Kriminalprozess der Anna Göldi von
Sennwald (1781–1782), nach den Akten dargestellt.” Jahrbuch
An odd spectacle affected the house of Tschudi in
des Historischen Vereins des Kantons Glarus 1: 9–53.
m i d - November 1781. Anne-Miggeli was bedridden
Korrodi-Aebli, Elisabeth. 1996. “Anna Göldi. Letzte Hexe.”
with cramped limbs and, between screams, spit up pins,
Lizentiatsarbeit an der Abteilung Europäische Volksliteratur,
pieces of wire, and nails during November and
Volkskunde, der Universität Zürich. Zurich: Zentralbibliothek
December of 1781. Either the girl took the objects out
der Universität und des Kantons Zürich.
of her mouth, or they were removed for her by relatives, Pinkus, Gertrud. 1991. “Anna Göldin. Letzte Hexe.” Verfilmung
her father, or her mother. des gleichnamigen Romansvon Eveline Halser.Zurich: Columbus
Guests never witnessed these events. A warrant was Film AG.
issued for Anna Göldi’s arrest. She was found and jailed
at Glarus in March 1782. Anne-Miggeli suffered from Golser, Georg (ca. 1420–1489)
“gout-like convulsions.” Anna Göldi was urged to heal Golser was the bishop of Brixen responsible for stop-
the girl, and her third attempt was successful. ping the overzealous inquisition and witch hunt being
Instead of dropping his complaint, Göldi’s employer carried out by the Dominican inquisitor Heinrich
p ressed opening trial proceedings. Anne-Miggeli told Kramer (Institoris) in Innsbruck. In 1485, Kramer had
the court’s board of inquiry that Anna Göldi and her returned from Rome authorized by the papal decree
friend, Rudolf Steinmüller (a man with no criminal Summis desiderantes affectibus (Desiring with Supreme
record), were the cause of her suffering: they had given Ardor), to conduct a formal inquisition against witches
her an overly sweetened Läckerli with “nail seeds.” The in all German Church provinces. Invested with such a
pins, pieces of wire, and nails had then grown fro m carte blanche, Kramer tried to start a paradigmatic
these seeds, which the girl had consequently vo m i t e d witch hunt at Innsbruck. The capital of the duchy of
u p. In t e restingly enough, no injury to her esophagus Tyrol was a significant place, since Archduke Sigmund
could ever be determined. was then the most powerful Habsburg prince, ruling
The malfeasance trial against Anna Göldi began over a patchwork of territories stretching from northern
mid-March 1782. During her third cross-examination, It a l y, over Ty rol and southwestern Germany into
she confirmed Anne-Mi g g e l i’s testimony and accused Alsace, the inquisitor’s homeland. Innsbruck would
Steinmüller of having given her the L ä c k e rl i . Du r i n g s e rve as Kramer’s gateway into the Holy Ro m a n
her Schreckexamen (an interrogation while showing the Empire. His inquisition there, starting in July 1485,
torture instruments), Anna said that the Devil had giv- was characterized by a climate of intimidation, brutal
en her the Läckerli.Three additional interrogations (all force, unlimited use of torture, the denial of legal
t o rt u re sessions) followed. At this point, St e i n m ü l l e r defense, and distorted reports—all in all, scandalous
was ordered questioned; but the night before his inter- conduct even according to late fifteenth-century legal
rogation began, he hanged himself. On May 19, 1782, standards. Therefore, not only the relatives of the
Anna Göldi’s final interrogation took place. Ts c h u d i accused, but the citizens of the capital, the clergy, and
pulled eve ry string to get her sentenced to death by the Tyrolean nobility protested against such illegal pro-
beheading. On June 6, 1782 (in accordance with the cedures.
Julian calendar), she was found guilty of poisoning Bishop Georg II Go l s e r, successor of the famous
A n n e - Miggeli. By a margin of only two votes she was philosopher Nicholas of Cusa in the see of Br i xe n ,
sentenced to death by beheading rather than perpetual appointed a commission to scrutinize Kramer’s inquisi-
imprisonment. Her execution followed one week later. tion. The formal interrogations of seven imprisoned
This decision caused outrage in central Eu ro p e , women started on October 4. And despite desperate
although censorship pre vented public debate in resistance from the inquisitor’s side, the bishop stopped
Sw i t zerland. The resulting discourse about the “Göldi the persecution on October 29, nullified its re s u l t s ,
A f f a i r” in Germany about superstition and trial con- and— after having secured the arc h d u k e’s support —
duct created the term Ju s t i z m o rd , meaning “judicial liberated all suspected women on November 2. Kramer
murder.” was discredited as a fanatic, and Bishop Golser went as
far as to ask the papal inquisitor formally to leave his
ELISABETH KORRODI-AEBLI;
diocese on November 11. Later, on February 14, 1486,
TRANSLATED BY JONATHAN STICKNEY Golser even threatened to use force if Kramer failed to
leave Tyrol immediately.
See also: DECLINEOFTHEWITCHHUNTS;ENLIGHTENMENT;
On this occasion, Golser formulated the famous
SWITZERLAND.
References and further reading: w o rds: “I am really upset about the presence of this
Freuler, Kaspar. 1945. Anna Göldi. Die Geschichte der letzten Hexe: monk in the diocese. . . . It seemed to me that he has
Roman.Zurich: Büchergilde Gutenberg. become completely senile and childish, when I had the
Golser, Georg 451 |
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o p p o rtunity to listen to him here in Br i xen, together for bewitching the Goodwin childre n .
with the cathedral chapter. I advised him to return to In the summer of 1688, four of the six childre n
his monastery and stay there fore ve r. Re a l l y, I got the (Martha, age thirteen; John, eleven; Mercy, seven; and
impression that he is crazy, and that he wants to carry Benjamin, five) of John Goodwin, a mason living in
on witch hunting. But I will not agree, since he com- Boston, began to display symptoms that contempo-
mitted so many errors in his previous trial” (Behringer raries judged to be diabolical possession. One eyew i t-
2000, 63). An Augustine canon of Br i xen, Ha rt m a n n ness found them “g r i e vously tormented, crying out of
Ammann (1856–1930), excavated a written defense of head, eyes, tongue, teeth breaking their neck, back,
Kramer from the local arc h i ve, which clearly indicates thighs, knees, legs, feet, toes, etc.” (Hall 1991,
that he started working on the Ma l l e u s Ma l e fic a ru m 266–267). Fu rt h e r m o re, they we re sometimes deaf,
(The Hammer of Witches, 1486) as a consequence of dumb, and blind; however, because their problems sel-
this defeat. The prince-bishops of Br i xen never again dom occurred after ten o’clock in the evening, they
a l l owed a witch persecution, and—even more impor- managed to sleep well at night.
tant—the Tyrolean government suppressed attempts by Ma rtha, the oldest of the children, accused Go o d y
lower courts to launch witch hunts even in future gen- Gl ove r, who did the family’s laundry, of stealing some
erations. The Innsbruck inquisition was an unmitigated linen, allegedly in order to perform some type of
defeat for the papal inquisitor, primarily at the hands of witchcraft. Confronted with these allegations, the moth-
a courageous bishop named Georg Golser. er of the laundress, Ma ry Gl ove r, also a washerw o m a n ,
became ve ry angry and used foul language against
WOLFGANG BEHRINGER
Ma rtha. Ma rtha immediately retaliated by deve l o p i n g
See also: INNSBRUCK;KRAMER(INSTITORIS), HEINRICH;MALLEUS strange fits; within a few weeks, one of her sisters and
MALEFICARUM;ORIGINSOFTHEWITCHHUNTS;TYROL, two brothers exhibited the same behavior. The best local
COUNTYOF.
physicians we re called in to check on the afflicted chil-
References and further reading:
d ren and diagnose the cause of their sufferings. One of
Behringer,Wolfgang. 2000. “‘Das unheilvollste Buch der
them, Dr. Thomas Oaks, concluded that the origin of
Weltliteratur’? Zur Entstehungs- und Wirkungsgechichte des
the childre n’s strange behavior was “a hellish witchcraft”
Malleus Maleficarum und zu den Anfängen der
( Hall 1991, 268). Ac c o rd i n g l y, ministers from Boston
Hexenverfolgung.” Pp. 9–98 in Heinrich Kramer (Institoris)
Das Hexenhammer/Malleus Maleficarum.Edited by Günter and the surrounding area joined in a day of prayer in the
Jerouschek, Wolfgang Behringer, and Werner Tschacher. Goodwin home; following this, the youngest child of
Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuch. the four gained relief from his tro u b l e s .
Broedel, Hans Peter. 2003. The Malleus Maleficarum and the Re p o rts of the case soon reached Boston’s secular
Construction of Witchcraft: Theology and Popular Belief. authorities. Witchcraft in New England was a secular
Manchester and NewYork: Manchester University Press. crime and hence tried in a civil court; it was also a cap-
Wilson, Eric. 1996. “Institoris at Innsbruck: Heinrich Institoris,
ital crime in old and in New England, and clergy as well
the SummisDesiderantes,and the Brixen Witch-Trial of 1485.”
as magistrates condemned it primarily because it
Pp. 87–100 in Popular Religion in Germany and Central Europe,
implied a demonic compact. When civil authorities
1400–1800.Edited by Bob Scribner and Trevor Johnson. New
re c e i ved a complaint from John Goodwin that his
York: St. Martin’s.
n e i g h b o r, Ma ry Gl ove r, and her daughter Go o d y
Gl over had bewitched his four children, both mother
Goodwin Children (1688) and daughter we re arrested, but only the mother was
The case of the Goodwin children of Boston in 1688 put on trial for witchcraft. During the pro c e e d i n g s ,
p rovides a classical example of diabolical possession in Ma ry Gl ove r’s interrogation was conducted thro u g h
America. It resembled numerous earlier instances, such i n t e r p reters, because she spoke Irish (Gaelic). Among
as the case of the Wa r b oys witches in England, where an the charges levied against her was that six years before
unpopular old woman became a scapegoat and was she had bewitched a woman to death. Meanwhile, her
e xecuted following accusations from children, and it house was searched and some images, puppets and
anticipated the happenings during the Salem witch hunt babies, all made of rags and stuffed with goat’s hair—
of 1692–1693, where childre n’s accusations led to the materials believed to be essential to witchcraft—we re
conviction and execution of nineteen witches. Pu r i t a n found. Be f o re reaching its final ve rdict, howe ve r, the
New England played a special role in re g a rd to witch- c o u rt appointed six physicians who checked Ma ry’s
craft in seve n t e e n t h - c e n t u ry British No rth America; mental condition to confirm her sanity.They declared
while in the middle and southern colonies, witch hunt- her compos mentis, fully sane, and hence capable to
ing was either restrained or nonexistent. In New stand trial. After she had confessed to being in league
England, some 234 people we re indicted for witchcraft, with the Devil, enchanting the four children, and prac-
and 36 of them we re executed—including Ma ry Gl ove r, ticing image magic, Mary was condemned to death and
an old Irish Catholic widow, who was hanged in Boston hanged at Boston on November 16, 1688.
452 Goodwin Children |
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Despite Mary Glover’s death, the strange behavior of others in addition to these also partake indirectly in
the three Goodwin children continued. Cotton this theme. For example, the 49th Ca p r i c e , e n t i t l e d
Ma t h e r, minister of Boston’s Old No rth church, who D u e n d e c i t o s(Gre m l i n s), oscillates between re p re s e n t a-
had followed the case closely from its beginning, now tions of an underworld of witchcraft (that of the
took Martha into his house in order both to observe her g remlins) and anticlericalism, where monks are re p re-
behavior more closely and to apply some spiritual heal- sented as gluttonous, lewd, dirt y, and obese goblins.
ing. Almost a year after their first appearance, the chil- Si m i l a r l y, the theme of prostitution and pimping
d re n’s fits and strange behavior finally disappeare d . links with the practices of love magic, each of these
Memories of the case of the Goodwin children contin- being present eve ry w h e re in contemporary Sp a n i s h
ued to haunt public imagination, especially when other s o c i e t y. In re a l i t y, as some critics have made clear, the
“a f fli c t e d” children emerged in Salem Village within world re p resented by Goya in the Caprices is not a
four years. simple accumulation of singular scenes, but pre s e n t s
a unity around the concept of the night, of gloom,
AVIHU ZAKAI
and, in general, of eve rything which in the light of
See also: CHILDREN;MATHER,COTTON;NEWENGLAND;POSSES- day and reason lies hidden behind appearances and
SION,DEMONIC;SALEM;WARBOYS,WITCHESOF. c o n ve n t i o n s .
References and further reading: One idea appearing throughout the Ca p r i c h o s is that
Calef, Robert. 1700. MoreWonders of the Invisible World.London. of the “world of the other side,” which corresponds to
Demos, John P. 1982. Entertaining Satan: Witchcraft and the the world re p resented in the scenes of witchcraft, and,
Culture of Early New England.NewYork: Oxford University
m o re concre t e l y, with anything that parodies or re ve r s e s
Press.
the Catholic religion, which Goya criticizes harshly in
Hall, David, ed. 1991. Witch-Hunting in Seventeenth Century New
England.Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press.
Levin, David, ed. 1960. What Happened in Salem?NewYork:
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Mather, Cotton. 1689. Memorable Providences, Relating to
Witchcrafts and Possessions. Boston.
Goya y Lucientes,
Francisco José de (1746–1828)
A world-famous Spanish painter, Goya’s ample works
contain some notable engravings and paintings dedicat-
ed to the themes of witchcraft and superstition. Goya’s
life coincided with the end of the Enlightenment and
the beginning of Romanticism, as well as profound
political and social changes in Spain after the War of
Independence against Napoleon (1808–1813). These
revolutionary years ended Spain’s Old Régime, recog-
nizing the principle of national sovereignty for the first
time in Spanish history. Nevertheless, once the war
ended, the monarchy was restored in the person of
Fernando VII and absolutism returned to Sp a i n .
Despite his privileged position as the official court por-
traitist, Goya was moved by these events to go into vol-
untary exile in France in 1824, dying at Bordeaux four
years later.
Goy a’s work on witchcraft and superstition followe d
a grave illness in 1792, which left him completely
d e a f. In opposition to the amiable and popular tech-
nique that had characterized his first epoch as a
p a i n t e r, he now turned his vision to the realm of the
phantasms of imagination. In a famous series of 80
Se Repulen (They Spruce Themselves Up), by Francisco de Goya, the
engravings called the Caprices (Ca p r i c h o s , w o rks of
celebrated Spanish painter of the Enlightenment, who depicted
p u re imagination), which we re put up for sale in
witchcraft satirically as superstition in many paintings. Here one witch
1799, the theme of witchcraft appears clearly in 19 of clips the toenails of another, who has been partly transformed into an
them (numbers 44–48, 51, and 59–71). But many animal, while a third witch has become a bat. (Bettmann/Corbis)
Goya y Lucientes, Francisco José de 453 |
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various scenes dedicated to the activities of the See also: ARTANDVISUALIMAGES;ENLIGHTENMENT;MAGIC,
Inquisition. Indeed, one of Goy a’s principal inspirations POPULAR;ZUGARRAMURDI,WITCHESOF.
for his arrangement of witchcraft scenes must have been References and further reading:
Bozal, Valeriano. 1994. Goya y el gusto moderno.Madrid: Alianza.
the printed account of the a u t o - d a - f é (act of faith) that
Helman, Edith. 1983. Trasmundo de Goya.Madrid: Alianza.
took place in Logroño in 1610, where 33 witches and
Muller, Priscilla E. 1984. Goya’s “Black” Paintings. Truth and
s o rc e rers we re tried, which included detailed accounts of
Reason in Light and Liberty.NewYork: Hispanic Society of
the crimes of which they we re accused. Not coincidental-
America.
l y, in 1811 the Enlightenment writer Leandro Fe r n á n d ez
Sa y re, El e a n o r. 1994. “Goy a’s Caprichos: A Sampling of
de Moratín, a friend of Goya, published under a pseudo- Witches.” Pp. 67–87 in Goy a :Neue Fo r s c h u n g e n .Berlin: Ju t t a
nym an annotated edition of this account, with the aim He l d .
of demonstrating the injurious effects the In q u i s i t i o n Tomlinson, Janis A. 1992. Goya in the Twilight of Enlightenment.
had on Spain, and of contributing, for this reason, to its New Haven, CT:Yale University Press.
scorn and abolition. Nicolás Fe r n á n d ez de Moratín, his
f a t h e r, had published a long poem entitled Arte de las
Graeter, Jacob (1547–1611)
putas (The Art of the W h o res), that the Inquisition pro-
Jacob Graeter delivered two sermons on witches and
hibited in 1777; it was also considered a source of inspi-
sorcerers during the summer of 1589, dedicated to the
ration for several Ca p r i c e sdedicated to this theme.
nobleman Hans Werner von Wolmershausen and his
For many critics, the satirical and political aims of
wife, and published that same year at Tübingen as
Goy a’s witchcraft scenes are patent. It was a question of
He xen oder Unholden Pre d i g t e n . . . (Sermons on
making clear how the destru c t i ve monsters, engendere d
Witches or Monsters . . .). The first sermon was an
in the deep obscurity of the night, continue to be active
i n t e r p retation of Luke 6, the second of Luke 1.
e ven in the clear light of day—in other words, how
Although Graeter believed that witches really existed
ancient or obscure elements continue undiminished in
and found them deserving of death according to
p owe r, even though modern institutions had been born
Exodus 22:18, he also emphasized the delusions caused
f rom the hands of the liberal re volutions, using ideas of
by the Devil and warned about false denunciations.
the Enlightenment. It is certain that commentaries on
Whoever lives virtuously, he argued, should not be
the Caprices that use such verbs as untar (to smear),
afraid of witches, because God limits their power.With
soplar (to blow), and chupar (to suck), apparently re f e r-
confessional polemical zeal, he underlined that no
ring to re p resentations of witches and the activities of
righteous Protestant woman could become a witch.
which judges accused them, have a double meaning in a
Graeter wanted to remove the fear of the witches and
p i c a resque idiom. As Diego To r res Vi l l a r roel wrote in
give his audience a guide for a moral way of life. Thus
one of his Wi t c h e s’ Couplets, “ Judges and witches/we all
he cannot be seen as an advocate of mass prosecutions
g i ve suck/some to children and others to joints of meat.”
of witches. His opinions accorded well with both the
Ne ve rtheless, unlike Moratín, who throughout his
W ü rttemberg providential tradition promoted by
life defended rationality, the Enlightenment, and
Johann Brenz and others and with the lenient position
p ro g ress, which had finally dissipated the darkness and
of the Schwäbisch Hall magistrates: only one witch exe-
monsters of injustice, Goya evo l ved from a superfic i a l
cution is known at Schwäbisch Hall, in 1574.
and optimistic rationalism, characteristic of the fir s t
Born in the imperial city of Schwäbisch Hall, where
epoch of the Enlightenment, to a more profound and
his father Jacob the Elder, a Lutheran pastor, had trans-
c re a t i ve immersion in the world of shadows. T h e
lated the influential sermon by Johann Brenz on hail-
Wi t c h e s’ Cove n , one of the Black Pa i n t i n g s with which
storms and witchcraft, Jacob the Younger studied at the
Goy a’s residence called Quinta del Sord o ( a c q u i red in
university of Tübingen. In 1582, after occupying some
1819) was decorated, is a good example. In opposition
other parishes, he also became a pastor at St. Michael in
to the ord e red universe offered by En l i g h t e n m e n t
his native town. In 1588 Graeter was made pre a c h e r
intellectuals, Goya uncovers an insolvable and fatal
and dean, but had to leave Schwäbisch Hall in 1594.
a byss between the intellect and human experience,
He died as pastor of Gernsbach, near Ba d e n - Ba d e n .
leading him to acknowledge and explore facets of exis-
Be t ween 1582 and 1600, some of Gr a e t e r’s other ser-
tence that remain outside of re a s o n’s domain. T h i s
mons we re printed at Tübingen, Fr a n k f u rt am Ma i n ,
associates him with Romanticism and its attraction to
and Strasbourg.
the mysterious, although Goy a’s absolute originality
and authenticity, oscillating between satire, the KLAUS GRAF
g rotesque, and monstro s i t y, pre vents his being con-
See also: BRENZ,JOHANN;EXODUS22:18 (22:17); GERMANY.
fined under any single label.
References and further reading:
MARÍA TAUSIET; Beutter, Herta, Elisabeth Schraut, and Harald Siebenmorgen, eds.
2000. Hexenwahn und Hexenverfolgung in und um Schwäbisch
TRANSLATED BY THOMAS SIZGORICH Hall.2d ed. Schwäbisch Hall: Hällisch-Fränkisches Museum.
454 Graeter, Jacob |
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Graf, Klaus. 1994. “Schwäbisch Hall.” Pp. 394–401 in Hexen und Gratian’sCausa 26, question1, canon4 (Nec Mirum
Hexenverfolgung im deutschen Südwesten.Edited by Sönke [“It is not to be wondered at . . .”]) was also a frequent-
Lorenz. Ostfildern: Cantz. ly cited text attributed to St. Augustine, but taken by
Haug, Otto. 1981. Pfarrerbuch Württembergisch Franken.Part 2.
Gratian from the ninth-century treatise against the
Stuttgart: Scheufele.
magic arts by Hrabanus Maurus, which addressed con-
Midelfort, H. C. Erik. 1972. Witch Hunting in Southwestern
demnations of both classical and biblical instances of
Germany, 1562–1684.Stanford: Stanford University Press.
magic. This text, too, was later regularly cited by canon
Gratian (fl. 1130–1150) l a w yers and theologians (including Ma rtin Lu t h e r )
Gratian was designer and compiler of the Concord of writing against sorcery, divination, and witchcraft.
Discordant Canons, which became the basic textbook Gratian’s third most important text, Causa 33, ques-
for the study of canon law from the mid-twelfth centu- tion1, canon4 (Si per sortiarias [“If, by means of mag-
ry onward. Said to have been a monk, Gratian appears ic . . .”]), deals with magically caused impotence and
to have taught canon law at a school in Bologna. The whether or not such impotence was an impediment to
aim of Gratian’s work and his teaching was to reconcile marriage. Gratian stated that, in such cases, the couple
different traditions and scattered and locally applicable should confess their sins, be contrite, fast, and eve n
earlier collections of canon law; to resolve apparent undergo exo rcisms, while giving alms to the poor. If
conflicts in earlier sources; and to create a coherent and these methods did not work, the couple may be separat-
consistent system of ecclesiastical law. His work, popu- ed, but they could not marry others. Such affli c t i o n s
larly known as the Decretum, was produced in two ver- occurred with God’s permission, through demons, and
sions, one around 1130 and a revision in the 1140s, must be borne with patience. Because marriage law was
with later additions by other scholars. The Decretum d e veloping in its technicality during this period, this
discusses sorcery in several places, and from these dis- text probably drew more attention in schools of canon
cussions emerged the legal basis of understanding sor- law than the texts from Causa 26 discussed above. Not
cery in canon law. until the early fifteenth century, when the classical
Part II of the Decretumcontains Gratian’s material on image of the witch was being formulated by theolo-
heresy and sorcery. Part II is divided into Causae,or cas- gians, inquisitors, and canon lawyers, did Gratian’s cita-
e s , which may be actual or hypothetical. Each case tion of the Canon Ep i s c o p i find opposition, and argu-
raised several points of law, which Gratian posed as ments were devised, most notably by Nicolas Jacquier,
questions. Within each question and addressing one of to prove that it did not address the contemporary new
the points of law, Gratian cited individual canons, heresy of witchcraft as it was perceived in the fifteenth
authoritative texts that he culled from many earlier col- century.
lections (in the entire Decretum he cites 3,945 individ-
EDWARD PETERS
ual canons, usually cited individually by their opening
w o rd or words), and he added his own comments See also: BURCHARDOFWORMS;CANONEPISCOPI;ERRORESGAZARI-
b e f o re or after each canon. Causae 23–26 deals with
ORUM;JACQUIER,NICOLAS;JOHNOFSALISBURY;LUTHER,MAR-
issues of heresy and sorc e ry, the latter discussed in
TIN;MALLEUSMALEFICARUM.
References and further reading:
Ca u s a 26. Gratian also discussed sorc e ry in Ca u s a 3 3 ,
Brundage, James A. 1995. Medieval Canon Law.London and New
part of his treatment of marriage law.
York: Longman.
Ca u s a 26 presents the case of a priest who was a
Flint, Valerie I. J. 1991. The Rise of Magic in Early Medieval
magician and diviner, investigated by his bishop, Europe.Princeton: Princeton University Press.
refused to stop his activities, and was excommunicated Gratian. 2001. The Decretum.Pp. 72–77 in Witchcraft in Europe,
by his bishop. Later, at the point of death, he was given 400–1700: A Documentary History.Edited by Alan Charles
last rites by another priest without his bishop having Kors and Edward Peters. Philadelphia: University of
been consulted. Gratian raised seven questions a b o u t Pennsylvania Press.
the case, five of which pertained to magic and divina- Helmholz, Richard. 1996. The Spirit of Classical Canon Law.
Athens, GA, London: University of Georgia Press.
tion. He drew on texts from St. Augustine, Is i d o re of
Peters, Edward. 1978. The Magician, the Witch, and the Law.
Seville, and Regino of Prüm, sometimes from later cita-
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
tions of these, including the collection of Bu rc h a rd of
Winroth, Anders. 2000. The Making of Gratian’s Decretum.
Worms. Causa 26, question 5, canon 12 is the Canon
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Episcopi, which condemns sorcery and divination, and
also expresses profound skepticism that some women
Graubünden (Grisons),
actually rode great distances at night with the goddess
Canton of
Diana. Later canonists who wished to prove the reality
of the transvection of witches thus had to find ways Graubünden was a confessionally and linguistically
a round Gr a t i a n’s explicit citation, and some of them mixed region (today Switzerland’s southeasternmost
eventually did so. canton) that experienced numerous witchcraft trials.
Graubünden (Grisons), Canton of 455 |
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There were perhaps 500 casualties in both Catholic and 15 children from this va l l e y, also accused of sorc e ry,
Reformed regions, and throughout its Ge r m a n - , we re handed over to the Milanese inquisition, which
Rhaeto-Romanic-, and Italian-speaking parts of what lodged them in the homes of “honest people” to give
was then the autonomous Gray Leagues, or Grisons. them proper religious educations—and save them from
In the early modern Grisons, jurisdiction re m a i n e d possible execution.
in the hands of local communities. They mostly fol- Poschiavo was struck by another exceptionally severe
l owed the Carolina (Constitutio Criminalis Ca ro l i n a ) , persecution from 1672 to 1676, when no fewer than
the 1532 code of criminal pro c e d u re for the Ho l y 124 people stood trial. Also in Disentis, a large number
Roman Empire. In 1657, they supplemented it with a of people were prosecuted for malevolent sorcery, lead-
special K r i m i n a l ve ro rd n u n g , or criminal ordinance, on ing to the execution of at least 31 of them. Aro u n d
witchcraft matters. In 1716, regional authorities issued 1700, still another accumulation of witchcraft trials
another criminal ordinance, naming witchcraft and sor- took place in several parts of the Grisons. The last
c e ry as major crimes. In the Grisons, most exe c u t i o n s e x t e n s i ve series probably occurred at Klosters
were carried out by beheading, followed by burning the (Prättigau); it claimed at least ten lives. Until 1779, sev-
corpse, while numerous trials ended with expulsions. eral other sorc e ry and witchcraft trials we re held, but
Many people evaded arrest by fleeing. now only one or a few people were arrested, and these
Some witchcraft trials with fatal outcomes we re trials had milder outcomes.
a l ready documented here in the fifteenth century The sex distribution of victims in the Grisons was close
(1434, at Thusis and at Lostallo; 1448, at Sa fien). In to the general Eu ropean average: about 80 percent of
the Valtelline (Veltlin) va l l e y, a subjugated area, some those executed as witches we re women. Because most vic-
severe witch hunts took place at the end of the fifteenth tims of the witchcraft trials we re also poor as well as
and the beginning of the sixteenth century. Afterward, female, the legal prosecutions usually caused serious
only single trials are known in the Grisons until the end financial losses for local communities. While most confes-
of the sixteenth century. In the wake of the reforming sions in court corresponded to the fully elaborated witch
activities of Milan’s archbishop and cardinal, St. Carlo doctrine, the accusations continued traditional patterns,
Borromeo, a systematic pursuit of witches finally start- with magic that harmed people or cattle pre d o m i n a t i n g .
ed here, first in the Italian-speaking valleys of Mi s ox
MANFRED TSCHAIKNER
and Calanca. The importance of Borro m e o’s activities
remains controversial. Pre s u m a b l y, his persecutions of See also: ANHORN,BARTHOLOMÄUS;BORROMEO,ST.CARLO;
Protestants paved the way for the witch hunts that were SWITZERLAND.
References and further reading:
carried out by local courts at the request of large parts
Schmid, M., and F. Sprecher. 1919. “Zur Geschichte der
of the population.
Hexenverfolgungen in Graubünden.” Jahresbericht der
Gr a u b ü n d e n’s witch hunts seem to have spre a d
Historisch-antiquarischen Gesellschaft von Graubünden48:
a c ross the Alps from the south tow a rd the end of the
73–252.
sixteenth century. In 1590, a large witchcraft trial in
Giger, Hubert. 2001. Hexenwahn und Hexenprozesse in der
Disentis cost 14 women their lives. In the Rheinwald, Surselva.Chur: Kommissionsverlag Desertina.
four executions are mentioned in 1598; three years lat-
er, two women were tried for witchcraft; and in 1604 a Greek Magical Papyri
man from the Austrian valley of Montafon was burned The generic name given to a substantial body of magi-
as a sorc e rer in Maienfeld. Witchcraft trials are also cal recipe books, cursing, and amuletic texts produced
known to have taken place at Chur (the regional capital in Greco-Roman Egypt. Most were made between the
and seat of the local bishop) shortly before the end of second and fifth centuries C.E., although the oldest
the century. Witchcraft trials reached a new peak in text, the “curse of Artemisie”(PGMXL), dates from the
1613, when about 30 people were burned in Misox and fourth century B.C.E. and is among the oldest extant
Calanca. During the T h i rty Ye a r s’ Wa r, which gre a t l y Greek papyri. The series of lengthy and often repetitive
affected the Grisons, only Po s c h i a vo seemed to have recipe books or “grimoires” or “formularies” that con-
experienced extensive witch hunts; 53 people stood tri- stitutes their basic and greater part offers a matchless
al for witchcraft there between 1630 and 1633. resource for the study of magic in antiquity.
Sh o rtly after 1650, in almost eve ry part of the The bulk of these formularies derived from a single
Grisons, seve re witch hunts occurred. The nort h e a s t ancient collection, the so-called “Theban Ma g i c a l
was particularly affected at that time. Within a decade, Library” (that is, PGMIV, V, Va, XII–XIV, and proba-
the persecutions had claimed more than 100 deaths; in bly I–III, VII, LXI; alchemical texts were also present).
1655 alone, 58 persons were supposedly burned in the Discovered in a third- or fourth-century tomb in west-
valley of Prättigau, a phenomenon made locally famous ern Thebes, they were bought in 1828 by the colorful
as die gross Häxatöödi or “the great witch killing.” In antiquities dealer Gi ovanni Anastasi, who broke them
Vals, 23 people were executed in 1652. Two years later, up and sold them to the great museums of Eu ro p e ,
456 Greek Magical Papyri |
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where they still reside. These books were among the few See also: AMULETANDTALISMAN;DEFIXIONES.
to survive the attempts of early Christians to burn them References and further reading:
into oblivion (cf., for example, Acts 19:19). T h e Betz, Hans D. ed. 1992. The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation,
Including the Demotic Spells.2d ed. Chicago: University of
c u r s e-papyri bear strong affinities with the lead d e fix-
Chicago Press.
iones (curse tablets), and the amulet-papyri resemble the
Brashear,William M. 1992. “Magical Papyri: Magic in
metal and gemstone amulets that flourished across the
Bookform.” Pp. 25–59 in Das Buch als magisches und als
Greco-Roman world.
Repräsentationsobjekt.Edited by P. Ganz. Wiesbaden:
The religious background of the papyri was syn-
Harrossowitz.
c retistic, but their dominant inputs we re Gre e k , ———. 1995. “The Greek Magical Papyri: An Introduction and
Egyptian, and Jewish, these elements being unified in a Survey with an Annotated Bibliography.” Aufstieg und
re m a rkably homogenous and distinctive blend. T h e Niedergang der römischen Weltno. ii 18.5: 3380–3684.
papyri there f o re expressed the cultural mix peculiar to Daniel, RobertW., and Franco Maltomini, eds. 1990–1992.
the city of Alexandria in the Hellenistic period (Egypt Supplementum MagicumPapyrologica Coloniensia.Cologne:
belonged to Rome after 30 B.C.E.; the dearth of Latin Westdeutscher.
Preisendanz, Karl, and Albert Henrichs. 1973–1974. Papyri
material in the papyri is striking). Some of their Greek
Graecae Magicae. Die griechischen Zauberpapyri.2d ed. 2 vols.
formularies contained portions written in Demotic or
Stuttgart: Teubner.
Coptic, and some purely Demotic and Coptic papyri
had similar contents.
The oldest substantial surviving formularies date Gregory IX, Pope
f rom the first century B.C.E. (P G M CXVII and (1170–1241; pope, 1227–1241)
CXXII). They were more literary than later documents, This pope did much to diabolize heretics if not witch-
but re l a t i vely brief. They showed no trace of the es, and laid much of the groundwork for what later
elaborate magical rituals and lengthy series of obscure became an institutionalized papal Inquisition. Hugh,
“a b r a c a d a b r a”-style voces magicae (magic word s ) , count of Segni, was born about 1170 in Anagni, and
vowe l-series, word-triangles and -squares, palindro m e s probably studied canon law in Paris. His relative, Pope
and “characters” that were to become the hallmarks of Innocent III, made him a chaplain at the Roman curia
the genre. But these features flourished by the time of in 1198 and, eight years later, cardinal-bishop of Ostia.
the largest extant formulary, the Great Magical Papyrus As a papal legate and preacher, he carried out missions
in Pa r i s (P G M I V), which is thought to be a fourt h - in many regions of Italy and Germany. After the death
century C.E. copy of a second-century original. of Honorius III, whose most important counsellor he
This document can be used to illustrate the stru c- had been, the cardinals elected him pope in 1227.
ture, texture, and sorts of content typical of mature for- The main problem of his pontificate was his hostile
mularies. Its 3,274 lines comprised a wide variety of relationship with Em p e ror Frederick II, re volving aro u n d
recipes in a largely random order.They offered protec- the question of which of them should dominate the
tion against death and demons and the expulsion of the Christian world, and especially It a l y. Their stru g g l e
latter; the attraction of lovers; the inspiration of friend- remained unre s o l ved when the pope died in Au g u s t
ship and favor, and the restraint of anger; divination by 1241. Within the Church, Gre g o ry favo red especially the
trance alone, by bowl, by lamp, or from a corpse or n ew mendicant orders of the Dominicans and
skull, and the inducing of dreams; and they described Franciscans, canonizing their founders and encouraging
h ow to manufacture multipurpose charms based on their missionary work. He also supported crusades to
Homeric verses and the Bear constellation. The formulary Palestine and in the Baltic—and with more success
also contained a number of ancillary or meta-m a g i c a l against the St e d i n g e r, a community of free peasants who
recipes for such things as prayers, hymns, consecrations, had been declared heretics by the bishop of Bremen, who
initiations, and techniques for picking plants. A brief wanted to force them under his obedience. In the bull
astrological text was also included. Vox in Rama (A Voice in Rama), published on this mat-
We can be sure that practical use was made of such ter in 1233, the pope described the abominable practices
formularies. This book’s elaborate ero t i c - a t t r a c t i o n of these rustic devil worshippers, including kissing the
recipe at 296–434 corresponded closely (but not per- anus of a black tomcat, initiation orgies involving sexual
fectly) with a remarkable third- or fourth-century trove p romiscuity and incest, and desecration of the
of magical materials, perhaps from Antinopolis, now in Eu c h a r i s t — s t e reotypes that would be quoted again and
the Louvre. This consists of a voodoo doll representing again as typical behavior for both heretics and witches.
the woman Ptolemais, pierced with thirteen pins, and a In 1231, Gre g o ry began a search for heretics in his
curse-text inscribed on a thin lead sheet invoking the own dioceses, in Rome; several persons were burned at
ghost of one Antinous, possibly the local hero. the stake. By sending copies of the relevant instructions
to all archbishops and princes in Eu rope, he invited
DANIEL OGDEN them to undertake a similar task. Ordering the
Gregory IX, Pope 457 |
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Dominican friars to enter into the office of papal Mann, Horace Kinder. 1925. The Lives of the Popes in the Early
inquisitors, he of course came into conflict with the Middle Ages. Vol. XIII. London: K. Paul, Trench, Trübner.
bishops whose rights of jurisdiction we re there by Sibilia, Salvatore. 1961. Gregorio IX (1227–1241).Milan:
Ceschina.
infringed. After inviting the Dominican prior of Pa r i s
Walsh, William T. 1940.Characters of the Inquisition.Port
to create inquisitors for all parts of France in 1233, he
Washington, NY: Kennikat.
soon had to re voke his instructions because of stro n g
opposition from French bishops. In Languedoc, how-
ever, he succeeded in establishing a permanent tribunal Gregory of Valencia (1549–1603)
of Dominican inquisitors whose task it was to eradicate A prominent Catholic theologian, Gregory of Valencia
w h a t e ver remnants of Catharism still existed after the s u p p o rted the persecution of witchcraft. Born at
Albigensian crusades. As a legislator, Gregory commis- Medina del Campo (Spain), he joined the Jesuit order
sioned the Spanish Dominican Raymond of Pe ñ a f o rt e in 1565 and received an excellent education at the
to collect a volume of decretals in 1230 to stre n g t h e n University of Salamanca. Early in the 1570s, Gregory
his authority: it was entitled Liber Ex t ra (The Book was sent to Germany, where the Jesuit generals concen-
That Goes Be yond), and the pope sent it to the trated their troops in order to maintain bridgeheads of
University of Bologna for use in teaching. Its chapter X Catholicism and to roll back the Protestant advance.
5, 7, entitled De Hereticis (Concerning Heretics), con- Gregory is considered to have been the most eminent
tained the juridical basis for the persecution of heretics, post-Tridentine theologian in Germany. He served at
a text that would remain part of canon law until 1917. the Jesuit University of Dillingen in the prince-bish-
With such measures, Gre g o ry established pre c e d e n t s opric of Augsburg from 1573 to 1575, and subse-
for what later became an institutionalized inquisition, quently at the University of Ingolstadt in Bavaria from
although he himself only commissioned temporary 1575 to 1597, where he dominated the theological fac-
investigators for locally acute problems. ulty and educated a new generation of theologians.
The most famous of Gregory’s appointed inquisitors There he rose to become a figure of European impor-
we re Conrad of Marburg and Ro b e rt le Bougre. T h e tance and was called to Rome, where he defended the
first, a secular priest and confessor of Saint Elizabeth of Jesuit Luis de Molina before Pope Clement VIII.
Thuringia, had hundreds of alleged heretics burned in Gregory also played an important role in Catholic
Ge r m a n y, until he made the mistake of taking action debates about grace and capital interest rates. His prime
against members of the high nobility, who had him importance lay in his attempt to reshape Thomistic the-
killed in 1233. Gre g o ry was deeply upset when he ology with his four volumes of dogmatic Commentarii
learned about Conrad’s “m a rt y rdom,” though he did t h e o l o g i c i (Theological Commentaries, In g o l s t a d t ,
not approve of his irregular and arbitrary way of pro- 1591–1597).
ceeding. Meanwhile, Ro b e rt, himself a former Cathar, In this standard work, Gre g o ry of Valencia re c o m-
proceeded in a no less fanatical manner against deviant mended the zealous persecution of witches, based on
Christians in northern France. He enjoyed the special the theory of witchcraft as an extraord i n a ry crime
protection of a future saint, King Louis IX, but people (crimen exc e p t u m) requiring extraord i n a ry measure s .
thought he possessed a magic charm that forced eve ryo n e His main authorities (instead of St. Augustine or
to confess whatever he wanted. About 1241, he was St . Thomas Aquinas) we re the Malleus Ma l e fic a ru m
finally deposed, though we do not know the details. (The Hammer of Witches) of Heinrich Kramer, and
Peter Binsfeld’s recent treatise on witchcraft, Tractus de
PETER DINZELBACHER confessionibus malefic o rum et sagaru m (Treatise on
Confessions by Evildoers and Witches, Munich, 1589).
See also: CONRADOFMARBURG;DOMINICANORDER;HERESY;
INQUISITION,MEDIEVAL;PAPACYANDPAPALBULLS. In contrast to these authors—the first a mave r i c k
References and further reading: inquisitor, and the other an obscure suffragan bishop—
Balan, Pietro. 1872/1873. Storia di Gregorio IX e dei suoi tempi.3 Gregory of Valencia was an authority of European rep-
vols. Modena: Tipografia del Commercio. utation, the first post-Tridentine Catholic theologian to
Dafoe, Steven. 1998. Unholy Worship: The Myth of the Baphomet, write powerfully on witch hunting.
Templar, Freemason Connection.Belleville, Ontario: Templar Historians have agreed that the years around 1590
Books.
marked a watershed in Catholic attitudes toward witch-
Förg, Ludwig. 1932. Die Ketzerverfolgung in Deutschland unter
craft. Gregory may well have served as a beacon in this
Gregor IX.Berlin: Emil Eberling.
re d i rection. And the Spanish Jesuit knew exactly what
Guernelli, John. 1969. Chiesa e stato nel pensiero di Gregorio IX.
he was talking about, because in the years 1589–1591
Rome: Pontificia Universita Lateranense.
he regularly attended the tort u re chambers of
Haller, Johannes. 1965. Das Papsttum, Idee und Wirklichkeit IV.
Reinbek: Rowohlt. Ingolstadt during the first wave of persecutions in
Kuttner, Stephan. 1990. Studies in the History of Medieval Canon Bavaria, in order to instruct young prince Maximilian,
Law X–XII.Aldershott: Variorum. the future ruler of Ba varia, whose tutor he then was.
458 Gregory of Valencia |
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The correspondence between Maximilian and his missioned an opinion) and were therefore guilty of trea-
father, Duke Wilhelm V of Bavaria, revealed the nature son. Gretser, sometimes labeled as an “irenic” author by
of these lessons, where Christian mercy and compassion Catholic Church historians, was indeed willing to send
played no role at all, and local women served as exam- his academic colleague, the leading legal expert,
ples for demonstrating demonological theory. Dr. Caspar Hell, to the stake.
Because of his great number of successful students, When Ba va r i a’s “p o l i t i c i a n s” managed to stop the
Gregory earned the nickname doctor doctorum (teacher t reason trial against Dr. Hell, Gretser urged Du k e
of teachers). Unsurprisingly, he produced a good num- Maximilian I to commission opinions from Lorraine’s
ber of future hard-liners, like Jacob Gretser SJ, but also Prosecutor-General Rémy (Maximilian was married to
a few dissidents like Adam Tanner SJ. Gregory died at a Lorraine princess) and Del Rio, from the law faculties
Naples, the capital of Spanish southern Italy. at Fre i b u r g / Breisgau, Padua, and Bologna, and fro m
the governments of electoral Trier and electoral Mainz,
WOLFGANG BEHRINGER
where large-scale witch hunts had taken place in recent
See also: BAVARIA,DUCHYOF;BINSFELD,PETER;CRIMENEXCEPTUM; years. Un s u r p r i s i n g l y, Del Rio supported Gre t s e r’s
GRETSER,JACOB,SJ;INGOLSTADT,UNIVERSITYOF;JESUITS(SOCI- opinion. Howe ve r, the Ba varian privy councilors and
ETYOFJESUS); MALLEUSMALEFICARUM;MAXIMILIANI,DUKEOF
their secre t a ry managed to split the “Jesuit part y” by
BAVARIA;TANNER,ADAM;WILHELMV“THEPIOUS,” DUKEOF commissioning a theological opinion in 1602, fro m
BAVARIA.
Adam Ta n n e r, whose interpretation was diametrically
References and further reading:
opposed to those of his fellow Jesuits Del Rio and
Behringer,Wolfgang. 1997. Witchcraft Persecutions in Bavaria.
Gretser. Although Gretser continued to back the hard-
Popular Magic, Religious Zealotry and Reason of State in Early
Modern Europe.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. liners, his influence was thus curbed and the disgru n-
Duhr, Bernhard. 1900. Die Stellung der Jesuiten in den deutschen tled zealots lost this struggle.
Hexenprozessen.Cologne: J. P. Bachem. Re p e a t e d l y, Gretser indicated that his mind
remained unaltered. For example, in the foreword to his
Gretser, Jacob, SJ (1562–1625) book on Christian holidays (De festis Christianoru m ,
Born at Markdorf in Baden, Gretser became a leading Ingolstadt, 1612), he congratulated the prince-bishop
protagonist of the second generation of Jesuits in of Eichstätt on his excellent witch hunts. But Gre t s e r
Germany and a leader of the witch-hunting faction in never regained his central position of the years around
Ba varia. In fluenced by Peter Canisius at Fr i b o u r g 1600, when it seemed possible to purge Bavarian soci-
(Freiburg) in Switzerland in 1585, Gretser settled at the ety by burning eve ryone who aroused suspicion.
University of Ingolstadt for the rest of his life. The Believing that God would not permit the burning of
Bavarian dukes surrendered its theology faculty to the innocent persons, Gretser was an extremely dangero u s
Jesuits, and, after the departure of the Spaniard Gregory “arsonist,” because he asserted that everybody who was
of Valencia, who became his second teacher, Gretser burned was indeed guilty. Like Binsfeld and Del Rio, he
rose to central importance in the late 1590s as a prolif- e p i t o m i zed the kind of zealot against which his fellow
ic teacher in moral theology and an experienced and Jesuits Tanner and Friedrich Spee fought.
successful author, with a total of 234 publications.
WOLFGANG BEHRINGER
Like Gre g o ry, Gretser strongly supported witch
hunts, at first on the basis of the Malleus Maleficarum See also: BAVARIA,DUCHYOF;BINSFELD,PETER;CANISIUS,ST.
(The Hammer of Witches, 1486) and Peter Bi n s f e l d , PETER;DELRIO,MARTÍN;EICHSTÄTT,PRINCE-BISHOPRICOF;
later on the basis of Nicolas Rémy and especially his fel-
GREGORYOFVALENCIA;INGOLSTADT,UNIVERSITYOF;JESUITS
low Jesuit Martín Del Rio, who had made demonology
(SOCIETYOFJESUS); MALLEUSMALEFICARUM;MAXIMILIANI,DUKE
OFBAVARIA;RÉMY,NICOLAS;SPEE,FRIEDRICH;TANNER,ADAM.
resemble a modern science by 1600. When opponents
References and further reading:
of witch hunting in the Ba varian government stopped
Behringer,Wolfgang. 1997. Witchcraft Persecutions in Bavaria.
an outrageous witchcraft trial in 1601, the pro-persecu-
Popular Magic, Religious Zealotry and Reason of State in Early
tion faction used Gretser as its authority. For a time, Modern Europe.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
t h e re seemed to be a “Jesuit part y” in Ba varian court Duhr, Bernhard. 1900. Die Stellung der Jesuiten in den deutschen
politics, and, because the Jesuits dominated the univer- Hexenprozessen,Cologne: J. P. Bachem.
s i t y, Gre t s e r’s faction seemed invincible. When the
moderate “p o l i t i c i a n s”—as they we re labeled by Grillando (Grillandus), Paolo
Gretser—of the Ba varian Privy Council managed to (Paulus) (1st half 16th century)
obtain a skeptical legal opinion from the law faculty, Born in the Tuscan village Castelfio rentino, Pa o l o
Gretser served as a secret agent, denouncing the culprits Grillando became a famous demonologist with his
and their alleged motives, asserting that they had simul- Tractatus de hereticis et sortilegiis eorumque poenis(Tre a t i s e
taneously served as lawyers for accused witches (in the on He retics and So rc e rers and Their Punishments) in five
same case, where their employer, the prince, had com- books, written around 1524. Gr i l l a n d o’s detailed and
Grillando (Grillandus), Paolo (Paulus) 459 |
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s u g g e s t i ve description of the witches’ Sabbat unquestion- himself as a judge. They all contained detailed informa-
ably contributed to establishing the credibility of witch- tion about the Sabbat. Re c u r rent topics included the
craft in Renaissance It a l y. His work enjoyed considerable reverence paid to Satan, that all dances were done back-
a u t h o r i t y. After several re-editions (Lyons, 1536, 1545, w a rd; that after the feast the lamps we re extinguished
and 1547; Rome 1581), his tract was coedited with and the demons, as incubi or succubi, fornicated with
Gi ovanni Francesco (Gianfrancesco) Po n z i n i b i o’s De the women and men present (with extreme voluptuos-
l a m i i s(Concerning Witches, Fr a n k f u rt am Main, 1592). ness). The demons had to carry the witches back before
Later it was integrated into miscellanies on criminal jus- the church bells sounded the Ave Maria;if they heard it
tice, and after 1615 alongside the Malleus Ma l e fic a ru m on the way, they dropped their burdens instantly, no
(The Hammer of Wi t c h e s )in miscellanies on demonolo- matter where they we re. One of the “w i t c h e s” stated
g y. Grillando was cited in subsequent demonological that, after attending a Sabbat, she was so exhausted that
w o rks by Ma rtín Del Rio and Fr a n c e s c o-Maria Gu a z zo , she suffered for three or four days. All these confessions,
and by the exo rcism expert Gi rolamo Menghi; he was Grillando insisted, were made by women who were not
e ven plagiarized in 1554 by the Flemish jurisconsult t o rt u red. The author saw and handled the unguents
Joost de Damhouder in his Praxis re rum Cr i m i n a l i u m with which they harmed men and beasts, and ordered
( Practice on Criminal Cases, 1554). all of them burned with the witches.
Grillando was a doctor of both canon and civil law
DRIES VANYSACKER
who served as judge in witchcraft cases in the vicinity of
Rome; later, he heard criminal cases in Arez zo for the See also:DEMONOLOGY;FLIGHTOFWITCHES;ITALY;SABBAT.
papal vicar Andrea di Giacomo.The first edition of his References and further reading:
Bonomo, Giuseppe. 1959. Caccia alle streghe. La credenza nelle
t reatise was dedicated to Felice Tro f fini, archbishop of
streghe dal secolo XIII al XIX, con partiolare riferimento all’Italia.
Chieti (1524–1527), and Bishop Gregorio Gori of
Palermo: G.B. Palumbo.
Fano (1518–1524). This dedication not only enables us
Bosco, Giovanna. 1994. “Paolo Grillandi (sec. XVI).” Pp.
to date Grillando’s tract, but, more importantly, it con-
133–134 in Bibliotheca Lamiarum. Documenti immagini della
tained the author’s motivation for writing it: the con-
stregoneria dal Medioevo all’Età Moderna. Ospedaletto: Pacini.
stant growth of this pernicious sect and the fact that Lea, Henry Charles. 1957. Pp. 395–412 in Materials Toward A
many clerics we re its leaders or members. Gr i l l a n d o History of Witchcraft.Edited by Arthur C. Howland. NewYork
re f e r red to few other works on witchcraft: he neve r and London: Thomas Yoseloff.
mentioned the Malleus,but relied on what he had him-
self seen or heard as a judge. In his treatise, Gr i l l a n d o Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863)
gave a detailed enumeration of the different sorts of sor- After the execution of witches had already ceased, a
c e ry. He explained the difference between tacit and completely new, post-Enlightenment interpre t a t i o n
e x p ress professions (or pacts) and described astro l o g y, developed, inspired by Romanticism. In 1835, Jacob
chiromancy, divination, and especially amatory sorcery. Grimm, the founder of international language studies
He discussed the materials used in sorcery (teeth, hair, and academic romanticism, whose influence can still be
nails, fragments of the clothes of a person to be felt in collections of fairy tales all over Europe, rede-
b ewitched; bits of corpses—especially from hanged fined witches as “wise women,” who conserved the tra-
criminals). He dwelled on the Devil’s power and knowl- ditional age-old wisdom of their peoples, the
edge, and on why God permits many evils that he could “Germanic tradition” in particular. Grimm thereby
easily pre vent. Grillando also explained why no witch turned people whom enlightened criticism perceived as
could escape from prison. A cardinal point, on which innocent victims into mysterious bearers of ancient wis-
proper punishments depended, is whether sorcery is or dom, unjustly persecuted by a Christian Church seek-
is not a savor of heresy. ing to destroy European national cultures. The wise
The treatise’s most interesting part treated the ques- woman emerged from Grimm’s head like Athena from
tion of transvection, whether witches were transported Zeus, and Grimm created the “Romantic paradigm” in
c o r p o really to the Sabbat or whether it was merely a the interpretation of historical witchcraft. Furthermore,
diabolical illusion. Grillando formerly adhered to the he could almost be seen as founding a new religion,
first opinion, found in the Canon Ep i s c o p i . But after because Grimm’s reinterpretation of witchcraft became
long experience, after various examples of witches’ the starting point for the more recent religion of the
operations, some of which he had seen and others he neopagan “New Witches,” as well as feminist fairy
re c e i ved from tru s t w o rthy persons, Grillando became worlds like those constructed by such authors as
convinced that witches we re transported bodily. Marion Zimmer Bradley.
Grillando gave several reasons and examples for his Gr i m m’s interpretation re veals signs of its nine-
v i ew, including evidence from several witchcraft cases teenth-century political agenda. Between the beginning
in the vicinity of Rome. Some of them—like a of the French Re volution (1789) and the Congress of
September 1524 case in Castro Na z a reno—he heard Vienna (1815), most old states had crumbled under the
460 Grimm, Jacob |
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to the publication of a “German Grammar” (1819) and
a monumental German dictionary, but eve n t u a l l y
produced more general studies about the development
of languages. Jacob became a founding father of
modern language studies generally and of Ge r m a n i c
studies (Ge rm a n i s t i k) in part i c u l a r. His re s e a rch in
libraries and archives unearthed important early exam-
ples of Old German, Anglo-Sa xon English, and Ol d
Nordic languages.
When Jacob Grimm published his De u t s c h e
My t h o l o g i e (Teutonic Mythology) in 1835, he had
become university librarian and professor at the univer-
sity of Göttingen. As a liberal-minded scholar, he pub-
licly opposed an attempt by the king of Ha n over to
abolish the liberal constitution. Together with five oth-
er scholars, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were therefore
fired in 1837, Jacob also being exiled. The G ö t t i n g e r
Sieben (Göttingen seven) became celebrated as martyrs
of the liberal cause, and their subsequent publications
contributed decisively to the development of Ge r m a n
liberalism. Soon afterw a rd, the Grimm brothers we re
named to the Prussian Academy of Sciences at Be r l i n ,
and Jacob (like three others of the Göttingen seven) was
elected to the German parliament at Fr a n k f u rt during
the 1848 Revolution.
Grimm designed his Deutsche My t h o l o g i e in a peri-
od well before politicians succeeded in assembling the
tiny principalities of central Eu rope into a Ge r m a n
nation. His “n a t i o n a l i s t” publications re c e i ved ove r-
whelming applause from the educated. But after his
death, hundreds of well-paid folklorists collected
shaky ancient evidence of Germanic glory. Another
liberal language scholar, Moriz Haupt (1808–1874),
ridiculed the activities of the Al t e rt u m s ve re i n e
The cover of Household Stores,a collection of fairy tales by the (Antiquarian Society), suggesting that eve ry stinking
Brothers Grimm. Jacob Grimm had great influence on the history of billy goat or red rooster risked being interpreted as a
witchcraft through his compilation of fairy tales and folklore. Germanic god.
(Historical Picture Archive/Corbis)
Meanwhile, other nations developed their ow n
obsessions. Jules Michelet, an equally fervent national-
ist, not only constructed an interpretation of the French
impact of the Napoleonic Wars, particularly the Ho l y nation based on the French Revolution, but also trans-
Roman Em p i re in 1806. New nation-states we re con- formed Gr i m m’s notion of wise women into female
s t ructed, and the past was re i n t e r p reted, preferably by “doctors of the people,” fighters against feudal oppres-
nativists exalting the supposed values of the local popu- sion who we re ruthlessly crushed by a conspiracy of
lations, now re d e fined as ethnic groups (Vo l k) with a feudal princes, lawyers, theologians, and academic
glorious past. Grimm studied at Marburg in 1802 physicians. Witches, therefore, became suppressed fore-
under the famous legal historian Karl Friedrich vo n runners of the French Re volution, or the Fre n c h
Savigny, and participated in Romantic literary circles at nation. In Mi c h e l e t’s eyes, witches should also be
Heidelberg. Iro n i c a l l y, Grimm started his career as remembered as a source of power in an eternal fight for
librarian for Na p o l e o n’s brother Je rome, king of freedom.
Westphalia after 1808. The examples of Grimm and Michelet illustrate the
By then, he and his brother Wilhelm Grimm had liberal political agenda of the nineteenth century.Their
a l ready collected their famous fairy tales. Their ideas “poetic visions” we re ridiculed or simply ignored by
about the origins of fairy tales and other folk narratives academic historians in the Rankean tradition, who
began serious Eu ropean folklore studies. Me a n w h i l e , wished to replace imagination with evidence. A “Soldan
Jacob Grimm also conducted language studies, leading Pa r a d i g m” or “Rationalist Pa r a d i g m” replaced the
Grimm, Jacob 461 |
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Romantic approach (Monter 1972). But clearly,
Grimm remains one of the most influential authors in
the history of witchcraft.
WOLFGANG BEHRINGER
See also:CONTEMPORARYWITCHCRAFT(POST1800); ENLIGHTEN-
MENT;FOLKLORE;HISTORIOGRAPHY;MICHELET,JULES;SOLDAN,
WILHELMGOTTLIEB.
References and further reading:
Behringer,Wolfgang. 2004: “Geschichte der Hexenforschung.”
Pp. 485–680 in Wider alle Zauberei und Teufelswerk. Die
europäische Hexenverfolgung und ihre Auswirkung auf
Südwestdeutschland. Edited by Sönke Lorenz and Jürgen
Michael Schmidt. Ostfildern: Jan Thorbecke.
Grimm, Jacob. 1835. Deutsche Mythologie. Göttingen: Dieterich.
———. 2004. Teutonic Mythology.Translated by James Steven
Stallybrass. Mineola, NY: Dover.
Kaplan, Edward K. 1977. Michelet’s Poetic Vision. A Romantic
Philosophy of Nature, Man, and Woman.Amherst, MA:
University of Massachusetts Press.
Michelet, Jules. 1959. La Sorcière.Paris: Club Français du Livre.
English edition, 1965. Satanism and Witchcraft: A Study in
Medieval Superstition.Translated by A. R. Allinson. NewYork:
Citadel.
Monter,William. 1972. “The Historiography of European
Witchcraft: Progress and Prospects.” Journal of Interdisciplinary Page from a sixteenth-century grimoire,a magician’s manual
History2: 435–453. containing practical knowledge of how to invoke demons or perform
Purkiss, Diane. 1996.The Witch in History. Early Modern and other types of magic or divination. (Fortean Picture Library)
Twentieth Century Representations.London and NewYork:
Routledge.
explained the appropriate rituals and requirements of a
magician.
Grimoires
Famous (still in print) is the 6 and 7 Book of Moses,
The term grimoire, derived from the French word
bogus additions to the five Mosaic books of the Hebrew
grammaire, refers to a magician’s written or printed
Bible. This g r i m o i re , of uncertain origin but re l a t i ve l y
manual, his “black book” for invoking demons. It was
modern, is particularly well-known in Germany, but is
later extended to include all books dealing with any
also widely read by No rth Americans of African
subdiscipline of magic and divination. Grimoires have
descent.
usually been fictitiously ascribed to famous personali-
The legendary King Solomon was not simply a syn-
ties of outstanding knowledge—for example, Moses,
onym for wisdom, but he was also ru m o red to be a
Solomon, even popes—whose “s e c re t” wisdom they pur-
master of magic: the power of his ring commanded all
p o rt e d l ycontain. Rumors and legends about magicians
spirits and demons. A famous Persian poet, Fi rd a u s i ,
especially emphasized their books of magic. Grimoires
w rote So l o m o n’s history in verse (the Book of Kings) ;
provide practical information—how to draw a magic
afterward, Arab,Turkish, Persian, and Talmudic writers
circle, what robes to wear, spells to utter, prayers to
enhanced the story. Solomon became a legendary fig-
offer, tools to use, and so forth.
ure, not only the richest and wisest king on earth, but
also a man who commanded celestial, terrestrial, and
Early Sources infernal spirits.
Hermes, a god associated with magic since late antiqui- A book of incantation for summoning demons was
ty, was worshipped as Trismegistusor “three times great- a l ready in circulation under the name of Solomon in
est.” Medieval Arabic secret literature viewed him as an the early Roman Em p i re. The historian Fl a v i u s
alchemist and as the ultimate source of wisdom. Roger Josephus stated that this book was used by a Jew
Bacon called him the father of philosophy. His name named El e a z a r, who, in front of Em p e ror Ve s p a s i a n ,
became synonymous with secrecy and several “hermet- d e l i ve red those possessed of devils by applying a ring
ic” writings are ascribed to him. The Lunar, quoted by (containing the fig u re of a root designed by So l o m o n )
Albert the Great and William of Auvergne, dealt with to their noses. Formulas we re added to the book, later
the magical power of names. Another, Thot, provided called Clavicula Solomonis (The Key of So l o m o n ) .
l ove and death spells, listed magical herbs, and Various authors mentioned this book of sorc e ry. T h e
462 Grimoires |
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e l e ve n t h - c e n t u ry Byzantine writer Michael Ps e l l u s a symbol of the “w ro n g” religious, scientific, and
re f e r red to a treatise on stones and demons. By the philosophical thought of his day, as he appeared in the
t h i rteenth century, it had reached the Latin world. A first so-called “Faust-book,” the anonymous Hi s t o r i a
n ew version, called T h e Sw o rn Book of Honorius, o r von D. Johann Fa u s t e n ( Hi s t o ry of Dr. Johann Fa u s t ,
Ju ratus, published in 1629, was ascribed to the 1587). Howe ve r, this obscure personality, Fa u s t ,
t we l f t h-c e n t u ry Pope Honorius III, who was suspected became the archetypical German magician of the age.
of practicing sorc e ry, as we re Leo II, John XXII, and His posthumous reputation as a magician swelled in
especially Sy l vester II, the legendary Ge r b e rt of German and English literature shortly after his death;
Aurillac (999–1003). Printed versions reputedly had a number of g r i m o i re s we re soon attributed to him,
less value than a manuscript written by a sorc e re r’s featuring his alleged familiar Mephistopheles. T h e
own hands and the Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal in Pa r i s t reatise Doctor Iohannis Fausti magiae naturalis et
contains a considerable number of these manuscripts. i n n a t u ra l , later famous as Doctor Fa u s t’s Coercion of
L a t e r, the Small (or L e s s e r) Key of Solomon o r He l l , told the apprentice and reader how to summon
L e m e g e t o n became a tutorial for inflicting illness or and bind all spirits and force them to bring eve ry t h i n g
death and conjuring the dead. d e m a n d e d .
Aristotle was one of the most important and influen-
tial personalities in medieval philosophy, but his name
The Witch’s Grimoire
also appeared as the author of magical books. At the
Up to this point, only men have been associated with
end of the twelfth century, Alexander Neckham men-
grimoires. When the Jesuit Martín Del Rio published
tioned that Aristotle had carefully buried his magical
his Disquisitionum Magicarum Libri sex (Six Books on
books with him and shielded them by a curse. The most
Investigations into Magic, 1599/1600), he saw the wise
famous grimoireascribed to him was the Secretum secre-
women of his own time, whom he called sibyllae (pur-
torum (The Secret of Secrets), well known for centuries.
posely connecting prophetesses with witchcraft), in
Two hundred surviving manuscripts could still be
relation to the manteses, who allegedly wrote a little
counted in 1900. Translated into almost eve ry major
book that they intended to present to the “Wise
world language, the book was a compilation from many
Women,” to make them guardians of necromantic
sources, whose present form dates from the seventh or
magic. These women were to consecrate these books so
eighth century. One of the translators (supposedly
that the demon invoked would appear in the shape of a
Pa t r i a rch Guido of Antioch) explained in the pre f a c e
handsome young man and obey them; they were to sign
h ow Alexander the Great demanded that Aristotle
the books with a powerful magical formula to protect
re veal to him the secret courses and influences of the
readers from arrest and judgment. As reward, the magi-
planets, alchemy, geomancy, and the art of conjuration,
cians promised they would take these wise women as
all in one manuscript. The work explained the magical
their ladies and rulers forever. Obviously, for Del Rio,
effects of precious stones, herbs, and amulets, and
presenting books of magic to apprentice witches was
offered remedies.
part of the ritual of the pact with the Devil. In section
A Book of Se c re t sascribed to Albert the Great circ u-
17, Del Rio emphasized that books of magic must not
lated since the later Middle Ages, supplemented by
be left to an heir to read, but must be burned. Access is
writings from a pseudonymous “A l b e rt the Sm a l l . ”
reserved to the pope, who may permit certain others to
Many clerics and inquisitors mentioned black books;
read them, namely inquisitors and censors. Anyone else
a few even made lists of them, like Jo h a n n e s
who kept such books was to be excluded from absolu-
Ha rt l i e b’s Book of All Forbidden Art s (puoch aller ve r-
tion, a major punishment.
poten kunst) .
Most sources tell us that one became a witch either
Little is known about the historical Doctor Fa u s t
h e reditarily or voluntarily; only a few mention books
described by Christopher Ma r l owe and Jo h a n n
to instruct the sorc e re r’s apprentice. Mo re ove r, it
Wolfgang von Goethe, but legends quickly appeared in
re q u i red a certain talent. Learning and studying books
the sixteenth century. A certain Christoph Kaylinger
was not emphasized, though the notion of a witch con-
allegedly taught him the art of crystal gazing.
juring with the help of black books found its way into
Eve n t u a l l y, he made a pact with the Devil and gained
i l l u s t r a t i o n s .
the help of a spirit, Mephistopheles. In his latter years,
he re p o rtedly practiced alchemy; according to Ph i l i p CHRISTA TUCZAY
Melanchthon, the Devil destroyed Faust about 1540 at
See also: AGRIPPAVONNETTESHEIM,HEINRICHCORNELIUS;DEL
a rural inn in Württemberg.
RIO,MARTÍN;FAUST,JOHANN;HERMETICISM;MAGICCIRCLE;
Although later times or enlightened contemporaries
MOSES.
c o n s i d e red Fa u s t u s’s magical feats to be petty and
References and further reading:
fraudulent, Ma rtin Luther and Philip Me l a n c h t h o n Butler, E. M. The Fortunes of Faust.1952. Cambridge: Cambridge
o bviously took him seriously. His notoriety made him University Press.
Grimoires 463 |
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Del Rio, Martín. 2000. Investigations into Magic.Edited and trans- of various kinds. This they did to gratify their ow n
lated by P. G. Maxwell-Stuart. Manchester: Manchester spiteful natures, and we re permitted to do so by Go d
University Press. as a tribute to his glory when people maintained their
Kieckhefer, Richard. 1989. Magic in the Middle Ages.NewYork:
faith re g a rdless, as a demonstration of his power ove r
Cambridge University Press.
both evil spirits and humans, and as a punishment for
Thorndike, Lynn. 1923–1958. A History of Magic and
p e o p l e’s sins. But when people fell into Sa t a n’s clutch-
Experimental Science.8 vols. NewYork: Columbia University
es, deceived by his powers of illusion, or foolish
Press.
enough to practice superstitious rites, they tended to
Waite, A. E. 1965. The Book of Ceremonial Magic. The Secret
Tradition in Goetia.NewYork: University Books. stay there .
Book 3 points out that one may not lawfully use
Guazzo, Francesco Maria magic to undo the effects of maleficent magic, and dis-
Gu a z zo was famous for his witchcraft tre a t i s e , cusses how one may distinguish between someone who
Compendium Maleficarum (A Summary of Witches, was possessed by an evil spirit and someone who had
1608), which he wrote in 1605 at the request of m e rely been bewitched. Gu a z zo gave many physical
Cardinal-Archbishop Charles Borromeo of Milan. It symptoms by which one may judge both. This appeal
was published in 1608 and ran to an amplified second to medicine rather than theology was ve ry common
edition in 1626. Guazzo (who flourished in the early among writers on magic during this period, as was
seventeenth century) was a Barnabite friar. His small Guazzo’s opinion that the werewolves that so troubled
order specialized in exorcisms. He had served as a con- the duchy of Cleves were simply illusions of the Devil.
sultant on witchcraft trials at the capital of his order, However, few authorities agreed with Guazzo’s assertion
Milan, where witches were burned in 1599 and 1603. that Martin Luther was the offspring of a nun and the
The Barnabites were keen to reform the corrupt morals Devil. His treatise ended with edifying stories to
of their time by personal example and missions to the illustrate the efficacy of Catholic sacraments in combat-
people—hence one stimulus for Guazzo’s writing the ing Satan.
Compendium.Another was his visit to the German state The C o m p e n d i u m was learned, but not in the least
of Cleves-Jülich at the request of its chro n i c a l l y original. It leaned heavily on two of Guazzo’s predeces-
bewitched Duke Johann Wilhelm (Midelfort 1994, sors and contemporaries, Ma rtín Del Rio and Ni c o l a s
98–124), who suffered personally from magical attacks Rémy, and it repeated many of their anecdotes. Indeed,
and whose territory suffered from werewolves. the construction of the treatise cut discussion to the
The Compendium is divided into three books. Book bone while anecdotal illustrations formed the major
1 begins with a chapter on imagination, which, as many part of the text. The Compendium thus provided more
other writers on magic and witchcraft agree, can have a entertainment than scholarly disquisition. This impres-
powerful effect on both mind and body.Thereafter we sion is increased by the inclusion of an unusually large
a re given a survey of what witches allege they can do, number of woodcuts frequently reproduced in modern
their pact with Satan, the reality or unreality of such books about witchcraft. In book 1, these concentrated
phenomena as transvection to the Sabbat, incubi and heavily on the fig u re of Satan—depicted as a winged
succubi, and shape changing. All these Guazzo regarded male with horns and cloven toes—superintending the
as both possible and probable. He ended book 1 with a i d o l a t rous actions of witches, who we re rather oddly
discussion on the reality of ghosts, a contentious subject depicted as fashionably dressed men and women. In
that provided both Catholic and Protestant writers with book 2, the pictures illustrated witches’ acts of malevo-
a theme for theological dispute. Gu a z zo took the line lence. Se veral we re repeated, either within book 2, or
that ghosts may indeed appear, but only on irre g u l a r from book 1. Those in book 3, however, were quite dif-
occasions and by God’s special dispensation. This raised f e rent. They clearly came from a different source, and
a point about whether evil spirits could be summoned showed episodes from the life of Jesus, who appeared as
by human beings and constrained to obey their orders, the major figure.
and Gu a z zo came to the standard conclusion that evil Guazzo thus cannot be considered a major writer on
spirits only appear to cooperate in order to entrap their the subject of witchcraft. He is sometimes cited because
victims. his work has been translated into English by the notori-
Book 2 details different kinds of harmful magic ous Montague Summers (Guazzo 1929), and his illus-
witches practice. These included administering poiso- trations have often been re p roduced, but shorn fro m
nous or soporific drinks, or ove r p owering the objects the context that gave them meaning.
of their malice with smoke induced by setting fire to
dead people’s hands or feet. Witches also used parts of
P. G. MAXWELL-STUART
corpses for a variety of magical purposes and as food
See also: ARTANDVISUALIMAGES;BORROMEO,ST.CARLO;DELRIO,
in their cannibal feasts. They induced impotence in MARTÍN;DEMONOLOGY;DEMONS;GHOSTS;RÉMY,NICOLAS;
men, set houses and towns on fire, and caused diseases SUMMERS,MONTAGUE.
464 Guazzo, Francesco Maria |
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References and further reading: of magic with which many people at the papal court at
Guazzo, Francesco Maria. 1929. A Compendium of Witches.Edited Avignon would have been familiar. Judging from the
and translated by Montague Summers. London. J. Rodker. material in the Practica inquisitionis, this was also the
———. 1967. Compendio delle Stregonerie.Milan: Giordano.
form of magic that most concerned Be r n a rd Gui. Hi s
Midelfort, Erik. 1994. Mad Princes of Renaissance Germany.
most extensive sections on sorcery and demonic invoca-
Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.
tion contained formulas for the abjuration and degra-
dation of clerics found guilty of performing supersti-
Gui, Bernard (ca. 1261–1331) tious or sorc e rous acts, often involving misuse of the
Perhaps the most famous of all medieval inquisitors, Eucharist or of baptized images and fig u res. He also
and certainly one of the most important and influen- described in detail a complex necromantic ceremony as
tial, Bernard Gui is best known for his monumental it was supposedly performed by a clerical sorc e re r,
i n q u i s i t o r’s handbook, Practica inquisitionis here t i c e involving wax images, blood rituals, and explicit sacri-
pravitatis (The Practice of the Inquisition of Heretical fice to demons.
Depravity), written around 1324. Although he never In other sections of the Practica inquisitionis,h owe v-
described anything like the full stereotype of witchcraft e r, Gui described a different form of sorc e ry, invo l v i n g
as it would appear in later centuries, he did include in less complex rites and more commonplace material
this work several sections dealing with learned demon- and devices. He re sorc e rers worked through simple
ic magic, or necromancy, as well as more evidently pop- incantations, herbs, and bodily items such as hair and
ular forms of sorcery.The Practica inquisitionis became nails. Ac c o rding to Gui, these people sought to cure
one of the most widely read of all medieval inquisitori- disease, detect thieves, re c over lost items, arouse love ,
al manuals, second only to the later D i re c t o r i u m and re s t o re fertility between couples. In short, his
inquisitorum (Directory of Inquisitors) of the Catalan accounts here seem clearly to re flect common or popu-
inquisitor Nicolas Eymeric. Gui’s descriptions of sor- lar magical practices that might actually have been in
cery thus seem very important, particularly in terms of fairly widespread use in the region of Toulouse in the
shaping later clerical, and especially inquisitorial, early fourteenth century. His descriptions of the prac-
thought on this subject. tices contained virtually no hints of the demonic invo-
Born in southern France around 1261, Gui entere d cation and diabolism that had been so evident in his
the Dominican order and studied theology both at sections on clerical sorc e rers. Ne ve rtheless, he was
Montpellier and Paris. In 1307, he was appointed explicit in his conviction that these simpler practices
inquisitor of Toulouse, and served in this office until we re also necessarily demonic in nature. Indeed, it was
1323 or 1324. From 1324 until his death in 1331, he the element of demonic invocation that allowe d
was bishop of Lodève. T h roughout his life, Gui was inquisitors to bring charges of heresy against these peo-
a c t i ve in the administration of the Dominican order as a ple. Thus Gui serves as a particularly good example of
theologian, and also as a historian. Yet it was as an h ow the clerical conviction in the demonic nature of
inquisitor that he achieved his greatest influence, mainly almost all magic, suited mainly to ecclesiastical author-
t h rough his Practica inquisitionis.Intended as a practical i t i e s’ understanding of learned necro m a n c y, was trans-
handbook to guide inquisitors in the conduct of their f e r red to the simpler practices of popular or common
o f fice, this work cove red all major forms of heresy exis- s o rc e ry. Although Gui never described witchcraft in
tent, or thought to be existent, in Gu i’s time, outlining the full sense, this conviction on the part of clerical
h e retical beliefs and practices, offering guidelines to be authorities, and learned secular authorities as we l l ,
used in questioning, and proposing formulas for the came to play an important part in sustaining the witch
conviction and sentencing of heretics. Within this large hunts of future centuries.
w o rk, only a few brief sections we re actually devoted to
MICHAEL D. BAILEY
s o rc e ry, divination, and demonic invo c a t i o n .
During his tenure as inquisitor of Toulouse, Gu i See also: DOMINICANORDER;EYMERIC,NICOLAS;INQUISITION,
seems never to have tried a case of heretical sorcery per- MEDIEVAL;INVOCATIONS;JOHNXXII,POPE;MAGIC,LEARNED;
s o n a l l y. Ne ve rtheless, during this period sorc e ry was MAGIC,POPULAR;NECROMANCY;SORCERY.
i n c reasingly becoming a matter of inquisitorial con- References and further reading:
Bailey, Michael D. 2001. “From Sorcery to Witchcraft: Clerical
cern. In 1320, Pope John XXII had specifically ordered
Conceptions of Magic in the Later Middle Ages.” Speculum76:
the inquisitors of Toulouse and Carcassonne to take
960–990.
action against any sorc e rers who offered sacrifices to
Caldwell, Christine. 2002. “Doctors of Souls: Inquisition and the
demons or otherwise worshiped or adored them. In all
Dominican Order, 1231–1331.” Ph.D. diss., University of
likelihood, the type of magic that worried Pope Jo h n
Notre Dame.
XXII was learned demonic magic, or necromancy.This Given, James B. 1997. Inquisition and Medieval Society: Power,
sort of magic involved complex and often quasireligious Discipline, and Resistance in Languedoc.Ithaca, NY: Cornell
invocations of demons. It was above all a clerical form University Press.
Gui, Bernard 465 |
Wicca | Richard M.Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Western Tradition | 503 | 46049 Golden Chap. D av First Pages 08/25/2005 p.466 Application File
Guenée, Bernard. 1991. Between Church and State: The Lives of had married another of Gu n t e r’s daughters, Su s a n .
Four French Prelates in the Late Middle Ages.Translated by However, Gunter miscalculated badly. He fell foul of a
Arthur Goldhammer. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. temporary and unusual phase of contemporary ecclesi-
Wakefield, Walter L., and Austin P. Evans, eds. 1969. Heresies of
astical politics, in which issues of possession and witch-
the High Middle Ages: Selected Sources Translated and Annotated.
craft were near the top of the agenda.
NewYork: Columbia University Press.
James delegated the investigation of Anne to Richard
Gunter, Anne (1584–16??) Ba n c roft, formerly bishop of London and from early
1605 archbishop of Canterbury, who was a confirmed
Anne Gunter was an English woman famous for her
skeptic on these issues. Anne was put in the custody of
fraudulent bewitchment. Born at Hu n g e rf o rd in
Bancroft’s chaplain, Samuel Harsnett, who had been a
Be rk s h i re, Anne was the youngest child of Br i a n
p ropagandist for skepticism in the John Da r rell affair,
Gunter and his wife, also named Anne, a locally impor-
and her medical state was examined by the physician
tant gentry family of Welsh origins. By 1587 Brian
Ed w a rd Jo rden, who had demonstrated his skepticism
Gunter and his family were living in the village of
about possession and witchcraft a few years earlier in
No rth Mo reton (then in Be rk s h i re, but now in
the Mary Glover case. Anne was soon alleging that her
Oxfordshire), a small agricultural settlement dominated
father had put her up to accusing Elizabeth Gre g o ry
by a few long-established farming families. Br i a n
and the Pepwells of witchcraft, and that her sufferings
Gunter was a forceful, and indeed violent, personality,
had been simulated, in part at least after reading a tract
whose presence in North Moreton seems to have dis-
dealing with the witches of Wa r b oys. Probably at
rupted the equilibrium of the village, especially after he
Ba n c ro f t’s instigation, Anne and her father we re tried
inflicted fatal wounds on two members of the Gregory
before the Star Chamber for falsely accusing Elizabeth
family in the course of brawl at a village football match
Gre g o ry, Agnes Pe pwell, and Ma ry Pe pwell of witch-
in 1598. Thereafter, ill will existed between Brian
craft. The resulting dossier, which runs to several hun-
Gunter and the Gregory family.
dred pages of testimony delivered by over fifty witness-
In the summer of 1604 Anne Gunter fell ill with a
es, makes this quite simply England’s best-documented
mysterious malady. Early diagnoses of hysteria or
witchcraft case.
epilepsy proved unsustainable, and eventually local
Un f o rt u n a t e l y, gaps in the documentation make it
physicians suggested bewitchment as a possibility. By
impossible to know how the Star Chamber prosecution
this point Anne was demonstrating many of the classic
ended, or, indeed, what happened to Anne Gu n t e r
symptoms of what might be described as a typical
a f t e rw a rd. But the Gunter affair remains a re m a rk a b l e
English witchcraft-cum-possession case of the period.
episode that allows one to study reactions to a witch-
In her torments, Anne accused three women of
craft case on a variety of social levels, from the villagers
b ewitching her. The chief one was Elizabeth Gre g o ry,
of No rth Mo reton at one end of the spectrum to the
abetted by two “likely suspects”: Agnes Pe pwell, who
royal demonologist, James VI and I, at the other, with
had a well-established local reputation as a witch, and
local gentry, the medical profession, and a body of
her illegitimate daughter, Mary. Agnes Pepwell fled, but
O x f o rd dons in between. It also demonstrates how
Mary Pepwell and Elizabeth Gregory were arrested and
skeptical the upper levels of the Church of En g l a n d
tried for witchcraft at the Abingdon assizes in Ma rc h
were about witchcraft and related matters by the early
1605. After a lengthy trial that was obviously tre a t e d
seventeenth century.
with considerable circumspection by the two assize
judges, both women were acquitted.
JAMES SHARPE
Matters should have ended there. Howe ve r, in
August 1605, the Un i versity of Oxford was visited by See also: BEWITCHMENT;DARRELL,JOHN;ENGLAND;JAMESVIAND
King James I, who, as James VI of Scotland, had I,KINGOFSCOTLANDANDENGLAND;JORDEN,EDWARD;POSSES-
acquired the English throne two years before. James was
SION,DEMONIC;SKEPTICISM;WARBOYS,WITCHESOF.
References and further reading:
regarded as an expert on witchcraft, and that was prob-
Levack, Brian P. 1996. “Possession, Witchcraft, and the Law in
ably why Brian Gunter took his allegedly bew i t c h e d
Jacobean England.” Washington and Lee Law Review52:
daughter to meet the monarch. Gunter had good con-
1613–1640.
nections with Oxford Un i versity (Oxford is about
Sharpe, James. 1999. The Bewitching of Anne Gunter: A Horrible
t we l ve miles north of No rth Mo reton), especially and True Story of Football, Witchcraft, Murder, and the King of
because Thomas Holland, Regius Professor of Divinity, England.London: Profile Books.
466 Gunter, Anne |
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H
Hair Devil. The mark could be located anywhere; in order to
In many traditional societies, hair was closely connect- help find it, the hair of the head, the armpits, and the
ed to the identity, virtues, or strength of the person to genital area was shaved off. Se a rches for the De v i l’s mark
which it belonged. A lock of hair often became a keep- by judicial officials began in the regions of Ge n e va and
sake, and saint’s hair was venerated as a relic. Through the Pays de Vaud from the 1530s, and by the seve n-
similar sympathetic association, hair became a common teenth century the practice of subjecting accused witch-
ingredient in charms used in popular magic and sorcery es to the inva s i ve and shameful practice of shaving,
throughout Europe. And in visual images, disheveled examining, and pricking the mark was widespre a d .
hair became a visual cue for moral disorder. But in In visual re p resentations, witches we re sometimes
witchcraft treatises, hair was most frequently referred to depicted with shaven heads as they were burned at the
as an instrument used by witches to resist accusation stake. Se veral such examples can be found in the
and interrogation. so-called Wonder Book of the Zurich pastor Jo h a n n
Many witchcraft treatises from the late fifteenth cen- Jakob Wick, a mass of documentary material concern-
t u ry warned judicial officials that witches used their ing the state of Christendom compiled between 1560
hair and clothes to hide magical charms or drugs that and 1588. But in the first half of the sixteenth century,
made them taciturn, or insensible to torture. In order to hair also achieved quite a different role in re p re s e n t a-
avoid this “spell of silence,” as the Malleus Maleficarum tions of witchcraft. In the new iconography developed
(The Hammer of Witches, 1486) called it, the witch by such German and Swiss artists as Albrecht Düre r,
should be shaved. The shaving often involved not only Albrecht Altdorfer, Urs Graf, Niklaus Manuel Deutsch,
the hairs of the head and face, but also those of the Lucas Cranach, and especially Hans Baldung [Gr i e n ] ,
whole body including the genital area. The Ma l l e u s witches we re frequently depicted with long and
e ven re f e r red to the practice of inquisitors using this d i s h e veled hair, flying out wildly in a multitude of
s h a ved hair in countermagic: it was mixed with holy d i rections. T h roughout the Middle Ages, long, uncut
water and blessed wax and given to the witch to drink hair was associated with women; indeed, according to
to break her silence. The Jesuit demonologist Ma rt í n Paul (II Corinthians, 11:14), long hair was shameful for
Del Rio claimed in Book V, sect. 1 of his Disquisitiones men but an adornment for women. It was customary in
Magicae libri sex ( Six books on In vestigations into the sixteenth century to associate long and flowing hair
Magic, 1599) that this countermagic had to be repeated with unmarried and sexually available women. T h u s ,
thirty times for it to be effective, but he remained con- c o n t e m p o r a ry iconography frequently depicted pro s t i-
cerned about the superstition it could breed. In 1580, tutes or lustful women with wild and frizzy hair, as they
Jean Bodin, in his De la démonomanie des sorciers (On did the mythical wild folk of the forest or the sava g e
the Demon-Mania of Witches, Book IV, chap. 1), also n a t i ves of the Americas. Baldung, in part i c u l a r, deve l-
recommended that witches who refused to confess have oped this physical feature of the witch. He matched the
their clothes changed and all their hair shaved off to wild and billowing hair of witches with the fiery vapors
re m ove any charms they we re hiding. Other expert s , s h own escaping from both their bodies and their
such as Nicolas Rémy (Daemonolatriae [Demonolatry], cauldrons, emphasizing the sexual energy and disorder
Book III, chap. 9) or Francesco Maria Gu a z zo that Ba l d u n g’s images consistently identified with the
(Compendium Ma l e fic a rum [A Su m m a ry of Wi t c h e s ] , powers of witchcraft.
Book II, chap. 14), described the Devil himself hiding CHARLES ZIKA
in a witch’s hair or hair net, from where it whispere d
See also: ARTANDVISUALIMAGES;BALDUNG[GRIEN], HANS;
instructions and advice into the witch’s ear.
BODIN,JEAN;BREU,JÖRGTHEELDER;CHARMS;CRANACH,
In England, Scotland, and France, an important re a-
LUCAS;CRANACH,LUCAS;DELRIO,MARTÍN;DEVIL’SMARK;
son for shaving the witch’s whole body was to discove r
DÜRER,ALBRECHT;GENDER;GUAZZO,FRANCESCOMARIA;
the De v i l’s mark, that anesthetic scar on a witch’s body MALLEUSMALEFICARUM;PRICKINGOFSUSPECTEDWITCHES;
that was considered firm evidence of a pact with the RÉMY,NICOLAS.
hair 467 |
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References and further reading: their premises.” Nonetheless, in his testimony at Bu ry St .
Constable, Giles. 1985. “Introduction on Beards in the Middle Edmonds, Browne relied heavily on a similar witchcraft
Ages.” Pp. 47–75 in Apologiae duae.Edited by R.B.C. case in De n m a rk, in which the accusers also had vo m i t e d
Huygens. Turnhout: Brepols.
pins, to “p rove” that demonic forces truly we re at work .
Hoffmann-Krayer, Eduard. 1930–1931.“Haar.” Pp. 1239–1288
The trial at Bu ry St. Edmonds played a pro m i n e n t
in Handbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens.Edited by Hanns
p a rt in legitimating the Salem accusations in New
Bächthold-Stäubli. Berlin and Leipzig: Walter de Gruyter.
England thirty years later. For one thing, the accusers
Kramer, Heinrich, and James Sprenger [sic]. 1928. The Malleus
b e h a ved at Salem much as they had in Lowestoft; for
Maleficarum of Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger.London:
John Rodker. another, many of those involved in the Salem trials had
Robbins, Rossell Hope. 1959. “Shaving.” Pp. 468–469 in The migrated to the NewWorld from East Anglia and were
Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology.London: Bookplan. familiar with the witchcraft cases tried there. Jo h n
Zika, Charles. 2002. Exorcising Our Demons. Magic, Witchcraft Hale, a New England minister, noted shortly after the
and Visual Culture in Early Modern Europe.Leiden and Boston. Salem trials that the judges there “consulted the presi-
dents [precedents] of former times & precepts laid
Hale, Sir Matthew (1609–1676) d own by learned writers about witchcraft, [including]
Hale was a fervid believer in witchcraft, known for being Sir Matthew Hale.” (Hale 1702, 27–28)
the presiding judge at the notorious witchcraft case that Yet Hale was not an unkind man. Se ven months
began on Ma rch 17, 1662, in the English market tow n before he sentenced Amy Denny and Rose Cullender to
of Bu ry St. Edmunds, an assize site in East Anglia. T h e death he had sympathetically paused and listened to the
accused, Amy Denny and Rose Cu l l e n d e r, we re elderly pitiful pleas of John Bu n y a n’s wife to release her hus-
women from the coastal town of Lowestoft. Hale con- band, the to-be famed author of The Pilgrim’s Progress,
victed and then sentenced them to be hanged. from the Bedford jail. Following the Bury St. Edmunds
Pre v i o u s l y, at the Kent summer assizes in 1658, he had trial, Hale tried two other women in Lancaster as
p resided over the trial of three persons accused as witch- witches, one of whom was hanged. From 1667 until
es, one of whom, Judith Sawkins, was hanged. 1669, Hale lived near Richard Ba x t e r, a pre e m i n e n t
Born in Alderly (Gloucestershire), Hale was educat- Puritan divine, and they shared views on the manner in
ed at Oxford, with his law training in London at which biblical authority demonstrated the reality of
L i n c o l n’s Inn. He was a prodigious writer, and his witchcraft and the need to be forever vigilant in rooting
j u r i s p rudence dominated not only his own time but out diabolic practices. In 1691, the final year of his life,
also centuries there a f t e r. Among his better-know n Baxter published The Certainty of the Word of Spirits,an
w o rks, published posthumously, are the Hi s t o ry of the e x t r a o rdinarily credulous treatise, ridiculed by a critic
Pleas of the Crow n (1736–1739) and a Hi s t o ry of the of the time as an instance of “aged imbecility.”
Common Law of England(1713). The strong theological element underlying Ha l e’s
Nu m e rous flagrant flaws riddled the state’s case at Bu ry position on witchcraft can be seen in his charge to the
St. Edmunds. Those unpersuaded by the young girls who jury in the Bury St. Edmunds trial:
d e c l a red that they had been bewitched by Denny and
Cullender called for a court room experiment. In it, one of That there we re such cre a t u res as witches he made
the girls, blindfolded, mistook the touch of an innocent no doubt at all; for first, the scriptures had affir m e d
person as that of one of the accused. Nonetheless, Ha l e so much. Se c o n d l y, the wisdom of all nations had
accepted the explanation of the girl’s father that the mis- p rovided laws against such persons, which is an
firing of the experiment merely indicated the cleverness of argument of their confidence of such a crime. And
the Devil. In re t rospect, much of the evidence pre s e n t e d such hath been the judgment of this kingdom, as
at the trial seems downright silly. Witnesses described appears by that act of parliament which hath pro-
mysterious ove rturned carts and infestations of “lice of vided punishments pro p o rtionable to the quality of
e x t r a o rd i n a ry bigness” visited by the accused women on the offense. And desired them [the jury], strictly to
decent folk. One farmer testified that, because of o b s e rve their evidence: and desired the great God of
enchantment, as soon as his sows pigged, the piglets h e a ven to direct their hearts in this weighty thing
would “leap and caper” and then fall down dead. they had in hand. For to condemn the innocent,
Iro n i c a l l y, Sir Thomas Browne, a doctor-essayist who and to let the guilty go free, we re both an abomina-
t e s t i fied at the trial to a belief in witchcraft, was the tion to the Lord. (Geis and Bunn 1997, 227)
author of Ps e u d oxica Epidemica (sometimes re f e r red to as
Vulgar Er rors), a book on how to think properly and to In 1671, Hale was appointed lord chief justice of the
reject “fabulosities.” Browne had warned against re l y i n g King’s Bench, a post that he held until February 1676
on authority and illogical reasoning because these pro- when he retired due to ill health.
duce “a resignation of our judgments.” He also cautioned
against “e recting conclusions in no way inferable fro m IVAN BUNN AND GILBERT GEIS
468 Hale, Sir Matthew |
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See also: ALLOTRIOPHAGY;BAXTER,RICHARD;BEWITCHMENT; the festival may have marked a special time of the year
DENMARK;ENGLAND;SALEM. when the boundary between the living and the dead
References and further reading: became especially permeable. While some practices
ATryal of Witches Held at Bury St. Edmunds.1682. London:
(e.g., role of ghosts) associated with the holiday today
William Shrewsbery.
indirectly reflect such a tradition, most people pay little
Cromartie, Alan. 1995. Sir Matthew Hale, 1609–1676: Law,
attention to it. Instead, it offers an opportunity for chil-
Religion, and Natural Philosophy.Cambridge: Cambridge
dren to dress up in costumes, attend parties, and in par-
University Press.
ticular to go trick-or-treating for candy, and for adults
Geis, Gilbert, and Ivan Bunn. 1997. ATrial of Witches: A
Seventeenth-CenturyWitchcraft Prosecution.London: to engage in carnivalesque behavior. A growing number
Routledge. of modern NeoPagans also celebrate Halloween as one
Hale, John. 1702. A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft. of two central holidays, along with Beltane (May 1), in
Boston: Benjamin Eliot. their religious calendar.Today, Halloween is becoming
Heward, Edmund. 1972. Matthew Hale.London: Robert Hale. more global as a consumer-oriented holiday generating
huge profits through the sale of both foods and other
Halloween merchandise.
As celebrated today, this secular (and primarily Although Halloween may have pagan roots, very lit-
American) holiday bears only token resemblances to tle is known about precisely how Samhain was
similarly named observances in past centuries. It takes o b s e rved. Historical sources are either second hand
its name from the Christian Vigil of the Feast of All Roman accounts of Celtic religious practices that do
Saints on October 31 (All Saints Day is November 1). not mention it at all, or Irish and English sources writ-
Known earlier in England as “All Hallows’ Eve,” the ten centuries after the people in the British Isles had
phrase was contracted to “Hallowe’en.” Because this become Christian. Ne ve rtheless, some themes emerge
Christian feast is celebrated at a time when Celtic from folkloric scholarship. Samhain was probably a fire
peoples marked the beginning of winter, it may also be f e s t i val, featuring huge bonfires burning on hilltops,
related to the ancient pagan festival of Samhain (pro- done at a time when it was believed that the boundaries
nounced SOW-an). Although scholarly opinions differ, between the material and the supernatural worlds broke
Halloween postcard of witch flying on a broomstick, ca. 1907–1915. (Poodles Rock/Corbis)
Halloween 469 |
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down. It was thus a time for placating the gods before a f f a i r, an opportunity for adult socializing. It acquire d
entering the bleak months of winter, when food was an essentially secular aspect, although pre s e rving such
s c a rce, and for communicating with the dead, whose elements of earlier traditions as telling ghost stories,
spirits could return to haunt people in the material divining the future as a game, and dressing in costumes.
world. Most scholars deny that the holiday also fea- It was also slowly becoming a day for children’s revelry.
tured human sacrifice. But only during the 1930s, and especially after World
The Feast of All Saints may have incorporated some War II, did trick-or-treating really become a national
pagan traditions, even as it sought to supplant them, American custom.
becoming a holiday for Christians to say special prayers Mo re re c e n t l y, adults have begun to celebrate
for the dead. It was mentioned in a seve n t h - c e n t u ry Halloween as much as children (if not more so), mak-
martyrology (a list of saints’ feast days) attributed to the ing it an opportunity for transgression and carniva-
famous English monk and historian, the Ve n e r a b l e lesque re versals, an occasion for pranks, parties, and
Bede. Further, we know that in Italy, Pope Gregory III parades. Although accounts of Halloween sadism (poi-
dedicated an oratory to the saints (a prayer service) in soning candy, abducting children, placing razor blades
the eighth century, and that in France, Alcuin, the in apples) have been largely the result of urban folklore,
famed tutor of Charlemagne, sought before 799 to have “ De v i l’s Ni g h t” in De t roit, Michigan, was something
this feast day celebrated throughout Europe. When the else entirely during the 1980s and 1990s: the night
feast spread throughout Christendom in later centuries, before Halloween (October 30) became an occasion for
it bore little resemblance to its pre-Christian forms. literally setting the city on fire, causing millions of dol-
Although Halloween was not celebrated in the rest of lars worth of damage. Although many other less dire
Europe during the early modern period, in at least some pranks also take place throughout the United St a t e s ,
areas of Britain and Ireland (if modern folkloric sources millions of adults merely dress in costume, act out their
may be believed), many pagan practices continued fantasies, make political statements, and party the night
alongside more orthodox ones, especially such activities a w a y. In many areas of No rth America, especially
as trying to foretell the future, burning fires, and sus- among urban gay communities, Ha l l oween includes
pending the rules of everyday life in favor of revelry and informal parades as a kind of street theater. Most strik-
celebration. In later centuries, Ha l l oween celebrations ing, however, as the holiday shifts toward adult revelry,
we re never uniform in the British Isles, but re fle c t e d consumerism mushrooms: in the United States, only
d i f f e rent local customs. In places where it persisted, it Christmas now generates more sales than Halloween.
was mostly a pious holiday for families and a more car- Despite this trend tow a rd commerc i a l i z a t i o n ,
n i valesque occasion for rowdy young men seeking to Ha l l oween has also acquired (or re c ove red) some re l i-
upend community norms, at least momentarily. Fro m gious dimensions—not among Christians, but as a
roughly 1540 to 1690, Protestants suppre s s e d major holiday for modern Ne o Pagans (contemporary
Halloween in the British Isles; instead, many of them, witches), who have made Samhain their spiritual new
like Protestants throughout Eu rope, commemorated ye a r, perhaps the most important of the eight Sa b b a t s
October 31 as “Reformation Da y,” the annive r s a ry of in the pagan calendar. Although NeoPagan celebrations
Lu t h e r’s posting of his famous ninety-five theses. of the holiday take various forms among its highly indi-
Afterward, religious authorities in the British Isles tend- vidualistic, nonsectarian, and nonhierarchical believers,
ed not to treat All Saints Day as a significant thre a t . some general themes can be identified. Samhain marks
Although Ha l l oween was not celebrated in the rest of the end of the harvest, and its rituals and meditations
Eu rope during the early modern period, religious or both honor the dead and explore such spiritual themes
secular authorities often suppressed other festivals simi- as loss and remembrance, natural cycles, transitions,
lar to it, such as Walpurgis Night on April 30. To d a y, and renewals.
some Christians (especially American fundamentalist
Protestants who have forgotten about Re f o r m a t i o n Halloween Traditions
Day) treat Halloween, like anything with even remote For All Hallows’ Eve in Europe, people carved turnips
pagan roots, as inspired by the Devil (which it most and placed candles in them to represent the souls of
certainly is not). people in purgatory (where sinners waited before
Ha l l oween came to America around the mid- joining God in heaven). Instead, immigrants to
nineteenth century with Scottish and Irish settlers, but America used indigenous winter squash, especially
it was not until the early twentieth century that it pumpkins, which were much easier to carve. Modern
became a genuinely national celebration. This change Jack-o’-lanterns derive their name from an old Irish
accompanied the growth of national magazines and folktale about a night watchman named Jack, who was
radio, which spread information about Halloween and too stingy to get into heaven but too much of a trick-
how to celebrate it. By the late nineteenth century, out- ster to be tolerated in hell, so the Devil set him to
side of immigrant communities it was a rather genteel wander the earth with his lantern.
470 Halloween |
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Tr i c k - o r - t reating may have its roots in the re l a t e d work. Many Canadians now celebrate Halloween just
Irish and English activities known as “mumming” and like their neighbors to the south, as some have been
“souling.” Because normal rules we re suspended at doing for decades. In Mexico, Halloween is slowly
Halloween, groups of revelers threatened the better-off merging with El Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the
c i t i zens with mischief. These “m u m m e r s” dressed in Dead), which is primarily a religious holiday blending
outlandish costumes and demanded bribes to re s t r a i n Christian with indigenous pagan practices (a Tex-Mex
themselves. Meanwhile, almost everybody baked “sweet hybrid is emerging in parts of the southern United
s o u l - c a k e s” to distribute to family members and poor States). In Europe, Halloween festivities are a relatively
neighbors in exchange for prayers for the dead. Ove r new fashion, except for parts of Great Britain and
time in America, these two activities merged into the Ireland where many traditional practices endure .
practice of trick-or-treating. Despite the continued existence of significant local
Because Halloween presumably emerged from a fes- variations, as Halloween becomes increasingly part of
t i val marking a season when the boundaries betwe e n consumer culture, its practices are becoming more
the material and the supernatural worlds broke dow n , homogenous. Nonetheless, Halloween was and remains
people could give expression to their fears of witches, a holiday subject to constant reinvention by those
who were thought to have special powers, and expect to celebrating it, so a variety of practices and beliefs will
encounter ghosts, who were the returning dead seeking continue to shape it.
to settle scores with the living, and “little people” such EDMUND M. KERN
as fairies or other trickster demons. It is important to
remember that witches, ghosts, and fairies could seek
See also:CONTEMPORARYWITCHCRAFT(POST1800); FAIRIES;
vengeance on the living at any time, but Ha l l owe e n
FOLKLORE;GHOSTS;HAT;SATANISM;WALPURGIS(WALPURIGS)
NIGHT.
reminded eve ryone of the claims that the dead could
References and further reading:
make on the living and more generally of supernatural
Bannatyne, Lesley Pratt. 1990. Halloween: An American Holiday,
forces. Wearing costumes at Halloween probably has its
An American History.NewYork: Facts on File.
roots in these beliefs as well as in “mumming,” dressing Beliefnet, “Beyond Buffy, Blair Witch, and ‘Halloween,’”
up and engaging in mischief. Mo re re c e n t l y, eve n http://www.beliefnet.com/story/116/story_11616_1.html
though fewer people believe in witches, they often (cited November 15, 2002).
recall other monstrous fig u res from folklore and myth Feldman, Ellen. 2001. “Halloween.” American Heritage52
by dressing up. Of course, in any given year, many peo- (October): 63–69.
ple prefer dressing up as superheroes, fairy-tale charac- Halloween in Europa. 2001. Special issue of Zeitschrift für
Volkskunde97, no. 2.
ters, or other political, pop-culture, or historical figures.
Oxbrow, Mark. 2001 Halloween: Pagan Festival to Trick or Treat.
Nonetheless, scary costumes (and often extremely gory
Guildford, Surrey, UK: Strega.
ones at that) remain popular, and the macabre remains
Rogers, Nicholas. 2002. Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party
a central attraction within Ha l l oween activities.
Night. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Nowadays, fewer people believe in the reality of super-
Santino, Jack, ed. 1993. Halloween and Other Festivals of Death
natural powers, but can still pretend to be frightened by and Life. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press.
them, as the astonishing growth of Ha l l owe e n - re l a t e d
“haunted houses” and horror movies seems to suggest. Hamburg and Bremen
Some scholars consider Ha l l owe e n’s celebration of the Hamburg and Bremen conducted comparatively few
frightening as a form of social catharsis, but clearly the witchcraft trials during the early modern period, even
holiday remains far more than that; in the contempo- though the penal legislation concerning witchcraft in
rary United States, a country where relatively few cele- Hamburg was stricter than the 1532 Carolina Code,
brate Mardi Gras or Carnival (as many Europeans and the general criminal code (Constitutio Cr i m i n a l i s
Latin Americans do in Fe b ru a ry), Ha l l oween has Carolina) for the Holy Roman Empire.
become an opportunity for both children and adults to
bend the rules of normal, everyday life, a time for fun Hamburg
through reversals and transgressions of everyday norms. The largest city of northern Germany, Hamburg had
some 40,000 inhabitants around 1600, rising to 75,000
Growing Popularity by 1700. The city at the mouth of the river Elbe took
Halloween evolved into an essentially American holi- precedence over the other cities in the north because of
day, which is now often celebrated in Canada, Mexico, its great population and its position as a commercial
and in parts of Europe. While each culture celebrating center.The merchant elite of Hamburg had controlled
the holiday draws on its own traditions, in some, the the city’s politics since the thirteenth century with vir-
American ways of doing things are gaining popularity. tually complete autonomy. The council (Rat) was the
As culture becomes more “global” and more consumer highest court in the city. Hamburg’s penal legislation
oriented, it is possible to see this American influence at punished sorcery as early as 1270, 1301, and again in
Hamburg and Bremen 471 |
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1497, always in the sense of classical maleficium(harm- of witches was restricted to offenses such as simple
ful magic). In 1603/1605, the Lutheran-dominated harming, healing, and protection spells. It was not until
council redefined witchcraft in such a way as to bring it 1559 that elements of the new witch laws turned up in
more into line with the fully developed, “demonized” a trial of two witches that included accusations of enter-
early modern witch doctrine. Henceforth, proven mal- ing into the pact with the Devil, sexual intercourse with
eficium,in combination with a pact with the Devil, was the Devil, and attending the witches’ Sabbat. The last
a crime punishable by death. These regulations were burning of a witch took place in 1603. Even though
stricter than the Carolina Code, but Hamburg’s laws witches were still being persecuted and accused of being
were different from most other German criminal pro- the De v i l’s servants in the seventeenth century, they
cedures because here the defendant had to be granted a faced milder sentences or were simply expelled from the
defense counsel. city.The official witch hunt gradually changed into tri-
Witchcraft trials in Hamburg began quite soon, als based only on individual accusations. The last trial,
indeed uniquely so for northern Ge r m a n y. As early as in 1714, did not have typical witchcraft trial character-
1444, a woman was burned for sorc e ry. The heyday of istics. Between the years 1503 and 1714, at least sixty-
the trials began after 1540 and continued through the one people were tried for witchcraft in Bremen. The tri-
second half of the sixteenth century, before re c e d i n g bunals of the town council held a large majority of
noticeably in the early seventeenth century—in other those trials. Unlike witchcraft trials in other Ge r m a n
w o rds, witchcraft trials decreased in Hamburg pre c i s e l y cities, tort u re was used moderately. On e - t h i rd of the
when the new, diabolized definition of witchcraft was accused we re sentenced to death, one-half acquitted,
p romulgated there. After 1583, there is no evidence of and the rest expelled from the city.Trials of one or two
witchcraft trials involving multiple defendants. The last witches predominated, and none of the trials exceeded
classical witchcraft trial occurred in 1642. Another trial three accused. Two-thirds of the accused were women,
for a different crime, with witchcraft as a subord i n a t e who belonged almost exc l u s i vely to the lower classes,
crime, took place in 1701/1702. Be t ween fort y - five and whereas in some cases the males who were put on trial
fif t y - five people, about 80–90 percent of them women, had citizen status. The comparatively high perc e n t a g e
we re arrested. Only a few we re acquitted; the vast major- of males among the prosecuted witches in Bremen can
ity we re executed. We do not know the exact numbers be explained. In the sixteenth century, the town council
because Ha m b u r g’s great fire of 1842 destroyed many also prosecuted persons who dealt with protective mag-
s o u rces. Ne ve rtheless, it is certain that there we re no mass ic, healing spells, or fortunetelling on a commerc i a l
e xecutions in Hamburg and the trials stopped compara- base; many of these witches were men.
t i vely early, despite the stricter regulations after 1605. Bre m e n’s moderate persecution of witches corre-
sponded to the attitude of the city’s cultural elites after
Bremen 1600. The town’s physician and scholar, Johann Ewich,
Just as in Hamburg, Bre m e n’s governing town council, warned against ove restimating crimes of witchcraft in
which also functioned as the highest court, consisted for 1583 in his book, De sagaru m (Concerning Wi t c h e s ;
the most part of members of the wealthy merchant class. republished in 1586 as T h e a t rum de ve n e fic i s [T h e a t e r
By the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the seve n- of Poisoners]) Ewich was a friend of Johann Weyer, the
teenth centuries, the Hanse city of Bremen, which had g reat German skeptic of witch hunting. In 1603, the
formed a close alliance with Hamburg, reached a popu- highest church dignitary of Bremen, Arc h b i s h o p
lation of nearly 20,000 inhabitants. During the T h i rt y Johann Friedrich, rejected the swimming test (water
Ye a r s’ Wa r, the city’s authorities we re able to pre ve n t ordeal) as legal proof and doubted the existence of the
t roops from destroying the tow n’s infrastru c t u re, there- w i t c h e s’ Sabbat. In 1647, a Bremen printer published
by sustaining its economic position during the first half the first partial German translation of the influ e n t i a l
of the seventeenth century. Yet Bre m e n’s citizens and Cautio Cr i m i n a l i s (A Warning on Criminal Ju s t i c e ,
p reachers tended tow a rd the Reformed re l i g i o n . 1631) by Friedrich von Spee, the famous opponent of
Ac c o rding to municipal laws of 1303, 1428, 1433, and witch hunts.
1497, the punishment for witchcraft and heresy was Ha m b u r g’s and Bre m e n’s moderate persecution of
burning at the stake. A new law passed in 1606 bore dis- witches was typical of many large cities in the Ho l y
t i n c t i ve resemblance to the municipal law of Ha m b u r g . Roman Em p i re, which rarely conducted seve re witch
This Statuta Re f o rm a t a( Reformed Statute) went beyo n d hunts. Ha m b u r g’s and Bre m e n’s re c o rds of witchcraft
the Carolina Code and demanded the death penalty not were similar; both places were comparatively unaffected
only in cases of proven m a l e fic i u m ,but also for apostasy by the great witchcraft trials of seve n t e e n t h - c e n t u ry
and for making a pact with the Devil. Howe ve r, this Germany.
n ew law was not re i n f o rc e d .
ROLF SCHULTE;
Bre m e n’s first trial for witchcraft dates to 1503.
Howe ve r, up to the mid-sixteenth century, the persecution TRANSLATED BY JAN VAN DER CRABBEN
472 Hamburg and Bremen |
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See also: CALVIN,JOHN;CAROLINACODE(CONSTITIOCRIMINALIS
CAROLINA); FEMALEWITCHES;GERMANY,WESTANDNORTHWEST;
IMPERIALFREECITIES;LUTHER,MARTIN;MALEWITCHES;
MALEFICIUM;PACTWITHTHEDEVIL;SABBAT;SAXONY,
ELECTORATEOF;SPEE,FRIEDRICH;SWIMMINGTEST;WEYER,
JOHANN.
References and further reading:
Loose, Hans-Dieter, ed. 1982. Hamburg. Geschichte der Stadt und
ihrer Bewohner, Bd.1: Von den Anfängen bis zur Reichsgründung.
Hamburg: Hoffmann und Campe.
Rogge, Roswitha. 1997. “Schadenszauber, Hexerei und die Waffen
der Justiz im frühneuzeitlichen Hamburg.” Pp. 149–172 in
Hexerei, Magie und Volksmedizin.Edited by Bernd Schmelz.
Bonn: Holos.
Schwarzwälder, Herbert. 1958. “Die Formen des Zauber-und
Hexenglaubens in Bremen und seiner weiteren Umgebung, vor
allem während des 16. und 17.Jahrhunderts.” Pp. 3–68 in
Heimat und Volkstum—Bremer Beiträge zur niederdeutschen
Volkskunde.Bremen: Verein für Niederdeutsches Volkstum.
———. 1959, 1961. “Die Geschichte des Zauber- und
Hexenglaubens in Bremen.” Bremisches Jahrbuch46: 156–233,
and 47: 99–142.
———. 1995. Geschichte der Freien Hansesstadt Bremen, Band 1:
The Hand of Glory, the severed and mummified hand of an executed
Von den Anfängen bis zur Franzosenzeit (1810).Bremen:
murderer, thought to have magical properties, such as making its
Edition Temmen.
possessor invisible. (Fortean Picture Library)
Trummer, Carl. 1844. Vorträge über Tortur, Hexenverfolgungen,
Vehmgerichte und andere merkwürdige Erscheinungen in der
Hamburger Rechtsgeschichte.Hamburg: J. A. Meissner.
of sending eve ryone in a house into deep sleep, and
opening locks; it was used by thieves to rob houses
Hand of Glory and to find tre a s u re because only they could see its
The severed and mummified hand of a corpse, the light. In some German accounts, the hand had to be
Hand of Glory, was believed to have magical properties, cut from an unborn child torn from its mother’s
in particular that of making its possessor invisible. w o m b. The recommended defense against burglars
Variant forms of the Hand of Gl o ry are widely e m p l oying the Hand was to smear the threshold with
k n own, in both literature and re c o rded folklore, in an unguent made during the Dog Days from the gall
many parts of Eu rope from Ireland to Russia (see Aarne- of a black cat, grease from a white fowl, and the blood
Thomson 1961, Type 958E; for examples in Br i t a i n of a screech ow l .
f rom 1440 onward see Opie and Tatem 1989, also In English and French literature, especially fantasy
El w o rthy 1900, pp. 178–193). The hand (of a felon, l i t e r a t u re, and more recently in fantasy and horro r
m u rd e re r, or witch) had to be cut from the corpse on the films, the theme of the seve red hand with magical
day of execution, or during an eclipse, by the intending o r demonic pro p e rties, or more particularly the Ha n d
u s e r. It was then mummified or dried in the sun, or in of Glory, has been popular. It can be found in a variety
smoke (details of the process we re given in some ve r- of forms from Scott’s The An t i q u a ry (1816) to R. H.
sions of Le Petit Al b e rt , re p roduced in English in Wa i t e Ba r h a m’s In g o l d s by Legends ( 1 8 4 0 ) ( “The Nu r s e’s
1911, chap. 8, §4, and Walter Scott’s The An t i q u a ry). A Story”), several later novels and short stories, and J. K.
s u m m a ry of the process as given by Waite was: “Take the Row l i n g’s best seller, Ha r ry Potter and the Chamber of
hand of a dead hanged man, wrap it in a shroud and Secrets (1998). It probably owes its long literary life to
p ress it to squeeze the remaining blood out, and put it in the description of its preparation in later versions of the
an earthen vessel with powd e red z i m o rt [ c i n n a m o n ] , popular and regularly reprinted grimoire,Les Secrets du
s a l t p e t re, salt, and pepper-corns; it should remain in this Petit Albert(also found under other similar titles), false-
vessel for fifteen days and then be exposed to the Su n ly ascribed to Albertus Magnus but in fact was
during the Dog Days until it dries completely; if it has published much later (see Husson 1970). An early illus-
to be dried more, put it in an oven with ve rvain and tration of the hand appeared in one of the plates
bracken; make a candle from the fat from the hand, appended to Superstitions anciennes et modernes, préjugés
virgin wax, and sesame of Lapland.” vulgaires(I, Amsterdam, 1733: Main de gloire ou main
The hand, either with each finger set on fire, or de pendu dont les voleurs se servent pour voler la nuit
holding a “dead candle” made of human fat with a [Hand of glory, or hand of the hanged that thieves use
wick made from the hair of a corpse, had the pro p e rt y to steal during the night]). The hand was the subject of
Hand of Glory 473 |
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a story by Gérard de Ne rval (Main de gloire [ Hand of im Mi t t e l a l t e r (Bonn, 1901) remains fundamental
Glory], 1832) which was turned into an opera by Jean for Eu ropean intellectual history, although (because
Françaix in 1945. The Hand of Gl o ry and the Pe t i t f ewer students now read Latin) more and more of
Albertare also the subject of the first Canadian novel in t h es o u rces he discove red and first edited have been re -
French: Philippe Aubert de Gaspé, Le Chercheur de tré- edited and translated in recent years. Hansen epitomize d
sors, ou l’influence d’un livre(the Treasure Hunter, or the the rationalist approach tow a rd witchcraft, and nine-
Influence of a Book, Quebec, 1837). t e e n t h - c e n t u ry scholarship on the topic culminated in
The Hand of Gloryis more than just a folktale or lit- his Za u b e rwahn, Inquisition und He xe n p ro zess im
e r a ry motif. Se veral specimens have surv i ved in muse- Mittelalter und die Entstehung der grossen He xe n ve rf o l g u n g
ums, notably in the Whitby Museum in Yorkshire. One ( Munich, 1901).
recorded case, in St. Lucia, of the murder of a boy per- Born into a Catholic milieu in Aachen, Ha n s e n
formed to obtain a hand, included the detail that the became a spirited liberal, and a sought-after scholar.
m u rd e rer had a copy of the Petit Al b e rt in his pocket Educated at Bonn by Moriz Ritter (1840–1923), and
when he was arrested. in close contact with the reforming social historian Karl
The name Hand of Gl o ry is translated from Fre n c h L a m p recht (1856–1915), Hansen became director of
main de gloire , which some see as a folk etymology of the important City Arc h i ve of Cologne (St a d t a rc h i v
mandragora, the mandrake. This is unconvincing and Köln).From this position he created networks of schol-
i g n o res the ring of light meaning of glory; it true that ars in different areas. In witchcraft re s e a rch, he was
one of the many beliefs about mandrake is that it closely linked to the Bavarian Liberal Sigmund Riezler,
g rew beneath the gallows and was used as a narc o t i c , as well as with the American historian George Lincoln
but in all other respects, the extensive magical re p u t a- Bu r r, whose studies in German arc h i ves Ha n s e n
tions of the mandrake and the Hand of Gl o ry are s u p p o rted. To his own edition of sources, Ha n s e n
d i s t i n c t . appended a lengthy article on the terminology of witch-
The Hand of Glory is a specific variant of an ancient craft, authored by his friend Johannes Fr a n c k
belief in the magical pro p e rties of seve red hands. T h e (1854–1914), a linguist and professor of German and
first literary re f e rence to its alleged curative powe r s Dutch languages at Bonn. Hansen re c e i ved three calls
appears to be Pl i n y, Na t u ralis historia, X X V I I I . v i . 1 1 . to universities—Leipzig (1912), Kiel (1914), and
This therapeutic use of the hand persisted until modern Breslau (1916)—all of which he declined.
times in Britain and Ireland: a reputed “w i t c h’s hand” One may take it as an irony of history that Ha n s e n ,
capable of curing all ills was sold at auction in London who had withdrawn from the public in 1933, because
in 1925. A Cairo Genizah Jewish formula for fin d i n g he despised the Nazi regime, was killed in his house
t re a s u re also re q u i red the use of the hand of a corpse ten years later, together with his wife, in a British air
(Thompson, 1955–1958, motif D 1314.5). raid on Cologne. At the same time, British social
a n t h ropology also demonstrated the limitations of
WILL RYAN
Ha n s e n’s approach. His refusal to accept witchcraft
See also: GRIMOIRES;MANDRAKE;VERVAIN. and magic as part of social life, as a social fact, had
References and further reading: c o n fined his re s e a rch to a methodological position,
Aarne-Thomson. 1961. Aarne, Antti Amatus. The Types of the
c h a r a c t e r i zed as “W h i g g i s h” by Anglophone historiog-
Folk-tale: A Classification and Bibliography.Translated and
r a p h y. Howe ve r, Hansen re p resented traditional histo-
enlarged by Stith Thompson. FF Communications 184, 2d rev.
riography at its finest. His editions of the re p o rts of
ed. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, Academia
papal nuncios in the late sixteenth century, his writ-
Scientarum Fennica.
ings about the history of the Jesuit order in the
Elworthy, F.T. 1900. Horns of Honour, and Other Studies in the
By-ways of Archaeology.London: J. Murray. Rhineland, and his edition of medieval sources for the
Husson, Bernard, ed. 1970. Le Grand et le Petit Albert.Paris: h i s t o ry of witchcraft are still unsurpassed. His papers
Belfond. in the City Arc h i ve of Cologne demonstrate how
Opie, I., and M. Tatem, eds. 1989. A Dictionary of Superstitions. s c rupulously Hansen organized his international
Oxford: Oxford University Press. a rc h i ve trips, and how carefully he kept contact with a
Thompson, Stith. 1955–1958. Motif-Index of Folk-Literature. host of international scholars. Being in command of
Revised ed. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
at least Latin, Greek, French, English, and Italian, he
Waite, A. E. 1911. The Book of Ceremonial Magic.London:
re f e r red quite naturally to the Oxford anthro p o l o g i s t
William Rider and Son.
Ed w a rd B. Tylor (1832–1917), and opened his book
on witchcraft with a quote from William Ha rt p o l e
Hansen, Joseph (1862–1943) Lecky (1838–1903).
One of the most important historians of witchcraft,
WOLFGANG BEHRINGER
Ha n s e n’s edition of sources, Quellen und Un t e r s u c h u n g e n
zur Geschichte des He xenwahns und der He xe n ve rf o l g u n g See also: BURR,GEORGELINCOLN;HISTORIOGRAPHY.
474 Hansen, Joseph |
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References and further reading: 1456, he was invited to write a general treatise on secret
Behringer,Wolfgang. 1994. “Zur Geschichte der a rts for him, as Ha rtlieb stated in the prologue to his
Hexenforschung.” Pp. 93–146 in Hexenund Hexenverfolgung puoch [Buch] aller verbotenen kunst (Book of All
im deutschen Südwesten.Edited by Sönke Lorenz. Ostfildern:
Forbidden Arts). This study of magic and divination
Cantz.
p rovided clues to re veal the author’s personality. Hi s
Hansen, Joseph. 1900. Zauberwahn, Inquisition, und
first translator, Dora Ulm, wished to prove that
Hexenprozessen im Mittelalter und die Entstehung der Grossen
Hartlieb intended to write a book against superstition;
Hexenverfolgung.Munich: R. Oldenbourg, 1900.
later re s e a rchers have followed suit, although with less
———, ed. 1901. Quellen und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des
Hexenwahns und der Hexenverfolgungen im Mittelalter.Bonn: C. n a i veté. But it remains puzzling that if Ha rtlieb had
Georgi. Reprint. Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1963. rejected superstition, as he asserted in his Book of Al l
Forbidden Arts (and can therefore be celebrated as one
Hartlieb, Johann (ca. 1410–1468) of the first German re p re s e n t a t i ves of Re n a i s s a n c e
Hartlieb was a renowned many-sided author and trans- enlightenment), why did he later write detailed treatises
lator of the fifteenth century, whose works included on chiromancy without expressing any distaste or rejec-
magical, didactical, rhetorical, medical, religious, and tion? Some scholars responded by simply denying his
narrative texts. For a long time, scholars believed that authorship of those treatises.
necessity made him translate anything his noble To protect his ort h o d ox y, Ha rtlieb did condemn
patrons demanded. Recent research has provided a dif- magic in all its forms and provided a list of sources that
ferent perspective. should be avoided at all costs. He denied the possibility
Hartlieb’s life clearly fell into two periods. In the first of demonic prediction. T h e re f o re, when he described
period, he served several princes while continuing his the art of scrying, it was always an angel who helped the
studies. He began at the court of Duke Ludwig the medium, a boy, to see the future. The first part of his
Bearded of Bavaria, who sent him to study in Vienna in Bookwarned the reader against these forbidden arts and
the late 1430s. In early 1440, while in Vienna, he trans- demonic influences. Its second part showed how to per-
lated a Treatise on Love for Duke Albrecht (Albert) VI. form such secret arts in full detail. Although the two
Finally, Hartlieb became a doctor of medicine at Padua p a rts of his book seem to contradict each other, its
and physician and counselor to Duke Albrecht III of details could well serve as a practical manual of super-
Ba va r i a - Munich. This began Ha rt l i e b’s second phase, stitious practices under the mask of enabling his reader
where he spent the rest of his life in a permanent posi- to avoid them. Hartlieb, of course, claimed that he had
tion at the Munich court as a medical attendant. learned this information from hearsay, rather than
Hartlieb even married Albrecht III’s daughter by a first through his own research.
marriage to Agnes Bernauer, who was executed as a sor-
CHRISTA TUCZAY
ceress. After Albrecht’s death, Hartlieb remained physi-
cian to Albrecht’s son Sigmund. For him he translated See also: ASTROLOGY;DIVINATION.
the Se c reta mulieru m ( Se c rets of Wo m e n ) and wro t e References and further reading:
Fürbeth, Frank. 1992. Johannes Hartlieb. Untersuchungen zu Leben
Buch von warmen Bädern(The Book of Hot Baths).
und Werk.Tübingen: Max Niemeyer.
Hartlieb, Johannes. 1998. Das Buch aller verbotenen Kunst.Aus d.
Hartlieb’s Treatises on Magic
Mittelhochdeutschen übersetzt., kommentiert und mit einem
Ha rt l i e b’s treatise on lunar divination attempted to re ve a l
Glossar versehen von Falk Eisermann und Eckhard Graf.
a person’s fate, deriving from the twenty-eight moon sta-
München: Diederichs.
t i o n s ,that is,the planets the moon passes in twe n t y - e i g h t Schmitt, W. 1962. “Hans Hartliebs mantische Schriften und seine
days. Ha rtlieb combined two methods, the hour of birt h Beeinflussung durch Nikolaus von Kues.” Ph.D. diss.,
and the numbers combined with the name. In his University of Heidelberg.
Mantic of the name (ca. 1440), he first described a Wirschin, M. 1968. “Johannes Hartliebs ‘Mantische Schriften’.”
method of foretelling the outcome of an ordeal by using Paul Braunes Beiträge90: 57–100.
the names of the opponents. Fu rt h e r m o re, he listed the
f a vorable days and times of day, and the most likely out- Hat
comes of the duel. He used numero l o g y, the ancient The modern Halloween witch is almost always shown
practice of conve rting letters into numbers, to uncove r wearing a pointed black hat. This image is so common-
the hidden associations between words. Unlike modern place that it defines “witch” to the modern observer.
n u m e ro l o g y, which re vo l ves around interpretations of But witches’ hats are actually a very recent item of
individual numbers, this older form focused on lists of iconography and have almost nothing to do with the
w o rds, names, and dates with numerical values that visual images of witches as they appear in earlier peri-
match one’s own numerical value in some way. ods. The earliest images we have of witches, such as
When Ha rtlieb stayed with Ma r g r a ve Johann (the those who appeared in Ulrich Molitor’s 1489 De Lamiis
Alchemist) of Br a n d e n b u r g - Kulmbach in Ja n u a ry et phitonicis mulieribus (Concerning Witches and
hat 475 |
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Fortunetellers), were shown as ordinary persons in began appearing in the early 1890s. The Salem jeweler
everyday dress. Some wore head coverings, but they did and silversmith produced an entire line of witch items
not wear tall pointed hats. In almost all of the illustrat- ranging from pencil cases to stickpins to small portable
ed publications from the period of witch persecutions containers for drinking glasses. All we re emblazo n e d
in Europe, that is, from about 1500 to 1680, one gen- with his Salem witch image and eve ry one of these
erally does not see witches wearing headgear of any witch images included a pointed hat. This Salem sou-
kind. The same observation holds true for paintings venir explosion may have had something to do with the
and prints of witches. popularity of the hat in twe n t i e t h - c e n t u ry Ha l l owe e n
It has been suggested that the witches’ pointed hat decorations. Witches wearing pointed hats we re also
derives from the hats that some Jews were constrained commonly shown on turn of the twe n t i e t h - c e n t u ry
to wear during the Middle Ages and the early modern Halloween postcards. Some of these witches wore black
period, but this is clearly not the case. The hats we re garb and hats, but others wore red apparel. Red or
not the same shapes. And, Jews we re not heretics as black, the peaked hats we re firmly in place on the
witches were considered to be. Jews were seen as a dif- witches’ heads.
f e rent type of religious deviant than witches.
JANE P. DAVIDSON
Fu rt h e r m o re, witches, as Christian apostates, did not
have to wear special garb meant to single them out in See also: ARTANDVISUALIMAGES;HALLOWEEN;HOPKINS,
s o c i e t y. It has also been suggested that the witches’ MATTHEW;SALEM.
References and further reading:
pointed hat might possibly have derived from the san-
Apkarian-Russell, Pamela. 1998. A Collector’s Guide to Salem
benito, the penitential dress given to convicted heretics
Witchcraft and Souvenirs.Atglen, PA: Schiffer.
in Spain that included a tall kind of “fool’s hat.” Such
Davidson, Jane P. 1987. The Witch in Northern European Art,
hats appeared on various inquisitorial victims shown in
1470–1750.Freren, Germany: Luca.
Goy a’s Ca p r i c h o s , and can be seen on fig u res in
Robbins, Rossell Hope. 1959. The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and
Capricho23 “Those Specks of Dust,” and Capricho 24, Demonology.NewYork: Crown.
“Nothing Could Be Done About It.” But Goya was not
the source for our modern witch’s hat. The s a n b e n i t o Hauber, Eberhard
hat was shaped differently and was not black. David (1695–1765)
Furthermore, in the Goya etchings the hats were deco- When he edited his Bibliotheca sive acta et scripta mag-
rated with images. This hat was an item of ridicule, part ica(Library of Magical Practices and Writings) between
of a clown suit. 1738 and 1745, Hauber was church superintendent of
How did the modern witch image come to include a the Calvinist county of Schaumburg-Lippe. Hauber
person wearing a tall black hat? The witch’s black hat had studied mathematics, sciences, and theology at the
probably derived from headgear worn by both men and universities of Tübingen and Altdorf (Nürnberg); he
women in seve n t e e n t h - c e n t u ry England. One sees a was one of the founders of scientific cartography and
pointed hat worn by Anne Baker, an English witch, in a wrote the first history of cartography, Versuch einer
pamphlet from 1619 recounting the activities of anoth- umständlichen Historie der Land-Charten (Attempt at a
er witch named Joan Flower. Interestingly enough, the Detailed Hi s t o ry Hi s t o ry of State Charters, Ul m ,
infamous Matthew Hopkins (died 1646), known as the 1724). As pastor in Stadthagen, Hauber supported a
“witch-finder general,” was commonly shown wearing a kind of rationalist pietism. His interest in witchcraft
very similar tall crowned black hat. As early as the eigh- was intensely local, springing from his discovery of
teenth century, however, the witch’s black hat appeared extensive witchcraft trial records from the Calvinist ter-
as an item of stereotyped ridicule. William Ho g a rt h’s ritory of Schaumburg-Lippe, and especially of its capi-
print entitled “Credulity, Superstition and Fanaticism” tal Lemgo, where hundreds of people had been burned
depicted a Protestant minister inveighing against witch- for witchcraft only two generations earlier.
es and the Devil while his congregation was far less than Su rviving copies of his publication we re usually pre-
properly attentive. The minister held a witch puppet in sented as books, in three volumes (Lemgo 1739–1745).
his hand. This he dangled in front of his congregation These, howe ve r, did not re p resent the original form of
so that they might see for themselves what a witch Ha u b e r’s Bibliotheca sive acta et scripta magica; it was a
looked like. This witch rode a broomstick and wore a unique mixture of source edition, comment, and histori-
“witch’s hat.” Toward the end of the nineteenth century, ography in a period when witchcraft trials we re still a
the witch’s hat was well established in the iconography potential re a l i t y. Hauber clearly aimed at influ e n c i n g
of the witch. Witches wearing hats became quite popu- public opinion, and did so by publishing his material as a
lar images in the United States. The image was so com- magazine with about four issues per year in 1738, later
monplace as to appear on the “Salem Witch” in Daniel speeding up to an average of six per ye a r. In the first issue
L ow’s Salem, Massachusetts, commemorative spoons of 1738 (52 pages) he actually asked for support, new s ,
and other souvenir items. These spoons and other items and re v i ews; later, he apparently commissioned art i c l e s
476 Hauber, Eberhard David |
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f rom we l l - k n own contemporaries to add their re p u t a- the twentieth century, Hauber offered his “Ma t e r i a l s
tions to his project. Fu rt h e r m o re, he dedicated each issue Tow a rds a Hi s t o ry of Witchcraft.” His “m a t e r i a l s” fin a l l y
to a famous public fig u re, for example the Hamburg sen- stopped in 1745 with issue # 36, concluding volume 3.
ator and poet Ba rthold Hinrich Brockes (1680–1747), It may well be that Hauber terminated his witch-
editor of the enlightened moral weekly magazine De r craft quarterly because he gave up his job in
Pa t r i o t . Many issues we re dedicated to academics at the Stadthagen for unknown reasons, and moved to
Un i versity of Halle, surviving supporters of Christian Copenhagen. In 1746, he became parish priest of the
Thomasius, like the jurist Jacob Brunnemann, the pro- German community (Pe t r i - Ge m e i n d e) in the Da n i s h
fessor of medicine Friedrich Hoffmann (1660–1742), or capital. But the lack of successor may imply that witch-
the Protestant Church jurist Justus Henning Böhmer, craft had ceased to be of great importance to Ge r m a n
and celebrities of the period. Ha u b e r’s first piece (I, Protestants, whereas the Germanophone Catholic
1–52) began with an engraving of Pope Innocent V I I I , south had not yet begun public debate about the sub-
the Latin edition and the first German translation of his ject. When these debates began, Ha u b e r’s achieve m e n t
bull of 1484 that entitled the future author (He i n r i c h had vanished from memory, and Italian, Austrian, and
Kramer) of the Malleus Ma l e fic a ru m (The Hammer of Ba varian intellectuals cited Thomasius or earlier
Witches, 1486) to inquire against the witches’ conspira- English debates.
c y, and included fragments from the Ma l l e u s i t s e l f.
WOLFGANG BEHRINGER
Ha u b e r’s second issue (I, 53–139) was less coherent, and
combined bulls from other popes, for example, Jo h n See also:ENLIGHTENMENT;LIPPE,COUNTYOF;SKEPTICISM.
X X I I ’s Super illius specula ( Upon His Wa t c h t ower), with References and further reading:
Be h r i n g e r, Wolfgang. 1994. “Zur Geschichte der He xe n f o r s c h u n g . ”
a copper engraving of Johann We yer and texts fro m
P p. 93–146 in He xen und He xe n ve rfolgung im deutschen
opponents of witch hunting. The third part (I, 141–212)
S ü d we s t e n .Edited by Sönke Lorenz. Os t fildern: Cantz.
s t a rted with an engraving of the swimming test, re p o rt e d
actual witchcraft trials in Hu n g a ry, and finished with fur-
ther editions of papal decrees. Ha u b e r’s fourth issue (I, Hausmännin, Walpurga
213–276) dealt mainly with appearances of ghosts and (ca. 1510/1527–1587)
cases of sorc e ry in ancient Greek and Roman texts, dis- The trial of Walpurga Hausmännin became prominent
playing his classical erudition. His first twe l ve pieces we re in the Anglophone world, because her case was includ-
f o l l owed at the end of 1739 with an index, suggesting ed first by Victor Klarwill in his edition of the Fugger
they be shelved as a book. Newsletters (1923), then in English translation in
The next issue—#13 (1740) if treated as a new s p a p e r, George T. Mathew’s News and Rumor in Renaissance
or vol. 2, pp. 1ff. if seen as a book—caused a sensation: Europe (1954), and eventually by William Monter in
An edition and translation of the British witchcraft act his frequently reprinted collection EuropeanWitchcraft
of 1736, the first official repeal of witchcraft legislation (1969). All these editors may have included it in their
a n y w h e re in Eu rope, was decorated with a comment on collections because it seemed to exemplify a full-fledged
“the improvement of our present age.” In this style, confession of witchcraft as well as the persecution of
Ha u b e r’s publication continued as a kind of quart e r l y midwives, as suggested by the Malleus Maleficarum
magazine for enlightened intellectuals who wished to (The Hammer of Witches, 1486). And this met exact-
h a ve their knowledge of superstition and witchcraft ly the function it was meant to serve in 1587 as well.
updated. The mixture became ever more colorful, with However, none of these editors made any attempt to
re p o rts on early witchcraft trials in Sa voy, Eskimo contextualize their source and analyze its significance,
shamanism, Chinese sorc e ry, the recantation of despite abundant source material, including court
Cornelius Loos (translated from Ma rtín Del Rio’s council records and correspondence.
Disquisitiones Magicae libiri ses [ Six Books on In re a l i t y, Ha u s m ä n n i n’s confession was not at all
In vestigations into Magic], 1599/1600), an account of s t e reotypical at the time of its first publication on the
the burning of Dr. Dietrich Flade at Tr i e r, a discussion occasion of her execution. She re c e i ved her death sen-
of why T h o m a s i u s’s intervention of 1701 had been so tence on August 26, 1587, and was presumably exe-
successful, and a re v i ew of Francis Ga yot de Pi t a va l’s cuted on September 2, as the Fugger news collection
Causes celèbre s(#25, 1741). In the forew o rd to this num- re p o rted (not August 20, as misread by Ma t t h ews and
b e r, Hauber boasted that his magazine sold well. In the Mo n t e r, who copied Klarw i l l’s misreadings). As the
end, howe ve r, Hauber offered stories rather than history, first stereotypical confession to appear in print in the
although his only permanent collaborator, Jo h a n n German south, where witchcraft trials we re still
David Köhler—who shared Ha u b e r’s interest in cart o g- unusual, it provided valuable news concerning witch-
raphy (Bequemer Schul- und Re i s e - At l a s , N ü r n b e r g , c r a f t .
1719)—was appointed professor of history in Walpurga Hausmännin was the first of four mid-
Göttingen. Like He n ry Charles Lea at the beginning of w i ves accused among seventy-nine known suspects in
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tion of crops and livestock. Her confession suggested
that she indeed should have been considered the most
d a n g e rous person in the principality. Not even mem-
bers of the government were safe from her attacks: she
accepted responsibility for having magically killed
chancellor Dr. Peuter’s wife eleven years earlier, and two
of their children, and for having killed no fewer than
t h ree children of the princely governor (St a t t h a l t e r)
Wilhelm Schenk von Stauffenberg, who died on
October 23, 1587, and may have been ill during the tri-
al. Not only did Hausmännin receive poison from her
devilish love r, but she also sucked out the childre n’s
blood to pre p a re her harmful unguent. Her crimes
seemed so extraordinary that she received an extraordi-
narily cruel punishment. Be f o re being burned alive ,
Hausmännin was pinched with red-hot pliers on her
way to the stake, and her right hand was cut off at the
place of execution because of her perjury. Her ashes
were dispersed into flowing water, the Danube.
The Dillingen town secre t a ry, presumably on
demand, communicated the confessions priva t e l y.
Handwritten copies can be found in the archives of the
imperial city of Weissenburg, the earls of Wa l d b u r g -
Wolfegg, and in the Ba varian capital at Munich. On
September 14, 1587, the government of the prince-
bishopric urged the two lord mayors of Dillingen to
Walpurga Hausmännin was a midwife executed as a witch in reprimand the secre t a ry for his unauthorized action.
Dillingen in the prince-bishopric of Augsburg in 1587. She achieved The lord mayors had to assure that in the future, the
notoriety for the heinous crimes that she confessed, including having s e c re t a ry would be controlled more tightly. A local
sex with the Devil, entering into a pact with the Devil, desecrating the p r i n t e r, howe ve r, had already printed Ha u s m ä n n i n’s
Host at a Sabbat, and murdering forty-four children. The illustration confession. This pamphlet of early September caused
is from a 1587 pamphlet. (Cornell University Library) concern among contemporaries, as can be seen fro m
the correspondence of neighboring Lutheran princes
the Danube town of Dillingen, the capital of the early in September (now at Ha u p t s t a a t s a rc h i v
prince-bishopric of Augsburg, and the first to be sent to München), and from its inclusion into the Fugger news
the stake. Another midwife, Anna Beringin, was collection in Augsburg (now at the Österre i c h i s c h e
released the same ye a r, as was Maria Jauffmänin in Nationalbibliothek, Vienna). Presumably the authori-
1611. Howe ve r, a former midwife, Afra Butzin, was ties feared either that someone might imitate
executed in 1612. The approximately 300 known sus- Ha u s m ä n n i n’s crimes, or that emotions about witch-
pects of witchcraft in the prince-bishopric included two craft could be fueled unduly. The pamphlet was
m o re midwives, executed at Schwabmünchen in 1590 reprinted the following ye a r, though ve ry poorly and
and 1591. This raised the ratio of midwifes among with a different title. This second printer dated her exe-
those executed to roughly 2 percent, which was indeed cution on October 24, which was definitely wrong, and
unusually high, but less than expected. The trial of e ven misspelled the victim’s name as “Ha u s s m a e n n e n”
Walpurga Hausmännin demonstrated why prosecution (see the copy in the Cornell University Library).
of midwives was not a viable option: She was the
WOLFGANG BEHRINGER
pledged town midwife of the city of Dillingen for
almost twenty years. Like most urban midwives, she See also:AUGSBURG,IMPERIALFREECITY;AUGSBURG,PRINCE-
was no medical freelancer, but a licensed official, sworn BISHOPRICOF;FUGGERFAMILY;MALLEUSMALEFICARUM;
in by the magistrate.
MIDWIVES;MONTER,WILLIAM.
References and further reading:
Howe ve r, Ha u s m ä n n i n’s case aroused considerable
Behringer Wolfgang. 1997. Witchcraft Persecutions in Bavaria.
n o t o r i e t y, because she confessed to almost incre d i b l e
Popular Magic, Religious Zealotry and Reason of State in Early
crimes. She admitted intercourse with the Devil, the
Modern Europe.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
pact, apostasy, demonolatry, desecration of the host at
Klarwill, Victor, ed. 1923. Fugger-Zeitungen,Vienna: Rikola.
the witches’ Sabbat, and harmful magic: the killing of Translated as The Fugger News-Letters, First Series; Being a
f o rty-four children, weather making, and the deva s t a- Selection of Unpublished Letters from the Correspondents of the
478 Hausmännin, Walpurga |
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House of Fugger during the Years 1568–1605.1970. Freeport, included a head of writhing serpents instead of hair
NY: Books for Libraries. (Orphic Ar g o n a u t i c a—a fourth- to sixth-century C.E.
Monter,William, ed. 1969. European Witchcraft. NewYork: John poem that recounts the participation of Orpheus in
Wiley and Sons.
Ja s o n’s expedition for the golden Fleece). T h e o c r i t i c u s
described her devouring the flesh and blood of those
Hecate who died before their time. Ap o t ropaic sacrific e s ,
An Anatolian goddess, originally associated with the including circular cakes, we re made to her at cro s s-
protection of entranceways and with childbirth, Hecate roads, a practice similar to Mesopotamian exe c r a t i o n
subsequently became associated with chthonic deities, rituals in which the practitioners of magic buried
the crossroad, demons, and the patronage of witchcraft. images made of dough at a crossroad to invoke a curse
The earliest literary mentions of Hecate occured in against an enemy. Like Artemis and Selene, Hecate was
He s i o d’s T h e o g o n y and in the Homeric Hymn to associated with the moon, but only to its dark phase,
De m e t e r (both seventh century B.C.E.). In these when the dead had their greatest powe r, and she
sources, she was seen as a favorite of Zeus, closely con- received the chilling epithet, “black Hecate.”
nected with nurturing children, and as a tireless friend In this more malevolent manifestation, Hecate’s asso-
to Demeter when Hades abducted that goddess’s ciation with dogs, sometimes seen as a healing
d a u g h t e r. Both literary and archaeological sourc e s attribute, was transformed into a sinister, unclean
attested to her association with gates, thresholds, and familiar given to demons as a sacrifice. Si g n i fic a n t l y,
other liminal places where demons or ghosts were Eusebius described He c a t e’s instruction that serpents
believed to have lingered, hoping for the opportunity to we re to entwine her waist and be coiled around her
enter. According to Aristophanes in Wasps, protective e n t i re body. Instead of turning back the spirits of the
statues known as h e k a t a i a we re placed at these dead, Eu r i p i d e s’s He l e n noted He c a t e’s willingness to
entrances to guard them from demons and malevolent torment the living with these phantoms. Because con-
spirits. It is quite possible that their presence also served t rol of the soul was essential to the efforts of ancient
as a boundary marker dividing the polis and the house- magicians, it is not surprising that Hecate’s power over
hold from outsiders. Like Diana (Artemis), Hecate was the dead made her an object of worship and invocation.
invoked by young women who were about to pass from So powerful did this tradition become that Shakespeare
maidenhood to marriage or who were in childbirth. used Hecate in the scene in which the three witches
Thus, Cassandra in Euripides’sTroades called on Hecate appeared to the ill-fated Macbeth.
to “give light” to the maiden’s marriage bed. The god- While later Gre c o - Roman traditions tied Hecate to
dess was often described or portrayed in art carrying a the sorceresses Medea and Circe, this may have been a
torch, and this may have related both to her chthonic conflation of attributes rather than any physical tie. The
associations (living in a cave or at the entrance to the close association of Hecate with witches or female
u n d e rworld) and to nocturnal celebrations that magicians was the result of her role as leader of the souls
brought brides to their husbands’ households. of the dead. However, Hecate’s earlier, more benevolent
The originally benevolent character of Hecate at her c h a r a c t e r, assisting women in childbirth, would have
cult places in southwestern Anatolia (principally Lagina also served as a reason for her to be worshipped or
in Caria) seemed to be transformed in the Greek con- i n voked by women engaged in folk medicine and the
text to one more associated with magic, witchcraft, and use of magical herbs.
the world of demons and ghosts. This change may have
VICTOR H. MATTHEWS
been the result of the Greeks already having both a god
of entrances (Hermes) and a goddess (Artemis) whose See also: CIRCE;CROSSROADS;DIANA(ARTEMIS); DOGS;MEDEA.
primary role included protecting maidens and women References and further reading:
Johnston, Sarah I. 1999. Restless Dead: Encounters Between the
in childbirth. Thus, given the dual nature of many of
Living and the Dead in Ancient Greece.Berkeley: University of
the ancient deities, the Greeks emphasized the dark e r
California Press.
side of He c a t e’s character: instead of ave rting evil, she
Marquardt, P. A. 1981. “A Portrait of Hekate.” American Journal
a l l owed it to pass freely over the threshold. The dual-
of Philology102: 243–260.
sided character of the goddess may have been an indica-
West, David R. 1995. Some Cults of Greek Goddesses and Female
tion of her connection to the Mesopotamian under- Daemons of Oriental Origin.Neukirchen-Vluyn: Butzon and
world goddesses Lamashtu and Lamassu. These deities Bercker Kevelaer.
we re cardinal opposites, with Lamashtu serving as the
frightening demon who ripped unborn children fro m Hell
their mothers’ wombs with her bloody claws and was
associated with the she-wolf, dog, and serpent. Main Lines of Christian Teaching
Ph y s i c a l l y, Hecate took on the character of a Hell is the eternal abode of damned souls, in contrast
demoness, whose frightening aspect, like the Gorgons, to the temporally limited purgatory. The Bible con-
hell 479 |
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firms its existence in many passages and hell stands as
a dogmatic truth in the teachings of all Christian con-
fessions. Or i g i n a l l y, God created it as an eve r l a s t i n g
prison for the rebellious angels following Lu c i f e r.
Ha rdly anybody doubted its location in the middle of
the earth; volcanoes we re interpreted as roads to hell.
Ap o c ryphal texts, visions of the otherworld, sermons,
didactic works, and so forth, tried to surpass each
other in inventing the most sadistic punishments for
each category of sinners. Images of hell as a part of the
Last Judgment we re present in all churches from the
t welfth to the eighteenth centuries, and concrete re p-
resentations of this subterranean dungeon could be
seen in many religious plays. Fi re formed the main
t o rt u re in hell, but devils, who functioned as jailers in
these concentration camps of the ecclesiastical imagi-
nation, administered a great variety of other torments.
That pain which theologians qualified as the most
s e ve re, the complete loss of God, did not play an
i m p o rtant role in popular mentalities. Both of our
most complete descriptions of hell, Da n t e’s In f e rn o
and Regnaud le Qu e u x’s Ba r â t re infern a l ( In f e r n a l
C h u r n , 1480), integrated features from classical
mythology into the Catholic tradition. He l l’s most The torturing of witches in hell. (Fortean Picture Library)
detailed pictorial re p resentations we re painted by
Taddeo di Ba rtolo (cathedral of San Gi m i g n a n o , heresy. Nonetheless, they were rarely recorded in the
1393) and Hi e ronymus Bosch (several re redos, late medieval visions of the otherworld. Hell was men-
fifteenth–early sixteenth centuries). tioned occasionally in postmedieval magical formulae;
People of the Middle Ages and the early modern but it was its employees, not the place itself, which the
period we re convinced that God had predestined most sorcerer wanted to contact.
human beings to hell, a doctrine extending from St . The English Benedictine Edmund of Eynsham had a
Augustine to Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. It was irre l e- vision of the infernal underworld in 1189, where he
vant whether a dying person had committed many saw the punishments inflicted on women who caused
m o rtal sins, or was only burdened with Ad a m’s and a b o rtions through m a l e ficiis (evil acts): they had to
Eve’s original sin. Either way, the person would end drink boiling liquefied metals and we re tort u red by
up in hell, although tormented by different punish- snail-like demons. This description was clearly a
ments. A special compartment of the netherw o r l d , rew o rking of the early Christian apocryphal Vision of
called Limbo (l i m b u sp u e ro ru m), was re s e rved for chil- St. Paul,which also combined the “typical female” sins
d ren of Christian parents deceased without baptism. of infanticide and divination. Ac c o rding to St .
Another special compartment, the limbus patru m ,h a d Hildegard of Bingen (d.1179), sorcerers were torment-
s e rved as a residence for the patriarchs and other peo- ed in a fetid and burning swamp full of vipers (Li b e r
ple of the He b rew Bible. T h e y, howe ve r, we re deliv- vitae meritorum [Book of Life of Merits] 5, 64). St .
e red from the underworld when Jesus “c o n q u e re d” Francesa Romana (d.1440) insisted that those practic-
hell between his death and re s u r rection. Ap a rt fro m ing sorc e ry suffered alongside their customers. In
some individuals or sects, only the En l i g h t e n m e n t Norway, the famous late medieval visionary folk-ballad
reduced the intensity of the Churc h e s’ use of this Draumkvaede [The Dream Song], tells about the “trol-
t h reatening device for establishing moral and practical l k j e r i n g a n” (witch) whose hell consisted of eternal
discipline. W h e reas nineteenth-century catechisms exhausting churning while standing in blood. Se ve r a l
still gave ve ry sensual pictures of hellish pains, more late medieval wall paintings of the Last Judgement in
recent theologians usually have adopted a position of No rthern Germany and Scandinavia also showed a
complete agnosticism about the physical reality of its witch with a butter-churn among the damned.
p u n i s h m e n t s . T h e most famous magician to enter hell alive was
Faustus, whose impressions of that place were first ren-
Hell and Witchcraft d e red in a 1587 pamphlet. Later, Goethe re p l a c e d
There was, of course, no doubt that witches would end Fa u s t’s descent into hell with his participation in
up in hell, sorcery being an especially dangerous kind of Walpurgis Night, the major witch Sabbat in the Ha rz
480 hell |
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Mountains. Certain books of necromancy entitled w i t c h e s’ use of hemlock in his De Praestigiis daemono-
“H ö l l e n z w a n g” (Constraint of Hell) circulated in ru m et Incantationibus ac Ve n e ficiis ( On Wi t c h c r a f t ,
German-speaking countries of the seventeenth and Incantations, and Poisoners) of 1568. Hemlock was one
eighteenth centuries, most of them allegedly related to of a collection of deadly poisonous herbs supposedly
the famous Dr. Faust or to the Jesuits. They proposed e m p l oyed by witches in particularly supernatural ways.
to force the demons out of hell through special conjura- Thus even though this herb was extremely toxic, the
tions, often in order to make them help find buried witch might use the herb to make up a brew or fly i n g
treasure. ointment to help her get to a Sabbat without killing her-
s e l f, or she might go a more practical route and just poi-
PETER DINZELBACHER
son someone with the herb. Witches using hemlock can
See also:BIBLE;DEMONS;DEVIL;FAUST,JOHANNGEORG. also be seen in seve n t e e n t h - c e n t u ry art. Witches Scene,a
References and further reading: painting by David Teniers the Yo u n g e r, dated about
Baschet, Jerôme. 1993. Les justices de l’au-delà. Les représentations
1650, hanging in the city museum (St a a t l i c h e
de l’enfer en France et en Italie (XIIe–XVe siècle).Rome: École
Ku n s t h a l l e) of Karlsruhe, Ge r m a n y, shows two female
française.
witches working at the foot of a gallows, busily digging
Bautz, Joseph. 1905. Die Hölle, 2d ed. Mainz: Kirchheim.
up mandrake roots, plants that we re thought to grow at
Bernstein, Alan E. 1993. The Formation of Hell. Death and
such places. Fi t t i n g l y, the events take place at night and
Retribution in the Ancient and Early Christian Worlds.Ithaca,
NY: Cornell University Press. the witches work by lantern and torchlight in the com-
Camporesi, Piero. 1991. The Fear of Hell: Images of Damnation pany of a whole host of zoomorphic devils. One of the
and Salvation in Early Modern Europe.University Park, PA: witches also has filled her apron with hemlock. Wi t h o u t
Pennsylvania State University Press. question these witches are harvesting components for
Dinzelbacher, Peter. 1999. Die letzten Dinge. Himmel, Hölle, some ve ry deadly brew s .
Fegefeuer im Mittelalter.Freiburg: Herder.
———. 2002. Himmel, Hölle, Heilige. Visionen und Kunst im JANE P. DAVIDSON
Mittelalter.Darmstadt: Primus See also: DRUGSANDHALLUCINOGENS;MANDRAKE;POISON;
Heer, Friedrich. 1971. Abschied von Höllen und Himmeln. WEYER,JOHANN.
Esslingen: Bechtle.
References and further reading:
Mew, James. 1903. Traditional Aspects of Hell.London:
Davidson, Jane P. 1987. The Witch in Northern European Art
S. Sonnenschein & Co.
1470–1750.Freren, Germany: Luca.
Minois, Georges. 1991. Histoire des enfers.Paris: Fayard. Grieve, M. 1931. A Modern Herbal.London: Jonathan Cape.
Vorgrimler, Herbert. 1993. Geschichte der Hölle.München: Lewis, Walter H., and M. P. F. Elvin-Lewis. 1977. Medical Botany.
W. Fink. NewYork: John Wiley and Sons.
Walker, D. P. 1964. The Decline of Hell. Seventeenth-Century
Discussions of Eternal Torment.London: Routledge & Kegan Hemmingsen, Niels (1513–1600)
Paul. De n m a rk’s foremost witchcraft theorist and undoubted-
Winkler. 1932. “Hölle.” Pp. 184–257 in Handwörterbuch des
ly the most influential Danish theologian of the sixteenth
deutschen Aberglaubens. Vol. IV. Berlin: de Gruyter.
and seventeenth centuries, Hemmingsen matriculated at
the Un i versity of Wittenberg in 1537, where he became
Hemlock s t rongly attached to Philipp Melanchthon, whose theol-
Hemlock (Conium maculatum) is among the poisonous ogy Hemmingsen championed all his life. Returning to
and medicinal herbs traditionally believed used by De n m a rk in 1542, he was appointed professor of Gre e k
witches in compounding ointments and potions for use and in 1553 professor of theology at the Un i versity of
in black magic. This use of the herb was mentioned in Lund. During the controversy concerning the Lord’s
various sixteenth- and seve n t e e n t h - c e n t u ry demonolog- Supper in the 1560s, Hemmingsen openly favo re d
ical texts. T h e re may have been some confusion on the Me l a n c h t h o n’s ideas, and in 1574 he declared himself in
p a rt of herbalists and demonologists as to which form of f a vor of the Calvinist doctrine of the Lord’s Su p p e r.
hemlock the witches used. Conium maculatum l o o k s Complaints came from other princely Lutheran court s ,
similar to another poisonous plant called water hemlock and although his prestige remained high in De n m a rk ,
(Cicuta viro s a ) . Linnaeus eventually gave the two plants the Danish king felt compelled for the “sake of concord”
d i f f e rent scientific names in 1737 to re m ove the confu- to dismiss Hemmingsen from his post as professor of
sion. Generally the most noticeable difference betwe e n theology in 1579. Howe ve r, visitors came from abroad to
the two plants lies in the shape of the leaves. Water hem- discuss religious questions with him, including the
lock is deadly to humans as well as to cattle that con- Scottish King James VI, who met him in 1590 while vis-
sume it. Because witches we re notorious for poisoning iting De n m a rk on the occasion of his marriage.
cattle, this pro p e rty of toxicity to animals is especially In 1575, Niels Hemmingsen published his Ad m o n i t i o
i n t e resting. Johann We ye r, the sixteenth-century de superstitionibus magicis vitandis (Warning About the
German physician and witch expert commented on Tricks of Superstitious Ma g i c i a n s ) , the only tre a t i s e
Hemmingsen, Niels 481 |
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published in De n m a rk during the period of witchcraft Vedel, and the bishop of St a va n g e r, Jørgen Er i c k s s ø n ,
persecutions dealing exc l u s i vely with the subject. Re c e n t p l a yed a significant part in the rather mild witchcraft
re s e a rch has shown his shorter vernacular treatise, En persecution in De n m a rk. It can hardly be doubted that
v n d e ruisning aff den hellige scrifft / huad mand døme skal the Danish ordinance of 1576, the first in Eu rope to
om den store oc gruelige Guds bespottelse ( In s t ruction of the re q u i re all witchcraft cases to be re v i ewed by a Hi g h
Holy Scripture on How to Judge the Great and Aw f u l C o u rt, owed much to He m m i n g s e n’s influ e n c e .
Blasphemy), once considered an abbreviated translation
JENS CHR. V. JOHANSEN
of his 1575 book, to be a translation of a chapter of
He m m i n g s e n’s 1562 commentary on the Gospel of See also: DENMARK;JAMESVIANDI,KINGOFSCOTLANDAND
John, Hi s t o ry of the Lord Jesus Christ. In both tre a t i s e s , ENGLAND.
References and further reading:
Hemmingsen discussed the things sorc e rers and witches
Barnekow, Kjell. 1940. Niels Hemmingsens teologiska åskådning: en
could do through their magic, and suggested how secular
dogmhistorisk studie.Lund: Gleerip.
and religious authorities should deal with this crime.
Brink, Torben. 1993. “Niels Hemmingsens forståelse af trold-
In both texts, Hemmingsen answered three questions
dom—en nyvurdering.” Fortid og Nutid3: 119–133.
of central importance to the subject: its origin, its
Hemmingsen, Niels. 1562. Historia Jesu Christi.Købenahvn
effects, and Go d’s permission. The Ad m o n i t i o a d d e d (Copenhagen).
discussions about the use of counterwitchcraft and ———. 1575. Admonitio de superstitionibus magicis vitandis.
p ro t e c t i ve measures (white witchcraft). He m m i n g s e n Wittenberg.
argued that all witchcraft originated with the Devil; evil ———. 1618. En vnderuisning aff den hellige scrifft / huad mand
people could not act alone. Although he never doubted døme skal om den store oc gruelige Guds bespottelse.København
the efficacy of witchcraft, he believed it could be done (Copenhagen).
Munch Madsen, Erik. 1946. Niels Hemmingsens etik. En idehis-
only with Go d’s permission through the Devil. Go d
torisk studie.Copenhagen: G.E.C. Gads Forlag.
permitted the Devil and the witches to harm people’s
lives and property either to test their faith or to punish
them for their sins. A Christian congregation should Henningsen, Gustav (1934–)
e xclude any member who had abused Go d’s name, Two interrelated themes, European witchcraft and the
whether for harmful or for benevolent purposes. Spanish Inquisition, have dominated the long and
He m m i n g s e n’s Ad m o n i t i o s t ressed that it was inexc u s- fruitful career of the Danish ethnographer and histori-
able to use white magic to counter witchcraft, because an Gustav Henningsen, best known for his magisterial
the sin was the same, whether the purpose was harmful study of a seventeenth-century Navarrese inquisitor,
or benevolent; thus he disapproved of using magic for Alsonso de Salazar y Frías, whom he has immortalized
protection against illness or death. as The Witches’ Advocate.
The main difference between the Hi s t o r i a and the Originally trained in ethnography, He n n i n g s e n
Ad m o n i t i o is that the latter offered a dictionary of began his scholarly career with a thesis about witchcraft
witchcraft in eighty pages, in which He m m i n g s e n , beliefs in a remote Danish island, which has remained
among other things, rejected the notion of women unpublished because the local population was too small
gathering at night at certain places for a Sabbat. When to disguise the identities of some suspected witches.
people claimed to have seen the women, it was only an Winning a lengthy research grant for work on contem-
illusion, as were tales of metamorphoses. p o r a ry witchcraft beliefs in nort h western Sp a i n ,
Hemmingsen’s conclusion insisted that adversity and Henningsen, inspired by the great Spanish anthropolo-
h a rdship originated with God, and emphasized the gist and historian Julio Caro Ba roja, began deepening
need to imitate the example of Jo b. It told a vicar to the historical dimensions of his research. He soon dis-
treat a person who used white witchcraft against illness covered a largely untapped collection of witchcraft cas-
by provoking a sense of guilt, then counseling re p e n- es in the central arc h i ve of the Spanish In q u i s i t i o n ,
tance, and ending with a prayer for divine assistance. especially therelaciones de causas,the annual summaries
Howe ve r, secular authorities should punish harmful of cases judged by each tribunal, which had to be sub-
magic without mercy, if it could be proved. But while mitted to its central board in order to collect a hefty
a d vocating this, Hemmingsen criticized the Da n i s h supplement to their regular salaries. By autumn 1971,
judges as insufficiently devout and pious. He re c o m- Henningsen re a l i zed the re m a rkable richness of this
mended that all complicated cases be brought immedi- material and recruited a gifted young Spanish historian,
ately before the High Court to avoid ignorant judges Jaime Contreras, to help him index the entire collection
acquitting those accused of witchcraft, because, accord- of re l a c i o n e s , not simply its witchcraft cases. After two
ing to Hemmingsen, many judges knew only the secu- years, they had inventoried about 25,000 cases. In
lar laws and not God’s laws. 1975, a young French historian, preparing a doctoral
He m m i n g s e n’s opinions in his Ad m o n i t i o t o g e t h e r thesis on the tribunal of Toledo, adopted their method
with similar ones by the canon of Ripe, Anders Søre n s e n and contributed over 4,000 re l a c i o n e s to their pro j e c t .
482 Henningsen, Gustav |
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By 1977, when Henningsen published a path-breaking References and further reading:
article in Spanish outlining the results, this embryonic Henningsen, Gustav. 1977. “El ‘banco de datos’ del Santo Oficio:
multinational collaboration had created about 42,000 las relaciones de causas de la Inquisición española
(1550–1700).” Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia174:
handwritten cards, which they sorted out to pro d u c e
547–570.
our first reliable statistical profile of the global activities
———. 1980.The Witches’ Advocate: Basque Witchcraft and the
of the Spanish Inquisition spanning the century and a
SpanishInquisition.Reno: University of Nevada Press.
half after 1550.
———. 1993. “The Database of the Spanish Inquisition: The
Snubbed at a Spanish conference commemorating
relaciones de causasproject revisited.” InVorträge zur
the 500th annive r s a ry of the Spanish Inquisition in Justizforschung.Geschichte und Theorie. 2 vols. Edited by Heinz
1978, Henningsen organized a competing and more Mohnhaupt and Dieter Simon. Frankfurt-am-Main:
b roadly international conference at Copenhagen; its Klostermann.
results, coedited with an American expert on the ———, ed. 2004. The Salazar Documents. Inquisitor Alonso de
Roman Inquisition, became a landmark in comparative Salazar Frías and Others on the Basque Witch Persecution.Leiden
Inquisition studies (Henningsen and Tedeschi 1986). and Bnoston: Brill.
———, and Bengt Ankarloo, eds. 1990. European Witchcraft:
The long-standing delicate balance between Sp a n i a rd s
Centres andPeripheries.Oxford: Clarendon.
and foreigners in Inquisition re s e a rch re vealed by this
———, and John Tedeschi, eds. 1986. The Inquisition in Early
episode has had frustrating consequences. In 1980,
Modern Europe: Studies on Sources and Methods.DeKalb:
Henningsen attempted to create an international pro-
Northern Illinois University Press.
gram on the Inquisitions of Spain, It a l y, and Po rt u g a l
under the aegis of the multinationally funded European Hepstein, Johann
Science Foundation, but the Spanish re p re s e n t a t i ve
In 1525, when a majority of the five lawye r s
vetoed the proposal (Henningsen 1993). One by-prod-
( Ra t s k o n s u l e n t) in the service of the imperial free city of
uct of this decision is that international funding has
Nu remberg wave red in their judgment of a witchcraft
never been found to produce a usable electronic version
case, with one of them supporting execution, Dr.
of the now venerable relaciones decausasproject.
Hepstein openly challenged their position. In 1533 he
He n n i n g s e n’s career followed an unusual trajectory.
recommended that the small imperial city of
Like another we l l - k n own Eu ropean interd i s c i p l i n a ry
Weissenburg, a satellite of Nu remberg, not tort u re a
scholar, Philippe Ariès, he never held a university chair,
woman suspected of witchcraft. In a trial of thre e
but was instead employed by Denmark’s national folk-
women at Nu remberg in Ma rch 1536, when plenty of
lore archives. While there, Henningsen completed and
evidence suggested sorc e ry, and a number of witnesses
published his most ambitious project, subsequently
accused them of witchcraft, Hepstein argued that sor-
translated into several languages, about the Sp a n i s h
c e ry and witchcraft we re generally taken for “f a n t a s y
In q u i s i t i o n’s fateful encounter with Basque witchcraft
and self-deception.” In his eyes, belief in witchcraft,
in 1609–1614 (Henningsen 1980). His numerous arti-
and hence related accusations, we re a consequence of
cles, all marked by a distinctive ethnographic curiosity,
“d i s b e l i e f, stupidity, and excited imagination of the
often drew on his unparalleled fund of information
p e o p l e” (Kunstmann 1970, 62). He considered the
about witchcraft-related “s u p e r s t i t i o n s” provided by
supposed deeds of the witches to be impossible.
inquisitorial tribunals throughout the Spanish empire .
Hepstein concluded that the suspects we re to be
He has investigated topics ranging from Basque influ-
released without delay, except for one of them, who
ences on the practice of black magic by African slaves in
seemed to be guilty of fraud. The woman He p s t e i n
seventeenth-century Colombia to the activities of fairy-
wanted to see convicted and punished with a fine was
like Sicilian night witches, whom the Spanish Ho l y
a diviner, who had served as a witch doctor, and had
Office called “ladies from outside” (doñas de fuera).
accused the other two. Although He p s t e i n’s was a
T h roughout his scholarly care e r, international col-
minority position, the government followed his advice
laboration has remained a leitmotif of He n n i n g s e n’s
soon after. In June 1536, the government decreed a law
activities. Together with a Swedish colleague, he orga-
against witchcraft, sorc e ry, divination, and incanta-
nized another landmark international conference about
tion, stating explicitly that it was a serious error to
his other specialty, European witchcraft, in 1984; they
b e l i e ve in the existence of witchcraft, and imposing
coedited the published results (Henningsen and
serious punishments on those who exploited the
Ankarloo 1990). Henningsen remains a major figure at
c redulity of the people through divination or sorc e ry.
international conferences about witchcraft or the
Hepstein was clearly not a Catholic, and he displaye d
inquisitions.
humanist inclinations, but his life and thoughts have
yet to be studied.
WILLIAM MONTER
WOLFGANG BEHRINGER
See also: BASQUECOUNTRY;CAROBAROJA,JULIO;INQUISITION,
SPANISH;SALAZARFRIAS,ALONSODE;SPAIN. See also: NUREMBERG,IMPERIALFREECITY;SKEPTICISM.
Hepstein, Johann 483 |
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References and further reading: l u n g w o rt, with leaves that have white stains like lung
Kunstmann, Hartmut. 1970. Zauberwahn und Hexenprozess in der tissue, could be used in the treatment of pulmonary
Reichsstadt Nürnberg.Nuremberg: Schriftenreihe des diseases.
Stadtarchivs Nürnberg.
Current research confirms that these plants were usu-
ally judiciously used. The active principles contained in
Herbal Medicine the plants in their natural state are sufficient to cure or
For the overwhelming majority of people living in early to poison the patient. Plants we re used fresh or dried,
modern Europe, “medicine” meant primarily herbal e n t i rely or only in part, root, rhizome, stem, leaf,
medicine: plants and vegetable products were the prin- flower, or bark from trees. Remedies usually combined
cipal pharmacopoeia for both doctors and folk healers. several plant-based ingredients with other constituents
Sometimes, their remedies seemed close to suggesting from animal or mineral sources. Some remedies, called
food, such as a good tonic soup. Many herbal healers t h e r i a c , included about a hundred ingredients. T h e s e
were accused of being witches because of their arcane different elements can act as catalysts to make the rem-
knowledge; herbal medicine had real power for those edy significantly more active to cure the patient. Plants
who mastered it, whether witches or not. served as remedies in different ways: internally through
During the fifteenth century, herbal medicine was so infusion or decoction, or externally through applica-
well developed that this century has been called the tions of poultices, plasters, or enemas.
“c e n t u ry of plants.” The ancient founders of medicine, Some plants we re (and are) associated with witch-
Hippocrates (460–377), Dioscorides (first century craft, such as the mandrake, belladona, datura, or
C.E.) and Galen (ca. 131–ca. 201) we re widely pub- j u n i p e r. The mandrake is the most famous. If such
lished and quoted. Ni c h o l a u’s An t i d o t a r i u m (T h e plants are really toxic or lethal, they have been linked to
Antidote Book of Nicholas) was a standard handbook the Devil for a long time. Numerous superstitions and
of medicinal recipes that circulated widely in Eu ro p e legends accompany the magical pro p e rties of these
since the twelfth century. Most important early illustrat- plants. But even so, the recipes listed in old sources are
ed herbals we re produced in Germany: in 1485, Jo h a n n k n own for their narcotic and analgesic pro p e rt i e s .
Wonnecke von Cube published his Ho rtus Sa n i t a t i s Solanaceae plants are listed among the ingredients of
(The Ga rden of Health) at Mainz; Hi e ronymus Bock, physicians’ recipes and also of the witches’ ointment—
called Tragus, edited his K re u t t e r b u c h (Book of He r b s ) along with unbaptized baby’s fat.
at Strasbourg in 1539 with beautiful woodcuts by Plants we re used not only for their medical pro p e rt i e s ,
David Kandel; Otto Brunfels, using the engraver Ha n s but also for their symbolic and alleged supernatural pow-
Weiditz, published his He r b a rum Vi vae Ei c o n e s ( L i v i n g ers. That is why the moment and the ritual of the gather-
Po rtraits of Pl a n t s )in three volumes between 1530 and ing was ve ry important. St. Jo h n’s Day (June 24), corre-
1536 at Mainz; and Leonhart Fuchs published his mas- sponding to the summer solstice, has given its name to
terpiece, the herbal De historia stirpium ( C o n c e r n i n g many herbs called St. Jo h n’s herbs, for instance, “St. Jo h n’s
the Hi s t o ry of Plants), at Basel in 1542. Va l e r i u s w o rt,” ve rvain, or mugwort (a rt e m i s i a), the “m o t h e r
C o rd u s’s Dispensatorium ( Di s p e n s a ry) became, after h e r b.” The gestures and the words during the picking, the
1542, the official guide for the apothecary guild at p reparation, or the administration of remedies made fro m
Nu remberg and influenced all of Eu rope. The commen- these plants, we re as important as the plants themselves in
taries on Dioscorides by Matthioli (1500–1577) also the eyes of both the patient and the healer.
constituted one of the greatest books of medical botany.
After the crusades, Arab medicine had introduced new MARYSE SIMON
plants into Eu rope. In polypharmacy, the use of many
See also: CUNNINGFOLK;DRUGSANDHALLUCINOGENS;
plants in one mixture, including plants imported from a MANDRAKE;MEDICINEANDMEDICALTHEORY;MIDWIVES;OINT-
g reat distance, invo l ved a great change: the re m e d i e s MENTS;PARACELSUS,THEOPHRASTUSBOMBASTUSVONHOHEN-
could not be homemade any more, and had to be pur- HEIM;VERVAIN.
chased in apothecaries. The result was a pro g re s s i ve loss References and further reading:
of the ability to pre p a re one’s own remedies, and contro l Arber, Agnes. 1986. Herbals, Their Origin and Evolution. A
of the healers, usually women, by re p re s e n t a t i ves of Chapter in the History of Botany 1470–1670.Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press.
medical authorities, always men.
Dawson, Warren R. 1934. A Leechbook or Collection of Medical
At the beginning of the sixteenth century, Paracelsus
Recipes of the Fifteenth Century.London: Macmillan.
m a rked a turning point by criticizing Ga l e n’s and
Müller-Ebeling, Claudia, Christian Rätsch, and Wolf-Dieter Storl.
Av i c e n n a’s theories. In his work, plants had a special
2003. Witchcraft Medicine: Healing Arts, Shamanic Practices,
place: he offered a specific remedy for eve ry sickness,
and Forbidden Plants. Rochester,VT: Inner Traditions.
a c c o rding to his famous doctrine of signatures. He Riddle, John M. 1997. Eve’s Herbs. A History of Contraception and
attempted to match the properties of plants with their Abortion in the West.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
morphological characteristics, shape, or color.Thus, the Press.
484 Herbal Medicine |
Wicca | Richard M.Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Western Tradition | 522 | 46049 Golden Chap. H av First Pages 08/25/2005 p.485 Application File
Spinella, Marcello. 2001. The Psychopharmacology of Herbal the witches’ Sabbat; some of the m a l e ficia ( h a r m f u l
Medicine. Plant Drugs That Alter Mind, Brain, and Behavior. magic), especially infanticide; and motives for joining
Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. the sect (vindictiveness and hedonism, as well as sexual
Stannard, Jerry. 1999. Herbs and Herbalism in the Middle Ages and
desire). Even the tract’s title went back to the Cathars;
Renaissance.Aldershot: Ashgate Variorum.
gazariiis a form of “Cathar” found mostly in northern
Italy (Ostorero et al. 1999, 301–303). Although it had
Heresy been effectively wiped out by the early fourteenth cen-
Witchcraft’s heretical roots are often largely underesti- tury, the heresy of the Cathars contributed a great deal
mated, because the large European witch hunts date to the cumulative concept of witchcraft.
from the early modern era and most historians of The Cathars’ name was derived from “c a t” in Alain de
witchcraft are therefore experts in this period, with lit- L i l l e’s twe l f t h - c e n t u ry polemic “because it is said that
tle or no knowledge of late medieval heresy. Even stu- they [the Cathars] kiss a cat’s posterior, in which form, it
dents of the witch hunt’s medieval beginnings (e.g., is said, the Devil appears to them” (Dicuntur [Cathari] a
Ginzburg 1991) have all too often underestimated c a t t o, quia, ut dicitur, osculantur posteriora catti, in cuius
witchcraft’s heretical heritage. Ginzburg, for example, specie, ut dicunt, apparet eis Lu c i f e r )( L a m b e rt 1998, 43).
drew a straight line from the persecution of the lepers One main feature of the Cathar movement, in its wide-
(around 1320) and the Jews (around 1350), to that of s p read form in thirt e e n t h - c e n t u ry southern France, was
witches (fifteenth century), thereby almost completely dualism (or Manicheanism): the role ascribed to the
neglecting the heretics. Devil as the creator of the visible world (Lambert 1998).
Im p o rtant exceptions to this rule include Je f f re y This was an obvious parallel to later sects of witches,
Russell (1972), Norman Cohn (1993), Brian Leva c k who also reputedly worshiped the Devil. The Cathars’
(1993), and Andreas Bl a u e rt (1989). Russell argued that most important sacrament was the c o n s o l a m e n t u m ,
witchcraft should be viewed as a form of here s y, and that which was first administered in the form of adult bap-
h e resy was far more important for understanding it than tism upon acceptance into the sect, and later as the last
magic. Russell (1972: 19, 39f., 133, 267–269) also con- rites, which we re said to guarantee direct acceptance
tended that early witch hunts occurred mainly in places into heaven. Su b s e q u e n t l y, after the Cathars had fled to
w h e re heretics had allegedly previously been found, the Py renees (Montaillou) to escape the Inquisition, this
including southern France, the Netherlands, the sacrament was possible only at night. Cathars thus held
Rhineland, northern It a l y, and the Alps (a region to nighttime gatherings around the beds of the dying, to
which heretics had withdrawn, but not an especially which the few remaining p e rf e c t i (the perfect ones, the
b a c k w a rds area). On the other hand, Russell incorre c t l y master adepts) had to be brought, frequently from far
b e l i e ved (63ff.) that both witchcraft and heresy existed a w a y. If a p e rf e c tdid not successfully administer the c o n-
a l ready in the Early Middle Ages. Cohn (1993, chaps. 1, s o l a m e n t u m to the dying person, his or her soul would
3, 4) saw late medieval heresy only in its distort e d , h a ve had to set out on a transmigration and could be
d e m o n i zed form, and used his observations to constuct reborn up to seven times. The chaste and vegetarian p e r-
a stereotype that he believed was originally used to f e c tasked those gathered at the death bed to administer
defame the early Christians. Levack (1993, 43f.) agre e d the m e l i o ra m e n t u m (a sort of prayer or devotion) and
with Cohn and claimed that the idea of the witches’ re q u i red those present to accommodate him and offer
c o u n t e r s o c i e t y, as expressed in their confessions, origi- him gifts. Those present often entered into a pact (or
nated in the rhetoric of the inve c t i ves clerics of the thir- c o n ve n t i o n) with him, stating that they, too, wished to
teenth and fourteenth centuries used against here t i c s , re c e i ve the c o n s o l a m e n t u m f rom him in their hour of
and developed a life of its own. Bl a u e rt directed atten- death. Ac c o rding to the inquisitors, such accomplices
tion to the territory of modern-day Sw i t zerland and we re there f o re guilty and we re punished accord i n g l y,
especially western Sw i t zerland, where (with the impor- although only recidivists we re burned at the stake.
tant exception of Dauphiné) the last Wa l d e n s i a n - h u n t s One must not ignore the fact that it was during the
and the first witch hunts took place simultaneously in fight against the Cathar movement in southern Fr a n c e
the first half of the fifteenth century. that the papal Inquisition was created in 1233, which
St a rting with the cumulative idea of witchcraft as e m p l oyed a new inquisitorial method (Lambert 1998,
p resented in the Er ro res Ga z a r i o ru m ( Er rors of the 125, 127; also Levack 1993, 68–99). Both the
Gazars or Ga z a r i i ) written in the Aosta valley before Inquisition and inquisitorial pro c e d u re we re re s p o n s i b l e
1436/1438 and one of the earliest descriptions of a for the analogies and parallels between heresy and witch-
w i t c h e s’ sect, one can indeed differentiate betwe e n craft. In the end, it was inquisitors such as Ge o f f re y
h e retical and magical elements. He retical elements d’ Ablis (inquisitor in Carcassone, 1308–1309), Be r n a rd
included initiation into the sect; the pact; the nighttime Gui (inquisitor in Toulouse, 1307), and Jaques Fo u r n i e r
gatherings; the sect’s organization and the accusation of (bishop of Pamiers, 1318–1325) who wiped out the
hypocrisy; the magical flight of witches and warlocks to Cathar movement in its refuge in the Py re n e e s .
Heresy 485 |
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Nevertheless, remnants of the Cathar movement sur- tance whatsoever to any sacrament administered by sin-
v i ved in the Alps, in Piedmont, between southern ful Catholic priests. Their own masters we re called
France and Lombardy, and next to Spain, the preferred Barben (“barbels,” “beards”) by the mid-fifteenth centu-
refuge of the southern French Cathars. The Alpine val- ry, at the latest. Throughout the entire fourteenth cen-
leys of Piedmont and Dauphiné were simultaneously a tury, the Waldensians of Dauphiné and Piedmont faced
place of refuge for Waldensians. Especially in Piedmont severe persecution from constantly present inquisitors.
toward the end of the fourteenth century (Merlo 1977), Persecutions against Waldensians in Dauphiné contin-
a mix (or syncretism) of the Cathar and Wa l d e n s i a n ued far into the fifteenth century, until a Crusade in
m ovements thus came into being, which bore a gre a t 1488, and caused them to flee to southern France (to
deal of similarity to the doctrines of the later witches’ Provence, especially Lu b e ron). They thus became the
sects. An interrogation led by inquisitor Antonio di only medieval heretical sect to surv i ve and join the
Settimo on March 23, 1387, described the “synagogue Protestant Reformation in 1532, at the Synod of
of the Walsensians” taking place “in the hour of the first Chanforan.
sleep” (primum somnium); the consolamentum (consist- We have already seen that a syncretism of
ing of consecrated bread); the rejection of purgatory (a Waldensian and Cathar movements with similarities to
Waldensian characteristic); and a sexual orgy.The des- witchcraft emerged in late fourt e e n t h - c e n t u ry
ignation of Cathars as gazarii, which reappeared in the Piedmont. Sh o rtly afterw a rd, in 1392–1394, 400
Errores gazariorum, also appeared here (Lambert 1998, Waldensians we re interrogated in Brandenburg and
295). The Waldensians, who stood much closer to the Pomerania, some of whom had recently been suspected
o rt h o d ox Church and did not re c o g n i ze dualism, of being devil worshipers, or Luciferians. In q u i s i t o r
served oddly enough as a mediator between the Cathar Peter Zwicker did not believe this accusation, unlike his
movement and witchcraft. colleague in Piedmont, Antonio di Settimo; Zw i c k e r
Around 1170, the Waldensian movement was started found that these suspects we re merely Wa l d e n s i a n s .
by a merchant from Lyons named Waldo, who not only Such “Lu c i f e r i a n s” had already been persecuted in
d e voted himself to pove rty and preaching, but also Angermünde in 1336, and they too had been
d rew inspiration from the Bible (Audisio 1998). Waldensians; the roots of Luciferianism indeed came
Because it was then forbidden for laymen to preach or from the Cathar movement, albeit in a rather mutated
h a ve knowledge of the Bible, the archbishop of Lyo n s form (Ku rze 1968, 56f.; Pa t s c h ovsky 1981, 660f. ;
condemned Waldo and his followers and expelled them L a m b e rt 1998, 120). Fu rt h e r m o re, the Ge r m a n
in the early 1180s. Ne ve rtheless, Wa l d o’s teachings Cathars persecuted in the thirteenth century by Conrad
spread widely throughout Europe in the thirteenth and of Marburg had been accused of being Luciferians, as
f o u rteenth centuries, reaching from southern Fr a n c e , we re the Waldensians persecuted under this name in
Lombardy, Piedmont, and Dauphiné as far as Austria, S c h weidnitz in 1315, after the Cathars had been
Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Brandenburg, and d e s t royed (Pa t s c h ovsky 1991). These Luciferians sug-
Pomerania. By the fourteenth century, Wa l d e n s i a n i s m gest the stereotype of the demonized heretic portrayed
had two distinct wings, German and Roman. Through by Cohn. The demonization of heresy ran parallel to
drastic inquisitorial persecution, the German wing was the heriticization of magic; Pope John XXII put the
almost completely exterminated by the end of the four- Inquisition in charge of the latter through his 1326 bull
teenth century; practically only the Swiss Wa l d e n s i a n s Super illius specula ( Upon His Wa t c h t ower) (Cohn
of Fribourg survived. 1993, 114f.).
Persecution changed Waldensian behavior: while The accusation of Luciferianism was transferre d
originally the Waldensians mainly denied the oath, from the Waldensians to sects of witches and warlocks
which the Bible forbade, they later began to deny pur- in the fifteenth century; they could be assimilated all
g a t o ry, which had already become prominent in the the more easily, because neither sect had ever actually
Latin Church. Waldensians believed that atonement existed. Until the end of the fifteenth century (and well
must take place here and now, and could not be post- b e yond), witches in French-speaking Sw i t zerland we re
poned until purgatory; there f o re, the only sacrament invariably called “heretics,” or “vaudois.” The necessary
that a Waldensian master (or apostle) could administer prerequisite for the seamless transfer of this label from
to his followers was confession. This took place during one sect to another was a constant inquisition, with a
nighttime gatherings, as it was not otherwise possible, continuous existence in western Switzerland that can be
at which they also preached. Be l i e vers re c e i ved their p roven from 1399 (Andenmatten and Utz Tre m p
other sacraments from the orthodox Church, thus earn- 1992). Its first sphere of activity was the city of
ing them accusations of hypocrisy.The Roman wing of Fribourg, where it conducted Waldensian trials in 1399
the Waldensian movement (active in Piedmont and and 1430, finally destroying the German Wa l d e n s i a n
Dauphiné) was decidedly more anticlerical than the movement (Utz Tremp 2000). In the second trial, one
German wing: the Roman wing attached no impor- sees a change from heresy to witchcraft (also a form of
486 Heresy |
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h e resy). Practically all the heretics persecuted we re Georges de Saluces (Saluzzo), had witches arrested and
clearly Waldensians. Trial re c o rds already termed their executed in his own territory (CLHM25). In 1498, the
gatherings “s e c t s” and “synagogues,” exactly like later chapter followed suit in its village of Do m m a rt i n ,
gatherings of witches in western Switzerland. w h e re a male witch had previously been executed in
Surrounding the 1430 trial, however, a few instances 1438 (C L H M 17). In this case and in a further witch
a rose of non-Waldenisians who we re not yet entire l y hunt conducted in the same area from 1524 to 1528
witches. Such was the case of Itha Stucki, who came (C L H M 1), the heretical elements (inauguration into
from the surrounding countryside, denounced because the sect, nighttime gatherings, and the sect’s organiza-
she allegedly knew “how to make a wagon move on its tion) took a backseat to magical elements, particularly
own, without outside aid”(quod uxor Willini Stucky sci- maleficia.The heretical tradition receded in favor of the
ebat taliter parare currum et artifficiare, quod per se sine magical tradition, which would have been both more
alio adiutorio ibat).Her judges, including the inquisitor apparent and more important in village society.
Ulric de To r renté, pursued the matter further and The heretical substrate nonetheless decidedly influ-
found that Itha Stucki reputedly committed many enced the first witch hunts. If we examine present-day
harmful acts ( vehementer diffamata est et erat de multis French Switzerland at the end of the Middle Ages, we
maleficiis et nephandis). Because it could not be proved can conclude that, wherever heretics had been persecut-
that she had summoned help from the Devil, she only ed by an established inquisition, heretical elements sur-
had to take an oath of cleansing. A similar case was that faced quite frequently in early witchcraft accusations
of Oetzschina, also denounced tow a rd the end of the and confessions, and men were frequently prosecuted as
second trial. She believed neither in purgatory nor in witches, while m a l e fic i u m (harmful magic) dominated
re venants. She defended Waldensian preachers fro m in rural regions with no previous experience of inquisi-
accusations that they “kissed the cat beneath its tail” torial persecution aimed at heretics. This know l e d g e
(osculantur catum sub cauda), and that they we re makes the contrast between western and eastern
preachers of the Devil (predicatores diaboli).In both cas- Switzerland (especially Lucerne and its environs) espe-
es, the accused had to be released. Howe ve r, in 1442, cially significant, as does the contrast between early
Itha Stucki was caught up in the first witch hunt con- witchcraft trials in northwestern Switzerland and those
ducted by the city of Freiburg itself, without first con- in Val Leventina (Canton Ticino, Switzerland), shaped
sulting the inquisitor, and she was sentenced to burning by northern Italian inquisitors (Modestin and Ut z
at the stake, along with her son Peter.The heresy trials Tremp 2002).
in Freiburg and surrounding areas thus turned seam- KATHRIN UTZ TREMP;
lessly into witchcraft trials in the 1430s.
In Dauphiné, where witch hunts began slightly earli- TRANSLATED BY JONATHAN STICKNEY
er (1424–1428) than in western Sw i t zerland, persecu- See also: CONRADOFMARBURG;DAUPHINÉ;ERRORESGAZARIORUM;
tion was aimed at both witches and Wa l d e n s i a n s GUI,BERNARD;HISTORIOGRAPHY;INQUISITION,MEDIEVAL;JOHN
throughout the fifteenth century. In this region, secular XXII,POPE;LAUSANNE,DIOCESEOF;MANICHEANISM;ORIGINSOF
judges tried the witches, while the Inquisition tried the THEWITCHHUNTS;SAVOY,DUCHYOF;SWITZERLAND;TORREN-
Waldensians (Paravy 1993). Meanwhile, in we s t e r n TÉ,ULRICDE;VAUDOIS(WALDENSIANS); WITCHHUNTS.
Switzerland, Waldensian hunts were almost completely References and further reading:
Andenmatten, Bernard, and Kathrin Utz Tremp. 1992. “De
replaced by witch hunts. In the later 1430s, the
l’hérésie à la sorcellerie: l’inquisiteur Ulric de Torrenté OP (vers
Inquisition in western Switzerland (still led by Ulric de
1420–1445) et l’affermissement de l’inquisition en Suisse
To r renté) also conducted witchcraft trials at
romande.” Revue d’histoire ecclésiastique suisse 86: 69–119.
Do m m a rtin in 1438 and at Neuchatel in 1439
Audisio, Gabriel. 1998. Les vaudois. Histoire d’une dissidence
(Andenmatten and Utz Tremp 1992, 93f., 95–97,
(XIIe–XVIe siècle).Paris: Fayard.
110–118). Blauert, Andreas. 1989. Frühe Hexenverfolgungen. Ketzer-,
Practice followed theory almost immediately; the Zauberei- und Hexenprozesse des 15. Jahrhundert.Hamburg:
first five theoretical texts describing the witches’ sect Junius.
we re created in the western Alps between 1428 and Cahiers lausannois d’histoire médiévale(CLHM) 1 (1989), 15
1442 (Osterero et al. 1999). In western Switzerland, the (1995), 17 (1996), 20 (1997), and 25 (1999). Lausanne:
Inquisition conducted its first small-scale witch hunt at University of Lausanne.
Cohn, Norman. 1993 (1975). Europe’s Inner Demons. The
Vevey in 1448 (CLHM 15), repeated in the same place
Demonization of Christians in Medieval Christendom.Revised
on a larger scale thirty years later (C L H M 1 7 ) .
ed. London: Pimlico 1993; Chicago: University of Chicago
Si g n i fic a n t l y, the witches of Ve vey in 1448 we re
Press 2000.
described as “modern Waldensian here t i c s” ( h e re t i c i
Ginzburg, Carlo. 1991. Ecstasies.Deciphering the Witches’ Sabbat.
m o d e rni Va l d e n s i u m ) ; a p p a re n t l y, there and only there
NewYork: Penguin.
was any need felt to distinguish witches fro m Kurze, Dietrich. 1968. “Zur Ketzergeschichte der Mark
Waldensians. Around 1460, the bishop of Lausanne, Brandenburg und Pommerns vornehmlich im 14. Jahrhundert.
Heresy 487 |
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Luziferaner, Putzkeller und Waldenser.” Jahrbuch für die was attributed to Hermes Trismegistus—the honorif-
Geschichte Mittel- und Ostdeutschlands 16/17: 50–94. ic title for the “Egyptian Hermes,” otherwise know n
Lambert, Malcolm. 1998. The Cathars.Oxford and Malden, MA: as Thoth, god of wisdom, the scribe of the gods, and
Blackwell.
the inventor of writing. While both of the latter
Levack, Brian P. 1995. TheWitch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe.
attributes explain his association with Hermetic lit-
2d ed. London. Longman.
e r a t u re, T h o t h’s connection with the Egyptian doc-
Merlo, Grado G. 1977. Eretici e inquisitori nella società piemontese
trine of fate and its association with the regulation of
del trecento.Turin: Claudiana.
the cosmic ordering of religious and cultic activity is
Modestin, Georg, and Kathrin Utz Tremp, eds. 2002. “Hexen,
Herren und Richter. Die Verfolgung von Hexern und Hexen also an important explanatory signifier in the histor-
auf dem Gebiet der heutigen Schweiz am Ende des ical origins of Hermes Trismegistus as the founder of
Mittelalters.” Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Geschichte 52: the Hermetic treatises. As the divine scribe who
103–162. p resided over the sacred calendar and the related rit-
Ostorero, Martine, Agostino Paravicini Bagliani, and Kathrin Utz uals and invocations, Thoth was also re g a rded as the
Tremp, eds. 1999. L’imaginaire du sabbat. Edition critique des author of certain texts, as illustrated by the attribu-
textes les plus anciens (1430 c.–1440 c.).Lausanne: University of
tion to him of parts of the Book of the De a d . Wo rk s
Lausanne.
of a magical, theological, and also secre t i ve nature
Paravy, Pierrette. 1993. De la chrétienté romaine à la Réforme en
( s p e c i a l i zed techniques employed in temple work-
Dauphiné. Evêques, fidèles et déviants (vers 1340–vers 1530).
shops, for example) we re also ascribed to Thoth or
Rome: Ecole française de Rome.
Hermes Tr i s m e g i s t u s .
Patschovsky, Alexander. 1981. “Zur Ketzerverfolgung Konrads von
Marburg.” Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters The extant works on philosophical matters include
37/2: 641–693. the Fragmenta Hermetica, consisting of fragments from
———. 1991. “Der Ketzer als Teufelsdiener.” Papsttum, Kirche authors ranging from Te rtullian in the second–third
und Recht im Mittelalter. Festschrift für Horst Fuhrmann zum 65.
Geburtstag.Tübingen: Niemeyer: 317–334.
Russell, Jeffrey Burton. 1972. Witchcraft in the Middle Ages.Ithaca,
NY, and London: Cornell University.
Utz Tremp, Kathrin, ed. 2000. Quellen zur Geschichte der
Waldenser von Freiburg im Uechtland (1399–1439).Hannover:
Hahnsche Buchhandlung.
———. Forthcoming 2006. Von der Häresie zur Hexerei.
“Wirkliche” und imaginäre Sekten im Spätmittelalter.Munich:
Monumenta Germaniae Historica.
Waite, Gary K. 2003. Heresy, Magic, and Witchcraft in Early
Modern Europe.Houndmills, UK, and NewYork: Palgrave
Macmillan.
Hermeticism
An intellectual fascination with or pursuit of the mys-
ticism contained in the writings attributed to He r m e s
Trismegistus (“T h r i c e - Great He r m e s”). Hermetic lit-
e r a t u re incorporates an amalgam of philosophical and
magical doctrines, not characterized by any explicit
doctrinal unity, coming from a variety of sourc e s
(including Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Gnostic, and
Neoplatonic) ascribed to Hermes and delive red to his
chosen scribes. From the Hellenistic age (ca. third
c e n t u ry B.C.E.) through to late antiquity, and then
during its re v i val in the Middle Ages and
Renaissance, this body of material acquired signifi-
cance and influence because of its supposed gre a t
a n t i q u i t y.
The Hermetic tradition was created within the
historical and literary perspective of Gre c o - Ro m a n
Egypt. Be t ween the first and third centuries B.C.E.,
Hermes Trismegistus, Thrice-Great Hermes,mythological founder of
a series of works from Alexandria, a syncretism of
Hermeticism, a philosophical and magical corpus of writing that
Egyptian and Greek belief systems resulting from the appealed to medieval and early modern intellectuals. (Stapleton
e x t e n s i ve cultural exchanges in Gre c o - Roman Eg y p t Collection/Corbis)
488 Hermeticism |
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centuries B.C.E. to Bar Hebraeus from the thirt e e n t h who illuminates the means through which a person can
c e n t u ry); the Corpus He rmeticum, compiled sometime manipulate the natural world for his benefit.
b e t ween 500–1100 C.E.; the As c l e p i u s , a Latin work By the Middle Ages, several texts showed He r m e t i c
based on Logos Teleios or “Pe rfect Discourse,” ca. 500 i n fluences: He rmes on the Re p ro o f of the Soul ( c a .
C.E.; the Nag Hammadi Codices ( e x p re s s l y, 6.6, 6.7, eleventh to thirteenth centuries), an Arabic text in the
and 6.8, which we re not discove red until 1945); and philosophical tradition, and the Picatrix (eleventh cen-
the Fra g m e n t s of Joannes Stobaios, compiled ca. 500 tury), also Arabic, but distinctly magical. At the begin-
C.E. in his Florilegium (Collection of Flowers). ning of the Renaissance, more complete texts and man-
A. J. Fe s t u g i è re distinguished three categories of uscripts emerged, producing further fascination and
occult science or technical works within the He r m e t i c imitation. In the fifteenth century, for example,
corpus: material on astrology, dating from the third to Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499) translated the C o r p u s
second centuries B.C.E.; alchemical texts dating fro m Hermeticum (1-XIV) into Latin. This constituted a col-
the second to first centuries B.C.E.; and magical papyri lection of dialogues, opening with the Po i m a n d re s ,
f rom the fourth to fifth centuries C.E. (but deriving which deals with the creation of the world and the infi-
from a much earlier tradition). The preeminent text in nite mysteries of life: “Once, when thought came to me
astrology is the Liber Hermetis (Book of Hermes) writ- of the things that are and my thinking soared to the
ten in Latin but with discernable Greek influences from heights and my bodily senses we re restrained, like
the Hellenistic age. It included a description of the someone heavy with slumber from overeating or toil of
decans, an Egyptian method of dividing the zo d i a c a l the body, an enormous being totally unbounded in size
circle or year into thirty-six components (thirty-six ten- seemed to appear before me and call my name and say:
day periods), each with its own astrological or divine ‘What do you want to hear and see; what do you want
attributes. There were also treatises on astrological med- to learn and know from your learning?’”(Cited in
icine (Book of Asclepius,calledMyriogenesis) and works Copenhaver 1992, 1).
that related botany and minerals to astrology (for exam- Scholars such as Giovanni Pico della Mirandola and
ple, the Holy Book of He rmes to As c l e p i u s detailed the Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim, inspire d
association between plants and decans to achieve by Hermeticism but to an even greater extent by
certain botanical prescriptions). Neoplatonism, developed fresh theories of natural mag-
Among alchemical texts of related interest, the most ic. Pico interpreted magia natura l i s (natural magic) as
s i g n i ficant is the Cy ra n i d e sor Ku ra n i d e s(ca. fir s t - c e n t u ry the sum of natural wisdom, an integral and practical
C.E.), which identifies Hermes Trismegistus as its component of natural science based on a compre h e n-
supernatural source: “the god Hermes Tr i s m e g i s t u s sion of the natural world; Agrippa regarded it as a study
received this book from the angels as God’s greatest gift of what exists in the world, aligning it with “medicine
and passed it on to all men fit to re c e i ve secre t s” and the natural philosophy (in effect, with physics)”
( Prologue, Book 1). He re we detect an echo of other (Clark 1997, 218).
ascriptions, such as Manlius’s recognition of Hermes as Pico studied and developed a magical system that
the one who bestowed astrology to mankind: “God of included an elaborate combination of Hermetic knowl-
Cyllene [Hermes], you are the author and the inspira- edge and the Kabbalah. His C o n c l u s i o n s (defended in
tion of this great sacred tradition. Thanks to you, we Rome in 1486) and Oration on the Dignity of Ma n
know the distant reaches of the sky, the constellations, (1487) rank among the most influential texts of the
the names and movement of the stars, their significance Renaissance. The latter began with a direct reference to
and their influence.” Book 1 of the Cyranideshad twen- the Hermetic tradition: “Most esteemed Fathers, I have
ty-four chapters, each based on a letter of the Gre e k read in the ancient writings of the Arabians that Abdala
alphabet with corresponding names of the plant, bird, the Saracen, on being asked what, on this stage, so to
fish, or stone under examination. This first book was say, of the world, seemed to him most evocative of won-
distinctly magical: recipes for specific remedies we re der, replied that there was nothing to be seen more mar-
c h a r a c t e r i zed by detailed actions of a ritualistic nature velous than man. And that celebrated exclamation of
intended to be performed in conjunction with the use Hermes Trismegistus (what a great miracle is man,
of various and, at times, hard to obtain, ingre d i e n t s . Asclepius) confirms this opinion.” In s p i red by the
Other books dealt with the construction of magical Asclepius,among other Hermetic and Neoplatonic texts
i n s t ruments, such as amulets and talismans, which (such as those by Plotinus, Porphyry and Iamblichus),
resembled certain passages from the Greek Ma g i c a l the Oration on the Dignity of Man,as the previous quo-
Papyri.This collection (Festugière’s third category) con- tation illustrates, places man as a being in possession of
tained several spells that required the aid of Hermes for a divine spark with the capability, through the study
a successful completion. Like the other many and var- and practice of magia naturalis,to affect change.
ied spells in the Papyri,they represented practical magic Hermes, as the ascribed instigator of such a variety of
at its least ambiguous, using Hermes as the instru c t o r texts—both philosophical and magical and, at times, a
Hermeticism 489 |
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combination of both—may best be described as a mys- Historiae apostolicae (Apostolic History) of the pseudo-
tagogue. To the Renaissance mind he may best be Abdias, compiled in the fifth century. These stories
defined as the magus par excellence, the personification were popularized by the Golden Legend (ca. 1260) of
of wisdom, philosophy, and esoteric knowledge. In Jacobus de Voragine, and from that source were taken
addition to other materials, such as the aforementioned up by many different artists in the later Middle Ages.
Neoplatonic texts, medical texts such as those by Galen, By the sixteenth century, the struggle between James
as well as earlier scientific research and methodologies, and the magician Hermogenes had become representa-
Hermetic literature belongs within a series of influential tive of the Church’s assault on the magical arts, which
texts from antiquity expounded on in medieval and now also included witchcraft.
Renaissance magic. The Golden Legend tells how Hermogenes, a magi-
cian allied with the Pharisees, attacked the apostle
MARGUERITE JOHNSON
James when he was preaching in Judea. He r m o g e n e s
The author would like to thank Gionni DiGravio for sent one of his disciples, Philetus, to demonstrate the
his assistance. falsity of Ja m e s’s teaching. But Philetus was conve rt e d
to Christianity by Ja m e s’s miracles and was sent back
See also: AGRIPPAVONNETTESHEIM,HEINRICHCORNELIUS;ALCHE-
to his master to conve rt him in turn. He r m o g e n e s
MY;ASTROLOGY;GREEKMAGICALPAPYRI;KABBALAH;MAGIC,
LEARNED;MAGIC,NATURAL;OCCULT;THOTH;YATES,FRANCES became furious and had Philetus bound by invisible
AMELIA. magical bonds, from which he was later re l e a s e d
References and further reading: t h rough the power of Ja m e s’s handkerchief (s u d a r i-
Betz, Hans Dieter, ed. 1992.The Greek Magical Papyri in u m). In a rage, Hermogenes then commanded his
Translation.Vol. 1. 2d ed. Chicago: University of Chicago demons to have James delive red to him in chains. Bu t
Press. c o n f ronted by James, the demons changed their
Burnett, Charles. 2001. “The Establishment of Medieval
allegiance and pleaded to be released fro m
Hermeticism.” Pp. 111–130 in The Medieval World.Edited by
He r m o g e n e s’s service. In exchange, they promised to
Peter Linehan and Janet L. Nelson. London: Routledge.
d e l i ver Hermogenes to James. Fi n a l l y, the conve rt
Clark, Stuart. 1997. “Natural Magic.” Thinking with Demons: The
Philetus released Hermogenes from his shackles,
Idea of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe.Oxford: Clarendon.
He r m o g e n e s’s books we re thrown into the sea (rather
Copenhaver, Brian P. 1992. Hermetica.Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. than burned, in order to avoid harm from their
Festugière, A. J., and A. D. Nock, eds. 1954–1960. Corpus n oxious smoke), and Hermogenes conve rted to
Hermeticum.4 vols. 2d ed. Paris: Les Belles Lettres. C h r i s t i a n i t y.
———. 1967. Hermétisme et mystique païenne.Paris: Our earliest visual images, such as the thirt e e n t h -
Aubier-Montaigne. c e n t u ry stained-glass cycles at Chart res, Bourges,
Fowden, Garth. 1986. The Egyptian Hermes: A Historical Approach and Tours, or the many Italian images from the later
to the Late Pagan Mind.Oxford: Oxford University Press.
f o u rteenth century, follow the Golden Legend ve ry
Kaimakis, Dimitris. 1976. Die Kryaniden.Meisenheim am Glan:
c l o s e l y. The story is also found in several early fre s-
Hain.
coes such as Arrigo di Ni c c o l ò ’s in the cathedral in
Merkel, Ingrid, and Allen G. Debus, eds. 1988. Hermeticism and
Prato and Altichiero’s from the late 1370s in the
the Renaissance: Intellectual History and the Occult in Early
Basilico del Santo in Padua. Mantegna completed a
Modern History.London: Folger.
Pico della Mirandola, Giovanni. 1956. Oration on the Dignity of f resco for the Eremitani church in Padua about
Man.Translated by A. Robert Caponigi. Chicago: Regnery Co. 1450, which includes a scene of James ordering two
Pingree, David, ed. 1986. Picatrix: The Latin Version of the Ghâyat demons to deliver the bound Hermogenes to him.
Al-Hakîm.London: Warburg Institute. In 1387/1388, Lore n zo Monaco painted a panel for
Robinson, James M., ed. 1977.The Nag Hammadi Library in the predella of an altarpiece for the monastery of
English.San Francisco: Harper and Row. Santa Maria degli Angeli in Fl o rence (now in the
Thorndike, Lynne. 1934. “Ficino the Philosophaster.” A History of
L o u v re) that depicts the bound Hermogenes being
Magic and Experimental Science.Vol. IV. NewYork: Columbia
b rought by three devils to St. James and Ph i l e t u s .
University Press: 562–573.
And about 1430, Fra Angelico completed an exq u i s-
Waegeman, Maryse. 1987. Amulet and Alphabet: Magical Amulets
ite panel (now in the Kimbell Art Museum, Fo rt
in the First Book of Cyranides.Amsterdam: J. C. Gieben.
Wo rth), depicting Philetus freeing Hermogenes on
Yates, Frances A. 1964. Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic
Tradition.London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Ja m e s’s command, while James stands by holding a
g roup of terrible demons at bay with the power of
his staff.
Hermogenes Visual versions of the struggle between James and
Hermogenes was an ancient magician who featured in Hermogenes were not limited to Italy, but also appear
accounts of the travels and miracles of the apostle in northern Eu rope. A panel by Ludwig Ko r n re u t e r
St. James the Greater as early as the apocry p h a l (ca. 1490) from the altar of the church of St. James in
490 Hermogenes |
Wicca | Richard M.Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Western Tradition | 528 | 46049 Golden Chap. H av First Pages 08/25/2005 p.491 Application File
Hermogenes shackled by the devils he had sent to chain Saint James. (Erich Lessing/Art Resource)
Nösslach in Austria shows two devils presenting the See also: ARTANDVISUALIMAGES;BREUGEL,PIETERTHEELDER;
bound figure of the magician to the saint; a relief from DEMONOLOGY;DEMONS;MAGIC,LEARNED;STICKS;WEYER,
the high altar of the Teutonic Knights Castle church in JOHANN;ZIARNKO,JAN.
References and further reading:
Winnenden (ca. 1520) depicts St. James and
Fahy, Everett. 1987. “The Kimbell Fra Angelico.”Apollo125:
Hermogenes burning the magician’s books (based on
178–183.
p s e u d o - Abdias rather than the Golden Legend); and a
Gitlitz, David. 1996. “The Iconography of St. James in the
panel dated ca.1510–1520, possibly by Hi e ro n y m u s
Indianapolis Museum’s Fifteenth-Century Altarpiece.” Pp.
Bosch, depicts James in the vicinity of the magician,
113–130 in The Pilgrimage to Compostela in the Middle Ages.
s h own seated on an ornate chair, supposedly re l a y i n g A Book of Essays.Edited by Maryjane Dunn and Linda Kay
spells and orders to the strange demonic creatures gath- Davidson. NewYork and London: Garland.
ered around him. Kimpel, S. 1974. “Jakobus der Ältere.” Pp. 24–39 in Lexikon der
Hermogenes occasionally appears in later demono- christlichen Ikonographie.Vol. 7. Edited by Engelbert
logical literature, for example, Johann Weyer’sDe praes- Kirschbaum. Rome. Freiburg, Basel and Vienna: Herder.
tigiis daemonum ( On the Tricks of Devils, Book V I , Préaud, Maxime. 1973. Pp. 10–12 in Les sorcières.Paris:
Bibliothèque Nationale.
chap. 2), as one of a line of ancient magicians. But his
Reau, Louis. 1955–1959. “Jacques le Majeur. III. Iconographie.”
most dramatic appearance occurs in two engravings by
Pp. 695–702 in Iconographie de l’Art Chrétien.Vol. 3, part 2.
Peter Van der Heyden after drawings by Pieter Bruegel
Paris: Presses universitaires de France.
the El d e r, published by Hi e ronymous Cock in 1565.
Voragine, Jacobus de. 1993. Pp. 3–5 inThe Golden Legend.Vol. 2.
One depicts James in the magician’s chambers and rep-
Translated byWilliam Granger Ryan. Princeton, NJ: Princeton
resents the range of demonic forces over which University Press.
Hermogenes was believed to exercise power. Prominent
among these are the forces of witchcraft, represented by Hesse
t h ree different belching cauldrons and witches riding
Witch persecution happened practically everywhere in
dragons, goats, and brooms. The second, The Fall of the
Hesse, in both Protestant and Catholic areas. The pre-
Magician He rm o g e n e s , which depicts He r m o g e n e s’s
sent Land (state) of Hesse, founded in 1945, included
demons attacking their former master and hurling him
more than a dozen territories during the Holy Roman
headlong to the ground, includes a witch riding a
Em p i re (especially after the death of Landgraf
b room among the massed phalanx of metamorphic
[Landgrave] Phillipp 1567); they were often very small
monsters and hybrids. The ancient story of the
and were governed by both noble and ecclesiastical
Church’s struggle against magical arts has been extend-
lords. In addition, Hesse contained three imperial free
ed to include witchcraft.
cities: Friedberg, Gelnhausen, and the largest one,
CHARLES ZIKA Fr a n k f u rt am Main (which never executed any
Hesse 491 |
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witches). All three cities were Protestant, as were the but resumed after they left. On the other hand, there
sovereigns and subjects of the secular territories. The were many executions both before and after the war, for
Catholic territories belonged to the archbishop of example, up to 100 in the Gra f s c h a f t of Ha n a u -
Mainz (along the river Main, in the Taunus mountains Münzenberg from 1580 to 1618, or 51 executions after
and around the city of Dieburg) and the fully 1650 in the Grafschaft of Nassau-Usingen, and 49 exe-
autonomous prince-abbot of Fulda, who ruled the cutions in the small principality (F ü r s t e n t u m) of
largest Fürstabtei (prince abbacy) in the empire. When Waldeck. Persecutions we re ve ry rarely based only on
from time to time the local population demanded per- the bad (or ill) will of one person: if the crazy
secution by their government, it could be motivated by B ü r g e rmeister ( m a yor), Johann Koch of Ge l n h a u s e n ,
the example of a neighboring territory, even one that was responsible for twenty-two executions from 1596
belonged to another confession. to 1599, he was outdone by a very corrupt but appar-
Persecutions we re generally more intense in the small- ently sane S c h u l t h e i s s ( m a yor) named Geiss, who was
er territories, despite the great number of trials in the responsible for twe n t y - five executions between 1662
large ecclesiastical dominions of Mainz and Fulda. T h e and 1664 (including seven men) in the tiny town of
number of executed witches in Hesse approached 2,000, Lindheim.
with most (as elsew h e re) being female. The largest terri- Hessian persecutions decreased sharply in the 1680s,
t o ry, the L a n d g ra f s c h a f t (Landgraviate) of He s s e - K a s s e l , due largely to the influence of enlightened leaders. The
saw only fifty-one executions of witches, forty of them last execution in Hesse took place at Gambach, in the
taking place between 1650 and 1680. The smaller Gra f s c h a f t of So l m s - Braunfels, in 1718. The last trial
L a n d g rafschaft of He s s e - Darmstadt saw thirt y - s e ven exe- (whose results remain unknown) was held at Ni e d e r -
cutions between 1582 and 1590. He s s e - Darmstadt also Mörlen in the electorate of Mainz in 1739.
owned theAm t(district) of Homburg when up to twe n-
THOMAS LANGE;
ty executions we re ord e red there between 1603 and
1605. After the Am t Homburg became an independent TRANSLATED BY KAREN FLEISCHHAUER
L a n d g rafschaft (Landgraviate) of less than 10,000 per-
See also: COMMUNALPERSECUTION;FULDA,PRINCE-ABBEYOF;
sons in 1622, about seventy more witches we re exe c u t e d GERMANY,WESTANDNORTHWEST;HARTLIEB,JOHANN;MAINZ,
h e re, with persecutions peaking in 1634/1635 and par- ELECTORATEOF;NASSAU-SAARBRÜCKEN,COUNTYOF;POPULAR
ticularly from 1652 to 1656. Landgrave Wi l h e l m - PERSECUTION.
Christoph, who reigned over He s s e - Homburg fro m References and further reading:
1650 to 1681, pre f e r red to live in his even smaller Demandt, Karl Ernst, and Alexander Demandt. 1975. Lindheimer
L a n d g rafschaft of He s s e - Bingenheim (joined with He s s e - Chronik. Giessen: Selbstverlag.
Franz, Eckhart G., and Thomas Lange. 1994. “‘... möchten
Homburg after 1648). From 1648 until his death,
verbrennet werden’. Ausgrenzung und Gewalt gegen Ketzer, Juden,
Wilhelm-Christoph and his Am t m a n n( b a i l i f f f) ord e re d
Hexen... auch in der hessischen Geschichte.”Darmstadt:
a total of fif t y - t h ree executions in He s s e - Bi n g e n h e i m ,
Ausstellung der hessischen Staatsarchive (Katalog).
including twe l ve men and five children under age fif-
Jäger, Berthold. 1997. “Zur Geschichte der Hexenprozesse im Stift
teen. He re the persecutions seemed to depend on the
Fulda. Forschungsstand—Kritik—Perspektiven.” Fuldaer
rulers; a similar case happened with the Gra f s c h a f t Geschichtsblätter73: 7–64.
(county) of Isenburg-Büdingen, where a single Koppenhöfer, Johanna. 1995. Die mitleidlose Gesellschaft—Studien
Am t m a n n (Johann Ha rtlieb) was responsible for legal zur Verdachtsgenese, Ausgrenzungsverhalten und Prozssproblematik
p roceedings in 1633–1635 and 1651–1654 that led to im frühneuzeitlichen Hexenprozess in der alten Grafschaft Nassau
at least 283 executions. Howe ve r, it would be a mistake unter Johann VI. und der späteren Teilgrafschaft Nassau-
to assign sole responsibility to the administration: in Dillenburg (1559–1687).Frankfurt and Berlin: Peter Lang.
Pohl, Herbert. 1989. Hexenglaube und Hexenverfolgung im
Isenburg-Büdingen, dozens of inhabitants wrote peti-
Kurfürstentum Mainz. Ein Beitrag zur Hexenfrage im 16. und
tions urging the administration to continue with the
beginnenden 17. Jahrhundert.Stuttgart: Steiner.
persecutions. The same happened in the Gra f s c h a f t o f
Schleichert, Sabine. 1993. “Hexenprozesse in der Landgrafschaft
Na s s a u - Dillenburg, where witch committees
Hessen-Kassel.” Hessisches Jb. fürLandesgeschichte43: 39–76.
(He xe n a u s s c h ü s s e)—copying the neighboring electorate
Vater, Andrea. 1988. “Hexenverfolgungen in nassauischen
of Tr i e r — p rofessionally searched for witches from 1618 Grafschaften im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert.” Law diss.,
to 1648 and found 158 of them. Philipps-Universität Marburg.
Many petitions (s u p p l i c a t i o n e s) surv i ve from other Vaupel, Ursula. 1999. “Sie wollen die Hexen brennen.” In
parts of Hesse, especially during the Thirty Years’War. Hexenprozesse 1657 in Eschwege.2d ed. Kassel: Verein für
In extremely troubled times, it seems that part of the hessische Geschichte und Landeskunde.
population sought people whom they blamed for their
situations and hoped for an end to their problems by Historiography
killing witches. Hessian persecutions stopped when Witchcraft and witch persecutions became a distinct sub-
Swedish troops arrived in 1631 (Dieburg, Büdingen), discipline of history only around 1970, when pre v i o u s
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re s e a rch was first internationally re v i ewed (Mi d e l f o rt offenders of the law, biblical (Exodus 22:18) as well as
1968) and subsequently classified, just about the time Roman, they were to be killed.
when a paradigm shift also occurred. In a still useful Second, for theologians of the early and high Middle
c l a s s i fication, Monter (1972) divided witchcraft re s e a rc h Ages like Bishop Bu rc h a rd of Worms, author of an
into three major paradigms (in the Kuhnian sense): ratio- i n fluential penitential whose formulations would
nalist, Romantic, and social science. Obv i o u s l y, some become part of canon law, witches we re individuals
a p p roaches, like Carlo Gi n z b u r g’s (1983) did not fit into who believed they possessed powers that in reality did
Mo n t e r’s classification trinity; and even if we stretch its not exist. In this period of missions, devils were equated
meaning, it would be hard to accept a late demonologist with pagan gods, which were defeated and therefore less
like “Re ve re n d” Montague Summers (1926) as p owe rful than Jesus. Witches we re merely deceived by
“ Ro m a n t i c . ” devilish illusions. They should not be killed, but cor-
The third paradigm was the most recent, and most rected and educated (Corrector Burchardi, in Patrologia
scholars then subscribed to this apparently more Latina140, col. 491–1090).
sophisticated approach, by employing theories derive d T h i rd, the rise of heretical movements in the later
from sociology, anthropology, or psychology.The most Middle Ages changed this perspective. Some theolo-
attractive models included Keith Thomas’sReligion and gians, like the Dominican inquisitor Heinrich Kramer,
the Decline of Magic(1971), which borrowed extensive- author of the Malleus Ma l e fic a ru m (The Hammer of
ly from Edward Evans-Pritchard’s classical (1937) study Witches, 1486), imagined witches to be members of a
of British social anthropology.These two Oxford schol- vast conspiracy directed against Christian society,
ars even staged a polite scholarly exchange over the rela- which God allowed to cause immense physical and
tionship of history and anthropology. One of Thomas’s spiritual hard s h i p. The witches’ powe r, although sup-
students, Alan Macfarlane, seemed to demonstrate how p o rted by the Devil with Go d’s permission, was re a l .
fruitful this exchange was in his dissertation, published Witches there f o re must be physically eradicated,
in 1970. However, it soon turned out that social-scien- a c c o rding to divine and secular law, and by virt u a l l y
t i fic theories made little sense for a good number of any means, because exceptional crimes required excep-
phenomena in continental Eu ropean history, which tional measures. However, because canon law disputed
required more traditional historical methods and expla- the existence of night-flying witches, historical inquiry
nations (Mi d e l f o rt 1972). Some of these theories, like was necessary. Kramer claimed that these witches were
Eva n s - Pr i t c h a rd’s, we re already outdated when histori- n ovel, and traditional Church law did not apply to
ans discove red and employed them, and stru c t u r a l - them. The appearance of the witches was one sign of
functionalist social anthropology was less widely the imminent end of the world.
accepted than British historians believed; they ove r- Fo u rth, opponents of witch hunting generally disap-
looked previous Russian re s e a rch on shamanism p roved of the atrocities. But it took Johann We ye r, a
(Shirokogoroff 1935) or American cultural anthropolo- c o u rt physician to the duke of Cleves, to find a nonre l i-
gy (Kluckhohn 1944). gious reason. The author of the most influential early
T h e re f o re, a generation beyond 1970, it seems modern book against witchcraft persecutions considere d
a p p ropriate to take a bro a d e r, long-term view of the so-called “w i t c h e s” to be melancholic females who need-
historiography of witchcraft. In Eu rope, a number of ed leniency and medical care to cure their mental illness.
clear-cut definitions have drastically challenged tradi- They we re not evil but sick, and they needed not
tional notions of witchcraft and molded perceptions of punishment, but sympathy. Killing them could not be
its history. First, Christian demonology equated black j u s t i fied under any circumstances, but was a “m a s s a c re
and white magic. Founded on the thought of St . of the innocents” (De praestigiis daemonum,Basel, 1563,
Augustine, bishop of Hippo in northern Africa, any p reface). Opponents equated witch hunting with the
kind of magic, and even superstitious customs like persecution of Christians in ancient Rome. T h e
wearing amulets or watching stars for astrological pur- Eu ropean denial of witchcraft had firm roots in this pre -
poses, implied some contract between a human and a C a rtesian opposition to atro c i t y, subsequently adopted
demon (the Devil), because magicians expected effects by re p re s e n t a t i ves of Eu ropean spiritualism, rationalism,
from ceremonies or things that could not work without and Enlightenment. Because they did not believe in the
one (De doctrina christiana,II, 30–40). In this scenario, existence of witchcraft, they considered witch killings a
witchcraft became a chapter in the everlasting struggle c ruel injustice committed by authorities, as Andre a
b e t ween good and evil, although its specific forms Alciati suggested, or “judicial murd e r” (Ju s t i z m o rd) as
reportedly came from ancient Babylon. In the wake of the enlightened historian August Ludwig Schlözer called
Roman sorc e ry scares, and inspired by monotheism, it on the occasion of the last legal execution of a witch in
any kind of magic seemed equal to witchcraft. Eu rope (Schlöze r, St a t s - An zeigen, 1783, 2: 273–277).
Magicians and witches we re allies of the Devil and Fifth, whereas Renaissance scholars like Alciati had
belonged to the civitas diaboli (city of the Devil). As a l ready attributed the creation of the crime of witchcraft
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to the papal Inquisition, the enlightened scholar C h u rc h’s attempts to destroy Eu ropean national cul-
Christian Thomasius scru t i n i zed the history of witch- t u res. A Romantic paradigm was created, culminating
craft and witchcraft persecution more thoro u g h l y. In in the fantasies of the French historian Jules Michelet,
1712, this law professor at Halle wrote the first dissert a- who reinterpreted the witches as heroines of folk medi-
tion on the history of witchcraft, based on printed cine, victims of feudal suppression, and predecessors of
s o u rces. By demonstrating that witches had been legally the French Re volution. Although marginalized in the
persecuted only for a short period from the fifteenth to nineteenth century, the seeds sown by Grimm and
the seventeenth centuries, and that their “c r i m e” had Michelet flourished among occultists, and later in fem-
indeed been an invention of the inquisitors, as Alciati inist movements (Howe 1972); they eventually helped
suggested, Thomasius managed to instru m e n t a l i ze create a new religion, the New Witches, which gained
h i s t o ry as a weapon of Enlightenment. When he fir s t momentum after the 1960s (Purkiss 1996).
challenged beliefs in witchcraft in a 1701 legal dissert a- These Romantic or even fantastic approaches have
tion, he was fie rcely attacked and moved to the center of re c e i ved support more recently from postmodernist
public debate in Ge r m a n y. Thomasius re c e i ved consid- philosophies, which blur the boundaries between reali-
erable support from theologians, as well as from lawye r s , ty and fantasy. However, as Diane Purkiss pointed out,
philosophers, and physicians. The debate, which lasted witchcraft persecutions, like the twe n t i e t h - c e n t u ry
for more than two decades, had much in common with Holocaust, may not be the best subject for such intel-
earlier English debates. Like Thomas Hobbes or Jo h n lectual exercises (Purkiss 1996). Even without reducing
Wagstaffe, Thomasius was labeled an atheist, but like reality to text, we must admit that the Eu ro p e a n
the Whig politicians he managed to turn the subject a p p roach to witchcraft over the last two millennia has
into a weapon against the clergy. Howe ve r, T h o m a s i u s’s been characterized by what Eric Hobsbawm and
main argument was historical. Soon afterw a rd, Fr a n c i s Terence Ranger (1983) termed the “invention of tradi-
Hutchinson published his Historical Essay Concern i n g tion.” Augustine, Bu rc h a rd, Kramer, We ye r, Gr i m m ,
Wi t c h c ra f t(London, 1718), and subsequently, historical and Michelet, but also Thomasius and Soldan, we re
considerations became commonplace in En l i g h t e n e d founders of distinctive traditions. Witchcraft historiog-
d i s c o u r s e . raphy was deeply invo l ved with constructed re a l i t i e s
Rationalism remained the dominant ideology centuries before the advent of deconstructivism or post-
among academics during the period of industrializa- modern theory, but most historians remained con-
tion. Most professional historians we re proponents of a vinced that, at least to some extent, past realities can be
rationalist approach, labeled the “Soldan paradigm” by reconstructed.
Monter (1972), referring to Wilhelm Gottlieb So l d a n , Due to the rise of social theory, the interpretation of
a Lutheran professor of history, and member of witchcraft underwent a leap of abstraction aro u n d
Parliament in Hesse, who in 1843 published the fir s t 1900, best illustrated by some contemporaries of
modern Geschichte der He xe n p ro ze s s e ( Hi s t o ry of the Hansen, whose concepts have proved influential to the
Witch Trials), firmly based on sources in a Rankean p resent day. Ps ychology since Sigmund Freud viewe d
style. Joseph Hansen, the most influential pro t a g o n i s t hidden desires of omnipotence and aggression, sup-
of the Rationalist interpretation, considered witchcraft p ressed into the subconscious, as a driving force of
to be a nonexistent crime, and his interpretation has witchcraft fantasies, and saw witches as objects of pro-
molded Western historical re s e a rch to the present day, jection for anxieties and aggression. The functionalist
including anthropologists like Bronislaw Ma l i n ow s k i sociology of Émile Durkheim (1858–1917), particular-
or Eva n s - Pr i t c h a rd. Ne ve rtheless, it must have been ly his idea that societies define norms through deviance,
evident to eve ryone reading the trial re c o rds that some has molded social anthro p o l o g y’s doctrine that witch-
of those accused had indeed experimented with magic, craft should be considered a means of securing norms,
w o rked as healers, experienced visions and ecstasies, or and there f o re identity. Max We b e r’s (1864–1920) his-
e ven dared to invoke demons, ve ry much like their torical sociology linked the process of rationalization in
educated male contemporaries, or witches outside Eu rope to complex changes in mental as well as eco-
Eu ro p e . nomic stru c t u res, leading to a disenchantment of the
Meanwhile, at the beginning of the nineteenth cen- world. Anthropologists since Ma l i n owski have inter-
tury, when the execution of witches had already ended, p reted witch fears and antiwitchcraft movements as
a completely new, postrationalist interpretation turned symptoms of crisis in society. Like earlier Eu ro p e a n
up, inspired by Romanticism. Emphasizing the impor- rationalists, these anthropologists considered magic a
tance of women, witches were reinterpreted as incarna- product of the imagination, a consequence of deficient
tions of popular culture, or even of popular resistance. technology, and a lack of insight into the laws of nature
Jacob Grimm, the godfather of language and folklore in primitive societies.
studies, re d e fined witches as “wise women,” bearers of But the widespread assumption that belief in witch-
ancient wisdom, unjustly persecuted by the Christian craft was characteristic of primitive, uneducated people,
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like medieval peasants or tribal societies, has prove d chapter on the Eu ropean “witch craze” in his utterly
untenable. Even in Western Eu rope and No rt h polemical Hi s t o ry of Wa rf a re of Science with T h e o l o gy
America, traditional anxieties about witchcraft persist- and Christendom(1913).
ed, and individuals may still be suspected of being A quite different use for witchcraft developed in the
witches under certain circumstances. The assumption context of a rising occultist movement, which flo u r-
of primitivism also failed to fit the experience of early ished in fin de siècle Eu ropean cities like London, Pa r i s ,
modern Eu rope, where innumerable educated people or Vienna. Prosperity and boredom created strange
firmly believed in the existence of witches and urged combinations: life reform, theosophy, spiritualism, ear-
their prosecution. T h e re was also an obvious paradox , ly communism, early feminism, vegetarianism, and
because for those believing in witchcraft, its dangers antivivisectionism, but also anti-Semitism, clearly a
we re indeed real, because seve re anxieties can provo k e sign of unrest in these centers of industrial capitalism.
p s ychosomatic reactions, and thus real harm. Such a The son of a beer brewe r, Ed w a rd Alexander
conclusion makes it more difficult to explain away (1875–1947), founded a satanic order under the pseu-
witchcraft as imaginary or irrelevant. One of the most donym of “Aleister Crow l e y.” His T h e l e m aclub (allud-
recent observations of anthropological research was the ing to a group of free-thinkers in Rabelais’s Ga r g a n t u a)
“modernity of witchcraft.” No longer considered a became a magnet for all kinds of sinister fig u re s ,
marker of “primitive cultures” or of a distant past, mod- including L. Ron Hu b b a rd, a member of the American
ern witcraft was instead characteristic of complex soci- branch of Alexander’s movement before founding his
eties at the beginning of the twenty-first century.These own gro u p, later called the “Church of Scientology”
anthropologists have ceased to treat witchcraft as being ( Howe 1972). Another of Alexander’s students was
located in tribal societies, and deliberately inserted his- Gerald B. Ga rdner (1884–1964), who founded a new
torical analysis of developments in African societies into religion of witchcraft. Ga rdner built it from a most
their narratives (Geschiere 1997). irritating publication, Ma r g a ret Mu r r a y’s T h e Wi t c h -
Most historical paradigms have served some specific Cult in We s t e rn Eu ro p e (1921), which imagined the
political purpose. The examples of Grimm and persistence of an age-old pagan fertility cult where wise
Michelet demonstrated the nationalist political agendas men and women ritually adored a horned god, the
of the nineteenth century. Witchcraft gained new “god of the witches,” who was of course misinterpre t e d
i m p o rtance in the increasing conflicts between the by the Christian Churches as the Devil. Murray must
European nation-states and the still-powerful Catholic h a ve been amazed by the success of her story, which
C h u rch. Tensions increased when Pope Pius IX (ru l e d made her a celebrity, gaining applause even from emi-
1846–1878) condemned Rationalism and Liberalism nent British scholars like Christopher Hill and Si r
in his Syllabus of Er rors (1864), and Catholic political Stephen Runciman, and wide audience through the
p a rties tried to implement papal policies within some En c yc l o p e d i a Br i t a n n i c a , whose entry on witchcraft
nation-states. These conflicts gained momentum after f rom 1929 until 1968 was based on Mu r r a y’s fantasies.
the pope declared himself infallible during the Fi r s t Murray remained entirely innocent of the existing sec-
Vatican Council in 1870. The subject of witchcraft o n d a ry literature as well as all but a handful of sourc e s ,
gained importance as circumstantial evidence against which she quoted uncritically. Sh o rtly before publish-
the dogma of infallibility. In central Europe, large parts ing her autobiography, My First Hu n d red Ye a r s , s h e
of the literature on witchcraft, and on witchcraft perse- came into contact with the new witches’ move m e n t ,
cutions in part i c u l a r, we re written by a generation e ven contributing a forew o rd to Ga rd n e r’s Wi t c h c ra f t
molded by the conflict between Church and state, the To d a y,the first description of his new religion of witch-
Ku l t u rk a m p f . Even Hansen, who exe m p l i fied the craft, constructed from Mu r r a y’s fantasies.
Rationalist paradigm in the historiography of witch- Except for a few examples of international coopera-
craft, felt obliged to make this comment: “The ele- tion (for instance, between Hansen and Burr) and cases
ments of the craze, leading to witch persecution, are of national political propaganda in the context of the
almost without exception still part of Christian teach- Kulturkampf,witchcraft research remained largely con-
ings in all denominations. This is why our historical fined to local historians, exploring their town, their val-
re s e a rch is of particular actuality” (Hansen 1901, vii). l e y, their region, or their nation. Be t ween about 1880
American scholars like Henry Charles Lea and George and 1930, when cultural history flourished in most
Lincoln Burr had their own political agendas, empha- Eu ropean countries, numerous source-based studies
sizing the guilt of Church and state in these persecu- could be mentioned, exploring local evidence without
tions. Bu r r’s employe r, Andrew Dickson W h i t e much theoretical ambition, quite unlike recent “micro-
(1832–1918), president of Cornell Un i ve r s i t y, was histories.” Many of these studies are still worth reading
deeply annoyed by the attempts of religious fundamen- to get information about particular areas.
talists to restrict the freedom of science and control the The “rational assumption” that atrocities like the
curriculum at Cornell. T h e re f o re he included a long witch hunts would never again happen in Eu rope, as
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Sigmund Riezler had claimed in 1896, crumbled after beliefs. Its wealth of insights, exceeding the author’s
the World War I, World War II, the war crimes, and the intended interpretation, was mirrored in the variety of
Holocaust. It was during this crisis of European ratio- approaches chosen by his students. Whereas Macfarlane
nalism that the new academic discipline of anthropolo- (1970) tried to prove that witchcraft in early modern
gy produced studies on witchcraft. The social-scientific Essex resembled British colonial Africa; Robin Br i g g s
approach dominated the academic perception of witch- (1996) focused on neighborhood quarrels in Lorraine;
craft throughout the twentieth century, with Ian Bostridge (1997) scru t i n i zed the final debates on
Malinowski and Evans-Pritchard as outstanding figures, witchcraft in Britain, a compelling exercise in social and
s u r rounded by a corona of re s e a rchers who eve n intellectual history; and James Sharpe became the lead-
reached a wider public, like Lucy Mair (1901–1986) or ing social historian of English witchcraft (1997).
Ma ry Douglas. Some recent anthropologists (Ni e h a u s In the United States, H. C. Erik Mi d e l f o rt (1972)
2001; Geschiere 1997) have developed a stronger sense and William Monter (1976) tried early on to delive r
of the historicity of not only customs and mentalities, balanced regional studies, taking into account social
but also of institutions. With the rising importance of theory as well as regional peculiarities, and social as well
post colonial African states and the integration of local as intellectual history. For many central Eu ro p e a n
economies into the world market, anthro p o l o g i s t s scholars, Mi d e l f o rt provided a convincing pattern of
i n c reasingly look at the publications of historians and re s e a rch as well as of interpretation, because his com-
s t a rt to compare African and Eu ropean deve l o p m e n t s p a r a t i ve regional study on the German So u t h we s t
(Geschiere 1997, 187ff.). a voided the impression of premodern intellectual
In historiography, a major increase in witchcraft underdevelopment and painted an entirely novel land-
studies started in the 1960s. Some scholars, like Ku rt scape of early modern debates that were closely related
Baschwitz (1963) and Hugh Redwald Tre vo r - Ro p e r to specific witch hunts. Within such a scenario, tradi-
(1967), tried to summarize older witchcraft re s e a rc h tional historiographical methods like pro s o p o g r a p h y
within the Rationalist paradigm, relying on published made as much sense as quantification, and the combi-
s o u rces (Hansen 1901) and available literature . nation of approaches and the discussion of results on a
Howe ve r, at about the same time, younger scholars theoretical level created a new type of study on witch-
s t a rted correcting mistakes of older witchcraft histori- craft. The importance of scholars like T h o m a s ,
ography by critically re v i ewing the sources (Cohn Mi d e l f o rt, and Ginzburg for the historiography of
1975). They took trial re c o rds seriously and studied witchcraft has been widely acknowledged; each has
them systematically, informed by a variety of ideas from been honored with conferences (Exe t e r, 1990;
neighboring disciplines, as well as new deve l o p m e n t s Weingarten, 1997; Budapest, 1999) and related publi-
such as history “f rom below,” the history of crime, cations or Festschriften.
inquisition studies, and gender history. Although the In the 1980s, new witchcraft studies pro l i f e r a t e d .
French An n a l e s school usually re c e i ves credit for all Flourishing schools of re s e a rch we re established in
kinds of innovations, the decisive new studies on witch- Scandinavia (Bengt Ankarloo, Gustav He n n i n g s e n ,
craft, indicating a paradigm shift, came from Italy, the Hans Eyvind Naess), where the impact of British social
United Kingdom, and the United States. In It a l y, a h i s t o ry was particularly strong, whereas in France the
student of Delio Cantimori, an expert on here s y, tradition of the An n a l e s school pre vailed (Ro b e rt
revolutionized witchcraft studies by taking the witches’ Muchembled, Alfred Soman). Im p o rtant schools of
confessions seriously. In 1966, Carlo Ginzburg pub- research also started in Austria (Heide Dienst, Helfried
lished his dissertation on the Be n a n d a n t i , a folk belief Valentinitsch); Germany (Sönke Lorenz, Ge r h a rd
about ritual specialists who mystically fought witches to Schormann, Wolfgang Behringer, Eva Labouvie, Walter
s e c u re fertility; several scholars understood this as an Rummel, Karen Lambrecht, Johannes Dillinger, Britta
attempt to re v i ve Mu r r a y’s ideas on prehistorical sur- Gehm); Hu n g a ry (Gábor Klaniczay, Eva Pócs); the
v i vals. Howe ve r, although obviously stimulated by Netherlands (Willem Fr i j h o f f, Marijke Gi j s w i j t -
Gr i m m’s ideas about popular traditions, Gi n z b u r g Hofstra, Hans de Wa a rdt, Willem de Bl é c o u rt ) ;
clearly interpreted existing sources from a part i c u l a r Sw i t zerland (Agostino Pa r a v i c i n i - Bagliani, Ma rt i n e
region, the Friuli, eventually developing them into a Os t o re ro, Kathrin Ut z - Tremp); and Scotland
vision of hidden traces of Eurasian shamanism through- (Christina Larner, Julian Goodare).
out historical Europe (Ginzburg 1990). Re v i ewing historical re s e a rch of witchcraft on an
W h e reas Ginzburg focused on folk mythology, in international level has there f o re turned into a major
England Keith Thomas used folk practices. Although challenge. More research has been done within the past
e m p l oying the glasses of structural-functionalism, his years than in any previous decade, often within the con-
study on magic (1971) carried so many details from tri- text of multinational conferences. Contributions of
al records and contemporary pamphlets that it was also younger (and, to an increasing degree, female) scholars
possible to grasp early modern mentalities and folk h a ve changed our perspectives. Mo re studies are now
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c h a r a c t e r i zed by interd i s c i p l i n a ry, comparative, and of religious fundamentalism, emphasized by late nine-
experimental approaches. It is there f o re impossible to t e e n t h - c e n t u ry scholars in Eu rope and America alike;
s u m m a r i ze the abundant studies published in the last injustice generally; or the gender issue, so prominent in
two decades of the twentieth century without using recent years (Wunder 1998; Wiesner 2000). St u d e n t s
hundreds of pages (Behringer 2004a). a re usually more attracted by witchcraft than by drier
However, it is possible to sketch some major trends. parts of their academic disciplines. And they are right to
Be yond comparative regional studies, new models of choose this exotic and entertaining subject, which
re s e a rch have been employed to study several specific offers at least as many insights as traditional but boring
problems, including the witches’ Sabbat, a major exer- topics. For academics, there is the fascination of witch-
cise in folk beliefs (Ginzburg 1990); the system of c r a f t’s cross-cultural pre valence, frequent cultural
demonology, a major contribution to intellectual histo- p rominence, and paradoxical attributes, with the
ry (Clark 1996); microstudies of particularly interesting potential for testing theories about stru c t u res, belief,
cases (Behringer 1998); and sometimes exploring such and social action (Levack 1993; Behringer 2004b).
s p e c i fic methods of interpretation as psyc h o a n a l y s i s Furthermore, the subject generates lively and contro-
( Roper 1994). Historians of witchcraft have also versial discussions in seminars or in public, because
explored related subjects, including the history of mod- t h e re is room for interpretation. It is, howe ve r, indis-
ern Eu ropean inquisitions (Henningsen and Te d e s c h i pensable to be aware of existing debates on the subject.
1986), of fairy beliefs (Pócs 1989), of divination (Pócs Some recent multivolume tools have made this easier: a
1999), or the history of madness (Midelfort 1999). c o m p re h e n s i ve Hi s t o ry of Wi t c h c raft and Magic in
These new models of research confirmed that social Europe(Ankarloo and Clark 1999–2002) as well as this
t h e o ry has ceased to be the main model for re s e a rc h . En c yclopedia of Wi t c h c raft: The We s t e rn Tra d i t i o n
We observe a much greater awareness of cultural issues ( Golden 2005). Both can be taken as harvests of late
(institutions, folk beliefs, customs and rituals, mentali- twentieth-century witchcraft research, and as guides to
ties, mental diseases) and intellectual systems (legal, further reading.
medical, theological, philosophical). Whether these
WOLFGANG BEHRINGER
a l ready constitute another paradigm shift, an entire l y
n ew approach in historical studies, is still difficult to See also: ALCIATI,ANDREA;ANTHROPOLOGY;AUGUSTINE,ST.;
determine. Anthro p o l o g y, too, has experienced an
BEHRINGER,WOLFGANG;BURCHARDOFWORMS;BURR,GEORGE
upsurge of recent publications. Some scholars claimed
LINCOLN;CLARK,STUART;CONTEMPORARYWITCHCRAFT(POST
1800); DOUGLAS,MARY;EVANS-PRITCHARD,EDWARDE.; FREUD,
that new interpretations have already been reached by
SIGMUND;GINZBURG,CARLO;GRIMM,JACOB;HANSEN,JOSEPH;
i n t e r p reting witchcraft as a “language” of the
HENNINGSEN,GUSTAV;HUTCHINSON,FRANCIS;LAMOTHE-
suppressed (Bond and Ciekawy 2001, 1–38). It is hard
LANGON,ÉTIENNE-LÉONDE;LEA,HENRYCHARLES;LEVACK,
to see where the “cultural turn” will take us; it seems to BRIAN;MACFARLANE,ALAN;MALINOWSKI,BRONISLAWKASPER;
mean different things in different disciplines. But the MICHELET,JULES;MIDELFORT,H.C.ERIK;MONTER,WILLIAM;
kind of cultural history, or historical anthro p o l o g y, MURRAY,MARGARETALICE;RIEZLER,SIGMUND;SOLDAN,
p resently pre f e r red by scholars exploring witchcraft WILHELMGOTTLIEB;THOMAS,KEITH;THOMASIUS,CHRISTIAN;
seems to surpass the boundaries of a mere “s o c i a l - TREVOR-ROPER,HUGH(LORDDACREOFGLANTON); WEYER,
science paradigm.” JOHANN.
References and further reading:
The fascination of the subject remains unbro k e n ;
Ankarloo, Bengt, and Stuart Clark, eds. 1999–2002. The Athlone
more scholars than ever before are exploring the mean-
History of Witchcraft and Magic in Europe.6 vols. Philadelphia:
ing of witchcraft. But why are we so fascinated by the
University of Pennsylvania Press.
subject of witchcraft? There are many different reasons
Ankarloo, Bengt, and Gustav Henningsen, eds. 1990. Early
for different people, and more than one even for the
Modern European Witchcraft. Centres and Peripheries.Oxford:
same person. Be yond sheer entertainment, the best Clarendon.
guess is that the subject of witchcraft is a matter of Baschwitz, Kurt. 1963.Hexen und Hexenprozesse. Die Geschichte
i d e n t i t y. It offers the endless attractions of sex and eines Massenwahnes und seiner Bekämpfung.Munich: Rütten
crime, the stereotypes of forbidden knowledge, hidden and Löning.
conspiracies, occult powers, secret circles, underground Behringer,Wolfgang. 1998. Shaman of Oberstdorf. Chonrad
rituals, feminine powe r, misogynistic clerics, blood- Stoeckhlin and the Phantoms of the Night.Translated by H. C.
Erik Midelfort. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
thirsty persecutors, and heroic fighters against suppres-
———. 2004a. “Geschichte der Hexenforschung.” Pp. 485–680
sion and persecution. For obvious reasons, the term
in Wider alle Zauberei und Teufelswerk. Die europäische
“witch hunt” serves as a metaphor for certain types of
Hexenverfolgung und ihre Auswirkung auf Südwestdeutschland.
oppression by forces now conceived as evil. The histori-
Edited by Sönke Lorenz and Jürgen Michael Schmidt.
ography of witchcraft seems to be informed by coded
Ostfildern: Jan Thorbecke.
subjects: the suppression of human rights by specific ———. 2004b.Witches and Witch-Hunts. A Global History
institutions in specific political circumstances; the issue (= Themes in History). Cambridge: Polity.
Historiography 497 |
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Bond, George C., and Diana M. Ciekawy, eds. 2001. Witchcraft ———. 1976. Witchcraft in France and Switzerland. The
Dialogues. Anthropological and Philosophical Exchanges.Athens: Borderlands During the Reformation.Ithaca, NY, and London:
Ohio University Press. Cornell University Press.
Bostridge, Ian. 1997. Witchcraft and Its Transformations, Niehaus, Isak, Eliazaar Mohlala, and Shokane Kally. 2001.
c.1650–c.1750.Oxford: Clarendon. Witchcraft, Power and Politics. Exploring the Occult in the South
Briggs, Robin. 1996. Witches and Neighbours. The Social and African Lowveld. Cape Town: David Philip; London and
Cultural Context of European Witchcraft. London: Fontana. Sterling, VA: Pluto.
Clark, Stuart. 1996. Thinking with Demons. The Idea of Witchcraft Ostorero, Martine, Agostino Paravicini Bagliani, Kathrin Utz
in Early Modern Europe.Oxford: Clarendon. Tremp, and Catherine Chène, eds. 1999.L’imaginaire du
Cohn, Norman. 1975. Europe’s Inner Demons: An Enquiry Inspired sabbat. Edition critique des textes les plus anciens (1430 c.–1440
by the Great Witch-Hunt. London: Chatto Heinemann. c.).Lausanne: Section d’histoire. Faculté des Lettres (Cahiers
Dillinger, Johannes. 1999. “Böse Leute.” Hexenverfolgungen in lausannois d’histoire médiévale, 26).
Schwäbisch Österreich und Kurtrier im Vergleich.Trier: Spee. Pócs, Éva. 1989. Fairies and Witches at the Boundary of South-
Evans-Pritchard, Edgar E. 1937. Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Eastern and Central Europe. Folklore Fellows’ Communications
Among the Azande. Oxford: Clarendon. 243. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tieideakatemia.
Geschiere, Peter. 1997. The Modernity of Witchcraft: Politics and ———. 1999. Between the Living and the Dead. A Perspective on
the Occult in Postcolonial Africa.Charlottesville: University Press Witches and Seers in the Early Modern Age.Budapest: Central
of Virginia. European University Press.
Ginzburg, Carlo. 1983. The Night Battles.Baltimore: Johns Purkiss, Diane. 1996. The Witch in History. Early Modern and
Hopkins University [first Italian ed. 1966]. Twentieth-Century Representations.London: Routledge.
———. 1990. Ecstasies. Deciphering the Witches’ Sabbath.London: Riezler, Sigmund. 1983. Geschichte der Hexenprozesse. Im Lichte
Hutchinson Radius. der allgemeinen Entwickelung dargestellt.Stuttgart: Magnus
Golden, Richard M., ed. 2005. Encyclopedia of Witchcraft: The (reprint of 1896 edition).
WesternTradition.4 vols. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. Roper, Lyndal. 1994. Oedipus and the Devil.London and New
Hansen, Joseph, ed. 1963. Quellen und Untersuchungen zur York: Routledge.
Geschichte des Hexenwahns und der Hexenverfolgung im Sharpe, James. 1997. Instruments of Darkness. Witchcraft in
Mittelalter.Hildesheim: Georg Olms (reprint from 1901). England 1550–1750.Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania
Henningsen, Gustav, and John Tedeschi, eds. 1986. The Press.
Inquisition in Early Modern Europe: Studies on Sources and Shirokogoroff, Sergej M. 1935. Psychomental Complex of the
Methods.DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press. Tungus.Shanghai and London: Kegan, Paul, Trench, Trubner.
Hobsbawm, Eric J., and Terence Ranger, eds. 1983. The Invention Soldan, Wilhelm Georg, Heinrich Heppe, and Max Bauer. 1968.
of Tradition.Cambridge, UK, and NewYork: Cambridge Geschichte der Hexenprozess.Hanau: Müller and Kiepenheuer
University Press. [reprint from Berlin 1911; first ed. by Soldan 1843].
Howe, Ellic. 1972. The Magicians of the Golden Dawn:A Summers, Montague. 1926. The History of Witchcraft and
Documentary History of a Magical Order, 1887–1923.London: Demonology.London: K. Paul, Trench, Trubner; NewYork:
Routledge and Kegan Paul. A.A. Knopf.
Hutchinson, Francis. 2003. A Historical Essay Concerning Thomas, Keith. 1971. Religion and the Decline of Magic. London:
Witchcraft. Pp. 1–291 in EnglishWitchcraft 1560–1736.Vol 6. Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
Edited by James Sharpe. London: Pickering and Chatto Thomasius, Christian. 1712. De origine processus inquisitorii contra
[reprint of London 1718 ed.]. sagas.Halle.
Hutton, Ronald. 2004. “Anthropological and Historical White, Andrew Dickson. 1910. A History of the Warfare of Science
Approaches to Witchcraft: Potential for a New Collaboration?” with Theology in Christendom.2 vols. NewYork and London:
The Historical Journal 47/2: 413–434. D. Appleton.
Kluckhohn, Clyde. 1944. Navaho Witchcraft.Boston: Beacon. Wiesner, Merry E. 2000. Women and Gender in Early Modern
Levack, Brian P. 1993. The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe. Europe.2d ed. NewYork: Cambridge University Press.
2d ed. London and NewYork: Longman. Wunder, Heide. 1998. He Is the Sun, She Is the Moon: Women in
Macfarlane, Alan. 1970. Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England: A Early Modern Germany.Translated byThomas Dunlap.
Regional and Comparative Analysis.London: Routledge and Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Kegan Paul: reissued with introduction by James Sharpe.
Routledge: London, 1999. Hobbes, Thomas (1588–1679)
Midelfort, H. C. Erik. 1968. “Recent Witch Hunting Research, or Rationalist, empiricist, materialist, and mechanist
Where DoWe Go from Here?” Papers of the Bibliographical philosopher and political theorist, Hobbes, in Book IV
Society of America62: 373–420.
of his great work Leviathan (1651), argued that the
———. 1972. Witch Hunting in Southwestern Germany,
concept of spiritual causation generally, and witchcraft
1582–1684. The Social and Intellectual Foundations.Stanford,
in particular, were philosophically inconceivable and
CA: Stanford University Press.
insignificant.
———. 1999. AHistory of Madness in Sixteenth-Century Germany.
Hobbes was a powe rful thinker and an eloquent
Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
writer, qualities that gave his works great vividness, but
Monter,William. 1972. “The Historiography of European
Witchcraft: Progress and Prospects.” Journal of Interdisciplinary also generated heated opposition to both his scientific
History2: 435–453. and political ideas. In Leviathan, he insisted that the
498 Hobbes, Thomas |
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s u p remacy of the state was essential in order to re s c u e Hobbes began by re d e fining Christian ideas of
humanity from the sava g e ry and chaos of the state of demons and demonic possession, arguing that scriptur-
nature. al descriptions of spiritual powers describe corpore a l ,
Hobbes dismissed all the biblical citations usually although subtle and invisible, rather than incorpore a l
brought forth in support of witchcraft beliefs as merely or spiritual beings. Although the apostles and other ear-
metaphorical. Fo l l owing John Calvin, Hobbes con- ly Christians were given power over these by God, thus
demned the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstanti- making their exo rcisms successful, their incre a s i n g l y
ation as inferior to the illusions created by the magi- corrupted successors lost that power; no one who pre-
cians of the Pharaoh in Exodus 7:8, who at least tended to possess it at the present time was telling the
p roduced visual effects. Although Hobbes attacked truth. Besides mechanists who opposed spiritual causa-
chiefly Catholic doctrines and practices, consistent with tion, Hobbes’s arguments also appealed to thinkers who
other Protestant identifications of Catholicism with did not wish to abandon Scripture, but who also were
witchcraft and sorcery, his denial of spiritual causation reluctant to admit the interaction of matter and spirit.
p roved unsettling to most other Christians and pro- Independent of his scientific and political work s ,
voked strong criticism from Protestant circles. Ho b b e s’s ideas about witchcraft and exo rcism influ-
Ho b b e s’s work on geometry and optics during the enced a wide spectrum of seventeenth-century thought
1630s acquainted him with both continental (he met about witchcraft and demonology.
René De s c a rtes, Marin Mersenne, and Pi e r re Ga s s e n d i ,
EDWARD PETERS
and was said to have once met Galileo) and English sci-
e n t i fic circles, leading to friendship and brief serv i c e See also: BEKKER,BALTHASAR;BOVET,RICHARD;CORPOREALITY,
with Francis Bacon. Ho b b e s’s exile from England during ANGELICANDDEMONIC;DESCARTES,RENÉ;GASSENDI,PIERRE;
the Civil War ended in opposition from both the Fre n c h
GLANVILL,JOSEPH;MATHER,COTTON;MECHANICALPHILOSO-
Catholic clergy and the exiled court of Charles II, and
PHY;MORE,HENRY;SKEPTICISM.
References and further reading:
Hobbes returned to England in 1651. Subsequent scien-
Bostridge, Ian. 1997. Witchcraft and Its Transformations,
t i fic controversies, including one with Ro b e rt Boy l e ,
c. 1650–c. 1750.Oxford: Clarendon.
diminished Ho b b e s’s reputation as a scientist, but the
Hobbes, Thomas. 1651. Leviathan,Book IV, chapters 45–46.
enduring arguments of L e v i a t h a nh a ve pre s e rved his re p- London.
utation as a major political philosopher. Kors, Alan Charles, and Edward Peters, eds. 2001. Witchcraft in
Hobbes’s reference to the case of Pharaoh’s magicians Europe, 400–1700: A Documentary History.2d ed. Philadelphia:
in Exodus 7:8 cited one of the key scriptural texts in the University of Pennsylvania Press.
debates on witchcraft in the sixteenth and seventeenth Martinich, A.P. 1992. The Two Gods of Leviathan: Thomas Hobbes
centuries, a text Cotton Mather cited a generation later on Religion and Politics.Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
in No rth America on the eve of the Salem witchcraft
Sorrell, Tom. 1996. The Cambridge Companion to Hobbes.
trials. In Hobbes’s view, all assertions of spiritual causa-
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
tion in the material world, whether or not they pro-
duced visible effects, we re erroneous. In this re s p e c t ,
Hobbes stood in a seve n t e e n t h - c e n t u ry tradition of Hogarth, William (1697–1764)
material causation that originated with De s c a rtes and Ho g a rth was an English artist who re p re s e n t e d
was continued by Ba ruch Spinoza. Hobbes was Enlightenment skepticism concerning popular religious
extremely well read in contemporary science and medi- beliefs. His genius lay in his ability to transform ratio-
cine, and the materialist physics that he re p re s e n t e d nalist literary, philosophical, and sometimes theological
p rovided the strongest philosophical attack on witch- arguments into devastating moral pictorial satire s .
craft beliefs in early modern Eu rope. His attack Hogarth’s series of paintings and the engravings made
e n c o u n t e red a vigorous reaction from philosophical from them offer vivid and theatrical depictions of what
opponents like He n ry Mo re and Joseph Glanvill, and he called “modern moral subjects.” He instructed his
later Richard Bovet, among others, who attempted to viewer in appropriate moral conduct by displaying the
demonstrate the reality of spiritual causation based on terrifying, shameful, and often ridiculous consequences
empirical data of individual cases that Mo re and of immoral conduct. His best-known series, called The
Glanvill assiduously collected and presented in work s Rake’s Progress, displays the progressive degeneration
like the Sadducismus Tr i u m p h a t u s of 1689. Such work and impoverishment of a pro fligate young man.
became the most popular, although ultimately failed, Hogarth’s moral satires were also informed by a power-
philosophical countert h rust to Ho b b e s’s arguments, ful skepticism about explanations of the supernatural
which they dismissed as “coarse-grained Philosophers as manifested in human affairs that made belief in God’s
those Hobbesians and Spinozans.” The case of witch- power almost contingent on belief in spiritual causation
craft and demonology became the central ground for and the alleged activities of demons, sorcerers, and
this debate. witches.
Hogarth, William 499 |
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This resistance to criticism of witchcraft beliefs on
many grounds was a response to what many in seve n-
t e e n t h - c e n t u ry England, including the Cambridge
Platonists Henry More and Joseph Glanvill, saw as the
growing threat of atheism and deism. The best-known
English representative of this view in Hogarth’s century
was the Methodist John We s l e y, who claimed, “g i v i n g
up witchcraft is in effect giving up the Bi b l e” (We s l e y
1906, 3:330).
Ho g a rt h’s 1763 engraving Fro n t i s - Pi s s , for example,
s h ows a stereotypical witch with a broomstick sitting
on top of a crescent moon, urinating in a great cascade
on a telescope and on books by Isaac Newton and
Francis Hutchinson, whose Historical Es s a y of 1718
was one of the milestones in the criticism of witchcraft
beliefs. This illustration, like others by Ho g a rth on
similar subjects, employed pictorial elements from a
long tradition of serious and credulous pictorial re p re-
sentations of sorc e rers and witches, but turned them
into satirical objects of scorn, which later artists like
James Gillray employed in the satire of political car-
toons. In the eighteenth century, the image of the
witch as a withered old hag—destitute and comical,
William Ho g a rt h’s Enlightenment print Cre d u l i t y, Superstition, and
d ressed in clothing and headgear a century out of
Fa n a t i c i s m ,1762, which mocked popular superstitions and re l i g i o u s
date—became common in literature, art, and even in
ze a l o t ry. (Brian P. Levack, ed. The Wichcraft So u rc e b o o k ,2004,
costumes for masquerade parties, which we re often
p. 304)
condemned as occasions of demonic worldliness.
Ho g a rt h’s Ma s q u e rade Ti c k e t of 1727 shows just such a
witch fig u re in the fore g round, while the same picture copy of James I’s treatise on demonology. A thermome-
also depicts a witches’ Sabbat in another picture hang- ter-like scale on the far right of the picture, which sits
ing on a rear wall. on a copy of John We s l e y’s sermons, is labeled a
Perhaps Ho g a rt h’s best-known attack on witchcraft Methodist’s brain. It is topped by a picture of another
beliefs as mere superstitions is his 1762 print of A c o n t e m p o r a ry ghost re p o rt, this one of “Scratching
Me d l e y — Cre d u l i t y, Superstition and Fa n a t i c i s m . T h i s Fa n n y,” a deceased wife who knocks on the bedro o m
crowded and busy engraving represents many forms of wall of Elizabeth Parson. At the top of this scale, direct-
c h i c a n e ry, charlatanism, and what he and others ly under the pre a c h e r’s intensity thermometer, is the
c o n s i d e red to be popular superstition; it also contains figure of the Drummer of Tedworth, a famous example
pictorial references to many recent and near-contempo- of spiritual causation much studied by Mo re and
r a ry events. At the top of the picture, a preacher in a Glanvill.
high pulpit manipulates two puppets—a stere o t y p i c a l The picture crowds together many of the diverse ele-
witch riding a broomstick and a winged Satan with a ments of popular belief that Ho g a rth and others had
gridiron. The preacher’s text is the biblical “I speak as a come to see not merely as targets of rational argument,
f o o l”: his wig flies off, re vealing him to be a Je s u i t but equally properly as objects of venomous pictorial
dressed as a clown and disguised as a Methodist preach- satire.
er. A thermometer hanging to the preacher’s right indi-
EDWARD PETERS
cates the sermon’s intensity on a scale ranging fro m
l u k ewarm to raving, with a great open mouth at the See also: ARTANDVISUALIMAGES;BILSONBOY;DEFOE,DANIEL;
t o p. T h ree panels in the pulpit show reliefs depicting ENLIGHTENMENT;FLIGHTOFWITCHES;GLANVILL,JOSEPH;
apparitions of well-known ghosts. The chandelier con- HUTCHINSON,FRANCIS;JAMESVIANDI,KINGOFSCOTLAND
tains a map of hell as a monstrous face. The ugly, wild-
ANDENGLAND;MECHANICALPHILOSOPHY;MORE,HENRY;
ly behaving congregation kisses images and listens to
POPULARBELIEFSINWITCHES;SKEPTICISM;STICKS;
WESLEY,JOHN.
demons; a woman in the left foreground is clearly Mary
References and further reading:
Tofts of Surrey, an impostor who claimed to have given
Bostridge, Ian. 1997. Witchcraft and Its Transformations.Oxford:
b i rth to rabbits and here does the same thing. To her
Clarendon.
right, the Bilson Boy, another well-known recent case, Paulson, Ronald. 1989. Hogarth’s Graphic Works.3rd rev. ed.
spits pins and nails, the basket to his right sitting on a London: Print Room.
500 Hogarth, William |
Wicca | Richard M.Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Western Tradition | 538 | 46049 Golden Chap. H av First Pages 08/25/2005 p.501 Application File
———. 1993. Hogarth: Art and Politics.3 vols. Cambridge: debt, granted the estates all his future income as well as
Cambridge University Press. the money from confiscations from previous trials. This
Wesley, John. 1906. The Journal of the Rev. John Wesley.4 vols. n ew situation apparently changed the attitude of the
NewYork: Dent.
estates tow a rd these persecutions. The new L a n d vo g t ,
A n d reas Joseph Wa l s e r, who had sharply condemned
Hohenems, Ferdinand his pre d e c e s s o r’s conduct of these trials, now start e d
Karl Franz von, similar legal proceedings in 1680, assisted by a specially
Count of Vaduz (1650–1686) assigned lawye r. These trials resulted in twe n t y - five
Controversy over Count Hohenems’s persecution of deaths. Because no more official resistance against
witches from 1678 to 1680 eventually led to his dispo- witch hunting could now be expected, some affected
sition and death and contributed to the establishment people, supported by the minister of Triesen, decided to
of the principality of Liechtenstein. Ferdinand Karl turn for help to the emperor. They were heard.
Franz was the first son of Franz William I, count of In Vienna, an imperial commission presided over by
Ho h e n e m s - Vaduz, and Eleonora Katharina vo n the prince-abbot of Kempten, Ru p e rt von Bodman,
Fürstenberg. At the age of twelve he lost his father, who originally created to investigate the count’s conduct, was
had left Vaduz in desperate financial straits. From 1662 n ow also instructed in the summer of 1681 to examine
to 1675, a regency jointly presided over by Ferdinand’s these complaints about the witchcraft trials of Va d u z .
mother and his uncle Karl Friedrich von Hohenems The commission issued an injunction prohibiting the
governed the county. Their leadership was equally count from continuing any legal proceedings or re c ove r-
oppressive. In the autumn of 1675, the count, aged ing any confiscations. Von Bodman sent the legal fil e s
twenty-five, finally assumed office during a war against for closer examination to the Un i versity of Sa l z b u r g ,
France. The bad economic situation of the count, who w h e re a jurist recommended the re vocation of all ve r-
had no children and was unhappily married to Jakobaea dicts from the years 1679 and 1680. Meanwhile, the
Eusebia von Wolfegg, was worsened by his inclination c o n flict between the count and his subjects escalated;
to arbitrariness and violence. His penchant for coarse they accused him of ruthless financial exploitation and
jokes and his extreme tactlessness made him even more of breaking the law. In 1684, the proposals in the legal
unpopular. re p o rt from Salzburg we re implemented by imperial
Fe rdinand Karl Franz did his utmost to squeeze o rd e r. Soon afterw a rd, the count was not only deposed
money from his territorial estates. Witch hunting, but also arrested. Tossed in a dungeon at Kemnat near
which had begun shortly after his assumption of gov- Kempten, Fe rdinand Karl Franz died after a two-ye a r
ernment, played an important role in this re s p e c t . imprisonment, on Fe b ru a ry 18, 1686. Su b s e q u e n t l y, his
Because wide sections of the population wished to get b rother Jakob Hannibal (1653–1730) sold his rights to
rid of their enemies, the estates of Vaduz borrowed a Vaduz and Schellenberg to the House of Liechtenstein
large sum of money from nearby Grisons in the sum- with the blessing of the empero r, who raised it from a
mer of 1676 to continue these witchcraft trials. T h e Gra f s c h a f t (county) to the dignity of a F ü r s t e n t u m o r
count guaranteed repayment of this loan with money principality in 1719.
from the confiscations of convicted witches. In all prob- The problematic witchcraft trials of the county of
ability, witchcraft trials were not reintroduced until the Vaduz thus contributed decisively to turning a financial
beginning of 1678, when they claimed at least nine disaster into a governmental crisis and ultimately
casualties. Howe ve r, the count did not enforce these p l a yed an indirect role in creating a new state, the
persecutions as intensely as the public wished him to. Fürstentum Liechtenstein, which prospers today.
Next year (1679), the witchcraft trials under Landvogt
MANFRED TSCHAIKNER
(governor) Dr. Romaricus Prügler ended with the exe-
cution of twenty people. Soon strong resistance aro s e See also:VADUZ,COUNTYOF;VORARLBERG.
References and further reading:
against the prosecution, although the legal files had
Tschaikner, Manfred. 1998. “‘Der Teufel und die Hexen müssen
been submitted to a jurist. Its neighbors mocked the
aus dem Land... ’ : Frühneuzeitliche Hexenverfolgungen in
county of Vaduz as a “land of witches,” which put it at
Liechtenstein.” Jahrbuch des Historischen Vereins für das
an economic disadvantage. The problems with these
Fürstentum Liechtenstein96: 1–197.
witchcraft trials, leading finally to the Landvogt’s hasty
escape, were only part of a general dissatisfaction with
Holda
the rule of Fe rdinand Karl Franz. In 1679 the count’s
siblings as well as the bishop of Chur (his principal About 906, Regino, Abbot of Prüm, wrote in the
c reditor) lodged complaints about him with the Ho l y Canon Episcopithat some women, beguiled by demon-
Roman Emperor in Vienna. ic hallucinations, believed that they ride out on beasts
The conflict concerning the witchcraft trials fin a l l y on particular nights, led by the goddess Diana and cov-
was settled with a deal. The count, who was seriously in ering great distances. Pagan Germans surely did not
holda 501 |
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worship Diana; but folk belief isolates a traditional logical theories, they locate it in trance, dream, and
German female figure named Holda who was connect- vision. Indeed, there were instances where witches
ed with the “furious host,” the cavalcade of the dead. claimed the ability to extract their soul from the body.
Holda can be identified with Ne rthus, the Ge r m a n The Austrian and Swiss concept of the “s a l i g e n” or
E a rt h - Mo t h e r, who leads a “Furious Ho s t” of those the blessed people seemed to prove this theory of the
who had died pre m a t u re l y. Another name for this trance state and the wandering soul, which Wo l f g a n g
female leader was Perchta, who had terrifying as well as Behringer denoted as some sort of peasant utopia.
n u rturing aspects. Holda, howe ve r, always serve d Another branch of stories connected the hulden or
b e n e ficent functions. In France and Italy this concept good people with the abduction to the court of Venus
took the form of a belief in mysterious “ladies of the w h e re the poet Tannhäuser lived. This popular legend
n i g h t” who, together with their “queen,” visited peo- a p p e a red, for example, in the preacher Geiler vo n
ple’s homes for benevolent purposes. K a y s e r s b e r g’s sermon on the “unholden and witches”
that mentioned those women who traveled at night to
The Legend the mountain, or court of Venus.
Regino was the first to give evidence about these noc-
turnal rides. In 1015, Burchard of Worms repeated the The Modern Folktale
story in his Decretum, naming Diana and Herodias as A related Germanic version of the “furious host” pic-
leaders. Already, the Decretum connected these noctur- tured the god Wuotan (Odin, Wodin, Woutan, Wodan,
nal ladies with the Devil (“Herodias,” scholars presume, Wotan) as its leader. Both legends eventually amalga-
was mostly a goddess of witches). The belief in Holda, mated, with some legends picturing Holda joining
who was able to ride out by night on wild beasts like Wuotan in leadership. Jacob Grimm was convinced
those possessed by the Devil, dismayed Burchard. He that Holda, as leader of the wild host, was Wuotan’s
was twisting an ancient belief mysterious to him, based “wife” and identified her with the mild goddess Freyja
on the concept of the external soul, which the pagan or Fricka. Other folktales also adopted and adapted the
Germans knew as “hamr” and Latin sources called goddess Holda, transforming her into a friendly old
“animus” or “spiritus.”This external soul left a sleeping crone who taught mortal women orderly housekeeping
or entranced body to wander in either human or animal by setting tasks. But she also remained a nature spirit,
shape. This ancient concept informed notions that evi- because when Lady Holle shook her cushions, the loose
dently existed in medieval folk-belief, and that clerics feathers tumbled to earth as snow. Holda and Berchta
“translated” into demonical sorcery, devilish deceit, or (Perchta, Bertha) also oversaw spinners, and on the last
delusion. day of the year, they destroyed work that they found
unfinished.
The Nocturnal Cavalcade
CHRISTA TUCZAY
It seems reasonable to suppose that the influence of the
widely used Canon Episcopi, an instruction to preach- See also:BENANDANTI;BURCHARDOFWORMS;CANONEPISCOPI;
ers, helped to spread Regino’s tale about ladies capable DIANA(ARTEMIS); FAIRIES;FERTILITYCULTS;FLIGHTOFWITCHES;
of supernatural nocturnal flights among learned and
FOLKLORE;FREYA(FREYJA); GEILERVONKAYSERSBERG,JOHANN;
unlearned alike. These female cohorts traveled under
GRIMM,JACOB;HECATE;SICILY;STRIX,STRIGA,STRIA.
References and further reading:
many names. East of the Rhine their leader was known
Behringer,Wolfgang. 1998. Chonrad Stoeckhlin and the Phantoms
as Percht or Perchta. Berthold of Regensburg con-
of the Night. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
demned these Bavarian superstitions, commanding that
Eliade, Mircea. 1975. “Some Observations on European
Christians must never believe in such nocturnal travel- Witchcraft.” History of Religions 14: 149–172.
ers or nahtvaren, neither the benevolent type, named Ginzburg, Carlo. 1983: The Night Battles: Witchcraft and Agrarian
holden, nor the malevolent, the unholden. Even the Cults in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries.London:
elves, as well as the “ladies of the night,” were all Routledge and Kegan Paul.
demons in disguise. The unholden(mainly some aspects Henningsen, Gustav. 1990. “‘The Ladies from Outside:’ An
of Perchta) feasted on human flesh; here the notion Archaic Pattern of the Witches’ Sabbath.” Pp. 191–215 in
Early Modern European Witchcraft: Centres and Peripheries.
evidently intertwined with the older striga of Greco-
Edited by Bengt Ankarloo and Gustav Henningsen. Oxford:
Roman antiquity. According to Claude Lecouteux, the
Clarendon.
concept of the holdas originated in fairy cults. Mircea
Lecouteux, Claude. 1999. Chasses fantastiques et cohortes de la nuit
Eliade was the first, in 1970, to discuss both imaginary
au moyen âge.Paris: Imago.
and real Sabbats, but historians ignored his points until
Gustav Henningsen and Carlo Ginzburg took up the
idea. Both elucidated the concept of the trance state Holiness
during which the soul wanders. Unlike Norman Cohn’s Christian notions of holiness (holy words and signs, such
position that the origin of the Sabbat lay in demono- as “Je s u s” and the “Cro s s”) we re taboos at the Sabbat and
502 Holiness |
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in the world of the witches in general. In Jewish and word “sacer,” which comprises not only the notions of
Christian theology, holiness is primarily a quality holy and sanctified, but also accursed. Holiness can be
re s e rved for God, distinguishing Him (theore t i c a l l y d e fined as a theoretical concept, but it remains mean-
e xc l u s i vely) from all other existence. Although Sa m u e l ingless if not intuitively and emotionally experienced
2:2 announces that there is no holy one besides God, his by the faithful. From extra-Eu ropean religions, some
p revious order “Be ye holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 11:44) expressions have been integrated into our general termi-
warrants the possibility of human holiness. Catholic nology about the holy, for example, “mana” or “taboo.”
Christianity applies the term “holy” not only to God, but The first designates positive holiness and implicitly,
also to men (e.g., saints, or the “Holy Fa t h e r,” i.e., t h e p owe r, while the second articulates negative holiness,
pope), to institutions (“Holy Mother Church,” “Ho l y implying danger and prohibition.
Of fice,” i.e., the Inquisition), to dates (“Ho l y
PETER DINZELBACHER
T h u r s d a y”), and even to objects (“Holy Wa t e r”). Un t i l
ve ry re c e n t l y, with a few exceptions like cardinal Ni c h o l a s See also: CROSSROADS;LIVINGSAINTS;MAGICANDRELIGION;
of Cusa, Catholic clergy restricted the quality of sacre d- MIRACLES;SPELLS.
References and further reading:
ness to elements of their belief while denying it to all
Dinzelbacher, Peter, and Dieter Bauer. 1990. Heiligenverehrung in
other religions or confessions.
Geschichte und Gegenwart. Ostfildern: Schwaben.
From the standpoint of the phenomenology of reli-
———. 2000. Handbuch der Religionsgeschichte im deutschsprachi-
gions, there is no basic difference between the attitudes
gen Raum. Band 2. Hoch- und Spätmittelalter.Paderborn:
with which a witch venerates the demon, casts spells, or
Schöningh.
pronounces magical formulas, and that of a priest cele- ———. 2001. Heilige oder Hexen? Schicksale auffälliger Frauen in
brating the mysteries of his religion. The sorcerer is an Mittelalter und Frühneuzeit.4th ed. Düsseldorf: Albatros.
awe-inspiring person, working miracles, and is thereby Eliade, Mircea. 1961. The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of
comparable to the living saint, because he and his Religion.NewYork: Harcourt, Brace.
actions surpass the profane eve ryday world, possessing Hastings, James, ed. 1913. “Holiness.” Pp. 731–759 in The
rather their own, sacred sphere. This is how a magusdif- Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics VI.Edinburgh: T. and
T. Clark.
fers from an illusionist and his conjuring tricks. So the
Les fonctions des saints dans le monde occidental.1991 (Collection
function of the rites of official religion and the charms
de l’école française de Rome 149). Rome: École française.
of forbidden magic is the same for those who, re s p e c-
Otto, Rudolf. 1958. The Idea of the Holy: An Inquiry into the
tively, believe in it. The location where these rites take
Non-rational Factor in the Idea of the Divine and Its Relation to
place, the church, is hallowed, as are the sites of magic
the Rational.NewYork: Oxford University Press.
ceremonies like crossways or enchanted spots in nature.
A place can be haunted either after the manifestation of Holt, Sir John
a divine power there or after that of a demonic force. As (1642–1710)
Protestants have pointed out for almost 500 years, the As Lord Chief Justice of the King’s Bench in England
phenomenological identity between ecclesiastical and for twenty-one years, from 1689 to 1710, Sir John Holt
magical formulas can be illustrated clearly by the presided over at least eleven trials in which women were
Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation. Only if the accused of witchcraft. Every time, Holt had the jury
priest uses the absolutely correct wording “hoc est enim return a verdict of “not guilty,” thereby establishing his
corpus meum” can the bread of the Host be transformed reputation for skepticism about witchcraft and
into the body of Jesus. This miracle occurs regardless of contributing significantly to the end of English witch
the priest’s personal merit or his intentions, exactly as hunting.
magical incantations do. In both cases, only the holi- Born in Oxford s h i re, Holt reputedly led a dissolute
ness of the precisely correct words accomplishes the life at Oxford Un i versity and left without taking a
task. So the development of the ecclesiastical formula d e g ree. He studied law at Gr a y’s Inn in London and
into “hocus pocus” does not seem to be fortuitous. embarked on a distinguished legal career that led to his
From the standpoint of the history of religions, how- knighting by King James II in 1685, and his appoint-
ever, holiness is a category valid for all religions, in fact ment four years later, after the Glorious Revolution, to
their very core, as by definition, a religion requires some p reside over En g l a n d’s highest court. Holt died at his
distinction between holy/sacred and pro f a n e . house in Be d f o rd Row, London, and was buried at
According to a seminal study of Rudolf Otto, the sacred Re d g r a ve church in Suffolk, where an elaborate
is characterized by four components: the tre m e n d o u s b a roque-style monument shows him sitting in his
(the awe inspiring), the majestic (the ove rw h e l m i n g ) , j u d g e’s robes, flanked by allegorical fig u res of Ju s t i c e
the energetic (a gripping dynamism), and the mysteri- and Mercy.
ous (the completely alien). The term “s a c re d n e s s” Typical of witchcraft trials before Holt was the case of
e x p resses this ambivalence better than the pure l y Phillippa Munnings of Ha rtset, heard in Bu ry
p o s i t i ve “holiness,” because it comes from the Latin St . Edmunds in 1694. Munnings was accused of casting
Holt, Sir John 503 |
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a spell on her landlord and predicting, corre c t l y, that he trial, he brought “a mind unclouded by prejudice and a
would lie “nose upw a rd” in the churc h y a rd before the single-hearted desire to give the prisoner every chance”
next Sa t u rd a y. She also was accused of possessing a pole- (Hole 1957, 162).
cat and two other black and white familiars. Holt decid-
GILBERT GEIS
ed that the alleged black and white imps we re mere l y
two balls of wool, and he set Munnings fre e . See also:ACQUITTALS;ENGLAND;FAMILIARS;SKEPTICISM;TRIALS.
In another case tried by Holt, the mother of a sup- References and further reading:
posed bewitched girl said that on four or five occasions Hole, Christina. 1957.A Mirror of Witchcraft.London: Chatto
her daughter had walked backwards up a wall nine feet and Windus.
high, and then walked across the ceiling with her face Holt-Wilson, Tim. 2001. “Sir John Holt (1642–1710): A
Biographical Sketch, With Especial Reference to His
and the forepart of her body parallel to the ceiling. The
Witchcraft Trials.” www.holt-
daughter claimed that Betty Horner had carried her up
wilson.freeserve.co.uk/johnholt;htm;2001.
to her ceiling perch by means of witchcraft. Holt was
not persuaded and set Horner free. Others Holt acquit-
ted had been charged with having witch marks on their Holy Roman Empire
b o d y, causing a young girl to vomit pins, straw, and The Holy Roman Empire, a fragile structure that
feathers, and leaping five feet into the air. served in practice as an umbrella for several hundred
Historians discussing Holt and witchcraft invariably virtually independent territories, allowed witch hunts
repeat an unve r i fiable story about a trial where a for structural reasons, without ever stimulating them.
woman was accused of witchcraft because of scraps of The emperors and their institutions never openly sup-
indecipherable paper found in her possession. Ho l t ported witch hunting.
re p o rtedly told the jury that one of the scraps was his Neither “Holy” nor “Roman,” the empire was based
own writing; he had given it to her years before, when on the prophecy of Daniel (2:37–45, and 7:8–11) that
he was without funds on a visit to Oxford and the this world would end with the collapse of the four great
woman, who rented rooms, had a daughter who was e m p i res of world history. T h e re f o re, it was import a n t
suffering from a bout of ague. Holt wrote some mumbo- for medieval minds that the fourth and last world
jumbo in Greek (some sources say Latin) and told the empire, the Roman Empire, would endure. According
woman that this would cure her daughter. When the to this “invention of tradition,” the pope had trans-
girl improved, Holt re c e i ved a room free for a we e k . ferred this empire from ancient Rome to Charlemagne
When the jury, hearing the story, acquitted the women, by crowning him (Roman) emperor on Christmas day,
Holt allegedly gave her money to pay for his lodgings 800; the legitimate title of Roman emperor was subse-
and for her time in court. True or otherwise, the story quently transferred to Carolingian rulers, then to the
testifies to the reputation for integrity and kindness that Ottonian and Salian dynasties, and eventually to the
Holt brought to his work as a judge. Staufers. After the glorious reigns of Frederick I
Ap a rt from his witchcraft ve rdicts, Holt is highly Ba r b a rossa (ruled 1152–1190) and Frederick II of
re g a rded by legal historians for his general contribu- Hohenstaufen (ruled 1212/15–1250), this vast empire,
tions to jurisprudence. He is credited with being influ- then stretching from the No rth Sea to Rome and claim-
ential in establishing a separation between the domains ing suzerainty over all Eu ropean kingdoms, disintegrated.
of the king and the Parliament and the courts. An Even at this stage, the almost-virtual empire prove d
anonymous review of Holt’s career,The Life of the Right an obstacle to nation building. The fiction of empire
Honourable Sir John Holt, Knight, Lord Chief Justice of permitted the construction of middle-size territories like
the King’s Bench (1764), maintained, “There never was Ba varia, Lorraine, or Sa xo n y, but also allowed for the
an abler, more unbiased and upright judge since s u rv i val of numerous small independent feudal lord-
England was a nation . . . his Lordship was always ships, abbeys, imperial cities, and even autonomous vil-
remarkable strenuous in . . . supporting the Rights and lages. Its political fragmentation contrasted incre a s i n g l y
L i b e rties of the Su b j e c t” (cited in Ho l t - Wilson 2001, with rising national kingdoms like France, En g l a n d ,
1). When a Recorder in London, he resigned his judi- Spain, or Sweden, which became (after periods of war or
cial position rather than condemn an army deserter to civil war) unified states. In contrast, the Holy Ro m a n
death, despite the king’s wishes that he do so. Ho l t Em p i re resembled the United Nations more than a state
maintained that in times of peace, desertion could only or an empire. Its imperial diet was no parliament, but an
be prosecuted as a breach of contract. assembly of delegates from territories ruled by
Holt occupied an honored place in the history of autonomous princes or parliaments, or both. Ac c o rd i n g
English witchcraft. In witchcraft trials, Holt invariably to the “Golden Bu l l” of 1356, the K a i s e ror emperor was
assumed that plaintiffs we re imposters, which, one elected by seven powe rful princes, including three arc h-
writer notes, “greatly reduced their numbers.” To each bishops: the prince-electors (Ku rf ü r s t e n) of Ma i n z ,
504 Holy Roman Empire |
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Cologne, Tr i e r, Bohemia, the Palatinate, electoral about 75 imperial free cities, and many independent
Sa xo n y, and Brandenburg. They mostly chose princes imperial knights (about 670 in Swabia, 700 in
f rom the powe rful Habsburg, Lu xembourg, and Franconia, and about 360 in the Rhineland). Be c a u s e
Wittelsbach dynasties. Howe ve r, there we re also candi- of constant fluctuation (even the number of electors
dates from abroad, including some kings of En g l a n d , grew after 1648), it is impossible to provide a definite
France, and Spain. When the Habsburg heir Charles I, a total of all territories with independent jurisdictions
king of Spain born and educated in the Ne t h e r l a n d s , within the empire’s boundaries, but there must have
was elected emperor in 1519, he defeated both Francis I been more than 2,000. This constitutional pluralism
of France and He n ry VIII of En g l a n d . permitted the coexistence of a wide variety of lifestyles,
After 1555, the Peace of Augsburg guaranteed con- aided by the Reformation with its plurality of denomi-
siderable freedom of conscience in the empire: libert y nations and the invention of the printing press and lat-
for princes and cities to remain Lutheran, and per- er the periodical press. For example, Johann Ke p l e r
mission for individuals to choose a residence accord- invited Galileo Galilei to move to Germany in order to
ing to their faith. In 1648, the Peace of We s t p h a l i a , escape persecution in Italy, because there was no papal
terminating the horrors of the T h i rty Ye a r s’ Wa r, Inquisition north of the Alps, and he could choose a
extended these rights to Calvinist states and care f u l l y new home wherever he desired. At the same time, how-
regulated coexistence among its different Christian e ve r, the virtual independence of even tiny territories
confessions. From then until the Holy Ro m a n enabled imperial lords, knights, or abbots to commit
Em p i re collapsed in 1806, there we re few furt h e r the most incredible crimes. Only a few of them we re
constitutional changes. e ver punished, like the witch-hunting count of
The Holy Roman Em p i re was no “Ge r m a n Hohenems and Vaduz, who was stripped of his feudal
Em p i re,” but instead resembled a United Nations of rights and imprisoned for the rest of his life; his territo-
central Eu rope. Unlike national monarchies such as ry was awarded to the princes of Liechtenstein.
France or Spain, which waged aggre s s i ve wars to Witch hunting was first introduced in the Ho l y
a c q u i re their neighbors’ lands, the Holy Ro m a n Roman Empire during the reign of Emperor Frederick
Em p i re served as a peacekeeping organization. Be c a u s e III (ruled 1440–1493), a weak monarch incapable of
of its complicated political stru c t u re—the emperor was exercising any control over his realm. We do not know
dependent on taxes granted by the imperial diets—it whether he ever noticed the activities of the author of
was unable to declare war except in extreme situations, the Ma l l e u s Ma l e fic a rum (The Hammer of Wi t c h e s ,
for example, when the Ottoman Sultan launched a 1486), the Dominican inquisitor Heinrich Kramer.
major military campaign against Habsburg lands, or Fre d e r i c k’s son Maximilian I (ruled 1486/1493–1519)
when France invaded the empire’s western parts. In established a kind of cultural hegemony in part of the
two cases of real danger (1529, 1683) when Tu rk i s h e m p i re, but although evidently interested in learning
armies besieged Vienna, the empire was able to strike m o re about the threat of witchcraft, this means little,
back effective l y. By improving its political tools, the because he was interested in almost anything. T h e
Reichstag (diet) and the K reistage (district assembly), Benedictine abbot Johannes Trithemius claimed that he
and its judicial tools, the Reichskammergericht ( i m p e r i- had answe red eight questions from Maximilian con-
al chamber court) and the Re i c h s h o f rat (imperial aulic cerning witchcraft, and the author of the Ma l l e u s
c o u rt), the Holy Roman Em p i re managed to keep claimed that Maximilian granted him a royal privilege
peace within its boundaries, to avoid civil wars, and to in Brussels in 1486. But this cannot have been ve ry
maintain the rule of law. favorable, because Kramer avoided publication and no
Se veral languages we re spoken within the Ho l y other trace of this alleged privilege remains. There is no
Roman Em p i re, certainly one reason Latin served as indication whatsoever that Maximilian approved the
lingua franca among the educated, maintaining its high atrocities of witchcraft trials; the stifling of trials in his
esteem until the end of the eighteenth century. All aca- homeland (Tyrol) suggests the opposite.
demics in the empire could converse in Latin, the Under his grandson and successor Charles V (ru l e d
teaching language at its universities. Former territories 1519–1556), witch hunting abated in Germany (as
of the Holy Roman Empire are now parts of France, the well as in his other possessions in the Ne t h e r l a n d s ,
Netherlands, Belgium, Lu xembourg, Sw i t ze r l a n d , It a l y, and Spain), possibly because of pre o c c u p a t i o n s
Liechtenstein, It a l y, Sl ovenia, Austria, Sl ovakia, the with the Reformation, or maybe by a more favo r a b l e
Czech Republic, Poland, and, of course, Ge r m a n y. climate during his reign, when most parts of the Ho l y
A round 1600, the Holy Roman Em p i re included 7 Roman Em p i re we re enjoying re l a t i ve pro s p e r i t y
prince-electorates, 43 secular principalities, 32 ecclesi- despite religious tensions. Clearly the imperial legisla-
astical principalities, 140 lesser secular lordships, about tion of 1532, the Carolina Code (C o n s t i t u t i o
70 imperial abbacies, 4 cantons of the Teutonic Order, Criminalis Ca ro l i n a), tried to calm attempts to
Holy Roman Empire 505 |
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p romote the persecution of supposed witches and eve n may have increased the fierceness of warfare, and both
a voided using the term. Like Charles V’s Sp a n i s h were clearly beyond the control of any political author-
Inquisition, his German Estates denied any authority ities in the Holy Roman Empire.
to the Malleus Ma l e fic a ru m , and German lawyers eve n W h e reas witchcraft accusations we re mainly grass-
managed to repeal heresy laws. The upsurge of trials roots reactions triggered by individual and collective
under Charles’s Austrian successors, Fe rdinand I (ru l e d h a rdships, with the weak administrations of some
1556–1564) and Maximilian II (ruled 1564–1576) ecclesiastical territories succumbing easily to popular
can hardly be explained through any particular perse- p re s s u re, imperial institutions tried to stop the atro c i-
c u t o ry zeal; the latter was an articulate supporter of ties. The Re i c h s k a m m e r g e r i c h t as well as the
religious toleration. Re i c h s h o f ra t issued several judgments in favor of those
However, once economic conditions turned unfavor- persecuted and even imposed penalties against two
able after the early 1560s with the onset of the Little Ice prince-bishoprics, Bamberg and Cologne. Re l a t i ves of
Age, triggering grassroots demands for persecution, the victims of witch hunting managed to form a lobby
political fragmentation within the Holy Roman Empire and convince officials that more direct political pre s-
and its lack of a centralized judicial system allowed a s u re was needed to stop the persecutions. T h e
plurality of attitudes toward witchcraft. Whereas terri- Habsburg capitals at Prague and Vienna, centers of
tories like the electoral Palatinate could simply deny the the Counter-Reformation, became refuges for witch
existence of witches and suppress any accusations, suspects from the Catholic prince-bishoprics, ve ry
neighboring territories like the prince-archbishopric of much like Holland or such imperial cities as Fr a n k f u rt
Mainz could conduct waves of seve re persecutions, or or Sp e ye r, the seat of the Re i c h s k a m m e r g e r i c h t . Fro m
the duchy of Lorraine could adopt a policy of chronic these safe havens, the refugees organized re s i s t a n c e
p rosecution for forty years. No emperor could affect against the hellish persecutions in their homelands.
anything that these princes or parliaments decided in Because no imperial diets we re summoned betwe e n
their territories. 1608 and 1640, a meeting of the prince-electors
Nevertheless, it seems a striking coincidence that the (Ku rf ü r s t e n t a g) at Regensburg in 1630 became a
ruler in whose reign the witchcraft persecutions reached f o rum for their complaints. Imperial and Ba va r i a n
their first climax considered himself bewitched, and was politicians we re pre p a red to intervene even against
considered by some Jesuits and Capuchins to be a magi- their closest political allies, making Fr a n c o n i a n
cian or sorcerer possessed by the Devil. Emperor Rudolf prince-bishops aware of rising disapproval of their
II (ruled 1576–1612) was famous for his complacency, conduct within the Counter-Reformation camp.
his melancholy, or his madness; but more re c e n t Although the Swedish invasion in Germany liberated
re s e a rch demonstrated that his court at Prague was the remaining prisoners in Franconia, executions had
unusually civilized and culturally rich, attracting diplo- a l ready stopped in 1630.
mats from Russia and Persia, and artists and scientists A close look at the activities of the Re i c h s-
f rom all over Eu rope, including such celebrities as k a m m e r g e r i c h t , the highest independent court of
Gi o rdano Bruno or John Dee, the English magician appeals in the empire, which moved to Wetzlar after the
and mathematician. Like his predecessors, Em p e ro r demolition of Speyer by Louis XIV’s troops, shows that
Rudolf did nothing to promote witch hunting, and its judgments influenced public opinion, although not
very few executions occurred in his hereditary lands in immediately, and affected the conduct of lawyers in var-
Bohemia and Austria. The same holds true for his suc- ious territories. This is rather surprising, because this
cessors, emperor Matthias (ruled 1612–1619) and c o u rt had no responsibility for criminal justice.
Fe rdinand II (ruled 1619–1637), although the latter Howe ve r, defendants could appeal cases that demon-
was a zealous supporter of the Counter-Re f o r m a t i o n . strated faulty legal procedures in territories where rulers
Religious warf a re in the Holy Roman Em p i re and had not managed to gain a privilegium de non appellan-
witch hunts climaxed simultaneously around 1630, but d o ( e xemption from the jurisdiction of the imperial
obviously for different reasons. (The coincidence of civ- courts). Despite all its limitations, this court of appeals
il war with witch hunting is well known in France and was more successful in influencing the politics of perse-
England as well.) The anarchy of the Thirty Years’War, cution than was formerly assumed. Even at the climax
with Spanish, French, and Swedish armies including of the persecution in the late 1620s, it issued harsh
soldiers from all over Europe ravaging the Empire, may decrees against the Franconian witch hunts. The num-
h a ve aggravated its political anarchy and cert a i n l y ber of lawsuits about witchcraft trials in no way reflect-
added to its hardships. Howe ve r, the deva s t a t i n g ed the volume of witchcraft trials in the empire, but
famines with consequent mortality crises we re clearly represented their general course surprisingly well: a sub-
caused independently, by climatic extremes of the Little stantial rise from the 1560s, a climax between 1590 and
Ice Age like the terrible frosts of early summer 1626 or 1630, a gradual decline until the 1680s, and few cases
the “year without a summer” in 1628. Such hardships afterward.
506 Holy Roman Empire |
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Table H-1 Litigations over Witchcraft only under their son, emperor Joseph II (ru l e d
Trials at the Reichskammergericht,
1765–1790), a radical proponent of enlightened ideas,
1500–1800
(Behringer 2004, 137, using data from Oestmann 1997, that the endemic witchcraft trials we re finally stopped
531–602) from above in Hungary and Austrian Silesia (currently
Victims Litigations over in Poland), and accusations we re discouraged eve ry-
Generation Appealing Witchcraft Trials where through public campaigns like the Bavarian War
of the Witches. Only Josephine legislation in Au s t r i a -
1500–1529 1 3
Hu n g a ry re m oved magical crimes altogether short l y
1530–1559 10 17
after the French Re volution, although no witches had
1560–1589 19 39
been executed for about a generation.
1590–1619 50 97
1620–1649 29 46 WOLFGANG BEHRINGER
1650–1679 17 30
1680–1709 3 6 See also: AUSTRIA;BAVARIA,DUCHYOF;BAVARIANWAROFTHE
1710–1739 2 6 WITCHES;CAROLINACODE(CONSTITIOCRIMINALISCAROLINA);
1740–1769 0 1 FERDINANDII,HOLYROMANEMPEROR;FRANCE;GERMANY;
1770–1800 0 2 HOHENEMS,FERDINANDKARLFRANZVON,COUNTOFVADUZ;
ITALY;JOSEPHII,HOLYROMANEMPEROR;KEMPTEN,PRINCE-
Totals 131 247 ABBEYOF;KEPLER,JOHANNES;LAWSONWITCHCRAFT(EARLY
MODERN); LITTLEICEAGE;LUXEMBOURG,DUCHYOF;MALLEUS
MALEFICARUM;MARIATHERESA,HOLYROMANEMPRESS;MAXIMIL-
IANI,HOLYROMANEMPEROR;MEYFART(MEYFAHRT), JOHANN
MATTHÄUS;NETHERLANDS,NORTHERN;NETHERLANDS,SOUTH-
Because of general criticism of the atrocities of ERN;PALATINATE,ELECTORATEOF;POLAND;REICHSHOFRAT
witch hunting in the 1630s, articulated most ferve n t l y (IMPERIALAULICCOURT); REICHSKAMMERGERICHT(IMPERIAL
in public by the Jesuit Friedrich Spee and the CHAMBERCOURT); RUDOLFII,HOLYROMANEMPEROR;SLOVA-
Protestant Johann Matthäus Me y f a rt, accompanied by
KIA;SLOVENIA;SPEE,FRIEDRICH;SWITZERLAND;TRITHEMIUS,
a general exhaustion of religious zeal and a collapse of
JOHANNES;VADUZ,COUNTYOF.
References and further reading:
population in central Eu rope, the number of witch-
Behringer,Wolfgang. 2001. Hexen und Hexenprozesse in
craft trials and executions declined sharply. Du r i n g
Deutschland,5th ed. Munich: dtv.
the regency of Em p e ror Fe rdinand III (ru l e d
———. 2004. Witches and Witch Hunts. A Global History.
1637–1657), there we re re l a t i vely few persecutions in Cambridge: Polity.
the empire, and virtually none in his Austrian home- Heer, Friedrich. 1968. The Holy Roman Empire.London:
lands. Under his successor Leopold I (ru l e d Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
1658–1705), central Eu rope saw another upsurge of Hillerbrand, Hans J., ed. 1996. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the
trials. But for the first time, the imperial administra- Reformation.4 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
tion intervened to stop a local witch hunt. After Köbler, Gerhard. 1995. Historisches Handbuch der deutschen
Länder.Munich: C. H. Beck.
Count Fe rdinand Karl Franz von Hohenems had con-
Midelfort, H. C. Erik. 1994. Mad Princes of Renaissance Germany.
ducted a large-scale persecution of witches betwe e n
Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
1677 and 1680, within his tiny county of Vaduz, the
Oestmann, Peter. 1997. Hexenprozesse am Reichskammergericht.
Re i c h s h o f ra t commissioned the prince-abbot of
Vienna: Boehlau.
Kempten to hold an enquiry, eventually stripping the
Schormann, Gerhard. 1981. Hexenprozesse in Deutschland.
count of his rights. The count died in prison at Göttingen:.Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht.
Kempten after two years of confinement and his lands Seger, Otto, and Peter Putzer. 1987.Hexenprozesse in Liechtenstein.
we re given to the prince of Liechtenstein, an imperial Vienna: Österreichischer Kunst-und Kulturverlag.
f a vorite, whose descendants still rule this land as an Wilson, Peter H. 1999. The Holy Roman Empire, 1495–1806.
independent nation. Basingstoke and London: Macmillan.
In the first half of the eighteenth century, there were
Homer
f ew changes under the Habsburg emperors Joseph I
(ruled 1705–1711) and Charles VI (ruled 1711–1740). Homer is the supposed author of the earliest surv i v i n g
Like their predecessors, they did not react to witchcraft w o rks of Eu ropean literature, the Greek epics Iliad a n d
trials in the empire, nor did their unfort u n a t e Od y s s e y, which contain the earliest surviving literary
Wittelsbach successor, Charles VII (ruled 1742–1745). accounts of magical phenomena. In later antiquity,
Even the Habsburg-Lorraine emperor Francis I Stephen Homeric verses we re considered to have magical qualities,
( ruled 1745–1765), although personally enlightened, while Homer came to be re g a rded as a magical adept.
failed to intervene in sporadic late trials in the empire, The epics attributed to Homer are now recognized to
much like his wife, Empress Maria Theresa, who ruled be the products of an oral tradition that matured over
the Habsburg Au s t ro - Hungarian possessions. It was many centuries. They were probably written and fixed
homer 507 |
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in more or less the form in which we possess them deities (Anubis, Ptah, Ph re/Ra, Nephtho), to Jew i s h
around the seventh century B.C.E. Their most striking ones (Ya h weh), and to prominent demons (Ab l a n a t h o
and important magical episode was the Odyssey’s tale of and Ab r a x a s / Abrasax). Africanus explained that it had
the hero Odysseus’s encounter with the witch-like Circe been an original part of the poem, and that it had been
in books 10–12. It also incorporated Odysseus’s trip to s u p p ressed either by Homer or his subsequent editors
the underworld to summon up the ghosts of the dead, because its tone was inappropriate to the epic.
in accordance with her instructions. The recipes of the Greek magical papyri exploited
In the Il i a d , the goddess Hera borrowed the love Homeric texts in a number of ways, doubtless because
goddess Aphrodite’skestos himasor “embroidered band” of the paradigmatic magical episodes they contained.
so that she could seduce her own husband Zeus, king of Most remarkable were the instructions for the “Homer
the gods (14.197–222). This mysterious band can o r a c l e” in a third- or fourt h - c e n t u ry C.E. papyru s
almost certainly be identified with the “s a l t i re” (PGM VII.1–148). One posed a question and threw a
Ap h rodite was sometimes depicted as wearing in die three times. A verse of Homer was supplied to be
ancient statuary.This consisted of a pair of straps worn read in prophecy for each of the 216 possible sequential
over the upper torso and crossed over the breasts. They combinations up to 6.6.6. The fourt h - c e n t u ry C.E.
e m p h a s i zed the shape and prominence of the bre a s t s “Great Magical Papyrus in Paris” prescribed the inscrip-
beneath a loose-fitting dress. The function of such a tion of an iron tablet with three seemingly random vers-
band as an erotic amulet was therefore self-evident. The es from Iliadbook 10, to make a multipurpose magical
Odysseyalso mentioned a healing amulet. When a boar assistant (P G M I V.2145–2240). The tablet concealed
young Odysseus was hunting gored him above the runaway slaves; it enabled dying and dead men to
knee, his friends, the sons of Au t o l ycus, bound the p rophesy; it delive red one from binding spells; it con-
wound and “staunched the black blood with an incan- f e r red victory upon athletes and litigants; it dismissed
tation” (19.449–458). The use of the incantation sug- demons and wild animals; and it brought love and rich-
gests that the binding had a magical as well as a practi- es to its wearer.
cal function.
DANIEL OGDEN
The Iliad may also have alluded to magical cursing.
King Proteus dispatched Be l l e rophon to Lycia with a See also: AMULETANDTALISMAN;CIRCE;DEFIXIONES;GHOSTS;
folded tablet, on which he inscribed “many life-destroy- GREEKMAGICALPAPYRI;NECROMANCY.
References and further reading:
ing baleful signs.” When the Lycian king read these, he
Betz, Hans D. ed. 1992. The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation,
understood that he was to attempt to kill Bellerophon
Including the Demotic Spells.2d ed. Chicago: University of
(6.167–170). But the mysterious signs need only have
Chicago Press.
been coded images; or they may reflect the once-again
Bonner, Campbell A. 1949. “Kestos himasand the saltire of
illiterate Homeric society’s memories of a forgotten
Aphrodite.” American Journal of Philology70: 1–6.
Mycenean writing system, Linear B. Milne, Marjorie J. 1966. “The Poem Entitled “Kiln.”’ Pp.
O ver time, such paradigmatic magical episodes led 102–113 (appendix 3) in The Techniques of Painted Attic
to the notion that Homer had been a master sorcerer. In Pottery.Edited by Joseph V. Noble. London: Faber.
the fifth century B.C.E., he was attributed with some Preisendanz, Karl, and Henrichs, Albert. 1973–1974. Papyri
re m a rkable verses, K i l n , a curse against potters, in Graecae Magicae. Die griechischen Zauberpapyri.2d ed.
which a variety of appropriately named demons, Stuttgart: Teubner [PGM].
Renehan, Robert. 1992. “The Staunching of Odysseus’ Blood:
Ba s h e r, Sm a s h e r, Ove r - fire, Sh a t t e re r, and Un d e r - fire ,
The Healing Power of Magic.” American Journal of Philology
were invited to destroy the potters’ work, and the kiln
113: 1–4.
itself was asked to grind their pots as if in a horse’s
Vieillefond, Jean-René. 1970. Les “Cestes” de Julius Africanus.
mouth ([Homer] Ep i g ra m 14). In the second or third
Étude sur l’ensemble des fragments avec édition, traduction et
c e n t u ry C.E., Philostratus claimed that Homer had
commentaires.Florence: Sansoni.
used the necromancy with which he was so familiar to
call up the ghost of Odysseus and learn the details of
the Odysseystory from him. Homosexuality
In t e rest was also taken in the magical nature and The associations between the two “monstrous” crimes
p ro p e rties of the Homeric texts. In ca. 230 C.E., the of homosexuality and witchcraft in medieval and early
Christian scholar Julius Africanus remodeled the modern Europe were purely theoretical, but not infre-
Homeric account of Odysseus’s evocation of the ghosts, quent. Demonologists read the story of Sodom and
and inserted into it an exotic prayer saluting the magi- Gomorrah (Genesis 19:1–29) as the archetypal depic-
cal culture of his own age (Ke s t o i [ “ Magical embro i- tion of human wickedness, mixing sexual deviance with
deries”] 18 = PGMXXIII). The prayer made appeal to a violence and pride, although “sodomy” meant primari-
series of powers familiar from the Greek magical papyri: ly an “immoral” and “depraved” form of sex. Sodomy
to Greek underworld deities, to the Sun, to Eg y p t i a n and witchcraft were seen as essentially similar forms of
508 Homosexuality |
Wicca | Richard M.Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Western Tradition | 546 | 46049 Golden Chap. H av First Pages 08/25/2005 p.509 Application File
radically rejecting God’s commandments. Early demo- De encantationibus seu ensalmis (On Incantations or
nologists often made vague allusions to the unspeakable En s a l m i [evil incantations], 1620) by the Po rt u g u e s e
sexual acts performed by witches during their night Manuel Vale de Moura. He believed that “s o d o m i t e”
gatherings. But whereas they offer graphic descriptions indicates all people who have given themselves to Satan.
of the witches’ alleged cannibalism and vampirism, they Jews, de Moura was convinced, we re devoted to the
avoid any direct reference to sodomy. practice of sodomy. As the sodomites insulted the cre-
The distinction between our modern concept of ation by misusing their sexual organs, so did the Jew s
homosexuality and medieval and early modern sodomy reject God by denying that Jesus was God. De ensalmis
is of essential importance. Although in recent times focused on those invocations called ensalmi(texts made
some scholars have tried to desexualize sodomy, claim- of quotations from the Bible and Catholic prayers) that
ing that this concept is merely a generic label for sinful- c o n ve r s o s recited to address the Christian God. Fo r
ness, all treatises on demonology uphold the explicitly Moura, e n s a l m i we re in fact forms of witchcraft;
sexual nature of sodomy. ensalmistaeor ensalmadores(those who performed these
In the Malleus Ma l e fic a ru m (The Hammer of rituals) were magicians inspired by the Devil. The word
Witches, part I, question 2), Heinrich Kramer held that ensalmistaequaled sodomita(section 3, chap. 4).
Zoroaster, inspired by the Devil, first practiced the arts In his Bre ve discurso contra a heretica perfidia do
of magic. Referring to St. Augustine’sCity of God(book iudaismo ( Sh o rt Discourse Against the He re t i c a l
21, chap. 14), Kramer wrote that Zo roaster laughed Treachery of Judaism, 1623), Vicente da Costa Mattos
when he was born, which was a clear sign of his demon- claimed that the Bible, especially He b rew Scripture ,
ic nature. Zoroaster wasdefeated in war by king Ninus, was written a g a i n s t the Jews (chap. 16). In the Bi b l e ,
who had a morbid love for his father Belus. When Belus God meant to leave a written re c o rd of the Jew s’ per-
died, Ninus built a statue of his father, which became verse nature. Innumerable travelers in Northern Africa,
the first example of idolatry. For the authors of the Mattos says, reported that indeed the Jews indulged in
Ma l l e u s , sodomy and incest we re the foundations of this unspeakable sin even with their own children. As
idolatry and magic, and thus of witchcraft. Being an act with Zoroaster, sodomy was linked to incest.
“against nature,” that is, an act of rebellion against the The concept of sodomy ranks among the most
natural laws of Go d’s creation, sodomy subsumed all enduring legacies of medieval and early modern
possible forms of sinful behaviors and beliefs. demonology.
It was a commonplace assumption of medieval and
ARMANDO MAGGI
early modern demonology that even devils re f r a i n e d
f rom practicing sodomy with their followers, because of See also:DEMONOLOGY;DEMONS;IDOLATRY;INCUBUSAND
its baseness. We can trace this hypothesis back to SUCCUBUS;MALLEUSMALEFICARUM;MOURA,MANUELVALEDE;
Thomas of Cantimpré (d. ca. 1270–1272). In the chap-
SEXUALACTIVITY,DIABOLIC;SPINA,BARTOLOMEODELLA.
References and further reading:
ter “Devils blush over the sin against nature” of B o n u m
Elliot, Dyan. 1999.Fallen Bodies.Pollution, Sexuality, and
u n i versale de apibus (The Un i versal Good Concerning
Demonology in the Middle Ages.Philadelphia: University of
Bees, 2.30.2), Thomas stated that he had never heard of
Pennsylvania Press.
any succubus or incubus being engaged in acts against
Maggi, Armando. 2001. Satan’s Rhetoric. A Study of Renaissance
n a t u re. Ac c o rding to several demonologists, devils will Demonology.Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
e ven avoid a man for three days when he has practiced Stephens, Walter. 2002. Demon Lovers: Witchcraft, Sex, and the
sodomy with another man. Although treatises on Crisis of Belief.Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
demonology hinted at re p u l s i ve sex acts between devils
and their followers, witchcraft theorists reject sodomy as Honor
a possible form of intercourse because the devils (if not The concept of honor often played a key role in both
their human partners) find it re p u g n a n t . early modern witchcraft trials and in lawsuits brought
In An In vestigation of Witches (Quaestio de strigibus, by the victims of witchcraft slander, trying to defend
1523), Ba rtolomeo della Spina stated that by offering their (and their family’s) reputations against such suspi-
themselves to the Devil, witches abandoned their con- cions. Moreover, arguments about honor often surfaced
dition as human beings, for they lost their free will for- in the preliminaries to a witchcraft trial. Mutual slan-
e ve r. Ac c o rding to Spina, witches could not withdraw dering as witches can often be interpreted as struggles
from their duties after signing a pact with Satan. Spina over personal and clan honor.
d e fined witches as “here t i c s” who have committed an In recent years, historians and sociologists have
act against nature. If to be human meant to exe rt fre e d e veloped several concepts of honor in face-to-face
will, witches we re sodomites in that they have turned societies: Pierre Bourdieu, for example, decoded honor
into beasts. as symbolic capital that was spread between the mem-
Perhaps the most thorough analysis of the interrela- bers of a society in different portions. But in the case of
tionships among witchcraft, sodomy, and heresy was witchcraft slander, honor can be understood better as a
Honor 509 |
Wicca | Richard M.Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Western Tradition | 547 | 46049 Golden Chap. H av First Pages 08/25/2005 p.510 Application File
b i n a ry formula (Walz 1993, 422–425), that is, that guilt, but also as dishonorable. Nevertheless, a success-
either honor or dishonor characterized a person in ful water ordeal offered a good chance to restore a dam-
general. St rong tendencies existed to designate one’s aged reputation.
enemies as completely dishonest while trying to repre- Few postmedieval documents have been pre s e rve d
sent oneself as completely honest. In this context, it is concerning the canonica purgatio,an outmoded and dis-
t h e re f o re necessary to describe honor and dishonor as c redited method of proceeding, in which the suspected
fundamental concepts of identity. Slandering some- person took an oath that he had not committed the
body as a witch often demonstrated that the opponent alleged crime and produced a re q u i red number of honor-
was a person beyond normal sociability. able witnesses (c o m p u r g a t o re s) who swore by a fixed oath
For many sixteenth- and seve n t e e n t h - c e n t u ry legal formula that the suspected person had told the tru t h
experts, honor was a significant criterion to be consid- ( Graminaeus 1594, 68). Although it was ve ry difficult to
e red in a witchcraft trial. An assessor of the highest obtain permission to take such an oath and it might be
German tribunal, the imperial chamber court equally difficult to find enough suitable witnesses, a few
(Re i c h s k a m m e r g e r i c h t), delive red an expert opinion in p restigious people tried to free themselves from suspicion
the context of a witchcraft trial from 1588, arguing that in this way (Fuchs 1995, 2; Fuchs 2002, 117–120). In
a good reputation (bona fama) normally should bar any Croatia, into the early seventeenth century, the accused
witchcraft suspicion. T h e re f o re, he thought that the had the opportunity to seek acquittal through witnesses
testimony of honorable witnesses about a person’s repu- who would testify to his or her innocence in court .
tation should be much valued in the attempt to prove The most important legal method for upholding
guilt or innocence (Gylmann 1602, 77). On the other o n e’s honor was the formal Romano-canonical a c t i o
hand, in juristic circles, the idea was widespread that iniuriarum.It could be used in two different ways. In a
witchcraft was a crimen obscurum (secret crime). Some criminal proceeding, the aim of the plaintiff was to
jurists therefore thought that, in witchcraft trials, testi- punish the slanderer physically—with prison, banish-
monies of neighbors were not reliable and the affirma- ment, pillory, and so forth. In a civil proceeding, the
tion of a good or bad reputation (mala fama) was not plaintiff and court estimated the sum of money needed
c o n c l u s i ve, especially if other incriminating facts had to repair the damage to the plaintiff’s honor (Fu c h s
been revealed. 1999, 52–54). In either form of proceeding, a slanderer
In Eu ropean countries with legal systems using could also be re q u i red to declare in public that he
Roman or canon law, a trial for witchcraft slander could regretted the slander and that he considered the plain-
be initiated by the actio iniuriarum (defamation suit). tiff to be a totally honorable person.
But even in England, which used neither, it was possible Because the struggle for honor normally incre a s e d
to bring an action against a person who had cried out a during such proceedings, a defendant often tried to
witchcraft slander (Sharpe 1980; Rushton 1982). In bring in evidence supporting his witchcraft accusations
Westphalia and some other German regions, insulted against the plaintiff. If a defendant produced enough
and offended persons had four main ways to affirm their c redible witnesses, it increased the plaintiff’s risk that
honor: first, by accusing the slanderer before lower crim- the suspicions of witchcraft were considered substanti-
inal courts; second, by the swimming test (water ord e a l ) ; ated, and an ex officio trial might be started against the
by canonica purgation(canonical purgation—the oath of plaintiff. Nevertheless, as some case studies have shown,
compurgation); or fin a l l y, by a formal actio iniuriaru m . plaintiffs also had a real chance to rehabilitate them-
If a charge of slander was upheld in a lower criminal selves from suspicion of witchcraft.
court, the slanderer was condemned to a fine, which the
c o u rt normally collected. Little is known about these RALF-PETER FUCHS
summary and oral proceedings. But we can assume that
See also: ACCUSATIONS;CROATIA;ROMANLAW;SLANDER;
slanderers rarely had a chance to bring up evidence for SWIMMINGTEST;TRIALS;WITNESSES.
their imputation, even if they actually intended to do References and further reading:
so.The widespread condemnation of aggressors in low- Bourdieu, Pierre. 1991. Language and Symbolic Power.Cambridge,
er courts resulted mainly from the desire of local MA: Harvard University Press.
authorities to punish any disturbance of social peace. Fuchs, Ralf-Peter. 1995. “Der Vorwurf der Zauberei in der
Most educated jurists refused the cold-water ordeal. Rechtspraxis des Injurienverfahrens. Einige
Reichskammergerichtsprozesse westfälischer Herkunft im
Ne ve rtheless, local judges ord e red many water ord e a l s
Vergleich.” Zeitschrift für Neuere Rechtsgeschichte 17: 1–29.
p e rformed, often because a suspected witch had
———. 1999. Um die Ehre. Westfälische Beleidigungsprozesse vor
requested it in order to clear herself of suspicion. Water
dem Reichskammergericht (1525–1805). Paderborn: Schöningh.
o rdeals we re frequently real contests over honor
———. 2002. Hexenverfolgung an Ruhr und Lippe. Die Nutzung
b e t ween two people who had slandered each other as
der Justiz durch Herren und Untertanen. Münster: Ardey.
witches or we rew o l ves. If the water ordeal failed, this Graminaeus, Theodoricus. 1594. Inductio sive Directorium: Das ist:
fact was not only taken as a ve ry strong indication of Anleitung oder unterweisung / wie ein Richter in criminal und
510 Honor |
Wicca | Richard M.Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Western Tradition | 548 | 46049 Golden Chap. H av First Pages 08/25/2005 p.511 Application File
peinlichen Sachen / die Zauberer und Hexen belangendt / sich zu advice from several people and institutions, including
verhalten / der gebuer damit zuverfahren haben soll / als wie von van Hoogstraten and Johannes Reuchlin (1455–1522),
ambtsswegen / und sonst / so der Kläger Recht begert / zu ver- a humanist lawyer who had learned He b rew and had
fahren.Cologne: Henrich Falckenburg.
published a commentary on the Kabbalah in 1494.
Gylmann, Adrian. 1602. Decisionum sive Rerum in Camera
Backed by the University of Cologne, van Hoogstraten
Imperiali Iudicatarum libri Duo.Frankfurt.
f a vo red adopting Pfefferk o r n’s policy. Re u c h l i n
Rushton, Peter. 1982. “Women, Witchcraft and Slander in Early
opposed destroying the Talmud for a variety of reasons:
Modern England: Cases from the Church Courts of Durham,
Jews should be considered fellow citizens with a legal
1560–1675.” Northern History18: 116–132.
Sharpe, James A. 1980.Defamation and Sexual Slander in Early right to maintain their own religious traditions, and the
Modern England: The Church Courts at York.York: University of Talmud and the Kabbalah contained passages that cor-
York, Borthwick Institute of Historical Research. roborated Christian views; these texts should therefore
Walz, Rainer. 1993. Hexenglaube und magische Kommunikation im be studied and not destroyed. Hoogstraten re s p o n d e d
Dorf der Frühen Neuzeit. Die Verfolgungen in der Grafschaft by formally accusing Reuchlin of heresy.
Lippe.Paderborn: Schöningh. In November 1513, the pope ordered the bishops of
Sp e yer and Worms to preside over a trial against
Hoogstraten, Reuchlin, with van Hoogstraten as pro s e c u t o r. In
Jacob van (1465–1527) Ma rch 1514, this episcopal court acquitted Re u c h l i n ,
The Dominican friar and papal inquisitor Jacob va n but van Hoogstraten appealed to the pope. The Ho l y
Hoogstraten (also Hochstraten or Hoogstraeten) aban- See took six years to reach a ve rdict; in 1520, Ro m e
doned the demonology of the Malleus Ma l e fic a rum (T h e finally ruled in favor of van Hoogstraten. By then, the
Hammer of Witches, 1486). Born in Hoogstraten, a matter had lost much of its significance, with the early
village now in Belgium, he matriculated in arts at Lutheran Reformation occupying the center of German
L o u vain in 1482 before studying philosophy and theol- public attention. During this quarrel, known as the
ogy at Louvain and Cologne. In 1505, he became pro- Re u c h l i n s t re i t , some of Re u c h l i n’s supporters ridiculed
fessor of theology at Cologne; in 1510, he was elected van Hoogstraten and his allies with satires, port r a y i n g
prior of the Dominican convent in Cologne, leading to him as an ignoramus who understood nothing about
his nomination as papal inquisitor for the arc h d i o c e s e s the contents of the Talmud, but was convinced that, as
of Cologne, Mainz, and Tr i e r. He died in Cologne. an inquisitor, he should prosecute eve rything he was
In 1510 he published a Tractatus magistralis declarans unable to understand. In a collection of fabricated let-
quam graviter peccent querentes auxilium a malefic i s ters, van Hoogstraten’s imaginary allies expressed them-
(Magisterial Treatise, Declaring That Those Who Seek selves in barbarous Latin and were completely ignorant
Help from Witches Commit a Gr a ve Sin). In 1486, of both Greek and He b rew. The conflict over the
Heinrich Kramer, his predecessor as papal inquisitor in Talmud thus became a public dispute between tradi-
the Rhineland, identified witchcraft in his Ma l l e u s tional scholasticism and humanist philology. In 1520,
Maleficarum as a crime that could only be perpetrated van Ho o g s t r a t e n’s fellow Dominicans deposed him as
by people who had concluded a formal pact with the prior of their convent in Cologne and also as papal
Devil. Van Hoogstraten, howe ve r, returned to the inquisitor. But the pope promptly restored him in order
teachings of St. Augustine and Thomas Aq u i n a s , to concentrate on the struggle against Lu t h e r.
according to which magic indeed implied a pact, but it Meanwhile, soon after his trial had ended, Re u c h l i n
could very well be only an implicit covenant, of whose was appointed professor of Greek and He b rew at the
implications a witch might not be aware. Va n University of Tübingen, where he died in 1522.
Hoogstraten interpreted magic as a system of signs that
informed demons about the wishes of a magician or a HANS DE WAARDT
witch. Van Hoogstraten did not deny the reality of the See also:AQU I N A S, T H O M A S; AU G U S T I N E, S T.; I N QU I S I T I O N, M E D I EVA L;
explicit pact as a contract concluded by a human being K A B B A LA H; M A L L E U SM A L E F I C A R U M;PAC TW I T HT H ED EV I L.
with a demon, but his statement that witchcraft did not References and further reading:
need such a covenant to be effective reduced the unmit- Gielis, Marcel. 1991. “The Netherlandic Theologians’Views of
igated position of the Malleus—not so much from any Witchcraft and the Devil’s Pact.” Pp. 37–52 in Witchcraft in
s o rt of toleration, but because of Ho o g s t r a t e n’s devo- the Netherlands from the Fourteenth to the Twentieth Century.
Edited by Marijke Gijswijt-Hofstra and Willem Frijhoff.
tion to traditional scholasticism.
Rotterdam: Universitaire Pers Rotterdam.
He showed similar conservatism in the controve r s y
Hoogstraten, Jacob van. 1510. Tractatus magistralis declarans quam
over whether or not to destroy the Talmud. In 1507,
graviter peccent querentes auxilium a maleficis.Cologne: Martin
Johannes Pfefferkorn, a conve rt from Judaism, began
von Werden.
campaigning for the confiscation and destruction of the
Overfield, James H. 1984. Humanism and Scholasticism in
Talmud to promote the conversion of the Jews. In Late Medieval Germany.Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
1510, the Holy Roman Em p e ror Maximilian I asked Press.
Hoogstraten, Jacob van 511 |
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Peterse, Hans. 1993. Jacobus Hoogstraeten gegen Johannes Reuchlin. “p ro f e s s i o n a l” witch finders acquired considerable sig-
Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des Antijudaismus im 16. Jahrhundert. nificance. It has been suggested that Hopkins’s enthusi-
Mainz: Philipp von Zabern. asm for witch hunting was fueled by the fees that he
(like his counterparts in Languedoc) received from set-
Hopkins, Matthew
tlements grateful for having their witches detected and
(d. 1647)
re m oved. But this interpretation seems ove rd r a w n :
Matthew Hopkins, the “Witch-Finder General,” was Hopkins generally received only a small fee and money
associated with the only mass witchcraft trials to occur for his expenses: his main motivation seems to have
in England, taking place in some eastern counties been a genuine fear and hatred of witches, and a desire
between 1645 and 1647. We know practically nothing to root them out. What is rather more certain is the
about Hopkins before those years. The best guess is that importance of the methods Hopkins and Stearne used
he was the son of a Suffolk minister named James to obtain confessions in a land where torture was legal-
Hopkins; the tradition that he was a lawyer is probably ly prohibited, except in cases of high treason. The use of
unfounded. “w a t c h i n g” meant that suspects we re sometimes kept
By his own account, Hopkins, then a minor gentle- without sleep for two or three days while subjected to
man living at Ma n n i n g t ree in Essex, first became wor- general ill treatment and severe psychological pressure.
ried about the presence of witches in and around his Although a close reading of records from earlier English
home village in the winter of 1644–1645. His fears, cases occasionally re veals similar pre s s u res being
and those of other local residents, resulted in a number b rought to bear on suspected witches, the degree and
of women in Ma n n i n g t ree and the neighboring parish- intensity of such abuse in the Hopkins trials are
es being investigated as suspected witches. On Ma rc h remarkable.
25, 1645, the first of these, an aged, one-legged widow These methods, coupled with the apparent pre c o n-
named Elizabeth Clarke, confessed to keeping famil- ceptions of Hopkins and Stearne about witchcraft and
iars. Others we re drawn in and subjected to a pro c e s s the religious mood in East Anglia at the time, produced
k n own as “watching,” which entailed lengthy periods a distinctive flavor to the witches’ confessions that they
of sleep deprivation, combined with general ro u g h elicited. For the first time, the Devil appeared regularly
handling, leading questions, and psychological pre s-
s u re. T h i rty-six women, of whom perhaps nineteen
we re subsequently executed, we re tried at Chelmsford
in July 1645.
The trials did not end there. Ma n n i n g t ree was a
locally important port on the River St o u r, and witch-
craft fears evidently crossed the river into neighboring
Suffolk, which experienced the most numerous trials in
this episode (for extracts from re l e vant sources, see
Ewen 1933, 281–302). From there the trials spre a d
into Hu n t i n g d o n s h i re, Cambridgeshire, No rfolk, the
Isle of Ely, and perhaps less intensively, into a number
of adjacent counties. Records are insufficient to permit
a complete re c o n s t ruction. Howe ve r, surviving docu-
mentation suggests that maybe 250 suspected witches
were tried, or at least subjected to preliminary examina-
tion, of whom at least a hundred (some contemporary
sources double this figure) were executed. It was by far
the biggest witch hunt ever experienced in England, on
par with many large-scale hunts of continental Europe,
and occurred at exactly the same time as the largest
witch hunt in the Kingdom of France convulsed
Languedoc.
A number of factors we re at work that made witch
hunting on this scale possible. Obv i o u s l y, Ho p k i n s ,
along with his associate John Stearne, provided a cata-
lyst. Occasionally aided by a woman called Ma ry
Phillips (who had acquired great skill in finding the
witch’s mark), these two men rapidly acquired a reputa-
Title page of Matthew Hopkins’ The Discovery of Witches(1647)
tion as witch-hunting experts, and the presence of such depicting accused witches and their familiars.
512 Hopkins, Matthew |
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in the confessions of English witches: many admitted to yeoman stock, William Dowsing, had, under parlia-
having made a pact with him, and several to having had m e n t a ry authority, led a campaign of iconoclasm in
sexual intercourse with him. But the English witchcraft which ornaments and decorations in about 150 Suffolk
s t e reotype did not break down entire l y. Many women parish churches were mutilated or destroyed. The more
may have claimed to have met the Devil; but despite moderate religious style that had been largely responsi-
Ho p k i n s’s conviction that the witches aro u n d ble for the virtual ending of witchcraft trials in England
Ma n n i n g t ree met re g u l a r l y, there was no hint of a in the 1630s had been replaced in this region by a much
Sabbat in their confessions. Women were more likely to m o re hard-line form of belief. Mo re ove r, the experi-
describe their familiars, which featured very prominent- enced justices of the peace who might have helped
ly in these trials, than to claim they had met the Devil. dampen down the early stages of the witch hunts had
Most of those tried were charged with acts of malefici- either been replaced as ideologically unsound or we re
um (harmful magic) that had long formed the basis of p reoccupied with maintaining the war effort; normal
English witchcraft accusations. Ab ove all, as in judicial structures, although far from absent, had been
Languedoc in 1645, the stereotype of the witch neve r in some measure eroded by events of the previous three
broke down, almost all of those accused being relatively years. Religious enthusiasm, and a situation that
poor women. The major exception was John Lowe s , allowed Hopkins to operate without much supervision
vicar of Brandeston in Suffolk, who was executed. One from justices of the peace or assize judges, formed the
of the women convicted, Mother Lakeland, was we l l essential context within which these trials took place.
connected socially and had previously enjoyed a good Hopkins remains a we l l - k n own fig u re among the
reputation; she also had the distinction of being burned general public, his fame being enhanced by the British
at Ipswich in 1645 because she was convicted of killing film of 1968, Witchfinder General.Curiously, Hopkins’s
her husband by witchcraft (which redefined her offense major influence in the medium term was to alienate
as petty treason and even permitted the use of torture). moderate opinion from witch hunting. After the
It is obvious that Hopkins could only have initiated Restoration of 1660, even those who advocated witch
mass witchcraft trials if there was popular enthusiasm beliefs shied away from large-scale hunts, seeing them
for them, and recent rethinking of these trials tends to as a by-product of the religious enthusiasm of the Civil
e m p h a s i ze the importance of popular demands for War period and its aftermath. Hopkins, as a re l a t i ve l y
witch hunting rather than ascribe the whole affair to o b s c u re man, could be re p resented as typical of those
the evil genius or greed of Hopkins. Both Hopkins and whose short-lived prominence in the 1640s and 1650s
Stearne, in their re s p e c t i ve justifications of their rocked the social hierarchy.The tradition, still repeated
actions, stressed that they only carried out their witch- in re f e rence works, that Hopkins was himself inve s t i-
hunting activities in towns that had welcomed or even gated as a witch and hanged, is unfounded. Jo h n
invited them to come and search for witches. T h e re Stearne recorded that Hopkins died of consumption in
may be an element of special pleading here; but the Manningtree, and his death in 1647 is in fact recorded
inhabitants of the eastern counties certainly seemed in the register of the parish of Mistley cum
happy enough to participate in witch hunting, or at Manningtree.
least give evidence against supposed witches, and we
JAMES SHARPE
can trace a number of factors at work in this respect.
The Hopkins witchcraft trials came tow a rd the end
See also: CONFESSIONS;ENGLAND;ESSEX;FAMILIARS;GAULE,JOHN;
of the First Civil War. East Anglia had not been a war
LOWES,JOHN;PURITANISM;STEARNE,JOHN;WATCHINGAND
WALKING;WITCHFINDERS;WITCH’SMARK.
zone; but it was, along with London, the heartland of
References and further reading:
parliamentarianism. By early 1645, that war was
Deacon, Richard. 1976. Matthew Hopkins: Witch Finder General.
becoming increasingly ideological. In particular, south-
London: Frederick Muller.
eastern England had developed a hard-line, popular Ewen, C.L. 1933. Witch Hunting and Demonianism: A Concise
Puritanism that identified very strongly with the parlia- Account Derived from Sworn Depositions and Confessions
m e n t a ry cause. One aspect of this was the purging, Obtained in the Courts of England and Wales.London: Heath
under the direction of parliamentarian committees, of Cranton.
“scandalous and malignant” clergymen in 1643–1644. Gaskill, Malcolm. 2003. “Introduction.” Pp. xi–xxix in English
Some of them we re men who led scandalous lives or Witchcraft 1560–1736: Volume 3, The Matthew Hopkins Trials.
Edited by Malcolm Gaskill. London: Pickering and Chatto.
were regarded as professionally incompetent, while oth-
———. 2005. Witchfinders: A Seventeenth-Century English Tragedy.
ers (and the two categories were not mutually exclusive)
London: John Murray.
were simply not enthusiastic enough for the parliamen-
Hopkins, Matthew. 1647. The Discovery of Witches.London.
tary cause. This meant that many experienced and rela-
Macfarlane, Alan. 1970. “The Witch-Finding Movement of 1645
t i vely moderate parish clergy we re replaced by yo u n g
in Essex.” InWitchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England:
and enthusiastic committed Puritans. Religious ze a l A Regional and Comparative Study.London: Routledge and
boiled over in 1644, when a Suffolk man of respectable Kegan Paul.
Hopkins, Matthew 513 |
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Sharpe, James. 1996. “England’s Mass Witch-Hunt, 1645–1647.” off, he said. But Canidia replied scornfully that, in view
InInstruments of Darkness: Witchcraft in England 1550–1750. of the way he had been openly mocking her and the rit-
London: Hamish Hamilton. uals she had been performing on the Esquiline hill, she
Stearne, John. 1648. A Confirmation and Discovery of Witchcraft.
would continue to harass him magically. She boasted of
London: William Wilson.
her skills in magic. “I can impart motion to images
made from wax; I can snatch down the moon from the
Horace (65–8 B.C.E.) sky by my incantations; I can arouse the dead after they
Horace’s portrait of the “witch”—old, female, ugly, h a ve been cremated; and I can blend drinks which
grotesque, dealing in images, herbs, and poisons, and excite desire.”
working largely maleficent magic—played an impor- C a n i d i a’s re f e rences to mockery and the Esquiline
tant part in establishing later clichés about them. hill came from Sa t i re1.8 which had been published
Quintus Horatius Flaccus was a Roman poet whose some six years pre v i o u s l y. The satire was put into the
oeuvre consisted of lyric verses (Odes and Epodes), poet- mouth of a fig-wood statue of the god Priapus. T h e
ic conversation pieces, letters, and advice on how to Esquiline, he said, would be a pleasant enough place
write poetry (Ars Po e t i c a). Horace had a dry sense of were it not for the women who upset people with their
humor that seemed to have escaped many later writers incantations and poisons. He re m e m b e red seeing
on magic and witchcraft who used and quoted him as Canidia and Sagana there, digging a trench with their
one of their sources. nails, tearing a black lamb to pieces with their teeth,
His principal “witch” was called Canidia. A late but and pouring its blood on the ground in a necromantic
unreliable source suggested that she was modeled on a ritual intended to invoke the souls of the dead. When
real person. A commentator on Ho r a c e’s Ep o d e 3 . 7 , the ghosts arrived, their voices we re sad and shrill.
remarked that “the name Canidia refers to a Neapolitan Canidia and Sagana then buried a wolf’s beard and a
maker or dealer in ointments, called Gratidia, a worker s n a k e’s tooth, and burned a wax image. At this point,
of poisonous magic.” She appeared in several poems, Priapus became so frightened that he farted, causing
always described in highly theatrical terms. Her matted both “witches” to run away in confusion.
hair was entwined with vipers; one of her fin g e r n a i l s P. G. MAXWELL-STUART
had grown very long; her teeth were badly discolored—
hence her foul and deadly breath—and her complexion See also: BODYOFTHEWITCH;LOVEMAGIC;NECROMANCY.
References and further reading:
was pale and sallow. She wore a large black mantle and
Dickie, M. W. 2001. Magic and Magicians in the Greco-Roman
went barefoot. At least some of her teeth might have
World.London: Routledge.
been false, because on one occasion, taken suddenly by
Luck, Georg. 1999. “Witches and Sorcerers in Classical
fright, Canidia ran away and they fell out. Her com-
Literature.” Pp. 91–158 in Witchcraft and Magic in Europe.Vol.
panion Sagana, who was older than she, was just as
2. Ancient Greece and Rome.Edited by Bengt Ankarloo and
unpleasant to look at. She wore a wig that she lost when Stuart Clark. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Canidia lost her teeth (Epode5; Satires1.8 and 2.8). Maxwell-Stuart, P. G. 2000. Witchcraft: A History.Stroud: Tempus.
Epode5 involved a boy who began the poem by ask-
Hovaeus, Antonius
ing Canidia fearfully why she was staring at him like a
(Anton van Hove) (d. 1568)
stepmother or a beast at bay. Canidia made no immedi-
ate re p l y, but instead gathered together pieces of fig - A Benedictine abbot who supported Johann Weyer’s
wood uprooted from a cemetery, the eggs and feathers fight against the belief in witchcraft, Hovaeus, former-
of an owl, smeared with toad’s blood, poisonous herbs, ly abbot of the Benedictine convent in Eg m o n d
and some bones, all of which we re to be burned on a (Holland), became abbot of Echternach in the duchy of
magical fire. Meanwhile her accomplice, Sagana, was Luxembourg (Spanish Netherlands) in 1562. Following
sprinkling water from Lake Avernus (reputedly the the publication of Weyer’sDe praestigiis daemonum(On
entrance to the underworld), while a third “w i t c h , ” the Tricks of Devils) in 1563, Hovaeus sent the author
Veia, dug a shallow grave. The boy was to be buried an enthusiastic letter stating his agreement, which was
t h e rein and starved to death, after which his marrow added to later Latin editions between 1564 and 1588 as
and liver we re to be extracted to make a love potion. well as to the German translation in 1586. Hovaeus’s
Canidia, Horace explained, was in love with a man name appeared under the Latin acronym A.H.H.A.E.
called Varus who was impervious to her passion. At the (Antonius Hoveaus Haecmundanus Ab b a s
end, howe ve r, the boy threatened to come back and Ec h t e rn a c e n s i s). The abbot argued that the witch
haunt Canidia as a vengeful ghost. hunters, who allegedly fought the Devil, believed more
In Ep o d e 17, Horace addressed Canidia, asking her in the power of the Devil than in the power of God and
to cease her incantations and magical rites, because she Jesus. Hovaeus was fundamentally opposed to torture.
succeeded in driving away his youthful bloom and he A skeptical humanist, he considered malicious magic
was wasting away in torment. He was ready to buy her impossible and any belief in witchcraft superstition,
514 Horace |
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which he illustrated with two examples fro m b e f o re being burned. The synod of Esztergom
Echternach. Hovaeus was also a poet and published a (1100–1116) ord e red those convicted of m a l e fic i u m
dialogue entitled Zuermondiusin 1564, followed byDe punished according to canon law; the synod of Bu d a
arte amandi Christum (Concerning the Art of Loving (1279) threatened to excommunicate sorc e rers and
Christ) in 1566, which contained a book of odes and those using sacraments for magical purposes.
hymns. He lies buried in his abbey church at The first trials against magicians—f y t o n i s s a ( f e m a l e
Echternach, where his portrait surv i ves among its seer or diviner) and i n c a n t a t r i x (woman casting
abbots. spells)—seem to have appeared during the thirt e e n t h
century in both ecclesiastical and secular courts (feudal
GUNTHER FRANZ;
and municipal), but until the sixteenth century no reg-
TRANSLATED BY JONATHAN STICKNEY ular witch persecutions took place in the Kingdom of
Hu n g a ry (modern Croatia, Sl ovakia, and much of
See also: SKEPTICISM;WEYER,JOHANN.
References and further reading: Romania).
Franz, Gunther. 1996. “Antonius Hovaeus, Abt von Echternach, T h i rty-nine people, all of them women, we re
ein früher Gegner der Hexenprozesse.” Pp. 35–50 in accused of magic and witchcraft between 1213 and
Hexenglaube und Hexenprozesse im Raum Rhein-Mosel-Saar. 1496. The earliest cases were at the bishopric of Várad
Edited by Gunther Franz and Franz Irsigler. 2d ed. Trier: Spee. ( f o u rteen cases of m a l e fic i u m and ve n e fic i u m b e t we e n
———. 1999. “Bedeutende Echternacher Äbte des 16. und 17. 1208 and 1235) and at Za g reb (six women tried
Jahrhunderts. Hovaeus–Bertels–Richardot.” Pp. 261–274 in
between 1360 and 1379; at least one went to the stake).
Die Abtei Echternach 698–1998. Edited by Michele Camillo
We know of only a dozen trials from the fourteenth and
Ferrari, Jean Schroeder, Henri Trauffler. Luxemburg:
fifteenth centuries in Hungary.
Publications du CLUDEM.
———. 2002. “Prominente Gegner der Hexenprozesse in
Early Modern Witch Persecution
Luxemburg und Kurtrier.” Pp. 154–162 in Hexenwahn. Ängste
der Neuzeit.Edited by Rosmarie Beier-de Haan, Rita Voltmer, Witch hunting in early modern Hungary coincided
and Franz Irsigler. Berlin: Deutsches Historisches Museum. with difficult times. The Ottoman Turks defeated the
Hungarian army at Mohács in 1526 and occupied
Hungary Buda, the capital, in 1541. For the next 150 years,
With perhaps 1,110 executions for witchcraft in a Hungary was divided into three parts. The Hungarian
population that ranged between 3.5 million and 5.3 kingdom, ruled by Habsburg kings, was limited to the
million from the fifteenth through the beginning of the northwestern part (Upper Hungary). The central and
eighteenth centuries, Hungary experienced quite mod- southern parts of Hungary (the area of the Great
erate witch hunting. Hungarian Plain), occupied by the Turks, belonged to
the Ottoman Em p i re, while the eastern part ,
The Medieval Precedents Transylvania (today part of Romania) became a quasi-
The legislation of the first Hungarian kings—Saint independent principality ruled by Hungarian noble
Stephen (1000–1038), Saint Ladislaus (1077–1095), dynasties. During the 1680s and 1690s, the Habsburg
and Coloman (1095–1116)—provided the first legal army drove the Turks out of Hungary, bringing the
measures against the use of magic and witchcraft. These whole country, including Tr a n s y l vania, under
early texts referred to maleficium (harmful magic), sor- Habsburg rule until 1918.
tilegium (sorcery), and veneficium (poisoning), and also Witch hunting began in sixteenth-century Hungary,
used the term striga(witch or blood-sucking night crea- intensifying during the 1580s. Legal persecutions of
ture). All three kings ordered that people practicing magic and witchcraft we re re i n f o rced; for example, in
magic be brought before ecclesiastical court s . 1614 the Tr a n s y l vanian diet issued a decree punishing
Coloman’s law made an important distinction between s o rc e rers and witches. Howe ve r, throughout Hu n g a ry
strigae and malefici (practitioners of harmful magic). witchcraft was never considered a crimen exceptum (the
Following the tradition of the Canon Episcopi and the excepted crime) and was punished together with other
Carolingian capitularies, it denied the existence of the crimes at feudal, municipal, and county courts. After
former ones, and condemned the latter. 1656, Hungary’s most frequently used criminal proce-
Compilations of individual cities’ customs began to d u re was based on the teachings of a German jurist,
include punishment for magical acts during the late Benedict Carpzov, adapted for Austria and published in
Middle Ages, the earliest being Dalmatian city laws in Latin at the Hungarian university of Na g y s zo m b a t
the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and those of (Tr n a va) in 1687. Entitled Fo rma processus judicii
Za g re b. The customs of Buda, written between 1403 criminalis seu Praxis Criminalis and reprinted (always in
and 1439, condemned so-called a n s p re c h e r i n ( w o m a n Latin) in 1697, 1700, 1717, 1732, and 1748, this
casting spells) and c z a u b e rn( s o rc e ress), ordering them compilation—with its precise textual relationship to
to wear a pointed (“Jew i s h”) hat painted with angels C a r p zov’s famous Practica nova imperialis Sa xo n i c a
Hungary 515 |
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ve rum criminaliam ( New Rules in Criminal Cases for Howe ve r, seve n t e e n t h - c e n t u ry Hungarian Calvinist
Imperial Sa xony) unknow n — i n t roduced such we s t e r n opinions on witchcraft seem far from homogeneous. A
demonological concepts as the Sabbat and the witches’ Reformed synod held at Margita (Bihar county) in
pact to Hu n g a ry. This helps explain why Hu n g a r i a n 1681 seems to have stimulated witch hunting in this
witchcraft trials reached their peak only at the end of region by ordering sorcerers and their clients excommu-
the seventeenth and the first half of the eighteenth nicated. Its president, Bishop Mátyás Nógrádi of
centuries. De b recen, had visited England just when Ma t t h ew
Hopkins, the notorious witch fin d e r, was active there ;
Chronology of accused Hungarian witches:
he included a short treatise on “Az ördögi pra c t i c á r ó l
1526–1552: 17 mint kellyen ítélni embern e k” (How to Judge De v i l i s h
Practices) in his Lelki próbakõ(Spiritual Touchstone) of
1553–1600: 131
1651. Although Nógrádi argued for rather pru d e n t
1601–1650: 330
t reatment of village witches, he analyzed various types
1651–1700: 781
of pacts with the Devil carefully, taking them more seri-
1701–1750: 2,254 ously than his colleagues. If most Hungarian Calvinists
1751–1800: 534. considered the witches’ pact and the Sabbat as illusions
(or a product of melancholy), they condemned all
Although Hu n g a ry has been a multiethnic country forms of popular magic. In 1610, the De b re c e n
throughout its history—Upper Hungary hosted a con- Calvinists published Lex Politica De i ( Go d’s Pu b l i c
siderable number of Germans, Slovakians, and Czechs; Laws), a collection of biblical texts including a long list
Transylvania Germans and Romanians; while Croatian, of the Hebrew Bible’s laws punishing sorcery and div-
Serbian, Romanian, and, later, Sl ovakian groups live d ination. Se ve n t e e n t h - c e n t u ry Calvinists condemned
on the Great Plain area, not to speak of Gy p s i e s — t h e primarily the treatment of illnesses by popular healers,
great majority of the accused witches seem to have been emphasizing that cunning people and midwives using
ethnically Hungarian. magical practices deserved severe punishment. As late as
1719, Im re Pápai Páriz’s Keskeny ut (The Na r row
Learned and Popular Demonology Road), published at De b recen, re i n f o rced this rather
Protestant churches, whose demonological ideas are skeptical trend in Hungarian Calvinist opinions about
much better known in Hu n g a ry than those of the diabolical witchcraft, while supporting the punishment
Catholics, played a considerable part in starting witch- of any form of “white” magic.
craft trials in sixteenth- and seve n t e e n t h - c e n t u ry Some seve n t e e n t h - c e n t u ry Hungarian students
Hu n g a ry. The Tr a n s y l vanian Lutheran synod of 1577 upheld antidiabolical and antidemonological concep-
t h reatened anyone practicing magical acts with the tions of magic in disputations at Wittenberg, the
stake. The earliest Hungarian treatises commenting on Lutheran Rome. In 1665, Georgius Fridericus Magnus,
witchcraft and the De v i l’s works also came from a f rom Pozsony (Br a t i s l a va or Pressburg), defended
Lutheran pre a c h e r, Péter Bornemisza, who surve yed va r- We ye r’s propositions denying the possibility of the
ious nort h west Hungarian peasant witch beliefs and w i t c h e s’ pact; in 1692, Johannes Surmann, fro m
magical practices in his Ö rdögi kísírt e t e k r õ l ( About the Beszterce (Bistrita, Transylvania), in his De daemonolo-
Temptations of the Devil) published at Sempte (Si n t a va ) gia re c e n t i o rum auctorum falsa ( About the Fa l s e
in 1578. Demonology of Recent Authors), dared to defend
Calvinist teachings on witchcraft and demonology, Balthasar Bekker.
the best known in Hu n g a ry, began in 1562 with the Un f o rt u n a t e l y, we know too little about Hu n g a r i a n
Confessio Ecclesiae Debrecinensis(Confession of Faith for Catholic opinions on the issue of witchcraft during
the Church of Debrecen), compiled under the direction these times. The Malleus Maleficarum(The Hammer of
of Péter Méliusz Juhász, the first Calvinist bishop in Witches, 1486) was known in Hu n g a ry — Mi k l ó s
Hu n g a ry. A follower of Johann Brenz, Méliusz Zrinyi, one of the greatest seve n t e e n t h - c e n t u ry
e x p ressed a highly skeptical point of view about the Hungarian poets and writers, had a copy in his library
reality of diabolical witchcraft. Similar skepticism pene- and it was explicitly mentioned during the 1691 trials
trated the compre h e n s i ve treatise on demonology at Somorja (Samorin)—but it apparently exe rted little
(Disputatio theologica de lamiis veneficis, or Theological influence on witch hunting here. The criminal courts of
Dispute About the Ill-Willed Lamiae) compiled by two Catholic communities regularly used Carpzov’s Pra x i s
Reformed theology students, Joannes Mediomontanus c r i m i n a l i s or other legal guides that propagated con-
and Andreas Csehi, and published in Várad (Oradea) in cepts of diabolical witchcraft. Rituals of exorcism were
1656. They surveyed international demonological liter- routinely included in Catholic liturgical manuals;
a t u re, quoting more frequently from Johann We ye r Franciscan and Jesuit missionaries (often Italians or
than the Puritan William Perkins. Southern Slavs) performed this rite among the nobility
516 Hungary |
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and peasantry alike during the seventeenth century. another important channel in mediating German con-
Much like Hungarian Protestants, Catholics con- ceptions of witchcraft throughout Hu n g a ry. In many
demned both diabolical witchcraft and “w h i t e” magic local cases from the seventeenth and eighteenth cen-
(conceived as instigated by the Devil himself) through- turies, German soldiers accused their hosts of witchcraft,
out the eighteenth century in printed collections of ser- sometimes even acting as witch fin d e r s .
mons (József Telek, Tizenkét csillagú korona [Crown of Howe ve r, witch hunting in Hu n g a ry seems as much a
Twe l ve Stars], 1769), e xempla (János Ta xonyi, Az local and primarily urban phenomenon as an adoption
e m b e rek erkölcseinek és az Isten igazságának tüköre of German demonological concepts. Among the fir s t
[Mirror for the Morals of the People and the Truth of persecuting cities, both Kolozsvár in Tr a n s y l vania and
God], 1757), or manuals of ars vivendi (the art of liv- De b recen on the Great Plain we re mostly inhabited by
ing) (Fe renc Na g y, Az egy igaz és boldogító hitnek elei Hungarians. Ko l o z s v á r, a town of mixed religions, saw at
[The Foundations of the One and True Faith T h a t least twenty-one witchcraft trials between 1565 and
Makes One Happy], 1796). 1593, with fifteen resulting in burnings; De b re c e n ,
German demonology seems to have played a signifi- which was then turning from Lutheran to Calvinist,
cant role in Hungarian witch hunting at both learned p robably re c e i ved its first stimulus for witch hunting in
and popular levels, although its more diabolical trend is the 1570s through wandering preachers from Ko l o z s v á r.
still not ve ry well known. It was the pre d o m i n a n t l y Mo re ove r, the towns and villages of the Great Plain, a
German or Sa xon towns of Upper Hu n g a ry and typical frontier society, occupied by Ottoman Tu rk s
Tr a n s y l vania that launched Hu n g a ry’s first campaigns until the end of the seventeenth century and almost
against witches in the late sixteenth century, coinciding completely resettled during the eighteenth century, saw
with the demonological teachings of the Lu t h e r a n no intensive witch persecution before the 1710s and
Church. Hungary’s first detailed description of a Sabbat 1720s. Although the Tu rks did not pre vent local juris-
came from the area near Pozsony, at the Austrian bor- dictions from functioning in this region, only in 1728
der, in 1578. The Lutheran preacher Péter Bornemisza did one of Hu n g a ry’s largest witch panics develop there ,
claimed that the witches had a queen, transformed in the Catholic city of Szeged (Csongrád county), with
themselves into cats, and danced and fornicated at their t h i rteen witches burned and a further twe n t y - e i g h t
meetings. A much later—and this time Calvinist— accused; in the nearby religiously mixed town of
Sabbat was described by Joannes C. Mediomontanus in H ó d m ez õ v á s á r h e l y, forty-one people we re tried betwe e n
his 1656 Disputatio theologica de lamiis ve n e fic i s 1724 and 1763 (only seven died at the stake). Si m i l a r l y,
(Theological Dispute About Witches and Po i s o n e r s ) : 20 witches we re accused in the village of Ot t o m á n y
the witches ordinarily gathered at the wine cellars on ( Bihar county) in 1724; altogether, there we re 107
Mount St. Ge l l é rt near Buda, an ill-famed hill called accused witches (but only 15 capital sentences) in that
Blocksbergby local Germans. p redominantly Calvinist county between 1711 and
The first data suggesting popular adoption of 1730. These late witch hunts can best be explained by
demonological ideas also came from regions mainly the belated urbanization of this re g i o n .
inhabited by Germans. A witch’s alliance with the De v i l The popular image of the Hungarian Sa b b a t
was mentioned in 1581 at the Upper Hungarian mining emerged less from foreign demonological concepts than
t own of Selmecbánya (Schemnitz; Banská St i a v n i c a ) . f rom such local (and originally nondiabolical) sourc e s
Western Hungarian cities—like Kõszeg, So p ron, and as the t á l t o s (a sort of shamanistic sorc e rer) as well as
Pozsony—might have been affected by witch hunts from tündér (fairy) beliefs. The Sabbat encountered in
s p reading eastward from Austria during the 1560s. On e Hungarian confessions resembled a village feast, with
of the first popular descriptions of witches flying on excessive eating, drinking, music, and dancing, held in
b roomsticks and copulating with the Devil came fro m ordinary houses, churchyards, or the local tavern, most-
the city of Pozsony in 1602. It was also in this re g i o n , ly without the Devil’s presence. In cases where the Devil
a round such communities as So p ron, Körmend, was present, he was modeled from stereotypes of
Lakompak, or Da r á z s f a l va (Tr a u s d o rf), that extended learned diabolical witchcraft, appearing either as a billy
series of popular Sabbat descriptions appeare d goat or in human shape (a tall black man, a priest, or a
w h e nmass persecutions started in the 1650s. The other handsome peasant lad); such devils wore Hu n g a r i a n
a rea with a similarly early appearance of popular diaboli- d ress in German-inhabited regions and German dre s s
cal beliefs included the seven self-governing Sa xon tow n s in ethnically Hungarian regions.
(Si e b e n b ü r g e n) of Tr a n s y l vania. The cities of Se g e s v á r
( Sighisoara/Schassburg) or Na g y s zeben (Si b i u / Statistical and Chronological
Hermannstadt) experienced regular and intensive witch Patterns of Witch Hunting
hunting from the 1660s into the eighteenth century. According to our present knowledge, 4,089 accused
Austrian and German soldiers, occupying Hungarian vil- witches were brought to trial between 1213 and 1800
lages during and after the Tu rkish wars, constituted in the Kingdom of Hungary (the total number of trials
Hungary 517 |
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being 2,205). The vast majority of the accused, includ- Another rise in Hungarian witchcraft trials followed
ing everyone before 1500, were women: overall, women the end of the Thirty Years’War, from the 1650s, which
comprised 3,516 or 87 percent for the entire period, as included another big plague epidemic, until the 1670s;
opposed to 518 men. Similar gender percentages recur but the most dramatic increase occurred when the
in local studies: for example, only 11 men (roughly 9 Ottomans were definitively driven out of Hungary after
percent) were brought to trial in the city of Debrecen 1690. In the first half of the eighteenth century,
between 1575 and 1759, and 8 (barely 5 percent) in Hungarian witch hunting reached its peak, especially
Bihar county between 1591 and 1766. By nationality, after the end of the anti-Habsburg revolt led by Prince
about two-thirds of these alleged witches (3,067) were Ferenc Rákóczi (1703–1711), during and between the
Hungarian, the majority of the rest were Germans two greatest eighteenth-century plague epidemics
(362), Croatians (301), and Romanians (173), with (1709–1711 and 1738–1745).
occasional Slovaks (84), Gypsies (47), Ruthenians (23), Studies of local witch hunting nuance this pattern of
and Serbs (9). long-term fluctuation. The generally small-size witch
The exact rate of death sentences in Hu n g a r i a n hunts of Debrecen and Bihar county (1–3 accused per
witchcraft trials cannot yet be determined. Formerly, it annum) intensified during and after plague epidemics
was estimated at 51 percent (Klaniczay 1990a,b, c ) . or other natural catastrophes, such as drought, frost, or
According to the most recent statistics (based, however, famine (up to 5–10 accused per annum).
on only 3,269 accused witches between 1213 and Although witch persecution seems to have started to
1800), 498 witches (that is, roughly 34 perc e n t ) decline in the 1750s, the Habsburg Em p ress Ma r i a
re c e i ved capital punishment among the 1,468 people Theresa stopped it from above after 1756. After having
whose final sentence is known. One must, howe ve r, personally examined a Sl ovenian woman named
consider that for 1,801 persons (over half), the fin a l He ruczina accused of witchcraft, Ge r a rd van Sw i e t e n ,
sentence remains unknown. If we suppose the same the enlightened court physician, submitted a memoran-
p e rcentage of the 1,801 people we re executed as we re dum to Maria Theresa in 1758 arguing that witchcraft
the 498 witches whose sentences are known, we can charges were built on false concepts and suggested that
add 612 executions, giving a total of 1,110 pro b a b l e the persecution cease. The Royal Court first changed
e xecutions. The majority of those avoiding death some municipal sentences of witches to acquittals, and
re c e i ved corporal punishment or we re expelled, tem- then, in 1768, issued a royal decree permanently pro-
porarily or permanently, from their communities. Only hibiting the execution of witches.
a small minority was acquitted. The capital sentence of
convicted witches meant burning at the stake, without Microsociology of Witchcraft
strangulation beforehand. No other methods of execu- Accusations
tion, such as hanging, seem to have been used. In this respect, early modern Hungarian witchcraft
Local rates of capital sentences vary. In the Calvinist charges illustrate at least three significant patterns.
city of Debrecen, among 147 witches (82 percent with The first was “accusations from above,” a sociologi-
k n own sentences) only 28 (roughly 27 percent) we re cally stro n g e r, more powe rful party accusing a we a k e r
e xecuted—the majority burned. In mostly Calvinist one. This pattern typified the politically motiva t e d
Bihar county, out of 177 witches (only 39 percent with witchcraft trials among the Transylvanian high nobility
k n own sentences), 26 people (roughly 38 perc e n t ) during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. T h e
received capital punishment. princes accusing the families of their defeated political
Early modern Hungarian witch hunting seems we l l enemies of witchcraft included Sigismund Báthory
embedded in the country’s long-term local history. It (blaming the mother of Boldizsár Báthory, whom he
tended to increase during peaceful periods after major m u rd e red, for his impotence); Gábor Bethlen (who,
wars and uprisings, and also coincided with the after- after having succeeded the murdered Gábor Báthory in
math of devastating plague epidemics. It reached its 1612, accused the latter’s sister and two other noble-
first peak in the 1580s, a peaceful period but in the women in his entourage with witchcraft); and Mi h á l y
aftermath of a plague epidemic. The intensity of the Apafy (initiating a major witchcraft trial, with some
persecutions decreased during the Fifteen Ye a r s’ Wa r t wenty accused between 1679 and 1686, against the
with the Tu rks (1591–1606) and the anti-Ha b s b u r g wife of his exiled rival).
uprising of István Bocskai (1604–1606). The 1620s Similar patterns were also manifest in early modern
saw a new increase during a decade when Prince Gábor t own and village witchcraft. For example, in the
Bethlen of Transylvania led three campaigns against the Calvinist city of De b recen, pro s p e rous burgher mer-
Habsburgs. Individual trials usually occurred in peace- chants and artisans accused their lodgers, their house
ful years and regions, and it is highly probable that the servants, or the city beggars of witchcraft in dozens of
plague epidemic of the 1620s helped intensify persecu- cases, in the context of a local sociopolitical campaign
tion during these years. against the poor. In the same place at the same time,
518 Hungary |
Wicca | Richard M.Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Western Tradition | 556 | 46049 Golden Chap. H av First Pages 08/25/2005 p.519 Application File
“ h o n e s t” Puritan citizens accused “a d u l t e re s s e s , ” this way. The first victims of the Kolozsvár trials in
“drunkards,” “thieves,” or “blasphemous” women of the 1565 we re nearly all cunning folk mutually accusing
same crime (fifty-three people, roughly 36 percent of all one another. The same holds for the De b recen trials:
Debrecen witches). The “from above” pattern can also f o rt y - five persons, roughly 31 percent of all accused
be seen in two other typical forms of social conflict in witches, we re practitioners of popular magic: “w i s e
the eighteenth-century frontier world of the Gre a t w o m e n” brought charges against each other, midwive s
Plain. Local people had a considerable inclination to against other midwives, and—a typical urban phenom-
accuse strangers and newcomers of witchcraft (in Bihar enon—barber-surgeons and official midwives testifie d
and Csongrád county as well as in De b recen or against their colleagues. This type of witchcraft accusa-
H ó d m ezõvásárhely); such formerly privileged social tion seems to have been quite closely connected to the
g roups as the h a j d ú ( Haiduk) nobles, who lost their reorganization of De b re c e n’s local health care system
a d m i n i s t r a t i ve, economic, and military privileges after during the eighteenth century.
the end of the Turkish occupation, used the weapon of Tudós pásztoro k , “w i s e” or cunning shepherds, also
witchcraft to get rid of newcomer peasants settling in found themselves charged with witchcraft during the
their communities. s e venteenth and especially the eighteenth centuries,
A second and complementary pattern was “a c c u s a- either by their village clients, or by their shepherd col-
tions from below,” a sociologically weaker party accus- leagues. A peculiar form of these charges seems too have
ing a more powe rful one. This pattern seems to have been founded on werewolf beliefs; such cases appeared
been typical in some Hungarian witch panics; for all over Hungarian territory. It is highly probable that
example, in the 1728 trials in the Catholic city of these charges were connected with the crisis of the old
S zeged, a poor “wise woman” and a beggar accused a cattle-herding lifestyle, lowering the social status of the
former judge, Dániel Rósa, of witchcraft. Other local shepherds, and itself embedded in Hungary’s great eco-
magistrates and judges similarly found themselves or nomic and social transformations after the Tu rk i s h
their families accused, for example, in the 1724 occupation.
Ottomány panic, the 1724 Na g y k e reki panic, or the ILDIKÓ SZ. KRISTÓF
1734 Kiskunhalas panic. Another recurrent manifesta-
tion of this pattern can be seen when fourteen- to six- See also: ACCUSATIONS;AUSTRIA;BALKANS(WESTERNANDCEN-
t e e n - year-old maidservants or even nine- to- twe l ve -
TRAL); BEKKER,BALTHASAR;BRENZ,JOHANN;CAROLINACODE
year-old children accused their landlords, hosts, or even
(CONSTITUTIOCRIMINALISCAROLINA); CARPZOV,BENEDICT(II);
CROATIA;CUNNINGFOLK;DEMONOLOGY;HOPKINS,MATTHEW;
g r a n d p a rents of witchcraft. Sometimes this occurre d
HUNGARYANDSOUTHEASTERNEUROPE,MAGIC;HUNGARYAND
during witch panics, sometimes not: child accusers first
SOUTHEASTERNEUROPE,WITCHCRAFT;LAWSONWITCHCRAFT
a p p e a red in Kolozsvár tow a rd the end of local witch
(EARLYMODERN); LAWSONWITCHCRAFT(MEDIEVAL); LYCAN-
panics in 1615 and 1629; howe ve r, young kitchen THROPHY;MARIATHERESA,HOLYROMANEMPRESS;PANICS;
maids and children were constantly present as accusers PERKINS,WILLIAM;PLAGUE;PROTESTANTREFORMATION;
in scattered Debrecen and Bihar county trials until well PURITANISM;ROMANCATHOLICCHURCH;SKEPTICISM;SWIETEN,
into the 1760s. GERARDVAN;TÁLTOS;URBANWITCHCRAFT;WEYER,JOHANN;
Ac c o rd i n g l y, the “f rom below” pattern also occurre d WITCHHUNTS.
in periods of rather moderate witch hunting. It can be References and further reading:
Bessenyei, József, ed. 1997–2000. A magyarországi boszorkányság
seen in the eighteenth-century De b recen trials in a few
forrásai I.(Sources of Witchcraft in Hungary). 2 vols. Budapest:
cases where lodgers accused their hosts of witchcraft;
Balassi Kiadó.
and also in the far more frequent cases where clients
Evans, Robert J.W. 1979. The Making of the Habsburg Monarchy
accused “wise women,” midwives, or other magical
1550–1700.Oxford: Clarendon.
e x p e rts of inadequately curing the sick. Such accusations
Göllner, Carl. 1971. Hexenprozesse in Siebenbürgen.Cluj: Dacia.
suggest a considerable degradation of the traditional sta- Iklódy, András. 1982. “A magyarországi boszorkányüldözés
tus of these popular healers. The Haiduk nobles of the történeti alakulása.” Ethnographia93: 292–298.
estate of De recske we re charged with witchcraft by the Klaniczay, Gábor. 1990a.The Uses of Supernatural Power.The
local peasants during the eighteenth century, who tried Transformation of Popular Religion in Medieval and Early
to bring the trials before the landlord’s court, tru s t i n g Modern Europe.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
that the landlord, a political adve r s a ry of the Ha i d u k s , ———. 1990b. “Hungary: The Accusations and the Universe of
Popular Magic.” Pp. 219–225 in Early Modern European
would decide in the peasants’ favo r.
Witchcraft. Centres and Peripheries.Edited by Bengt Ankarloo
The third pattern was “status riva l ry,” witchcraft
and Gustav Henningsen. Oxford: Clarendon.
accusations developing among those of similar social
———. 1990c. “Witch Hunting in Hungary: Social or Cultural
rank. The most typical form of this pattern emerged as
Tensions?” Acta Ethnographica. A Periodical of the Hungarian
a personal competition among cunning folk (called in
Academy of Sciences37 (1–4), 67–91. Reprinted in New
Hungarian t u d ó s or o rvo s , “wise (wo)man”); a large Perspectives on Witchcraft, Magic and Demonology.Edited by
number of Hungarian witchcraft accusations arose in Brian Levack. NewYork: Routledge, 2003.
Hungary 519 |
Wicca | Richard M.Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Western Tradition | 557 | 46049 Golden Chap. H av First Pages 08/25/2005 p.520 Application File
———. 1993. “Le sabbat raconté par les témoins des procès de Better pre s e rved by the Ort h o d ox populations of
sorcellerie en Hongrie.” Pp. 227–246 in Le sabbat des sorciers southeastern Eu rope (Serbia, Macedonia, Bu l g a r i a ,
XVe–XVIIIe siècles.Edited by Nicole Jacques-Chaquin and Romania, Greece, and Albania) than in Latin Catholic
Maxime Préaud. Grenoble: J. Millon.
a reas (Hu n g a ry, Croatia, Sl ovenia), popular magic
———, Ildikó Kristóf, and Éva Pócs, eds. 1989.Magyarországi
s y n c re t i zed various elements of Christian and non-
boszorkányperek. Kisebb forráskiadványok gyûjteménye I–II.
Christian origin. In the Eastern Church, basically
(Documents of Hungarian Witchcraft Trials. A Collection of
unaffected by witchcraft trials or demonology, elite and
Minor Archival Sources). Budapest: MTA Néprajzi
popular religion have remained close, preserving many
Kutatóintézet.
Komáromy, Andor, ed. 1910.Magyarországi boszorkányperek medieval European traditions. Their history, marked by
oklevéltára.(Documents of Hungarian Witchcraft Trials). p rolonged foreign occupation (several centuries of
Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia. Ottoman rule), migration, and language changes have
Kristóf, Ildikó. 1990. “‘Wise Women,’ Sinners and the Poor: The affected folk belief and magic between different peoples
Social Background of Witch Hunting in a Sixteenth/ and regions. Historical contacts and cultural interre l a-
Eighteenth-Century Calvinist City of Eastern Hungary.” Acta tions and the influence of Christianity (including the
Ethnographica. A Periodical of the Hungarian Academy of
considerable effect of Bogomilism on Balkan peoples)
Sciences37 (1–4), 93–119. Reprinted in New Perspectives on
g a ve popular magic the same basic features across the
Witchcraft, Magic and Demonology.Edited by Brian Levack.
entire region.
NewYork: Routledge, 2003.
In Latin areas, many magical norms, sanctions, and
———. 1997. “Elements of Demonology in Hungarian Calvinist
actions that remain alive in the east have disappeare d ,
L i t e r a t u re Printed in De b recen in the Sixteenth and Se ve n t e e n t h
Centuries.” Cauda Pa vonis: Studies in He rm e t i c i s m16: 2, 9–17. or survive only in folklore narratives. In Latin Catholic
———. 1998. “Ördögi mesterséget nem cselekedtem.” A a reas (Hu n g a ry, Sl ovenia, and Croatia), surviving six-
boszorkányüldözés társadalmi és kulturális háttere a kora újkori teenth- through eighteenth-century witchcraft trial
Debrecenben és Bihar vármegyében. (‘I have not done any diabolic records enable us to reconstruct some traditional magi-
deed’. The Social and Religious Background of Witchhunting in cal cosmogony and practices. The following summary
Early Modern Debrecen and Bihar County).Debrecen: Ethnica. describes a few important phenomena that character-
“Magyarországi boszorkányperek” (Witchcraft Trials in Hungary),
ized the entire region, ignoring for the most part local
Web site maintained by Péter Tóth G.
characteristics.
http://www.maya.btk.pte.hu/boszorkany.
Pócs, Éva. 1999.Between the Living and the Dead.Budapest:
Cosmogony, Mythology,
Central European University Press.
and the Spirit World
Schram, Ferenc, ed. 1970–1982.Magyarországi boszorkányperek
(1529–1768).(Documents of Hungarian Witchcraft Trials, In this region, cosmic explanatory systems combined
1529–1768). 3 vols. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó. the He b rew Bi b l e’s creation myth with Bogomil
Sugár, István, ed. 1987.Bûbájosok, ördöngõôsök, boszorkányok Heves notions of a dualistic creation by God and Satan and
és Külsõ-Szolnok vármegyékben.Budapest: MTA Könyvtára. with pre-Christian traditions retained in folk narratives
Tóth, István György. 2001. “The Missionary and the Devil: Ways (e.g., the defeat of a dragon of chaos by the god of heav-
of Conversion in Catholic Missions in Hungary.” Pp. 79–87 in en). Notions of the universe were similarly manifold. A
Frontiers of Faith. Religious Exchange and the Constitution of
widely known notion was a universe with seven “lay-
Religious Identities 1400–1750.Edited by Eszter Andor and
ers,” and the world tree reaching from the underworld
István György Tóth. Budapest: Central European University
to the heavens. (According to the Macedonian myth,
Press.
underworld monsters, called kallinkantsaroi,whose aim
Tringli, István. 1999. “Bûbájos és nézõ asszonyok levelesítõ
was to destroy the world, gnawed the roots of the tree,
jegyzékekben.” (Sorceresses and Seer Women in Registers of
Proscription). Ethnographia110: 1.73–90. but the birth of Jesus prevented this from happening.)
Other widely known elements were dragons and were-
Hungary and Southeastern wolves that caused eclipses of the sun and moon or
Europe, Magic earthquakes, a floating whale or a buffalo that support-
Remnants of traditional folk belief and everyday prac- ed a disc-shaped earth on its back, an earthly other-
tice of popular magic have lingered in village commu- world in the west or over the river, an underworld filled
nities of the area until modern times. Fortunetellers and with frogs and snakes, and a mother goddess with
specialists in communication with the otherworld with attributes of an underworld snake, traceable in Serbian,
quasi-shamanistic abilities were active. Folklore views of Croatian, Slovenian, or Bulgarian folklore.
popular belief spread through oral transmission, as well Pre-Christian mythical beings surv i ved mainly in
as popular magic, are both inseparable from folk reli- ambivalent roles of determining people’s fates and dis-
gion which included ideas and forms of behavior not tributing sanctions or rewards. A largely negative pagan
included in or even rejected by official dogma and litur- demon world merged with the Christian Satan to create
gy. (These were labeled as pagan, heretic, or supersti- a great variety of “popular” devils among all these peo-
tious by the Christian religion.) ples; for example, in Albanian d j a l l , d re q , and s a t a n
520 Hungary and Southeastern Europe, Magic |
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refer to different devilish-demonic beings. Ha rdly any tively beautiful (Romanian fata padurii) or appeared as
non-Christian spiritual beings had positive roles, which l a r g e - b reasted, lascivious fertility goddesses (Se r b i a n
were invariably taken by Christian saints and the Virgin shumska maika, “forest mother”). They aided pregnant
Mary, who assumed several features from similar pagan women and newborn babies, but also tended to “swap”
forerunners. Thus, saints who were patrons of animals babies (cf. changeling). Sl ovenian zalik ûene ( “ b l e s s e d
(St. George, St. Michael, St. Blasius, or St. Sava) carried women”), who looked like fairies, also had similar fea-
features of an archaic “lord of animals.” Saints associat- tures.
ed with the prescriptions and taboos of the magic of The role of water spirits may also have been filled by
h u s b a n d ry and the household, or with divinatory and the water-nymph varieties of the fairies. Other water
s a c r i ficial rites, played normative roles in re g u l a t i n g spirits we re mainly known in the western Ba l k a n s
human behavior. St. George and St. John the Ba p t i s t ( Sl ovenian p ovodni moû, Croatian vodni moû, Se r b i a n
(and his day in the calendar) were connected with innu- vo d e n i a k , vodeni duh, e t c .) Often resembling dwarf s ,
merable individual and collective rites of crop magic d rowned bodies, or mermaids, they turned into water
and milk magic. St. Elias bore the features of the Slavic demons after drowning, and lured people into the
sky and storm god Pe run, also traceable in Ro m a n i a n w a t e r, pulled bathers under the surface and drow n e d
and Hungarian folk beliefs. Female healing saints had them, or tangled fishermen’s nets. Sometimes they aid-
n u m e rous pagan features, thus Saint Marina, honore d ed fishermen and, as “lords of the fish,” received food or
t h roughout the Balkans for protecting people fro m drink poured into the water in return.
snakes, was connected with such antique “snake” god-
desses as Artemis or Bendis. Saint Lucia (for Latins) and Dragons Good and Bad
Saint Paraskeva (for the Orthodox) were associated with Dragons and their variants, the most archaic type of
spinning and other women’s jobs as well as with fertili- n a t u re spirits, still play significant magical roles for
ty. Similar features, sanctioning all the taboos of female many people. All types of dragons (Bulgarian and
jobs even in the modern period, appeared in the Serbian h a l a , Serbian a l e , azhdaha, lamnia, Bu l g a r i a n
Hungarian and Romanian “Woman of Tu e s d a y,” lamnia, Albanian l a m j e , k ulˇs e d ra, bolla) we re we a t h e r
Romanian and South Slavic Piatnitsa (Fr i d a y) a n d demons that caused storms, rain, or hail; in myths,
Sl ovenian Pe h t ra Ba b a , who guaranteed fertility and they also caused cosmic disasters, for example,s t e a l i n g
deserved sacrifices (cakes, floury foods, hemp, flax) on the sun or causing earthquakes. Born from beings of
their days. the marshes or the underworld, dragons dwelled in
An exceptional and clearly non-Christian fig u re in water and caves. Certain types of dragons could be
folk mythologies was that of the “fate woman.” Belief in g u a rdian spirits; among the Bulgarians, they became
the power of these beings who announced human p a t rons of the shamanistic magicians protecting a
destiny (Greek moira, Serbian and Croatian urishnitsa, tribe or village. These “g o o d” dragons (Bu l g a r i a n
Romanian u r s i t o a re, Bulgarian u r i h s n i t s i , A l b a n i a n z m e i , Serbian z m a i , Macedonian z m e v, Ro m a n i a n
f a t i a ,Sl ovenian ro j e n i c e) remained common in twe n t i e t h - zmeu, Croatian p o zo j) fought cosmic battles against
century Orthodox countries, where food sacrifices were f o reign dragons to aid their own communities in
p re p a red for these women. Such fig u res, who carried ensuring good we a t h e r. Despite their watery origins,
f e a t u res both from antiquity and pre-Christian Sl a v i c they also had fie ry features—in the rites of shamanis-
traditions, usually appeared in groups of three on the tic magicians, their heavenly patrons fired arrows of
night after childbirth to announce the destiny of the l i g h t n i n g .
newborn.
Traditions about nature spirits, cre a t u res of the Fairies
f o rests and the waters, surv i ved in the entire re g i o n The complex and varied figures of fairieshave played an
until the twentieth century (except in Bulgarian and important role in the beliefs, magic, and sacrificial rites
Greek areas, where fairies filled these roles). Forest spir- of southeastern Europe, but by the twentieth century,
its (e.g., Serbian lesnik, Sl ove n i a n lesnik, lesni ˇs k ra t , this role survived only in Orthodox areas. In Roman
divji moû, cateû, Hu n g a r i a n va d ö reg, erdei csoda, Catholic central Europe, they survived only in folklore,
vadleány) were natural beings belonging to a part of the or their features were projected onto witches. In the
world outside human experience; lords of the forest and Balkans, fairies played an important role in heroic
often of the animals, they had a wild exterior and plant epics, while the majority of Hungarian fairy beliefs were
or occasionally animal attributes (a dress of moss or much more secondary. The use of taboo names for
b a rk, hairy bodies, long flowing hair). They upro o t e d fairies was quite characteristic, for example, Romanian
trees and supported woodcutters, but tended to fright- words meaning “them,” “the belles,” or “the misses,” or
en anyone lost in the woods. Woodcutters occasionally Albanian terms for “the whites,” “the happy ones.”
g a ve them gifts of meat or wine in the hope of better Fairies were water, forest, or mountain nymphs; they
t reatment. Some of their female versions we re seduc- had the characters of dead persons (in the Orthodox
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Balkans their figure coincided with the periodically customs as feasting on the grave, “f e e d i n g” the
returning dead), presented as good-looking women, deceased, and giving a treat to the dead at memorial
migrating or flying in groups singing, dancing, and feasts we re confined to Ort h o d ox areas. During this
playing music. They could assume animal shapes transition period, magicians and seers could contact the
(snake, donkey, horse, etc.). They could fulfill the role dead, interpreting their wishes in response to re q u e s t s
of fertility goddess or communal guardian spirit, guar- of the survivors; such “seers of the dead” remain active
anteeing the well-being of a family or a village or a good in Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania.
harvest. At the same time, they were taboo figures reg-
ulating behavior, sanctioning those who transgressed House Spirits
their places (paths, crossroads, meadows) or times House spirits or family guardian spirits, know n
(night, midday, period between Easter and Whitsun) throughout the entire region (e.g., Bulgarian stopan or
with specific “fairy diseases.” They snatched the living talasâm, Serbian talasoni/talasomi, Greek pergalio) were
and those they took died or returned sick; innumerable related to ancestors or came from their souls after they
legends described men who were snatched to become s t a yed with the family. Their various names in
musicians in the fairies’ ecstatic groups for music and Hungarian, Serbian, Croatian, or Albanian often mean
dance. They also snatched the healers and fairy magi- “snake of the house”; the Greek stoicheion and related
cians that they supported and took them to their own terms in Bulgarian, Macedonian,southern Albanian, or
otherworldly sphere, where they participated at feasts Romanian often mean shadow (“shadow soul”). These
accompanied by music and dance and learned the art of spirits, whether goblins or taking the form of an ani-
healing, thus becoming initiated into the trance and mal, often a snake (but the Bulgarian stopan could also
dream techniques of conferring with the otherworld. be a horse or an ox), lived in the house, in its hearth,
Such magicians (e.g., Croatian v i l e n i c a , v i l e n j a k , doorstep, or wall, and were in a way the double of the
Hungarian tündéres; Greek, Bulgarian, and Serbian master of the house. It is universally known that if one
forms also existed) could heal the transgressors of fairy measures the shadow of a stranger in the house, using a
taboos by conjuring up the fairies and presenting them reed that is then built into the wall, then the person
with sacrifices. who was measured will die and become the genius loci
of the house. The house spirit could be given a sacrifice
Ghosts when the house was built (e.g., a hen killed on the
The haunting dead and ghosts were syncretic mythical doorstep and its bones then built into the house). In
beings carrying both Christian and pagan attributes. return, the spirit protected the residents of the house;
Up to the present, archaic views held that a person’s its absence afflicted them with sickness, death, or col-
spirit lived on after death, separating from the body lapse of the building. Narrative traditions about house
only gradually. Until the gap left behind by the person spirits from Hungarian and other Latin territories (e.g.,
vanishing from a close community was again filled, legends about a child who fed milk to a snake) seem less
until the mutual expectations of the living and the dead vivid than the beliefs and cults of the Orthodox
were complied with, the dead soul lingered in some Balkans.
transitional place, not far from the living, and returned Beside a varied world of folk devils, the “o r i g i n a l”
to haunt them through signs, dreams, or apparitions. It forms of malevolent popular demons have also survived
was also possible to communicate with the dead person in great numbers in the entire region. Some of these are
in this period in order to complete affairs that had been related to the dead who are often ambivalent toward the
cut off because of the death. This gradual distancing living. They also have expressly malign types that attack
from the world of the living and the occasions for com- their own community.
munication both had traditionally appointed times Among ghosts coming from persons who died with-
such as after forty days of mourning, the anniversary of out religious rites (major sinners deprived of burial ritu-
the death, the Day of the Dead (November 2) for als, suicides, unbaptized babies, the unburied dead who
Roman Catholics, or Orthodox festivals of the dead perished in a disaster or war) are those who attacked
(Easter, Whitsun, Saturdays of the dead). Even today, their own family, causing confusion or bringing disease,
numerous Christian and non-Christian rites and acts of such as the Romanian m o ro i or Hungarian s ze c s k o, o r
magic are performed to provide for the dead, keep them those who were referred to as “shadows” (Greek isklos,
at a distance, or help them in the otherworld. Serbian osenia,Romanian samca,Bulgarian senka,sian-
It was common to provide for the bodily, physical ka,Hungarian rosszak[the evil ones], or kereszteletlenek
needs of the dead by including objects and personal [ u n b a p t i zed], Macedonian n a v, n a v i , Croatian n e k re s-
belongings in the grave, or holding a mourning feast, tenci,nevidinci,or the Greek telonio,Macedonian navi-
eating together with the deceased. Christian forms i a k). These “s h a d ow s”—usually bird-shaped beings,
intended to influence the lot of the deceased in the often weather demons—appeared in groups in times
o t h e rworld we re known eve ry w h e re, while such d e voted to the dead (e.g., between Christmas and
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Twelfth Night. They also had a communal guard i a n Werewolves
role, fighting battles for their own community against We rew o l ves we re also double beings existing on the
the spirits of the neighboring community. b o u n d a ry of the living and the dead (Serbian, Cro a t i a n
v u k o d l a k/k u d l a k , etc., Sl ovenian vo l k o d l a k , Bu l g a r i a n
Malevolent Demons v rk o l a k , Albanian v u rv u l a k/v u rvo l l a k , Gre e k
Sickness-causing demons (against St. Antony’s fire, v r i k o l a k a s/va rk a l a k a s , Romanian p r i c o l i c i , Sl ove n i a n
t h roat diseases, fevers, etc.) are known mainly in ve d o m e c , Hungarian c s o rd á s f a rk a s , s z a k á l l a s f a rk a s ,
Orthodox regions, partly through spells against them. p r i k u l i c s). A we rewolf could turn into a demon that
According to Romanian, Serbian, and east Hungarian attacked humans both in its life (in a trance) and (in the
narratives, demons of plague and cholera break into the case of “dead we rew o l ve s” or we rewolf demons) after its
village and snatch the living. Some remnants of protec- death. Contrary to m o ra fig u res, which we re mainly
tion rites survive: having the village ploughed around female, we rew o l ves we re usually men. Their birth was
by virgin maidens or twin calves, or hanging up a shirt fated: those who we re outside of time/space/society we re
sown or woven in one day in the fields surrounding the usually we rew o l ves (illegitimate children, seventh chil-
village. d ren, twin brothers, children conceived on a day of cel-
Demons of the childbearing bed we re part i c u l a r l y ebration, unbaptized, excommunicated, or swapped by
well known in the Balkans under such names as mora, a we rew o l f, etc.). We rew o l ves we re often persons born
gello, giloand were related to the Jewish Lilith (feared by with animal signs (teeth, tail, bristles, wings, or in snake
eastern European Jews). These demonic females usually skin). They we re capable of turning into animals( m a i n-
attacked in groups and assaulted both mothers and ly wolves, as well as snakes, dogs, male wild boars, hors-
babies after childbirth. Amulets proclaiming that a es, cats, etc.) by sticking themselves through a belt of sil-
saint could defeat these demons were hung on walls as ver birch, by putting on a belt of wolf skin, by doing a
p rotection. Beliefs re g a rding changelings, know n somersault, or during a trance or dream (“in their soul” ) .
throughout the region, were also connected with these T h e re we re typical times for this transformation (the
demons (or elves, we rew o l ves, or demonic witches), n ew moon, Fridays, nights, between Christmas and
who swapped an unbaptized baby for one of their own. Twelfth Night, at Easter, etc.). After transformation, the
“ Re - s w a p p i n g” rites also existed. These beliefs both we rewolf joined the wild group of we rew o l ves and
explained pre m a t u re, ill-formed, or sickly babies and together they assaulted humans and animals. A typical
documented a form of double beings, widespre a d g roup of we rewolf beliefs from the Balkans we re about
a c ross Eu rope, which permeated boundaries betwe e n dead, otherworldly beings that attacked humans at
the living and the dead. t h e winter solstice (Serbian k a ra k o n d z u l i , Gre e k
k a l l i n k a n t z a ro i , Macedonian k a rk a n d z u l e , A l b a n i a n
Double Beings k a rk a n d s o l i , k a rk a n x h o l l , Croatian k a ra n g j o l o z). Know n
Double beings penetrating the boundaries of the worlds primarily in Ort h o d ox are a s , these demons attacked
of the living and the dead are the Serbian, Bulgarian, when human activities (women’s housew o rk, spinning,
Croatian, and Serbian m o ra , m o r i n a (a re l a t e d sexual activity) we re governed by taboos. The world was
Hungarian figure is the will-o-the-wisp lidérc) who were ruled by conditions of the underworld: we rew o l ve s
humans or demons (corresponding to Ge r m a n b rought chaos and sickness into houses and indulged in
mahr/mare/mara). As humans they had a double life; in re p u l s i ve orgies in kitchens and cellars. Se r b i a n ,
a state of trance, they were capable of turning into Bulgarian, Greek, and Hungarian rites enabled babies
demons that attacked humans. They we re usually born as we rew o l ves to evade their destinies or to be re -
women whose souls left their bodies to enter homes swapped. These included the symbolic cooking or ro a s t-
through a keyhole during the night. The double beings ing of the baby, or dressing it in a shirt woven in one
then assaulted the sleepers and “pressed” their bodies. night. These rites intended to turn the double beings
The victims experienced the presence of the double into humans. Mo re re c e n t l y, an expansive va m p i re belief
beings as invisible spirits or as animals (turkey, hen, cat, has accreted over these beliefs. Pre s e n t l y, the term d o u b l e
etc.). They could also enter into sexual contact with b e i n g refers to a va m p i re or a we rewolf with stro n g
their victims as incubus or succubus demons. In some vampiristic features. T h e re we re also we rew o l ves that
places, they were purely demonic figures with no p rotected humans. Some we rew o l ves played the role of
human double. “Dead mora” were demons that were the “lord of animals,” the leader of the we rewolf gro u p
the dead version of a person who was a mora in his or that protected flocks from attacks by other we rew o l ve s .
her life. Mora played an important part in the present Thus the we rewolf triumphed over its own assaulting
by diagnosing, explaining, and repelling ill health or self in “battles of the soul.” These notions provided the
sexual disturbance accompanied by feelings of pressure mythical background to the so-called we rewolf magi-
during the night. Witches of the region displayed many cians of the region who fought mythical soul battles in
mora as well as werewolf features. animal shape against hostile we rew o l ve s .
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Related to we rew o l ves we re horse demons contact with the winds, who fought storms. Numerous
( Romanian s â n t o a d e r i , Serbian t o d o rc i , t o d o rovc i) , types of we rewolf-magicians, born with cauls or in
which attacked on Saint T h e o d o re’s day in Ort h o d ox snakeskins (Serbian, Macedonian, Bu l g a r i a n
Balkan areas. They marched at night in the shape of z m e i / z m a i / z m i i a ; Sl ovenian, Croatian k re s n i k , re l e va n t
centaurs, horses, or men with hooves accompanied by types of Hungarian t á l t o s), kept contact with va r i o u s
the clapping of hooves. They brought sickness but also animal guardian spirits (eagles, dragons, snakes,
fecundity to the living. Also related to werewolves was c o c k e rels). All these fertility magicians traveled to the
the dog-headed demon (Serbian p s o g l a va c , p a s o g l a v, otherworld in order to fight magicians from a neighbor-
Croatian p a s o g l a ve c , s o g l a v, Sl ovenian p e s o g l a v, ing village or clan, or fight against underworld dragons
Romanian capcaun), which attacked from the “far side or witches attempting to steal the harvest or snatch the
of the waters,” from “over the wall”—in other word s grain to the otherworld. Some Slovenian kresniki went
from a symbolic alien otherworld. to the underworld in order to take grain from a snake
goddess. Magicians of fert i l i t y, particularly some heal-
Magicians and Mediators ers, also kept ritual contact with fairies. Holy people,
Throughout this area, various magical specialists played lay Christian spiritual mentors, who often mediated
an important part in traditional communities, as did simultaneously with the spirit world and with other-
mediators offering contact with the spirit world. worldly Christianity through visions and other mystical
Magicians healed, ensured the health of animals, and experiences, often fulfilled these tasks.
provided good weather as well as amorous services. It is
not possible to separate magicians using divination Religious Magic and Folk Cults
techniques from mediators establishing contact with Popular magic was inseparable from rites of popular
the supernatural world through visions and dreams, religion and had similar functions, such as protection
who went to the otherworld to acquire knowledge and from demons, influencing everyday life, and farming.
fulfill their tasks in trance visions. They also entered the Certain manifestations of the cult of saints, pilgrimages
otherworld to fight soul battles with demons attacking to sacred spots, holy oaths and vows, magical healing
their community, to conjure up the dead, or to get taking place at sacred spots, priestly blessings and heal-
information about their fate in the otherworld. Using ings, spells and divination, exorcism against the Devil,
trance and dream techniques and various methods of and other chastening exorcism rites concerned the same
divination, they could provide information about the profane sphere of everyday life as nonreligious magical
future or about lost animals or missing persons, identi- activity. Priests who healed or looked into the future
fy thieves, or locate buried treasure. One important div- used or prescribed magical means and objects similar to
inational task was to diagnose the malefactions of lay practices (e.g., wearing sanctified objects as amulets,
witches and identify the malefactors. magical fasting, blessing or cursing over the belongings
Each fort u n e t e l l e r, seer of the dead, or quasi- of the sick). Priests and monks have more important
shamanistic magician could fulfill one or more of these roles in healing, exo rcism, and blessings in the
functions simultaneously. All of them used va r i o u s Orthodox areas today than in the Catholic western
techniques of divination: wax casting, spinning a sieve, Balkans. These Orthodox peripheries of Europe have
looking in a mirror or at the stars, trance journeys, or retained medieval practices of clerical magic and div-
being possessed. All were active throughout central and ination in their commissioned blessing and cursing rit-
eastern Eu rope, but with some specific variants. Both uals and their positively or negatively motivated votive
s e xes we re invo l ved in fortunetelling, divination, and masses.
their principal activity, healing. Female magicians were
mainly healers or seers of the dead; they we re also Everyday Magic
i n vo l ved in love magic and, according to seve n t e e n t h - Both religious and magical rites had their everyday
and eighteenth-century sources, in finding hidden trea- forms, including versions of sacrifice and divination
sure. Most weather magicians were men. Magical meth- related to calendar holidays (e.g., divination of death
ods are still practiced by many village healing women. and love affairs near the winter solstice, fortunetelling
Few except healing monks used manuscript re c i p e from pig’s shoulder blades at Orthodox Christmas din-
books; most repeated long spells that they knew by ners). Belief in presaging signs (particularly of death)
heart. and other forms of divination not related to the calen-
Local magicians differed according to which spirit dar were also common. Certain methods of divination
world or otherworldly realm or guardian spirit they on festive days were related to sacrifices offered to the
contacted. Weather magicians and fertility magicians mythical beings visiting at these times—floury foods
with quasi-shamanistic abilities (some still active in the were offered to the dead on Christmas night and to
early twentieth century) had different local va r i a n t s . Luca (St. Lucy) on Luca’s day. Forms of activity within
Croats and Serbs had “cloud leaders” (stuha/zduhac), in magical practice permeated all-important areas of the
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everyday life of traditional communities, although the another and we re connected to a particular date. T h e
procedures varied. Ensuring the fertility of grain and rite of dipping in the water on St . Jo h n’s Da y, mainly
animals (milk yield) and the protection of flocks and of practiced in Ort h o d ox territories, or the rites of “p i c k-
fields from hailstorms was associated with certain cal- ing the dew” done throughout the region on St .
endaroccasions or the start and end dates of work (e.g., Ge o r g e’s Da y, Whitsun, or St. Jo h n’s Da y, both aim to
rites related to the animals first being led to the pas- e n s u re rain, fertility for grain, and the milk yield of
tures, such as making the animal tread on an egg to cattle and sheep. Masked rites of fertility magic had
make it fertile—on St. George’s day). Many divinatory two main festive cycles: around the winter solstice (in
rites to protect people also accompanied the transition- the entire region) and the end of winter carniva l
al rites of human life. It was common to offer magical (mainly in Latin parts). The varied dramatic plays of
protection through amulets and sanctified objects to the different nations emphasized wishes for the fert i l-
persons in liminal states, such as mothers just after ity of grain and animals as well as humans; they
childbirth, babies before baptism, and the dead dis- included numerous death and re s u r rection plays, ritu-
played in coffins. On days known for attacks by al pulling of plows and sowing of seeds, masked
demons, the house and the stables needed protection impersonations of the “re t u r n i n g” dead and of we re-
through objects worn on the body or placed in the wolf demons who became active at these times.
doorways and by deterrent spells. Magical and religious Rain magic among the Serbs, Croats, Albanians, and
actions, objects, and spells surrounded all procedures of Romanians in times of drought included such rites as
farming and the household, but particularly those with d o d o l a and p a p a ru d a , w h e re by naked girls dressed in
a more risky outcome, such as butter churning or bread green branches roamed over the village singing songs of
baking. In crisis situations, magical and divinatory rain magic while villagers poured water on them.
practices survive to the present (e.g., rain magic by Collective healing rites entailing a possessed state of
pouring water, deterring hailstorms by throwing the consciousness are known from the Ort h o d ox Ba l k a n s
bread shovel or the axe into the courtyard, love magic, in the Serbian, Bulgarian, and Romanian forms of
or identifying future husbands). Some areas of folk rusalia and calusari. These specially organized ritual
healing persist as well (especially the healing of maladies societies had serious communal functions each ye a r
attributed to malediction). Harm through magic had b e t ween Easter and Whitsun and during the twe l ve
intentional and unintentional, graver and less serious days of Christmas, times when people could be pos-
forms. The evil eye was considered an inherited and sessed by the dead or by fairies. Their main task was to
thus unintentional malediction, separate from witch- heal illnesses caused by fairies. T h rough music and
craft, perceived as intentional. The evil eye is still the dance, the “good fairies” possessed them. Sick people
most common magical cause of illness today in the were drawn into the dance, inducing a trance in which
southern Balkans, where “casting water” (throwing they fought, with the help of the spirits that possessed
embers in cold water) curbs its effects. Amulets and them, against the evil spirits. Traces of Whitsun fertility
spells can ward off the evil eye, as might devices such rites related to fairies have also surv i ved in Ro m a n
as the sign of the horn or the fig, and the colors red Catholic Croatian, Sl ovenian, and Hungarian territo-
or blue. ries (ljelje, kraljice, pünkösdi királyné), but have no
Other types of black magic in the Orthodox Balkans k n own healing function. Bulgarian n e s t i n a r i , w h o
included fasting, laying curses, and burying objects of dance on embers, maintain a cult related to a possessed
malefaction in somebody’s path. Sometimes people state and include a healing function, but n e s t i n a r i a re
commissioned magicians to practice these types of possessed by Christian saints (chiefly St. Constantine
harmful magic. Even today, priests send curses or give and St. Helena) rather than fairies, and the rite is con-
masses of malefaction. Love magic commonly involves nected to their festivals. All these rites surv i ved in the
taking the person’s bodily fluids or belongings or nineteenth and twentieth centuries in many places as
acquiring the person’s bodily parts—such as hair—and both fertility magic and healing rituals.
tying them to one’s body or to a house (e.g., picking up
a person’s footprint from the ground and pasting it to ÉVA PÓCS;
the bread-oven with mud). On other occasions, people
TRANSLATED BY ORSOLYA FRANK
sought specialized experts (usually Gypsies) for love
potions.
See also: AMULETANDTALISMAN;ANIMALS;ANIMISTICAND
MAGICALTHINKING;BALKANS(WESTERNANDCENTRAL); CAUL;
Communal Magical and
CROATIA;CUNNINGFOLK;CURSES;DEMONS;DIVINATION;EVIL
EYE;FAIRIES;FOLKLORE;GHOSTS;HUNGARY;HUNGARYAND
Healing Rites
SOUTHEASTERNEUROPE,WITCHCRAFT;LILITH;LOVEMAGIC;
Most communal magical rites we re intended to ensure
LYCANTHROPY;MAGIC,POPULAR;METAMORPHOSIS;NIGHT-
the fertility of grain harvests or the health of animals. MARES;ORTHODOXCHRISTIANITY;REVENANTS;SHAMANISM;
Most we re rites of transition from one season to SLOVENIA;SPELLS;TÁLTOS;VAMPIRE;WEATHERMAGIC.
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References and further reading: Christian regions of central Europe, where the persecu-
Elsie, Robert. 2001. A Dictionary of Albanian Religion, Mythology, tion of witches was institutionalized, than we do in the
and Folk Culture. NewYork: NewYork University Press. Orthodox lands of southeastern Europe. Moreover, rel-
Kligman, Gail. 1981. Calus. Symbolic Transformation in Romanian
e vant documents are extremely sparse here before the
Ritual. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
fifteenth century, unlike Hungary, where eleventh- and
Kretzenbacher, Leopold. 1959. Santa Lucia und die Lutzelfrau.
twelfth-century law codes discussed magicians and for-
Südosteuropäische Arbeiten 53. Munich: R. Oldenburg.
tunetellers (m a l e fic i a and ve n e fic i a) as well as s t r i g a
———. 1968a. Teufelsbündner und Faustgestalten im Abandlande.
(night demons known in Hu n g a ry through sixth- and
Klagenfurt: Verlag des Geschichtsvereines für Kärnten.
———. 1968b.Kynokephale Dämonen südosteuropäischer seventh-century German legislation).
Volksdichtung.Munich: R. Trofenik. T h roughout Latin Christian areas (Hu n g a ry,
Lawson, J. C. 1910. Modern Greek Folklore and Ancient Greek Croatia, and Slovenia), accusations of sorcery and black
Religion. A Study of Survivals.Cambridge: Cambridge magic recurred too sporadically throughout the Middle
University Press. Ages to enable us to describe the supposed activities of
Liungmann, Waldemar. 1937/1938. Traditionswanderungen witches, while sermon literature usually mentioned
Euphrat—RheinI–II. Folklore Fellows’ Communications
witches together with fortunetellers and magicians. But
118–119. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tieideakatemia.
neither do we know what forms of harmful magic were
Pócs, Éva. 1989. Fairies and Witches at the Boundary of South-
condemned by scattered clerical prohibitions in
Eastern and Central Europe. Folklore Fellows Communications
Ort h o d ox sources (Serbian, Bulgarian, Greek, and
243. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tieideakatemia.
Macedonian). Afterw a rd, documentation from thou-
Puchner,Walter. 1987. “Zum Nachleben des Rosalienfestes auf
der Balkanhalbinsel.” Südostforschungen XLVI: 197–278. sands of witchcraft trials in seventeenth- and eigh-
Senn, Harry A. 1982. Were-Wolf and Vampire in Romania. East t e e n t h - c e n t u ry Hu n g a ry, Croatia, and Sl ovenia re ve a l
European Monographs, No. XCIC. NewYork: Columbia the early modern Latin system of witchcraft; methods
University Press. for channeling tensions within villages and small com-
Stewart, Charles. 1991. Demons and the Devil. Moral Imagination munities onto scapegoats through accusations of m a l-
in Modern Greek Culture. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University e fic i u m , against a background of a syncretistic re l i-
Press.
gious/magical cosmogony that aided the functioning of
Zechevich, Slobodan. 1981. Mitska bicha srpskih predania.
the system.
Belgrade: “Vuk Karadzhich” Etnografski Muzei.
As elsew h e re in Latin Christianity, accusations of
m a l e fic i u m usually gave vent to various social tensions
Hungary and Southeastern (neighborhood conflicts after the rules of coexistence
Europe, Witchcraft we re trespassed). That is, witchcraft accusations often
In Hungary and Southeastern Europe, popular con- affected persons with whom the accuser had previously
cepts of witchcraft mainly entailed maleficium (harmful had a personal conflict (neighborhood jealousy, materi-
magic), done by a known local enemy. In this fashion, al damage to each other, refusal of help, denial of ser-
witchcraft helped to interpret otherwise inexplicable vices or loans, territorial conflicts, family, part i c u l a r l y
misfortunes of all kinds—particularly sudden diseases marital conflicts or those between mother-in-law and
in humans or animals, decreases in milk production of s o n - i n - l a w, inheritance conflicts, libel, and so on).
cows, or the death of babies. In medieval and early Others accused of witchcraft had actually carried out
modern times, at the southeastern edges of Latin s o rc e ry or acted as magicians or healers or pursued
Christendom (i.e., Hungary, Croatia, and Slovenia), some other suspicious trade, for example, midwive s ,
witchcraft became an important community function f o rtunetellers, or people who practiced conjuring up
expressing tensions between members of isolated and the dead. Communities often had a “standing witch”
close-knit communities. Traces of witchcraft as a village who provoked the suspicion of bewitching through his
community institution still survive in areas that most or her magical activity as healer, midwife, or magician.
strongly retain traditions, but other areas only record Other persons became the regular victims of witchcraft
narratives about the actions and beliefs of witches. accusations because they were judged to be aliens with-
In Ort h o d ox southeastern Eu rope (i.e., Gre e c e , in the community, by personality or by socioeconomic
Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Romania), other systems of status. In Hungary, witches commonly cured their own
beliefs explained many such misfortunes, including spells, or the healer was the same person who identified
supernatural causes and reasons for diseases (e.g., the witch. Throughout the entire region, there were and
fairies, transgressions of taboos about the dead, sickness still are numerous folk methods for identifying a witch,
demons, etc.). In this region, black magic and malefici- most of which force the malefactor to the victim’s house
um did not exist solely in relation to witchcraft beliefs, or symbolically injure the witch by beating or burning a
but might operate, for example, through religious curs- piece of his or her clothing, hair, or feces.
es “s e n t” with the participation of priests. We know If the bewitching was remedied, private accusations
much more about the history of witchcraft in Latin against witches we re rare. But we find communal
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sanctions for recurring cases of m a l e fic i u m t h ro u g h Middle Ages, it came to include human witches, but in
water ordeals or through beating the witch, both before Hungarian folk belief the b o s zo rk á n y still retains the
and after the times of witch hunting and also in places traits of the “pressing demon.”
and times free of such hunts. Witchcraft purges provid- Some terminology refers not to human but to demon-
ed opportunities for drastic legal solutions to such ten- ic witches. The Greek word s t r i g l a , striglos, stringlos ( a
sions and accusations by expelling the accused persons b i rd-shaped demon harming animals, children, or
f rom the community, while local remedies for solving women, or a demon of the childbearing bed), as well as
tensions and accusations survived. In this region, witch the Romanian term s t r i g o i (simultaneously meaning
persecutions never became sufficiently extensive to human witch, we rew o l f, va m p i re), was carried north by
effect radical changes. The effect of demonology was Vlachian shepherds from the southern Balkans into
too weak to demonize archaic witch beliefs at the village Sl ova k i a n – Uk r a n i a n – Polish areas, where it refers to va m-
level, and local experts in magic did not change much p i res or demonic we rew o l ves. Howe ve r, among
during three centuries of witchcraft persecutions. Dalmatian and Istrian Croats, Sl ovenes, Albanians, and
Serbs, it also denotes a human witch (probably thro u g h
Popular Witchcraft in the classical Greek s t r i g a , a bird-shaped demon harming
Modern Times animals, children, or women, which also means human
In more recent times, anthropological and folklore col- witch). The Bulgarian term b ro d n i c adenoted a differe n t
lections provided ample data for the entire central and type of demon, originally a water fairy but today a witch
southeastern European regions, including Orthodox who steals grain from a neighbor’s land. Hungarian s z é-
Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece, which were free p a s s zo n y ( fine-looking woman) originally and often still
f rom witch persecution (Albania and Ma c e d o n i a means a fairy, but could be a synonym for a human
remain less well known), enabling us to draw a clear w i t c h .
outline of modern functioning of witches, magicians, In medieval or early modern Hungarian, Slovenian,
and witchcraft within communal systems, as well as the and Croatian folk beliefs, demonic ancestors lost their
mythical background behind witchcraft and the typical original functions and apparently merged into the
attributes of regional witches. topos of the witch, adding the werewolf and fairy traits
Throughout the region, people accused of witchcraft attached to such names. Meanwhile, to a much greater
d i s p l a yed supernatural traits (including the occult extent than in Latin regions of eastern Eu ro p e ,
capacity for bewitching), making them suitable subjects Orthodox peoples have retained a rich range of demon-
to whom various misfortunes could be attributed. ic beings that have endured until the present. In many
On the other hand, ordinary people actually practic- respects, Serbian witches resemble mora demons rather
ing black magic existed mainly in the Balkans. Among than humans; Romanian s t r i g o i a re also more va m p i re
Hungarians, the actual practice of harmful magic than human. Bulgarian witches are closest to fairies,
o c c u r red mainly in Hungarian communities pre s e n t l y while Greeks practically never mention human witches.
living in Romania. Persons invo l ved in such practices All this is connected both to the relative lack of witch-
and their techniques (curses, black fasting, placing or craft as a communal village institution and simultane-
burying objects in the victim’s path) were not necessari- ously to the extensive surv i val of demonic rather than
ly considered sorc e rers and sorc e ry, especially in are a s human causes for misfortune.
w h e re communal traditions of witchcraft we re we a k Among southeastern European peoples, even human
(Greece, Bulgaria, parts of Romania, eastern Hungary). witches often had demonic formal variants, which char-
In such regions, one should talk of magicians rather acteristically existed as living and dead pairs. For exam-
than witches, because Slavic terminology for magic and ple, a Romanian strigoi could be either living or dead.
s o rc e ry is often inextricably intertwined; for example, Like human witches, a living s t r i g o i could assume a
ve d ( Old Slavic for “know”) reappears in Se r b i a n , demonic form in the night, while a dead strigoiwas usu-
Croatian, and Sl ovenian veˇs c i c a , Bulgarian and ally the ghostly variant of a dead strigoi, or possibly its
Macedonian veˇstica,or Serbianvjesˇtac, viˇscun, vjedogon- ancestor or guardian spirit. Dead variants occurred also
ja, vjedov i t . Another group of terms denotes demonic in Serbian and even in Latin (Croatian, Sl ovenian, or
witches, especially those who live and function as night Hungarian) beliefs. He re a witch could possibly
demons (va m p i res, we rew o l ves, or m o ra— “p re s s i n g” become a demonic being—a werewolf or a vampire—
night demons from the underworld), and in the after its death. For example, dead Hungarian witches
Balkans they refer to witches with two formal variants, sometimes became demonic lidérc,similar to mora.
one living and one demonic or dead. Hu n g a r i a n Witches could acquire their supernatural knowledge
b o s zo rk á n y originated as a “p re s s i n g” night demon or either through birth, inheritance, or learning; and in
incubus that caused, by weighing down on the sleeping the background we may find helping or guard i a n
person during the night, a sense of suffocation, pre s- spirits, demons, or even the Christian Devil. T h e
s u re, heart complaints, and erotic experiences. By the dichotomy between taught witches and born witches
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characterized the entire region. The inherited capacities Romania and Serbia. They could become invisible and
of the born witch may be indicated by some sign at fly. In other words, they could behave like spirits, but
birth, such as being born with teeth or a double line of a c c o rding to many beliefs, only during night hours,
teeth, being born with a caul (white cauls indicated a when they could appear as pressing night mora, lidérc,
good we rewolf who supported humans, black ones werewolves, fairies, or fate-women.
f o retold an aggre s s i ve we rewolf or a va m p i re). T h e s e Other sources reveal that the ability to turn into ani-
traits we re generally know n — p robably least among mals was connected with the capacity for trance: their
Hungarians—and we re connected eve ry w h e re with “f ree souls” or doubles, leaving the body during the
we rewolf and m o ra characteristics of the witch (teeth, trance, took the shape of an animal (usually a butterfly)
caul) as opposed to vampire characteristics (double line or a demon, and set out to attack, harm, and sicken
of teeth). Romanians pre s e rved beliefs about p r i c u l i c i , humans, traveling both individually and in groups. In a
witches born with a tail, which was also a we rew o l f t h i rd widely known type of explanation, witches had
trait. Another Romanian belief (also known in other more or less permanent corporal and spiritual doubles
Balkan contexts) was that at birth, the “fate women” or who could appear as spirits, either in human or animal
m i d w i ves defined the destiny of the s t r i g o i- b a by, com- form, and possess other persons or animals in whose
mitting them either to positive lives or to evil, antihu- shape they appeared. With such double witch fig u re s ,
man deeds. the “dead” variants could be identical to the living ones
T h e re we re many beliefs in southeastern Eu ro p e in every respect, except that soul journeys and transfor-
regarding learning witchcraft, the most common being mations into animal shape re f e r red to spiritual beings
the acquisition of some sort of helping spirit, often a rather than living people.
chicken or a snake. This spirit was gained either by per- Witchcraft entailed the supernatural ability to
forming certain rituals (sometimes with chicken’s bewitch or heal everywhere, but methods of maleficium
blood) or frequently through travel in the underworld varied widely. They could be performed from a dis-
from a cave, from water or a marsh, or from a snake-like tance, when only the result was perc e i ved; or dire c t l y,
underground goddess-type creature. Through the assis- when the witch made a victim swallow substances caus-
tance of this helping spirit, the sorc e rer acquired the ing m a l e fic i u m or placed objects under a neighbor’s
capacity for trance. During their soul journeys in the d o o r s t e p, in a court y a rd, or by using objects stolen
night, the chicken or the snake became quasi-shamanis- from the victim. Spells against animals or the depriva-
tic soul animals, like the helping spirits of the “g o o d” tion of milk re q u i red touching, stealing the necessary
werewolf magicians; but the sorcerer used the trance for objects, or symbolic actions mimicking milking.
negative aims: in the night, the soul left the body and T h roughout the region, “picking dew” was a wide-
harmed sleepers by getting through their keyholes or spread method for taking milk from a neighbor’s cow or
taking an animal or spirit shape. A dragon or even the grain from his fields on St. John’s Day, St. George’s Day,
Christian Devil may have played a similar assisting role. or on other important agricultural festivals. It was not
Hungarian witches also used l i d é rces (as chickens or necessarily connected to witchcraft but often surf a c e d
owls) for helping spirits, this latter being related to the as a witchcraft accusation in trial documents. Ve r b a l
South Slavic m o ra . Re g a rdless of demonology, the magic, curses, and threats played a great part during the
region was full of helping spirits that went along with centuries of witchcraft persecution and continue to do
innumerable variants of learning from the Devil, initia- so in Orthodox regions. A unique trait of Bulgarian and
tion by the Devil, or general contact between witches Macedonian witches connected their milk-spoiling
and devils.Given the Byzantine origin of legends about with the moon: they “pulled” the moon down magical-
T h e o p h i l u s’s pact with the Devil, it is not surprising ly and milked it like a cow in order to steal milk from
that Romanian, Bulgarian, and Greek folklore contains other houses.
n u m e rous witches who we re possessed by the De v i l , Other beliefs connected witches’ maleficent methods
surrendered themselves fully to the Devil, became unit- to their capacity for trance. A great deal of data depict
ed with the Devil, or maintained sexual contact with witches lying unconscious; legends related that after
the Devil. Certain folkloric notions of the witches unit- awakening, they described their experiences at the
ed with the Devil or permanently possessed by devils w i t c h e s’ meeting or during their journey. Beliefs often
also occurred in Hungarian, Sl ovenian, and Cro a t i a n associated flying with the journey of the soul. Be l i e f s
folk beliefs, where the name of witches was actually re g a rding flights, both individually or in groups, we re
ördög(= Devil) in a large eastern region. highly varied: the mora witch, known in all regions, sat
Witches could assume animal forms in all re g i o n s : on the chest of sleeping humans and assaulted them or
b u t t e rflies or birds in Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, or initiated sexual intercourse with them; a Ma c e d o n i a n
Macedonia; a goose, dog, or wolf in Bulgaria; cats or or Greek s t r i g a or s t r i g l o s sucked blood; like Cro a t i a n
dogs in Croatia, Serbia, Hu n g a ry, Romania; a wolf, witches, a Serbian witch flew from house to house eat-
horse, or cockerel in Romania; a turkey or chicken in ing humans, particularly little children, or people’s
528 Hungary and Southeastern Europe, Witchcraft |
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h e a rts. The belief about witches making victims into a re absent from modern witch beliefs, where witches’
horses and galloping on their backs was know n p a rties become dinners and dances taking place either
throughout the region, and was most intensely alive in on a local mountain or hill, under a tree, or at a cross-
relation to Hungarian witches. roads. These parties, following the stereotypical ele-
The souls of Romanian strigoi,flying out in a trance, ments of international legends, suddenly turn ro u g h
went in groups bewitching herds, milk, and grain, and wild (e.g., the food turns into dung), or in other
participating in parties and feasts, or fighting with poles cases, they are described as slightly disgusting under-
against neighboring groups of s t r i g o i . These activities world-type events, noisy and rough feasts held in cellars
happened on certain feasts at the start of the agricultur- or mills. Such narratives sometimes contain initiation
al season (which are also days associated with werewolf m o t i ves more archaic than the official pact with the
beliefs) such as St. George’s Day, St. John’s Day, and St. Devil, incidents in which the victim is cooked and
A n d rew’s Da y. Similar flights of groups of witches boned. They include some otherworldly symbolism,
attempting some maleficiumagainst the harvest, or bat- such as crossing a river or narrow path, or reaching the
tling against neighboring grain-spoiling witches, also goal in a small object such as a sieve or a nutshell drift-
a p p e a red in Croatian and Sl ovenian folk beliefs. ing downriver.Together with other data referring to the
Witches who traveled as wolves or other animals on w i t c h’s ability for trance and soul flight, such details
tours of harmful magic were also known in Hungarian, s u p p o rt the hypothesis (Ginzburg 1991) that these
Romanian, and Serbian folk beliefs. Na r r a t i ves often a rchaic images of journeys to the otherworld serve as
associated visions of witches with their capacity for the basis of the images of the witches’ Sabbat.
trance and for assuming animal shape. In the former
phenomenon, the night spirit-ghost appeared in the ÉVA PÓCS;
victim’s dream or vision as an apparition that sat on the
TRANSLATED BY ORSOLYA FRANK
v i c t i m’s chest as a “p re s s i n g” demon, tried to strangle
the victim, and finally cantered on the victim after See also: ANIMALS;ANIMISTICANDMAGICALTHINKING;BALKANS
turning him or her into a horse. On other occasions, a (W E S T E R NA N DC E N T R A L); C AU L; C ROAT I A; C U R S E S; D E M O N O LO-
group of witches arrived in a house as elf-like creatures G Y; D E M O N S; FA I R I E S; F L I G H TO FW I TC H E S; H U N G A RY; H U N G A RY
that held a rough and noisy part y, playing music and A N DS O U T H E A S T E R NE U RO PE, M AG I C; LYC A N T H RO P Y; M A L E F I C I-
dancing. These night apparitions abound in the docu- U M; M E TA M O R PH O S I S; M I L K; N I G H T M A R E S; O RT H O D OXC H R I S-
mentation from witchcraft trials eve ry w h e re they T I A N I TY; P O P U LA RB E L I E F SI NW I TC H E S; S A B B AT; S H A M A N I S M;
S LOV E N I A; S O RC E RY; S T R I X,S T R I G A, S T R I A; T H E O PH I LU S; VA M PI R E.
occurred, providing this region with unusually rich and
References and further reading:
varied images of spirit and demon fig u res in the early
Bayer,Vladimir. 1982. Ugovor s Davlom: Procesi protiv carobnjaka
modern period. The integration of the demon world,
u Evropi a napose u Hrvatskoj. 3rd ed.Zagreb: Zora.
and particularly the rich world of fairies characteristic Cordevic, Tihomir R. 1953. “Ve(tica i vila u na(em narodnom
in the Balkans, made witch parties into fairy balls, while verovaniju i predanju. Vampir i druga bita u na(em narodnom
its scenes of battle resembled the soul fights of the verovaniju i predanju.”Srpski Etnografski Zbornik 66: 5–255.
witch’s magician ancestors, fought in a state of trance. Elsie, Robert. 2001. A Dictionary of Albanian Religion, Mythology,
In all the countries of the region, these dream appari- and Folk Culture. NewYork: NewYork University Press.
tions, group soul journeys, and battles pre s e rve d Evseev, Ivan. 1997. Dictionar de magie, demonologie si mitologie
româneasca. Timisoara: Editura Amarcord.
autochtonic parallels from folk belief to demonological
Georgieva, Ivanichka. 1985. Bulgarian Mythology.Sofia: Svyat
doctrines. Antiwitchcraft demonology re a c h e d
Publishers.
Hungary, Croatia, and Slovenia through witchcraft tri-
Ginzburg, Carlo. 1991. Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches’ Sabbath.
als and priests who had studied in the West, and
NewYork: Pantheon Books.
a p p e a red to some extent in trial re c o rds; but the doc-
Klaniczay, Gábor. 1990. “Hungary: The Accusations and the
trine of witches renouncing baptism or the witches’ Universe of Popular Magic.” Pp. 219–255 in Early Modern
Sabbat as a conspiracy of apostate witches never took European Witchcraft. Centres and Peripheries. Edited by Bengt
root as an ideology serving antiwitchcraft purges. None Ankarloo and Gustav Henningsen. Oxford: Clarendon.
of these ideas ever penetrated Ort h o d ox areas free of ———, and Éva Pócs, eds. 1988. “Witch Beliefs and Witch-
witch hunts. Hungarian, Croatian, and Sl ovenian sto- Hunting in Central and Eastern Europe (Conference in
ries about the journeys and meetings of witches’ soci- Budapest, Sept. 6–9, 1988).” Acta Ethnographica37, nos. 1–4.
Kretzenbacher, Leopold. 1968. Teufelsbündner und Faustgestalten
eties shared some features with clichés about the witch-
im Abendlande. Klagenfurt: des Geschichtsvereines für Kärnten.
e s’ Sabbat used in official demonology (e.g., a village
Marinov, Dimitar. 1914. “Narodna viara i religiozni narodni
lad, who was in fact the Devil, initiated or forced a pact
obichai.” Sbornik za narodni umotvoreniia i narodopisXVIII.
on a victim dragged away from the village). Si m i l a r
Moszynski, Kazimierz. 1929. Kultura ludowa slowian II. Kultura
s t e reotypical elements, including the witch’s ointment
duchowa I. Crakow: Polska Akademija.
or the motif of flying with the Devil’s help, can only be Pamfile, Tudor. 1997. Mitologie româneasc. 2d ed. by M.A.
documented from the minutes of trials; these elements Canciovici.Bucharest: All.
Hungary and Southeastern Europe, Witchcraft 529 |
Wicca | Richard M.Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Western Tradition | 567 | 46049 Golden Chap. H av First Pages 08/25/2005 p.530 Application File
Pócs, Éva. 1989. Fairies and Witches at the Boundary of South- that one of the heresies of the Bohemian Bre t h ren was
Eastern and Central Europe. Folklore Fellows’ Communications their rejection of proceedings taken against witches.
243.Helsinki: Suomalainen Tieideakatemia. Another Catholic demonologist, Jean Ma l d o n a d o ,
________. 1999. Between the Living and the Dead. A Perspective
linked the Hussite heresy to witchcraft: “Bohemia and
on Witches and Seers in the Early Modern Age.Budapest: Central
Ge r m a n y, [where] the Hussite heresy was accompanied
European University Press.
by such a storm of demons that witches we re busier than
Schmidt, Bernhard. 1871. Das Volksleben der Neugriechen und das
h e re t i c s” (cited in Waite 2003, 106).
hellenische Altertum.Leipzig: B.G. Teubner.
The Hussites’ own views on witchcraft are more dif-
Tkalcic, I. 1892. “Izprave o progoni vj((ticah u Hrvatskoj.”
Starine25: 1–102. ficult to ascertain. The main re p re s e n t a t i ve of Hu s s i t e
Vrazhinovski, Tanas. 1995. Narodna demonologiia na Makedontsite. t h e o l o g y, Luke of Prague (1460–1528), who pro b a b l y
Skopie: Matica Makedonska—Pripel: Institut za Staroslovenska came under the influence of the German Reformation
Kultura. in his last years, expressed a comparatively moderate
Vukanovic, T. P. 1989. “Witchcraft in the Central Balkans I: attitude. His own catechisms, and those written or
Characteristics of Witches.”; “Witchcraft in the Central i n fluenced by other Hussite theologians, contained
Balkans II. Protection Against Witches.” Folklore 100: 9–24,
almost no re f e rences to sorc e ry and witchcraft. T h e i r
221–236.
exposition of the first commandment, which is helpful
Zechevich, Slobodan. 1981. Mitska bicha srpskih predania.
h e re, emphasized the ethics of love, in which love for
Belgrade: “Vuk Karadzhich” Etnografski Muzei.
God finds its true expression in love for one’s neighbor.
Christians must reject strange cults and false gods on
Hussites the basis of the Decalogue; according to the Hu s s i t e s ,
The relationship between the reform movement named this primarily invo l ved the rejection of such Catholic
after the Czech reformer Jan Hus (1370–1415) and the forms of devotion as reverence for saints. Not until the
history of witch persecutions was twofold. On the one late sixteenth century did Hussite catechisms pro h i b i t
hand, like witches, the Hussites became victims of the all consultations with sorcerers and diviners, whether to
fifteenth-century papal inquisition after the Council of prevent or to cause harm. The formulas used, however,
Constance, where their leader Jan Hus was burned at s h owed strong influence from Lutheran catechisms of
the stake in 1415; on the other hand, the Hussite sixteenth-century Germany.Thus the Hussites, and lat-
church, founded in Bohemia in the fifteenth century, er the Bohemian Bre t h ren and the Assembly of
consistently rejected witchcraft. Brethren, ranked among reform movements of the late
The term Hu s s i t e sincorporates various groups formed Middle Ages and early modern period that consistently
after the conflicts in Bohemia, which surv i ved into i n t e r n a l i zed their conception of the black arts, deve l-
modern times in one way or another. Di f f e re n t i a t i n g oped no doctrine of demonology, dissociated them-
among “Taborites,” Moravian and Bohemian Bre t h re n , s e l ves from witch hunting, and bridged the transition
and the Assembly of Bre t h ren exceeds the scope of this to the moderate attitude of Reformed Pro t e s t a n t i s m
e n t ry. A direct connection between the inquisitorial per- and early Pietism in the late seventeenth century.
secution of the Hussites and the onset of witch persecu-
tion can be found in the writings of Heinrich Kramer JÖRG HAUSTEIN;
( Institoris), the author of the infamous Ma l l e u s TRANSLATED BY HELEN SIEGBURG
Ma l e fic a rum (The Hammer of Witches, 1486). Wi t h i n
the context of demonology, it mentioned the Hu s s i t e s
See also:BOHEMIA;HERESY;INQUISITION,MEDIEVAL;KRAMER
(INSTITORIS), HEINRICH;MALDONADO,JUAN;MALLEUSMALEFI-
(II/1,1), but without implying any direct connection
CARUM;NIDER,JOHANNES;ORIGINSOFTHEWITCHHUNTS;
b e t ween witchcraft and their here s y. Unlike the term
PROTESTANTREFORMATION;VAUDOIS(WALDENSIANS).
Waldensian, Hussite never became a synonym for
References and further reading:
witches or sorc e rers, but after his inquisition of witches Bailey, Michael D. 2001. Battling Demons: Witchcraft, Heresy, and
in southwestern Ge r m a n y, Kramer turned to the perse- Reform in the Late Middle Ages.University Park: Pennsylvania
cution of Hussites with similar intensity. When appoint- State University Press.
ing him inquisitor for Bohemia and Moravia in 1499, Kaminsky, Howard. 1967. A History of the Hussite Revolution.
Pope Alexander VI issued a papal decree explicitly con- Berkeley: University of California Press.
demning the Bohemian Bre t h ren and the Wa l d e n s i a n s , Müller, Joseph, ed. 1887. Die Deutschen Katechismen der
Böhmischen Brüder. Kritische Textausgabe mit kirchen- und dog-
and Kramer soon published a book with a title as mili-
mengeschichtlichen Untersuchungen und einer Abhandlung über
tant as the Ma l l e u s ,his Sancte Romane ecclesie fidei defen-
das Schulwesen der Böhmischen Brüder.Berlin: Hofmann.
sionis clippeus adversus Waldensium seu Pi c k a rd o ru m
ämahel, Frantisˇek. 1991. “Stärker als der Glaube: Magie,
h e re s i m ( Shield of Defense of the Faith of the Ho l y
Aberglaube und Zauber in der Epoche des Hussitismus.”
Roman Church Against the He resy of the Wa l d e n s i a n s
Böhmische historische Zeitschrift 32/2: 316–337.
or Pi c a rds in the Nations of Germany and Bohemia . . . Waite, Gary K. 2003. Heresy, Magic and Witchcraft in Early
Olomouc, 1501). It alluded to witchcraft by charging Modern Europe.Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave.
530 Hussites |
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Hutchinson, Francis (1660–1739) place, or the name of the ship, or any witnesses, in a
Author of An Historical Essay Concerning Witchcraft case that requires vast numbers, that could depose, that
(1718; 2d enlarged edition, 1720), Hutchinson was at such a time, that very ship by name, or at least a ship
educated at Cambridge (BA, 1680; MA, 1684; DD, p a rticularly described, did sink miraculously, when it
1698). He was, first, vicar of Hoxne in Suffolk, and by had a calm sea and a fair wind, without either rock or
1692 became curate of St. James’s church in Bury St. tempest. Instead of these kinds of probabilities . . .” we
Edmunds. Hutchinson became bishop of Down and h a ve only a confession extracted under tort u re
Connor in Ireland in 1720. ( Hutchinson 2003, 67). Boulton responded in kind.
His politics were those of the Whig establishment; he Where Hutchinson had protested that much of the evi-
p reached in 1707 in favor of Anglo–Scottish union, dence for witchcraft was the result of mental disease,
and in 1717 he published a biography of Arc h b i s h o p imposture, and torture, Boulton insisted it was easy to
John Tillotson, a fig u re approved of by the Whigs. In lay such evidence to one side, for “who would convict a
1708, he published a rationalist tract against the con- witch against probability and circumstances of actions?
t e m p o r a ry practice of prophecy and faith healing (A These are the things which moral proof consists of, and
Sh o rt View of the Pretended Spirit of Pro p h e c y), and his which give credit to testimony, and as belief is founded
Compassionate Ad d ress to . . . Papists (1716) dismissed upon moral proof, upon that proof judgement ought to
Catholic claims to practice exo rcism. He planned his be given” (Boulton 2003, 50)—“moral proof” being a
book on witchcraft as early as 1706, but was advised technical term referring to testimony in support of a
against publishing on the subject by the bishop of matter of fact so reliable as to make disbelief irrational.
No rwich and the archbishop of Canterbury. In 1712, The issues in debate between Hutchinson and Boulton
the case of Jane Wenham momentarily revived his plans we re thus identical with those later raised in Hu m e’s
to publish; but he only pressed ahead in response to the “Of Miracles.”
publication of Richard Boulton’sA Compleat History of Hutchinson also relied on a new notion of evidence
Magick, Sorc e ry and Wi t c h c ra f t (1715). Boulton later that, Ian Hacking (1975) has argued, was a by-product
defended himself against Hutchinson with a of probability theory. Hutchinson explained his nove l
Vindication (1722). system of reasoning by appealing to the story of the ass
Hutchinson’s Historical Essaydemonstrated an exten- that tried to pass as a lion by donning a lion’s skin, but
s i ve knowledge of previous literature for and against one ear stuck out and betrayed him. So a woman con-
belief in witchcraft. He listed twe n t y - five works pub- fessed in 1618 that she had asked her cat to bew i t c h
lished since the Restoration defending belief in witch- someone, “whereupon the cat whined and cried mew,”
craft, and among the skeptics, he was familiar with signifying she had no power to do so. “Now this one
Johann Weyer, Reginald Scot, Friedrich Spee, Thomas c i rcumstance looks to me like the ass’s ear. For what
Ady, John Webster, and Balthasar Bekker. Hutchinson should a cat say but m e w ? And how could the poor
sought to place himself in the tradition of Sa m u e l woman have been suffered to have interpreted that to
Harsnett (1561–1631), author of attacks on Catholic her own destruction, if she had not been in the hands of
and Puritan exo rcisms (A De c l a ration of Po p i s h fools?” Despite testimony that convinced a jury, “I do
Imposturesand A Discovery of the Fraudulent Practices of not believe a word of it.” “A true lion, let him be young
John Da r re l l), and eventually archbishop of Yo rk ; or old, or lame or blind, yet he hath not an ass’s ear; nor
Harsnett, for his part, was much influenced by Scot. hath a natural true action anything about it that is
Hutchinson followed both Scot and Harsnett in treat- unnatural and false” (Hutchinson 2003, 28–29).
ing witchcraft and possession stories as ridiculous and Un s u r p r i s i n g l y, Hutchinson balanced his skeptical
contemptible; he re f e r red with approval to Fr a n ç o i s historical arguments re g a rding the evidence for witch-
Rabelais and Miguel de Cervantes as exponents of the craft (developed through a detailed study of numero u s
art of telling stories that in their telling could be seen to cases) with two sermons, one giving a brief and conve n-
be patently untrue (1st ed., p. 172). tional account of the evidence for the truth of the
It would be wrong to think that Hutchinson had Christian religion (from pro p h e c y, we l l - a t t e s t e d
nothing new to contribute to the debate on witchcraft, miracles, reliable histories, etc.), and the other outlining
for he is the first of the skeptics to deploy pro b a b i l i t y what we can reliably know about good and evil spirits.
theory (which had been effectively invented in the late T h e re was, howe ve r, a tension between these sermons
s e venteenth century) to measure the reliability of his- and Hu t c h i n s o n’s earlier claim that “The Scripture facts
torical testimony. Thus, Richard Baxter had given an soberly interpreted, agree with the notions we have of
account of an elderly parson, Lowes, who had sunk a God and Providence, and the Laws of Na t u re”
ship by witchcraft. Hutchinson responded: “When wise ( Hutchinson 2003, 11) and his insistence that we
men believe wonderful things, they take care, that the should always remember “how ve ry steadily nature, and
proof be as extraordinary to support it: But in this case e ven the imitations of it, keep their course” (Hu t c h i n s o n
we have no corroborating circumstances of time, or 2003, 150).
Hutchinson, Francis 531 |
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Hu t c h i n s o n’s historical knowledge was considerable a wider shift in standards of evidence that took place as
and enabled him to rebut the traditional argument that p a rt of the emergence of probability theory, a shift
the evidence for witchcraft is the same in all times and Hutchinson’s book illustrated.
all places by a much more sophisticated account of the
DAVID WOOTTON
h i s t o ry of witch beliefs. He argued that certain beliefs
we re peculiar to certain times and places—belief in See also:DECLINEOFTHEWITCHHUNTS;ENGLAND;EVIDENCE;
familiars or “imps,” for example, to England—and that MIRACLES;SKEPTICISM;SPECTRALEVIDENCE;WENHAM,JANE.
References and further reading:
the evidence in favor of witchcraft was not objective ,
Bostridge, Ian. 1997. Witchcraft and Its Transformations,
but was constructed to validate beliefs people alre a d y
c. 1650–c. 1750.Oxford: Clarendon.
held. Insofar as that evidence depended on what
Boulton, Richard. 2003. The Possibility and Reality of Magick,
Hutchinson called “spectral testimony” (evidence of
Sorcery, and Witchcraft, Demonstrated; Or, a Vindication of a
spirits and visions, or evidence produced by charms and
Compleat History f Magick, Sorcery, and Witchcraft, in Answer to
magical practices), he was prepared to dismiss it out of Dr. Hutchinson’s Historical Essay(1st ed. 1722), reprinted in
hand—not by denying the existence of evil spirits or English Witchcraft, 1560–1736. London: Pickering and Chatto,
the possibility of magic, but by insisting that the Devil Vol. 6, The Final Debate. Edited by James Sharpe. London:
was a liar, and was likely to give testimony against the Pickering and Chatto.
innocent. (Boulton’s reply had to adopt the uncomfort- Hacking, Ian. 1975. The Emergence of Probability.Cambridge:
able position that the Devil often deliberately betrayed Cambridge University Press.
Hutchinson, Francis. 2003. An Historical Essay concerning
his adepts into the hands of justice.)
Witchcraft. With Observations upon Matters of Fact Tending to
As a contribution to a wide-ranging debate on the
Clear the Texts of the Sacred Scriptures, and Confute the Vulgar
character and reliability of historical testimony, particu-
Errors about That Point(1st ed. 1718) reprinted in English
larly testimony in favor of supernatural eve n t s ,
Witchcraft, 1560–1736.London: Pickering and Chatto, Vol. 6,
Hu t c h i n s o n’s Historical Es s a y belongs alongside such
The Final Debate.Edited by James Sharpe. London: Pickering
w o rks as his own A Defence of the Antient Hi s t o r i a n s and Chatto.
(1734). T h e re has been considerable puzzlement as to Wootton, David. 1990. “Hume’s ‘Of Miracles’: Probability and
why belief in witchcraft declined rapidly among educat- Irreligion.” Pp. 191–229 in The Philosophy of the Scottish
ed people after 1718, without a sustained attack on tra- Enlightenment.Edited by M. A. Stewart. Oxford: Oxford
ditional demonology: Hu t c h i n s o n’s book stood alone University Press.
and could not have been widely read. The answer lies in
532 Hutchinson, Francis |
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I
Iceland k n own case in Iceland where a murd e rer suffered that
Iceland is situated far enough outside the European kind of death penalty; normally women were drowned
mainstream that witch persecutions lagged behind con- and men we re decapitated for capital offenses other
tinental witchcraft trials. While the island was some- than witchcraft. Howe ve r, although this woman was
what belatedly undergoing the changes of the not legally a witch, the court punished her as one
Reformation (1550–1600), witchcraft still remained in because it was so horrified by her crime.
the background. Nevertheless, once witch persecutions Most of those burned at the stake for sorcery in sev-
finally reached Iceland, then inhabited by barely 50,000 e n t e e n t h - c e n t u ry Iceland lived in Ve s t fir(cid:0)⁄i r (We s t -
people (Finnsson 1970, 195), witchcraft doctrines fjords). To some extent this severity can be attributed to
shook its society with great force. Between 1593 and the fact that two of the most powerful public servants
1720, Iceland recorded 134 trials for sorcery and magic, in Iceland, both of them incredibly enthusiastic witch
involving 186 individuals, 166 men, 15 women, and 5 hunters, ruled this district at the time. Closely linked by
of unknown identity. As many as 103 of those cases, family ties, these men (fiorleifur Kortsson,the lawman of
involving 128 individuals, were brought before the the western and northern regions of Iceland, and P á l l
Al t h i n g , Ic e l a n d’s highest court; 22 of them we re B j ö rn s s o n ,a rural dean of Ve s t fir(cid:0)⁄i r) supported each other
burned at the stake as witches (Fiorvar(cid:0)⁄ardóttir 2000, in their campaigns against witchcraft (Fi o rva r(cid:0)⁄a rd ó t t i r
175–184, 317–319). In an Icelandic context, the word 2000, 99–111).
“witch” seems an inappropriate term for the accused; Most of the accused we re individuals of little influ-
“cunning people,” “wizards,” or “magicians” better ence, poor people, even wanderers or va g a b o n d s .
translate the Icelandic word fjölkynngisfólk (literally, Though they we re sometimes accused, rich farmers,
“wise people”), the most frequently used term in the priests, or chieftains almost never ended up at the stake,
protocols (Fiorvar(cid:0)⁄ardóttir 2000, 22–25). with ve ry few exceptions. The accusers, on the other
Re m a rkably enough, and a sharp contrast to what hand, were very often priests and lawyers, the same peo-
happened in most other parts of Europe, the Icelanders ple who imposed Lutheran ideology with the full sup-
accused and tried for practicing sorc e ry we re nearly p o rt of the Danish kings who ruled Iceland. One can
always adult males; with rare exceptions, Ic e l a n d’s argue that these persecutions originally spread to
women and children were not punished as witches. Of Iceland from De n m a rk, where most Icelandic clergy-
the 128 witchcraft defendants at the Al t h i n g , only 10 men and other civil servants were educated at the time
we re women; of the 22 burned, only one woman was (Fiorvar(cid:0)⁄ardóttir 2000, 150, 314–324).
executed as a witch (Fiorvar(cid:0)⁄ardóttir 2000, 317–319).
The only woman ever executed at the stake for this ÓLÍNA FIORVAR-DARDÓTTIR
crime in seve n t e e n t h - c e n t u ry Iceland died together
See also: CUNNINGFOLK;DENMARK;EXECUTIONS;MALEWITCHES.
with her teenage son in 1678—a p a rt from him, no References and further reading:
adolescents were executed as witches in Iceland, unlike Benediktsson á Sta(cid:0)⁄arfelli, Bogi. 1881–1932. S˝slumannaæfirI–V.
in some parts of continental Europe. Before the actual Me(cid:0)⁄ sk˝ringum og vi(cid:0)⁄aukum eptir Jón Pétursson og Hannes
era of Ic e l a n d’s witch persecutions, two other women fiorsteinsson. Reykjavík.
were executed at the stake for diabolical crimes. A nun, Finnsson, Hannes. 1970. Mannfækkun af hallærum. Hannes
damned by the church for making a pact with the Finnsson, Jón Ey˛órsson og Jóhannes Nordal sáu um útgáfuna.
Devil, was burned to death in 1343 (Storm 1888, 402);
Reykjavík: Almenna bókafélagi(cid:0)⁄.
fiorvar(cid:0)⁄ardóttir, Ólína. 2000. Brennuöldin. Galdur og galdratrú í
in 1580, a woman was executed for breeding a tilberior
málskjölum og munnmælum.Háskólaútgáfan. Reykjavík: Iceland
i m p, created by witchcraft, somewhat similar to the
University.
Swedish m j ö l k h a re n / t ro l l k a t t e n ( Resen 1991). Ap a rt
Hastrup, Kirsten. 1990. “Iceland: Sorcerers and Paganism.” Pp.
from these two, a woman was burned to death in 1608
383–401 in Early Modern European Witchcraft: Centres and
for murdering a child by throwing it into boiling water Peripheries.Edited by Bengt Ankarloo and Gustav Henningsen.
( Benediktsson 1881–1932, I, 90). That is the only Oxford: Clarendon.
Iceland 533 |
Wicca | Richard M.Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Western Tradition | 571 | 46049 Golden Chap.i av First Pages 08/25/2005 p.534 Application File
Resen, Peder Hansen. 1991. Íslandsl˝sing.Jakob Benediktsson way. In some places near Dubrovnik it was said that
˛˝ddi, samdi inngang og sk˝ringar. Safn Sögufélagsins 3. when a friar saying Mass turned toward the congrega-
Reykjavík: Sögufélagi(cid:0)⁄. tion to say orate fratres (pray, brethren) he would see a
Storm, Gustav. 1888. Islandske annaler indtil 1578.Det norske
pair of horns on the head of every witch (Vukanovic
historiske Kildeskfiftfonds skrifter–21. Christiania: Det norske
1989, 20f.). In all parts of Europe there appears to have
historiske Kildeskiftfond.
been a rich folklore of oracles for the identification of
witches. In some cases, however, the “oracles” appear to
Identification of Witches have been constructions by demonologists. Thus dur-
A considerable part of antiwitchcraft and countermagic ing the great persecution in the Basque country in the
is concerned with the detection of witches. They could early seventeenth century, several of the witches con-
be discovered by certain marks on their body or by a fessed that they were unable to see the Consecrated
characteristic behavior such as an inability to shed tears, Host during Mass; all they saw was “that the priest,
or by a divining ritual. Such a ritual is known from a when elevating, held in his hands something like a
Danish trial for superstition against the housekeeper at black cloud” (Henningsen 2004, doc. 2.4). The special
an estate in North Jutland. One day in April 1735, thing about this “divining ritual” was that only witches
when Ane Marie Nielsdatter was going to the dairy, she could perform it, and that makes one suspect it was an
caught sight of some “witch’s butter” (merulus lac- invention of the inquisitors.
rimans) on the wall of the building, near the ground. GUSTAV HENNINGSEN;
She scraped it off carefully with a potsherd and took it
to the captain, telling him: “You had better order the TRANSLATED BY JAMES MANLEY
carriage to be driven into the yard, so we can grease it See also:COUNTERMAGIC;PERSONALITYOFWITCHES;POPULAR
with this butter.” The captain complied with the BELIEFSINWITCHES.
request after receiving an assurance that the horses References and further reading:
would come to no harm, and the same butter was Henningsen, Gustav. 1988. “Witch Persecution After the Era of
spread on the hubs of the wheels in the Devil’s name, the Witch Trials: A Contribution to Danish Ethnohistory.” Arv
after which the housekeeper told the coachman to drive 44: 103–153.
———, ed. 2004. The Salazar Documents: Alonso de Salazar Frías
off in the Devil’s name without looking back. The
and Others on the Basque Witch Persecution (1609–1614).
huntsman had been instructed to ride behind and
Leiden and Boston: Brill.
watch out for anyone running after the carriage. If he
Vukanovic, T. P. 1989. “Witchcraft in the Central Balkans.”
saw anyone he was to give him or her a charge of buck-
Folklore100: 9–24, 221–235.
shot in the backside. No one followed the carriage, but
the affair had consequences for the housekeeper, who
Idolatry
was fined for this outrageous performance and sen-
tenced to confess her crime to a minister of the church Idolatry, the worship of false gods or images, was
in private (Henningsen 1988, 132). On the island of strongly linked to Devil worship in the earlier Middle
Zealand (Denmark), there was a widespread belief that Ages and, in the later Middle Ages, to illicit magic and
one could see who was a witch in the village by going witchcraft. A practice deeply condemned by all
to church on Maundy Thursday with a pullet’s egg in monotheistic faiths, the sin of idolatry directly trans-
one’s pocket. Thus in 1788, during a service that day in gressed the first and second commandments of the
Vemmelev Church (on the island of Zealand), a boy Hebrew Decalogue that forbade the worship of other
started crying out that he could see “four womenfolk gods and the creation of artistic representations of
sitting there with balls and pots on their heads.” Two of divinities (Exod. 20:3–5). As the Church of the late
the women afterward reported the episode to the Roman Empire accommodated itself to the visual
authorities, with the result that the boy and two labor- depiction of biblical characters, stories, saints, and even
ers who had put the egg in the boy’s pocket were fined of God, theologians were compelled to make clearer
and sentenced to eight days on bread and water distinctions between the proper use of religious art, as
(Henningsen 1988, 122). Among the peasantry in an aid to worship and a didactic tool for illiterates, and
nineteenth-century Denmark, it was a common saying its misuses. Missionaries attacked images of pagan
that witches could not leave the church if the pastor divinities as demons while at the same time placing
forgot to close the Bible after the service but left it open images of Christian saints in their stead. Theologians
on the Communion table. In Mo n t e n e g ro and t h e re f o re distinguished two categories of worship:
Herzegovina it was believed that witches were best rec- dulia, a reverence and respect for saints that stopped
ognized at Easter: if someone turned a tile on the short of outright worship, and latria,the direct worship
church roof around while people were at Mass, every of God that could be shared with no creature. Such dis-
witch would be unable to move and would have to stay tinctions were, naturally, lost on illiterates and proved
inside the church until the tile was put back the right impossible to enforce in common practice.
534 Identification of Witches |
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Some theologians, and occasionally rulers, re j e c t e d The image controversy was revived on a massive lev-
the validity of such definitions and sought to ban the el in the sixteenth century through the biblicism of
use of religious icons altogether as the only safe means many Protestant reformers, who became convinced that
to avoid idolatry, thus provoking iconoclastic storms in the veneration of saints was a form of idolatry, and
eighth- and ninth-century Byzantium. In the Latin d e s t ru c t i ve acts of iconoclasm accompanied the
west, such medieval heretics as Cathars, Wa l d e n s i a n s , Reformation in many regions. Late medieval efforts to
English Lollards, and Bohemian Hussites later sought d e fine and eradicate all forms of idolatry had prove d
to purge churches of idolatrous images, for which effective in sensitizing ordinary people to the issue. In
Roman authorities anathematized the heretical groups. 1522, Lu t h e r’s compatriot in Wittenberg, Andre a s
C h u rch leaders counteracted the possible appeal of Bodenstein von Karlstadt, wrote a widely influ e n t i a l
such heresies by demonizing them, linking them with tract promoting the re m oval of religious icons fro m
rebellion and worship of Satan. T h i rt e e n t h - c e n t u ry c h u rches so as to avoid incurring divine judgment for
inquisitors such as Conrad of Marburg port r a ye d tolerating such idolatry any longer. Although Lu t h e r
heretics as worshipping Satan in the form of a black cat a b h o r red Karlstadt’s initiative, other Reformed leaders
or a toad. The fif t e e n t h - c e n t u ry re i n t e r p retation of and Anabaptists insisted on the re m oval of Catholic
p o p u l a r m a l e ficia (evil acts) as witchcraft embellished religious art from churches as part of their campaign to
the new crime with degrading forms of Satanic worship cleanse sacred spaces of any taint of “priestly magic.”
previously attributed to idolatrous heretics. These reformers likened Catholic ritual not only to
The general trend after the thirteenth century was to i d o l a t ry, but also to religious magic, associating both
define sin in accordance with the Decalogue rather than with lay magic, divination, and superstition in general.
the more traditional seven deadly sins, moving the For Protestants, then, it became increasingly essential to
emphasis from harm against humans to that against oppose all forms of illicit magic, because its surv i va l
God, epitomized as idolatry and blasphemy. Scholastics would keep the doors open for a return to Catholicism.
such as Thomas Aquinas defined idolatry as part of the The Catholic Church responded by defending the
sin of superstition, which encompassed the irrelevant or p roper veneration of saints and more tightly defin i n g
excessive worship of God as well as according service to the role of images in churches, retorting that, by replac-
the wrong object (idolatry). Aquinas considered divina- ing images with such texts as Bibles or hymnals,
tion an act of idolatry, because any effort to divine the Protestants were as guilty of idolatry as ignorant people
f u t u re by natural or magical means opposed corre c t who improperly worshipped icons. In France, where
w o r s h i p, which re q u i red humans to turn only to Go d Huguenots sought to purify churches of idolatro u s
for instruction. The result was a conception of witch- images, enraged Catholics in some cases committed
craft as spiritual apostasy involving demon worship that grisly acts of desecration of Calvinist corpses compara-
was readily transposed onto the popular understanding ble to what the Calvinists had done to their saints’
of it as acts of maleficia. All magic therefore implied a images. The great iconoclastic fury of 1566 in the
degree of diabolical idolatry, whether explicitly by mak- Netherlands likewise witnessed thousands of re l i g i o u s
ing a pact with the Devil, or implicitly, in the naive images removed, destroyed, or desecrated to prove that
e f f o rts of necromancers and sorc e rers to control the these “s a i n t s” we re not sentient beings after all. In
demons they conjured. A lesser variant of idolatry response, such Jesuit theologians as Martín Del Rio and
occurred when Catholics treated images not as symbols Juan Maldonado argued that while their order was
of divine assistance but as objects of worship them- destroying idols elsewhere in the world, the Devil had
selves, thus shifting from duliato latria. found a new home in the minds of heretics. He re s y,
Even popular preachers could find themselves sus- they believed, would inevitably degenerate into sorcery
pected of idolatry. In 1426, Be r n a rdino of Siena was or atheism, both forms of diabolical idolatry.
b rought before an inquisitor in Rome for his practice After the mid-sixteenth century, both Catholics and
of encouraging the veneration of tablets containing Reformed Protestants increasingly returned their atten-
the holy name of Jesus. Thanks to high-ranking tion to the blasphemy and idolatry of superstition. On
s u p p o rters, he was released, but he turned almost both sides pastors warned their flocks about the sin of
immediately to preaching fervently against the explic- superstition and attempted to track down remnants of
it idolatry of witches. By the early sixteenth century, it h e resy or idolatrous practices. Attention also returned to
was widely argued by churchmen that all forms of the most egregious form of blasphemy: demonic witch-
illicit magic and superstition we re demonic in origin craft. Catholics found no better way to re i n f o rce the
and implicated their practitioners in apostasy. validity of their sacramental system and veneration of
Theological differentiations between implicit and saints than by having witches confess to idolatrous wor-
explicit pacts we re soon blurred in the confessional ship of Satan in an exactly re versed mirror image of
storm to come and in the need to prosecute blasphe- Catholic worship. Si m i l a r l y, Protestants, who considere d
mous crimes against Go d . Catholic rituals, especially the Mass, as superstitious, also
Idolatry 535 |
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b roadened the charge of idolatry to encompass all man- regions, the religious conflicts and tensions continued
ner of religious dissidence, even among their fellow to inspire fears of diabolical plots and divine displea-
Pro t e s t a n t s . s u re well into the eighteenth century.
Such polemical use of the language of idolatry for pur-
GARY K. WAITE
poses of religious propaganda was re i n f o rced by new s
f rom the Americas. In the early 1530s, clerics in New See also:AQUINAS,THOMAS;ARTANDVISUALIMAGES;BERNARDINO
Spain began uncovering evidence that many baptize d OFSIENA;CONRADOFMARBURG;DELRIO,MARTÍN;DEVIL;DIA-
c o n ve rts still venerated their ancient idols. The discove ry
BOLISM;DIVINATION;HERESY;MALDONADO,JUAN;NETHER-
in 1562 of widespread idolatry in Yucatan, Me x i c o ,
LANDS,NORTHERN;NEWSPAIN;PACTWITHTHEDEVIL;PROTES-
TANTREFORMATION;RITUALMAGIC;SABBAT;SUPERSTITION.
resulted in massive trials and executions. In the perspec-
References and further reading:
t i ve of Spanish-born inquisitors, what they we re uncove r-
Bossy, John. 1988. “Moral Arithmetic: Seven Sins into Ten
ing we re not mere remnants of the old pagan re l i g i o n s ,
Commandments.” Pp. 213–234 in Conscience and Casuistry in
but demonic idolatry and witchcraft. The persecution of Early Modern Europe.Edited by Edmund Leites. Cambridge:
New World idolatry paralleled and re i n f o rced the rising Cambridge University Press.
fear of diabolical plots in the Old Wo r l d . Cervantes, Fernando. 1994. The Devil in the New World. The
Impact of Diabolism in New Spain.New Haven, CT:Yale
Idolatry and the Witch Hunts University Press.
In both America and Europe, authorities were most Clark, Stuart. 1997. Thinking with Demons: The Idea of Witchcraft
in Early Modern Europe.Oxford: Clarendon.
deeply concerned about the religious apostasy of those
Eire, Carlos M. N. 1986. War Against the Idols: The Reformation of
whom they believed had made a pact with Satan. The
Worship from Erasmus to Calvin. Cambridge: Cambridge
presence of only a few such horrific idolaters, it was
University Press.
believed, would bring down severe punishments from
Jezler, P., and J. Wirth, eds. 2001. Iconoclasme: Vie et mort de l’im-
God. The worsening weather and increasing incidents
age médievale.Bern: Somogy éditions d’art.
of destructive storms and crop failures after ca. 1560 Karant-Nunn, Susan C. 1997. The Reformation of Ritual: An
provided clear signs of God’s displeasure. Whether or Interpretation of Early Modern Germany.London: Routledge.
not theologians or state officials believed that witches Mormando, Franco. 1999. The Preacher’s Demons: Bernardino of
could perform weather magic, they were convinced that Siena and the Social Underworld of Early Renaissance Italy.
suspected witches must be arrested for their idolatry Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
that had prompted such evident divine wrath. The Pearl, Jonathan. 1998. The Crime of Crimes: Demonology and
Politics in France, 1560–1620.Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier
forced confessions of witches to their supposed acts of
University Press.
idolatrous worship at their Sabbats became correspond-
Waite, Gary K. 2003. Heresy, Magic and Witchcraft in Early
ingly more detailed.
Modern Europe.Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Both Catholic and Protestant theologians empha-
Wandel, Lee Palmer. 1995. Voracious Idols and Violent Hands:
sized the diabolical and idolatrous nature of witchcraft,
Iconoclasm in Reformation Zurich, Strasbourg, and Basel.
so that even though the common people feared the Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
maleficiaof local witches, the crime for which they mer-
ited the most horrific death penalty was their service to Image Magic
and worship of the Devil The assumed identity of an image, especially a three-
W h e re both rulers and ruled adjusted to some dimensional and therefore realistic statue, with the per-
form of religious toleration, fears of divine wrath and son it supposedly represents, is extremely common in
diabolical plots behind the religious “o t h e r” declined religious history. Countless records describe sculptures
a c c o rd i n g l y. For example, in the Dutch Republic, the of Greek or Roman gods moving, sweating, or speak-
Reformed Church lacked the powers of a state re l i- ing, and of wooden statues of Jesus or the Virgin Mary
gion, and membership in it became vo l u n t a ry. crying, embracing, talking, and so on. According to this
Alternate denominations—Lutherans, Me n n o n i t e s , notion of “empsychosis” (repudiated by modern theol-
and Catholics—we re permitted to carry on discre e t ogy), the supernatural being actually inhabits the
worship services, and the populace soon had the image. In archaic thought (reaching from ancient Egypt
a d vantage of religious choice. Fears of diabolical to the modern Caribbean islands and even people in
witchcraft declined accord i n g l y, and executions of major Western cities), this idea also works in a different
witches ended shortly after the turn of the seve n- though related way: Making an image of a living person
teenth century, while concerns about idolatry and establishes an existential connection in the form of a
demon worship receded into the background. But the magical rapport between both, though the figure is only
p rocess was also re versible: other “t o l e r a n t” parts of a life token, and is not inhabited. Upon this conviction,
Eu rope, Poland and Tr a n s y l vania, took up witch all sorts of black and amorous magic have been based,
hunting with considerable enthusiasm after ove rc o m- with the image (mostly a doll) being tortured or
ing their ecumenical backgrounds. Thus, in some destroyed or manipulated in various ways. This is one
536 Image magic |
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