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Wicca | Richard M.Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Western Tradition | 574 | 46049 Golden Chap.i av First Pages 08/25/2005 p.537 Application File
reason why some people dislike being photographed, only a few cases known from the Early Middle Ages, we
fearing bewitchment by this means. have a dense net of evidence from the thirteenth centu-
Ap a rt from direct application of toxic substances, ry onward, when this practice, like all other fields of
magic done through manipulating images probably was magic, became treated as part of a collaboration with
and is factuallythe most effective method of all. Its suc- the Devil.
cess requires that the person who is to be vexed or killed In the fourteenth century, when other uses of images
or driven into love must know about the cere m o n i e s also began to flourish (execution of effigies, pictures of
p e rformed with the alter ego. T h rough this induced i n f a m y, funeral masks, public statues, etc.) and the
autosuggestion, the person really begins to produce the crimen magiae (crime of magic) attracted the full inter-
appropriate psychosomatic manifestations, for example, est of the canonists, image magic became widespre a d
experiencing pain in the ve ry part of the body whose throughout western Europe. France was the center of its
analogue has been pricked by a needle in the puppet. dissemination, especially the papal and royal courts; the
Therefore, the nail-studded doll usually is placed where Avignon popes especially popularized this practice.
the victim must come across it, or else the sorc e re r Clement V put Bishop Guichard of Troyes on trial for
arranges to have the person informed about what has having applied image magic to murder Queen Je a n n e
been done to the artificial double. of Navarre; it took a decade until he was finally freed in
Various learned theories explain the effectiveness of 1314. Other members of the high clergy such as Bishop
image magic. On the one hand, it is construed as home- Géraud of Cahors, and of the secular nobility, eve n
opathic magic, identifying the re p resentation and the King Louis of Bavaria and two Visconti, were accused
represented, and therefore the outcome of an erroneous of having employed statuettes to kill Pope John XXII;
(“primitive”) mode of thinking; on the other hand, its the bishop was convicted and burned in 1318.
point has been seen in the process of image making The generally intensified persecution of witchcraft
i t s e l f, the exactness of the re p roduction working as a during the late Middle Ages also multiplied the written
guarantee of its animation, though this exactness must and material sources about image magic. A fifteenth- or
not be presumed to lie in the naturalistic appearance of s i x t e e n t h - c e n t u ry At z m a n n with a nail in its hip can
the puppets (in fact, usually they are most crude), but still be seen in the Ba yerisches Na t i o n a l m u s e u m
in their correct naming (Freedberg 1989). (Bavarian National Museum) in Munich. Image magic
This magical practice is called envoûtementin French remained common in the early modern period, and
( f rom Latin i n v u l t u a t i o,“in the face”), and the doll is often this accusation was used in political pro c e s s e s
called an Atzmann or Rachepuppe in German (“man to (and in Russia even later). Several kings of France and
be eaten up”; “doll [puppet] for ve n g e a n c e”). In of England, as well as an elector of Saxony, become tar-
m e d i e val and early modern Christianity, it was com- gets of such practices, or used them against their ene-
mon to have the doll baptized, giving it the name of the mies. Common people, especially witches, also had
victim, before it could function. Also, some of the vic- recourse to image magic, so that prohibitions against
tim’s hair or nails might have been added to the wax or making and wounding such images can be found in
clay that often served to make the image. Occasionally some law codes (e.g.,Bavaria, 1611). Protestants spread
a dead animal or even an object, such as a candle, repre- rumors that the Jesuits possessed a waxen image of each
sented the human being in question. Besides wounding reformed prince that they habitually cursed and mal-
the doll with needles or nails, burning it was and is a t reated in order to kill them. But Catholic clerics
favorite method of destruction, serving equally well to re p o rtedly even employed this m a l e fic i u m against the
murder the victim or to enflame a cold beloved’s heart. pope; Urban VIII (1623–1644) believed he was the tar-
Howe ve r, Paracelsus and other early modern authors get of such a machination, whose conspirators were exe-
also knew a similar pro c e d u re that was used with the cuted or made galley slaves. Seabrook and other special-
intention to heal the member affected by “burning out” ists in contemporary magic claimed that witch’s dolls
an illness. were still frequently employed in the twentieth century
Image magic has a long history and worldwide in areas such as the Caribbean and in such cities as
s p read. Ancient Egypt has left many pertinent written London and Paris.
s o u rces, reaching back to 3830 B.C.E. In classical Apart from dolls, there are innumerable other forms
a n t i q u i t y, writers as famous as Virgil, Ovid, Ho r a c e , of image magic, even if only rarely mentioned or com-
and Apuleius of Madaura mention image magic, with pletely fictitious. A few examples will suffice. In several
Hecate being the goddess to address for this kind of m e d i e val romances about Alexander the Great, the
maleficium (harmful magic). Some pierced antique stat- Egyptian king Nectanebos, when endangered by an
uettes and hundreds of leaden tablets with the name enemy fleet, put waxen ship models and warriors into a
and picture of the intended victim have been excavated basin with water, bewitched them, and either made
in various parts of the Roman Em p i re, some of them them fight the aggressors or simply had them sunk,
dating from the early Christian era. While there are thereby causing the destruction of the enemy’s armada.
Image Magic 537 |
Wicca | Richard M.Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Western Tradition | 575 | 46049 Golden Chap.i av First Pages 08/25/2005 p.538 Application File
A sophisticated way to tame wild animals was described ———. 2003. Magie und Magier im Mittelalter.Munich: dtv.
in a fif t e e n t h - c e n t u ry German necro m a n c e r’s manual, Villeneuve, Roland. 1963. L’Envoûtement.Geneva: La Palatine.
which, as a learned work, also included astrological fea-
tures: One must make an image of the beast, carve its Imagination
name on the head, and on the chest the name of the Until the late Middle Ages, devils’ physical interac-
hour and the lord of the hour, and so forth. After being tions with human beings through demonic possession,
fumigated, the picture must be buried, thereby turning temptation, or appearances to groups of heretics appar-
the animal’s will to that of the person performing the ently provoked little formal analysis until around 1400,
ritual (Kieckhefer 1997, 178). This handbook also gave when theologians began postulating more widespre a d
an especially graphic charm by which one could win and systematic corporeal interactions between here t i c s
favor.Two rocks are smoothed down, the figures of the and demons. To defend the reality of this witchcraft,
two persons in question are carved into them, their theologians had to refute two earlier traditions of skep-
respective names are inscribed, tin is melted, and then ticism about human–demon interaction.
cast into the forms. Next, a small iron chain is bound to The oldest was the Ca n o n Ep i s c o p i , a dire c t i ve to
the neck of the image of the person whose favor one bishops forged about 900 C.E. and incorporated into
wishes to obtain, the other end of the chain is fixed to canon law. The Ca n o n Ep i s c o p i described women who
the tin sorc e re r’s hand; the victim’s image has to bend claimed to follow the goddess Diana on midnight rides,
its head, and both are finally buried. It goes without t r a versing great distances on the backs of animals. It
saying that all these ceremonies had to be accompanied condemned these beliefs as heretical dreams and visions
by many magical formulas and by invocations of devils caused by the Devil, claiming that the women’s experi-
and God (Kieckhefer 1997, 76–78). ences happened mentally, “in the spirit,” not physically
or “in the body.” Later, Thomas Aquinas (d. 1 2 7 4 )
PETER DINZELBACHER
twice parenthetically mentioned skeptics who claimed
See also: APULEIUSOFMADAURA;DEFIXIONES;GREEKMAGICAL that demons existed only in the imagination of unedu-
PAPYRI;HECATE;INVOCATIONS;LOVEMAGIC;NECROMANCY. cated people, not in reality. Aquinas’s systematic treatis-
References and further reading: es on angels and devils also mentioned Aristotelian
Brückner,Wolfgang. 1978. “Der Zauber mit Bildern.” Pp. philosophers who opposed the reality of demons. In
404–421 in Magie und Religion(Wege der Forschung 337).
one passage, Aquinas admitted that Aristotle himself
Darmstadt: WBG.
never asserted demonic reality.
Eschweiler, Peter. 1994.Bildzauber im alten Ägypten: die
Moreover, Aristotle’s discussions of imagination as a
Verwendung vonBildern und Gegenstanden in magischen
distinct faculty of the human mind implicitly thre a t e n e d
Handlungen nach den Texten desMittleren und Neuen Reiches.
demonic re a l i t y. Imagination could combine re m e m-
Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht; Freiburg, Switzerland:
Universitätsverlag. b e red perceptions from highly disparate experiences
Freedberg, David. 1989. The Power of Images.Chicago: Chicago and forcefully present the composite pseudo-experience
University Press. to the conscious mind, indistinguishable from re a l
Kieckhefer, Richard. 1997. Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer’s experience. Addressing the objection that demons exist-
Manual of the Fifteenth Century.University Park: Pennsylvania ed only in uneducated people’s imagination, Aq u i n a s
State University Press. said skeptics assumed that “the terrors that a man cre-
Müller-Bergström. 1936. “Rachepuppe.” Pp. 459–463 in
ates for himself out of his imagination are attributed to
Handwörterbuch des deutschen AberglaubensVII. Berlin: de
a demon. . . .because certain fig u res can appear to the
Gruyter.
senses in exactly the same form as a man has thought of
Pfister, Friedrich. 1927. “Bild und Bildzauber.” Pp. 1282–1298 in
them” (Stephens 2002, 320).
Handwörterbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens I.Berlin: de
Aq u i n a s’s re m a rks became an important stimulus to
Gruyter.
Rigault, Abel. 1896. Le Procès de Guichard évêque de Troyes.Paris: t reatises (ca. 1450–1520) that transformed earlier
A. Picard et fils. s t e reotypes into the heresy of witchcraft. Jean Vi n e t
Seabrook, William. 1968. Witchcraft. Its Power in the World Today. a vowedly wrote to refute “the presumptuous and here t i-
NewYork: Lancer [orig. 1940]. cal-sounding opinion of those who say that demons do
Strayer, Joseph. 1980. “The Case of Bishop Guichard of Troyes.” not exist, except in the imagination of the common peo-
Pp. 248–260 in Charanis Studies: Essays in Honor of Peter ple.” Quoting the same passage of Aquinas, the fir s t
Charanis. Edited by Angeliki Laiou-Thomadakisi. New
page of Malleus Ma l e fic a ru m(The Hammer of Wi t c h e s ,
Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
1486) defends the reality of demons by asserting that
Tuczay, Christa. 1997. “Die Darstellung des populären
witches encountered them in reality and interacted with
Zauberwissens in mittelalterlichen literarischen Texten und
them “in the body” (Stephens 2002, 25, 36, 318–321).
Gebrauchstexten am Beispiel des Wachspuppenzaubers bzw.
Early demonologists we re dismayed because these
Bildzaubers und der Dämonenbeschwörung.” Pp. 247–268 in
Hexenverfolgung in Mecklenburg.Edited by Dieter Harmening traditions implied that all experience of demons was in
and A. Rudolph. Dettelbach: Röll. d reams or hallucinations. Tales of experiments fro m
538 Imagination |
Wicca | Richard M.Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Western Tradition | 576 | 46049 Golden Chap.i av First Pages 08/25/2005 p.539 Application File
a round 1400 seemed to support such a conclusion. Feyens thought so. But he warned that Avicenna and
Some women re p o rtedly claimed to travel rapidly to Algazel, often invoked by writers on imagination, “were
nocturnal feasts and re vels by anointing themselve s far too superstitious in their praise of the soul and the
with mysterious unguents, but reliable eyew i t n e s s e s imagination, ascribing things to the imagination that
soundly refuted them, observing that the women fell should be attributed to the power of the Devil. Because
asleep and went now h e re until awakening. Thus any they as yet lacked the knowledge of witchcraft and mag-
writer who affirmed the reality of demonic witchcraft ical arts that we now possess, when they saw and heard
had to disqualify or limit the power of the human that some men could do wondrous, supernatural
imagination. Another theory of Aquinas filled the need things, they thought the men did these things through
ideally. Demons could create a convincing praestigium the power of their souls and imaginations, whereas they
or illusion in two ways. First, they could create aerial did them through the power of the De v i l” (Fe ye n s
bodies and “assume” them so convincingly that experi- 1635, 63). Marsilio Ficino, Pi e t ro Pomponazzi, and
ence of them—including sexual interc o u r s e — w o u l d others repeated the error, “for they attribute so much to
seem real. Second, because demons had no intrinsic [imagination] that many things, which eve ryone else
bodies, they could freely enter the human mind and thinks are done either by diabolical witchcraft [fascina-
deceive it from within. Retrieving “images” of previous tione diabolica] or else by a miracle, they believe are
perceptions from the memory, demons could combine done by the sole force of a powe rful imagination”
traces of real experiences into a compelling hallucina- (Feyens 1635, 87).
tion (Stephens 2002, 277–321). In 1745, Lu d ovico Antonio Muratori explored the
The second hypothesis became socially significant in creative effects of the imagination as well as its patholo-
juridical debates over hallucinations related to physio- gies, fore s h a d owing modern and more aesthetic appre c i-
logical rather than purely emotional conditions. a t i o nof its power. Muratori forcefully criticized Feyens
Su f f e rers from melancholia we re known to have aber- and others, dismissing witchcraft as a delusion of
rant imaginations and powe rful delusions. If accused nymphomaniacal women and their gullible male audi-
witches were proved melancholic, their encounters with ence. Some women “have not know n . . . how to dis-
demons we re presumably hallucinations: how guilty guise their dissolute lasciviousness, otherwise than by
we re they then? The encountered devils could still be p retending to frequent those spirits [i n c u b i], depicted
real. Some writers defined black bile, the humor that as so libidinous; and they have persuaded whoever is
caused melancholia, as balneum diaboli ( De v i l’s bath), especially inclined to believe everything that wears the
a s s e rting that melancholics we re especially vulnerable l i ve ry of the marvelous and supernatural.” Mu r a t o r i
to demonic influence. Opponents of witch hunting concluded that “a powe rful imagination alone is the
argued that demons exploited this physical handicap, cause of their supposed nocturnal travels through the
and that witches were therefore innocent, because their air, and of the bestial outbursts of their lust” (Muratori
crimes happened involuntarily in imagination. 1995, 101–102). Pa r a d ox i c a l l y, Mu r a t o r i’s misogyny
Defenders of witch hunting occasionally found ways of n u rt u red his confidence in the reality of demons: “To
making the balneum diaboli condition culpable. T h e attribute so much power to devils over Christians, after
De v i l’s bath argument allowed still other writers, for our divine Savior harrowed hell, is to wrong our holy
example, Johann We yer and Gi rolamo Ta rt a rotti, to religion” (Muratori 1995, 100).
defend the reality of demons and the supernatural while Girolamo Tartarotti (1745) attributed the Sabbat to
opposing the persecution of “witches.” rampant imagination, stimulated by lust or ve n g e f u l-
Be t ween 1450 and 1750, few discussions of witch- ness, and amplified by narcotic unguents. However, he
craft neglected its relation to imagination; Fr a n c e s c o defended the possibility of demonic interaction by dis-
Maria Guazzo even began his treatise with a chapter on tinguishing among three phenomena: ve n e fic i o, o f t e n
imagination. Witchcraft inspired more general tre a t- confused with m a l e fic i o (m a l e fic i u m), is poisoning, an
ments of imagination by both proponents and oppo- unmiraculous effect produced by natural agents; magic
nents of witch hunting, for example, Gi a n f r a n c e s c o (m a g i a) produces real effects through the concurre n c e
Pico della Mirandola and Michel de Mo n t a i g n e . “of God who permits, . . . of the Devil who work s ,
Ostensibly objective seventeenth- and eighteenth-cen- a n d . . . of the magician who desires and invites” the
t u ry treatises on psychology concealed defenses of De v i l’s agency; and, fin a l l y, witchcraft. Ma l l e u s
demonic reality and witchcraft. Thomas Fe ye n s Ma l e fic a ru m and similar treatises erroneously refer to
(+1631) concentrated on the power of imagination to m a g i a as witchcraft, but witchcraft produces effects
affect bodies, particularly the notion that a gestating only in the mind. Because the witch obeys the De v i l
mother’s imagination left birthmarks on her fetus that rather than commanding him, she herself is bewitched,
symbolized her cravings for particular foods. How did “receiving the effect of [the devil] or, if we prefer, of her
this take place? Could the imagination do things to own ruined and filthy imagination” (Ta rt a rotti 1745,
external reality that seem magical but are natural? 161). Rationalistic critics scoffed that Ta rt a ro t t i’s
Imagination 539 |
Wicca | Richard M.Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Western Tradition | 577 | 46049 Golden Chap.i av First Pages 08/25/2005 p.540 Application File
distinctions we re pointless; he re t o rted that denying f ree cities we re prescribed by the Carolina Code
demonic power was potentially heretical (Ta rt a ro t t i (Constitutio Cr i m i n a l i s Ca ro l i n a), the criminal law code
1745, 353–362, 426–447). He was perhaps the last sys- issued for the Holy Roman Em p i re in 1532. Whether or
tematic defender of demonic reality against the ratio- not (and to what extent) witchcraft trials escalated in an
nalistic valuation of human imagination. imperial free city largely depended on whether the coun-
cillors chose to abide by the Carolina Code or instead
WALTER STEPHENS
t reated witchcraft as a crimen exc e p t u m (the exc e p t e d
See also: AQUINAS,THOMAS;CANONEPISCOPI;CORPOREALITY, crime) and tort u red accused witches without re s t r a i n t .
ANGELICANDDEMONIC;DEMONS;FLIGHTOFWITCHES;GUAZ- Because there we re so many imperial free cities of
ZO,FRANCESCOMARIA;MELANCHOLY;MONTAIGNE,MICHELDE;
such different sizes, it is hard to compare or generalize
MURATORI,LUDOVICO;PICODELLAMIRANDOLA,GIAN-
about the witchcraft trials that they experienced.
FRANCESCO;SKEPTICISM;TARTAROTTI,GIROLAMO;VINET,JEAN;
Mo re ove r, the history of witch persecution has been
WEYER,JOHANN.
t h o roughly re s e a rched for only a re l a t i vely small pro p o r-
References and further reading:
tion of them; usually the largest and most important, or
Feyens, Thomas. 1635. De viribus imaginationis, authoreThoma
Fieno Antwerpiano, Serenissimorum Belgii et bavariae Ducum else those which experienced significant episodes of per-
quondam medico cubiculario.Leiden: Elsevier. secution. Sometimes (for example, in Schwäbisch
Kessler, Eckhard, and Katharine Park. 1988. “Psychology.” Pp. Gmünd), poor source surv i val means that only a part i a l
455–534 in The Cambridge History of Renaissance Philosophy. h i s t o ry of witchcraft trials can be re c ove red. De s p i t e
Edited by Charles B. Schmidt and Quentin Skinner. these caveats, it is possible to divide the imperial fre e
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. cities into three categories in relation to witch persecu-
Montaigne, Michel de. 1958. “Of the Power of the Imagination.”
tion (illustrated by the case studies that follow ) :
Pp. 68–76 in The Complete Works of Montaigne. Essays, Travel
Journal, Letters.Translated by Donald M. Frame. Stanford:
1. Those that experienced severe, endemic persecution
Stanford University Press.
of witches, such as Rottweil. In the context of cur-
Muratori, Ludovico Antonio. 1995. Della forza della fantasia
rent research this is the smallest category.
umana.Intro. by Claudio Pogliano. Florence: Giunti.
Pico della Mirandola, Gianfrancesco. 1971. On the Imagination: 2. Those that experienced at least one wave of relative-
The Latin Text, with Introduction, English Translation, and ly severe persecution, such as Esslingen, Reutlingen,
Notes.Translated by Harry Caplan. 1930. Reprint. Westport, Schwäbisch Gmünd, Offenburg, and Nördlingen.
CT: Greenwood. These waves occurred in the context of popular
Stephens, Walter. 2002.Demon Lovers: Witchcraft, Sex, and the pressure for witchcraft trials (sometimes linked to a
Crisis of Belief. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. subsistence crisis), instability or factionalism within
Tartarotti, Girolamo. 1745. Del congresso notturno delle lammie
the political elite, or the influence of particular indi-
libri tre.Venice: Giambattista Pasquali.
viduals in favor of witch hunting. Often, however,
Weyer, Johann. 1991. Witches, Devils, and Doctors in the
one such wave of persecution taught city councillors
Renaissance. Johann Weyer, De Praestigiis Daemonum.Edited by
that severe witch hunting was destabilizing and best
George Mora, et al. Binghamton, NY: Medieval and
avoided.
Renaissance Texts and Studies.
3. Those that experienced an extremely low level of
Imperial Free Cities witch persecution, characterized by an absence of
A few of Ge r m a n y’s eighty-odd imperial free cities expe- large-scale witch hunts and a low number of execu-
rienced early executions for witchcraft (Metz or tions relative to population size. Several imperial
R a vensburg, 1484) or sorc e ry (Lindau, 1443 and 1493; free cities—particularly some of the largest—fall
Regensburg, 1467). As elsew h e re in Ge r m a n y, most into this category, including Augsburg, Nuremberg,
large-scale witchcraft trials occurred in imperial fre e Frankfurt-am-Main, Lübeck, Ulm, Rothenburg,
cities between 1560 and 1630, although there we re and Schwäbish Hall. The deliberate refusal by the
some later seve n t e e n t h - c e n t u ry outbreaks (thirt y - t w o councillors of these cities to share the contemporary
e xecutions at Esslingen from 1662–1666; fourteen exe- enthusiasm for witch hunting, even during periods
cutions at Reutlingen, 1665) and a few exe c u t i o n s of regional witch panics, was due to various politi-
o c c u r red later still (one at Ulm, 1680; five at Au g s b u r g , cal, economic, and religious reasons.
1685–1686; one at Rothenburg ob der Ta u b e r, 1692).
The council of an imperial free city constituted its court Given the significance of this third category, it is pos-
of high criminal justice. The city councillors we re thus sible to conclude that the pattern of witch hunting in
responsible for trying alleged witches from both the city imperial free cities was, overall, relatively restrained.
and its rural hinterland; sometimes one or more coun-
cillors we re deputized as special C o m m i s s a re n ( c o m m i s- Urban Politics and the Economy
sioners) to make pre l i m i n a ry investigations in such Ruled by councils of varying size, imperial free cities
cases. Legal pro c e d u res in witchcraft trials in imperial were autonomous political and juridical units within
540 Imperial Free Cities |
Wicca | Richard M.Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Western Tradition | 578 | 46049 Golden Chap.i av First Pages 08/25/2005 p.541 Application File
the Holy Roman Empire. They owed allegiance direct- however, it is striking that it was not used more often in
ly to the Holy Roman Emperor, who had granted them imperial free cities and that so many free cities avoided
privileges and rights that gave them their independent large-scale witchcraft trials.
status. Many of them were situated in what is today Popular anxiety about witchcraft in an imperial free
southern Germany. The number of imperial free cities city could be stirred by a specific local disaster, such as
in the Empire declined during the early modern period the outbreak of fires in Reutlingen in 1593; by volun-
from eighty-three in 1521 to fifty-one by 1800; all but tary confessions of witchcraft, particularly by children;
six finally lost their independence in 1803. Most by the influence of witch hunts in a neighboring terri-
experienced economic decline by the late-seventeenth t o ry; and by bad weather (blamed on witchcraft) that
century, a process accelerated significantly by the Thirty caused a seve re subsistence crisis. For example, the
Years’ War. Imperial free cities varied greatly in size. witchcraft trials that took place in Schwäbisch Gmünd
T h e ve ry largest (Augsburg, Cologne, Lübeck, between 1613 and 1617, causing forty-two executions,
Nuremberg) surpassed 20,000 inhabitants. Most, how- were triggered both by severe hailstorms that destroyed
ever, were middle-sized, with 5,000–7,000 inhabitants the harvest in 1613 and by the influence of the excep-
(Esslingen, Schwäbisch-Gmünd, Rothenburg ob der tionally seve re witch hunts in nearby Ellwangen fro m
Tauber, Rottweil, Reutlingen), while others such as 1611. Howe ve r, there was no automatic connection
Gengenbach (1,100 inhabitants) were small. A few b e t ween agrarian crises and episodes of seve re witch
imperial free cities (Nuremberg, Rothenburg, Rottweil, persecution in imperial free cities. The late 1580s and
Schwäbisch Hall, Ulm) also governed large ru r a l early 1590s we re years of inflation following harve s t
hinterlands. f a i l u res; many towns in southern Germany we re also
From the fourteenth century, most imperial fre e affected by plague epidemics. The Swabian imperial
cities experienced latent or actual conflict between the free cities of Kempten and Memmingen were both bad-
guilds and the urban patriciate for dominance of mem- ly hit by this double crisis, yet neither experienced exe-
bership of the city council. By the early modern period, cutions for witchcraft. Overall, of the thirteen imperial
this conflict had been largely re s o l ved in favor of the f ree cities in Swabia and Franconia, only five became
patriciate, but political tension still found expression in caught up in the major wave of witch persecution that
some cities through the medium of witchcraft trials. s wept through this region around 1590 (Be h r i n g e r
Pressure from guildsmen who regarded the councillors 1997). The crucial issue was whether or not a city
as too lenient in their treatment of witchcraft played a council was disposed to acquiesce to popular demands
p a rt in instigating witchcraft trials in Gelnhausen and for witch hunts during such agrarian crises, should such
Offenbourg. Em p e ror Maximilian II’s restoration of demands arise in the first place. Witchcraft may have
Reutlingen’s old guild constitution in 1576 introduced been re g a rded as less of a threat to communal
an element of instability into the city’s politics that well-being at both a popular and elite level in imperial
helped shape three of the five waves of witchcraft trials f ree cities that we re generally re l a t i vely pro s p e rous (at
that occurred there in 1603 (seven exe c u t i o n s ) , least until the Thirty Years’War) and thus more able to
1660/1661 (nine executions), and 1665 (fourteen exe- cope with periods of crisis. Nu remberg, Au s g b u r g ,
cutions). Each persecution was linked to the election of Ulm, Rothenburg, and Schwäbisch Hall all fall into
a new generation of councillors, eager to prove their this category, and all experienced ve ry low levels of
witch-hunting zeal to the general citize n ry. In witch persecution. Schwäbisch Hall may have been par-
1660/1661 and 1665 the impetus came part i c u l a r l y ticularly immune to agrarian crises because its main
f rom councillor and C o m m i s s a r Johann Ph i l i p p i n d u s t ry was the salt trade (Schraut 1994). We need
Laubenberger, who acquiesced to popular demands for f u rther re s e a rch into the connections between witch
witchcraft trials to increase his political power at the persecution and the economies of individual imperial
expense of his rivals. Laubenberger even managed to f ree cities and into the issue of crisis management by
d r i ve his main political opponent, Heinrich Ef f e re n , city councils, especially after harvest failures.
from Reutlingen, after forcing other alleged witches to
name Ef f e re n’s wife as their accomplice (Fritz 1998). Severe Endemic Persecution:
Laubenberger was not alone in using a demonstration Rottweil
of witch-hunting zeal as a way of advancing a political Ro t t weil (population 5,100), a Catholic imperial fre e
or legal career in an imperial free city; this was also done city on the Neckar in Swabia, was the seat of the impe-
by jurists Leonhard Friz (Schwäbisch Gmünd, rial Ho f g e r i c h t(a high court for settling disputes betwe e n
1613–1617), Wolfgang Graf (Nördlingen, 1589–1594) territorial lords). The city ruled a 220-square-k i l o m e t e r
and Daniel Hauff (Esslingen, 1662–1665), and by hinterland containing twenty-seven villages that pro-
m a yor Johann Pferinger (Nördlingen, 1589–1594). duced a high proportion of the victims of the city’s
Gi ven the potential of witch persecution as a tool for witch hunts. Compared to other imperial free cities,
personal aggrandizement in the context of local politics, Rottweil experienced remarkably severe witch hunting,
Imperial Free Cities 541 |
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with 287 witchcraft trials between 1525 and 1701; 266 Table I–1
of them ended in executions between 1546 and 1659.
Date of Number
The most severe outbreaks occurred in the last two
City Witch Hunt Executed
decades of the sixteenth century and the late 1620s,
coinciding with cycles of agrarian crisis and plague epi- Esslingen 1662–1666 32
Gelnhausen 1596–1599 19
demics. However, a striking feature of the witch perse-
1633–1634 18
cution in Rottweil was its endemic nature: apart from
Kaufbeuren 1591 17
1578, every year between 1571 and 1607 saw execu-
Nördlingen 1589–1594 33
tions for witchcraft. The majority of Rottweil’s execut-
Offenbourg 1627–1629 61
ed witches were poor: most of those who came from the
Reutlingen 1665–1667 14
city or its villages were from the lowest social order, Schwäbisch Gmünd 1613–1617 42
while many of those who came from other territories Windsheim 1596–1597 24
were vagrants (Zeck 2000).
Because of the city’s many contacts with the Sw i s s
Confederation, Ro t t we i l’s inhabitants probably had an
early interest in witchcraft and witch persecution. Such waves of seve re witch hunting occurred when
Ideas about witchcraft we re spread further in Ro t t we i l city councils were unwilling or unable to resist popular
by demonologies published by Re i n h a rd Lutz and p re s s u re in favor of witchcraft trials, or when one or
Johann Sp re t e r. T h e re we re two main re a s o n s — o n e more members of the political-juridical elite attempted
legal, the other social—for the intensity of Ro t t we i l’s to advance their careers by demonstrating zeal as witch
witch persecution. The first was that, although the city hunters. In a general context of increased anxiety about
council as a whole pronounced ve rdicts in witchcraft the threat posed by witchcraft, it was treated as a crimen
trials, the interrogation (and tort u re) of suspects was exceptum, as a result of which the number and severity
s u p e rvised by a small committee of five councillors, of trials escalated. These waves of persecution ended
who consistently treated witchcraft as a crimen exc e p- either because the political aims of pro - w i t c h - h u n t i n g
t u m .Because of their many personal links to the impe- councillors had been achieved (Reutlingen, 1666–1667),
rial Ho f g e r i c h t , this small committee enjoyed a high because the councillors lost confidence in the treatment
l e vel of authority; their seve re handling of witchcraft of witchcraft as a crimen exceptum(Nördlingen, 1594),
trials seems never to have been challenged. This may because witchcraft accusations began to threaten too
also have been because most of those tried as witches many members of the city’s social and political elite
we re poor, and often came from outside Ro t t weil. T h e (Cologne, 1629–1630), or because of the intervention
c i t y’s witchcraft trials can thus be interpreted as expre s- of the Reichskammergericht, or imperial chamber court
sions of social conflict, in which individuals who we re (Gelnhausen, 1599).
both poor and antisocial ran the greatest risk of being The Lutheran imperial free city of Esslingen (popu-
accused of witchcraft by their wealthier neighbors, lation 6,000) formed an enclave in the duchy of
especially during years of inflation and hard s h i p. T h e s e W ü rttemberg. It experienced a seve re wave of witch
social conflicts lost re l e vance during the T h i rty Ye a r s’ hunting between 1662 and 1666, during which around
War when the population of Ro t t weil declined by half; sixty people we re tried for witchcraft and thirt y - t w o
as a result, witch persecution also declined rapidly after e xecuted. Be f o re 1662, only five individuals had been
1631 (Zeck 2000). executed since witchcraft trials began in 1541, and no
f u rther executions occurred after 1666. T h e
Waves of Severe Persecution: 1662–1666 episode began when a seve n t e e n - ye a r - o l d
Esslingen boy named Hans Elsässer from Vaihingen boasted that
More commonly, imperial free cities experienced one he had made a pact with the Devil and flown to
(and occasionally more than one) wave of severe perse- Sabbats. The city councillors gave the case to a new l y
cution, during which ten or more people were execut- appointed jurist, Daniel Hauff, to investigate, and their
ed. Such waves of persecution occurred, for example, in decision had significant consequences. Hauff forc e d
the following cities: confessions and the names of their supposed accom-
Cologne, which experienced one witch hunt in plices from Elsässer and other alleged witches, using
1627–1630 during which twenty-five individuals were severe torture or its threat. Most of those arrested, tried,
e xecuted, can also be included in this category. and executed for witchcraft came from Vaihingen and
Howe ve r, given its great size (35,000–40,000) and its Möhringen, two villages subject to the authority of the
l ow total number of witchcraft executions during the Esslingen Hospital. Hauff also sought advice on the
early modern period (thirty-three), Cologne is regarded witchcraft trials from the legal faculty of St r a s b o u r g
as having a generally restrained pattern of witch perse- Un i versity as well as from Tübingen Un i ve r s i t y. T h i s
cution. was a clever ploy, because the Strasbourg jurists we re
542 Imperial Free Cities |
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much more likely than their Tübingen counterparts to Table I–2
c o n firm and give added authority to Ha u f f’s actions
Population
and decisions. Hauff’s pursuit of witches was motivated
Name of City Size (pre-1618) Witches Executed
both by a genuine belief that they were evil and worthy
of eradication, and by a desire to further his care e r. Augsburg 50,000 17
Nuremberg 40,000 6
Although Hauff was largely responsible for the instiga-
Lübeck 30,000 13
tion and escalation of the 1662–1666 witch hunt, it
Ulm ca. 19–21,000 4
could not have pro g ressed without the support of a
Frankfurt am Main ca. 15–20,000 0
p owe rful subcommittee within Esslingen’s city coun-
Rothenburg o. d. T. ca. 5–7,000 3
cil—the Se c ret Council (Geheimer Ra t), made up of
Schwäbisch Hall ca. 5,000 0
t h ree mayors and two other influential councillors.
Council support for Hauff declined only after accusa-
tions of witchcraft spread from Vaihingen and
Möhringen to Esslingen, threatening the city’s social maintenance of this legal caution was in part an asser-
elite. Increasingly desperate attempts by the council to tion of Ro t h e n b u r g’s judicial autonomy as an imperial
put a stop to Ha u f f’s actions we re cut short by his f ree city. Until 1671, its councillors never sought advice
death—perhaps by means of poison—at the age of thir- f rom a university law faculty in a witchcraft trial,
ty-six in 1665. Thereafter the council brought the witch although the Carolina Code had recommended this
hunt to an end. p ro c e d u re in 1532. Treatment of witchcraft as an ord i-
n a ry rather than an exceptional crime also helped pro-
tect Ro t h e n b u r g’s councillors from imperial interf e re n c e
Low-Level Persecution: in governing the city by ensuring that alleged witches
Rothenburg Ob Der Tauber and their families had no grounds for complaint to the
A significant number of imperial free cities had a very Re i c h s k a m m e r g e r i c h t . The councillors also felt that
low level of witch persecution throughout the entire witchcraft was such a difficult crime to prove at law that
early modern period, characterized by a low total num- its punishment was best left up to God, rather than
ber of executions relative to population size and an attempted by mere mortals who might make (literally)
absence of large-scale witch hunts, even during wide- fatal mistakes in their judgment of guilt or innocence.
spread witch panics in Germany in the 1590s and Confessions of attendance at witches’ Sabbats (by chil-
1620s. These included some of the largest and politi- d ren or mentally unstable individuals) never prov i d e d
cally most important imperial free cities—Nuremberg, the trigger for a large-scale witch hunt in Ro t h e n b u r g
Augsburg, Ulm—which may have set an example of because the councillors and the jurists who advised them
restraint to other, smaller cities in their re g i o n s held the characteristically Lutheran belief that Sa b b a t s
(Behringer 1997). Individuals tried for witchcraft in we re merely delusions wrought by the Devil on the
these cities had a reasonable chance of being released minds of impious individuals. Such confessions thus
unpunished or of suffering a noncapital punishment, o f f e red an inadequate legal basis on which to pursue
such as banishment. other supposed Sabbat attendees. Zealous legal pursuit
The complex web of factors underpinning low leve l s of alleged witches also made little practical sense to the
of witch persecution can be seen in the Lutheran imper- Rothenburg councillors. The city’s prosperity depended
ial free city of Rothenburg ob der Ta u b e r. Situated in on the agrarian productivity of its hinterland as well as
Franconia, Rothenburg had an early modern population the industry of its craftsmen. Large-scale, socially desta-
of 5,000–7,000 and also ruled a 400-square-k i l o m e t e r bilizing witchcraft trials could have affected both the
hinterland containing 10,000–11,000 inhabitants. rural and urban economies adve r s e l y, and we re there f o re
Be t ween 1549 and 1709, its city council dealt with best avoided. Ro t h e n b u r g’s councillors generally re g a rd-
t wenty-eight trials involving accusations and confessions ed the maintenance of social harmony as a higher prior-
of witchcraft. None of them escalated into a large-scale ity than the legal pursuit of witches during the early
witch panic; only three of the sixty-five people invo l ve d modern period. For this reason, they t reated as slander
in these trials we re executed (in 1629, 1673, and 1692), (and punished, with va rying degrees of severity) a signif-
and two of them had also committed other capital icant pro p o rtion of the allegations of witchcraft with
crimes, namely infanticide (1629) and poisoning which they we re confronted between 1561 and 1652.
(1692). Ro t h e n b u r g’s city councillors and the jurists This policy discouraged popular enthusiasm for making
who advised them consistently refused to treat witch- formal accusations of witchcraft. Popular agitation in
craft as a crimen exc e p t u m . C o n s e q u e n t l y, tort u re was f a vor of witch hunts was anyway largely absent in
used against only twe l ve alleged witches and with re l a- Rothenburg throughout the early modern period, part l y
t i ve restraint; no one tried for witchcraft there was because the lower orders we re not especially terrified of
f o rced through tort u re to make a false confession. T h e witches, and partly because they re g a rded nonlegal
Imperial Free Cities 543 |
Wicca | Richard M.Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Western Tradition | 581 | 46049 Golden Chap.i av First Pages 08/25/2005 p.544 Application File
methods as the most effective way of dealing with witch- Midelfort, H. C. Erik. 1972. Witch Hunting in Southwestern
craft (Rowlands 2003). Germany 1562–1684. The Social and Intellectual Foundations.
Similar factors help explain the low level of witch Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Oestmann, Peter. 1997. Hexenprozesse am Reichskammergericht.
persecution in other imperial free cities. It was signifi-
Cologne/Weimar/Vienna: Böhlau.
cant that most imperial free cities with low or ve ry
Rowlands, Alison. 2003. Witchcraft Narratives in Germany:
restrained levels of witch persecution (apart fro m
Rothenburg, 1561–1652.Manchester: Manchester University
Cologne and Regensburg, which we re Catholic, and
Press.
Augsburg, which was biconfessional) we re Lu t h e r a n .
Schindling, Anton. 1991. “Wachstum und Wandel vom
This probably encouraged their rulers to re g a rd the Konfessionellen Zeitalter bis zum Zeitalter Ludwigs XIV.
witches’ Sabbats as an illusion rather than a reality, an Frankfurt am Main 1555–1685.” Pp. 205–260 in Frankfurt
attitude that helped pre vent the escalation of witch am Main. Die Geschichte der Stadt in neun Beiträgen.Edited by
panics. However, a desire to maintain social stability to the Frankfurt Historical Commission. Sigmaringen: Jan
protect the economic well-being of the urban commu- Thorbecke.
nity was probably the most important factor explaining Schlaier, Bernd. 1994. “Reichsstadt Ulm.” Pp. 403–410 in Hexen
und Hexenverfolgung im deutschen Südwesten(Aufsatzband).
an absence of witch-hunting zeal, perhaps especially so
Edited by Sönke Lorenz. Karlsruhe: Badisches Landesmuseum.
in Ulm, Nu remberg, and Schwäbisch Hall that, like
Schraut, Elisabeth. 1994. “Reichsstadt Schwäbisch Hall.” Pp.
Rothenburg, also ruled large rural hinterlands. T h e
395–401 in Hexen und Hexenverfolgung im deutschen Südwesten
councillors of these and other cities that experienced a
(Aufsatzband). Edited by Sönke Lorenz. Karlsruhe: Badisches
l ow level of witch persecution re a l i zed from an early
Landesmuseum.
date, and without having to suffer the horrors of a Schulte, Rolf. 2001. Hexenverfolgung in Schleswig-Holstein vom
large-scale witch panic themselves, that discretion was 16.–18. Jahrhundert.Heide: Verlag Boyens and Co.
wiser than ze a l o t ry as far as the prosecution of witch- Schwerhoff, Gerd. 1996. “Hexenverfolgung in einer früh-
craft was concerned. neuzeitlichen Grossstadt–das Beispiel der Reichsstadt Köln.”
Pp. 13–56 in Hexenverfolgung im Rheinland. Ergebnisse neuerer
Lokal- und Regionalstudien.Bensberger Protokolle 85. Bergisch
ALISON ROWLANDS
Gladbach: Thomas-Morus-Akademie Bensberg.
See also: AGRARIANCRISES;AUGSBURG,IMPERIALFREECITY;CAR- Voges, Dietmar-H. 1994. “Reichsstadt Nördlingen.” Pp. 361–369
OLINACODE(CONSTITIOCRIMINALISCAROLINA);COLOGNE; in Hexen und Hexenverfolgung im deutschen Südwesten
CRIMENEXCEPTUM;GERMANY;GERMANY,SOUTHEASTERN;GER- (Aufsatzband). Edited by Sönke Lorenz. Karlsruhe: Badisches
MANY,SOUTHWESTERN;HAMBURGANDBREMEN;HOLYROMAN Landesmuseum.
EMPIRE;NÖRDLINGEN,IMPERIALFREECITY;NUREMBERG,IMPER- Vöhringer-Rubröder, Gisela. 1994. “Reichsstadt Esslingen.” Pp.
IALFREECITY;OFFENBURG,IMPERIALFREECITY;PANICS;PLAGUE; 349–359 in Hexen und Hexenverfolgung im deutschen Südwesten
POPULARPERSECUTION;UNIVERSITIES;URBANWITCHCRAFT; (Aufsatzband). Edited by Sönke Lorenz. Karlsruhe: Badisches
WITCHHUNTS. Landesmuseum.
References and further reading: Zeck, Mario. 2000. “Im Rauch gehn Himmel geschüggt.”
Behringer,Wolfgang. 1997. Witchcraft Persecutions in Bavaria. Hexenverfolgungen in der Reichsstadt Rottweil.Stuttgart:
Popular Magic, Religious Zealotry and Reason of State in Early Ibidem-Verlag.
Modern Europe.Translated by J. C. Grayson and David Lederer.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fritz, Thomas. 1998. “Hexenverfolgungen in der Reichsstadt Impotence, Sexual
Reutlingen.” Pp. 163–324 in Zum Feuer verdammt. Die
Many cultures hold that sexual impotence can be
Hexenverfolgungen in der Grafschaft Hohenberg, der Reichsstadt
caused by magic, and concern about this form of
Reutlingen und der Fürstpropstei Ellwangen.Edited by Johannes
bewitchment played a noteworthy, and perhaps some-
Dillinger,Thomas Fritz, and Wolfgang Mährle. Stuttgart: Franz
what exaggerated, role in the witch persecutions of early
Steiner.
Graf, Klaus. 1994. “Reichsstadt Schwäbisch Gmünd.” Pp. modern Europe. Impotence can be ascribed to witch-
389–392 in Hexen und Hexenverfolgung im deutschen Südwesten craft, spontaneous bewitchment—or sorc e ry, ritual
(Aufsatzband). Edited by Sönke Lorenz. Karlsruhe: Badisches casting of spells—or both, depending on the culture. In
Landesmuseum. late medieval Europe, ritual techniques for causing
Irsigler, Franz. 1995. “Zauberei- und Hexenprozesse in Köln, impotence and the jealousies and disputes that prompt-
15.–17. Jahrhundert.” Pp. 169–179 in Hexenglaube und ed people to use them were rather common, so employ-
Hexenprozesse im Raum Rhein-Mosel-Saar.Edited by Gunther
ing them was not necessarily a sign of malevolent
Franz and Franz Irsigler.Trier: Spee Buchverlag.
witchcraft for ordinary people. However, late medieval
Jerouschek, Günter. 1992. Die Hexen und ihr Prozess. Die
and early modern demonologists emphasized this form
Hexenverfolgungen in der Reichsstadt Esslingen.Sigmaringen: Jan
of maleficium (harmful magic) in their discussions of
Thorbecke.
the Devil’s conspiracy, and their alarm appears to have
Kunstmann, Heinrich H. 1970. Zauberwahn und Hexenprozess in
der Reichsstadt Nürnberg.Erlangen: Dissertations-Druckerei had a particular resonance among prominent laymen
Hogl. and clerics, who seemed more concerned with it than
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its actual incidence warranted. Virility, both in the still never a major cause of trials. However, the plethora
sense of powerful sexuality and in the desire for procre- of popular cures suggests it was indeed a common prob-
ating offspring, was a vital measure of a man’s worth in lem. The likeliest explanation is that the dishonor of
early modern Europe, and male vulnerability to sexual impotence inhibited men from making a public issue of
dysfunction therefore became a major concern to elites. it if they could avoid it. Because this malady often has a
Modern social scientists have long recognized that s t rongly psychological dimension, it was part i c u l a r l y
impotence can result from emotional distress, so amenable to less drastic remedies than a formal accusa-
bewitchment can play a role in its onset and, converse- tion, and so cases were more likely to end in a cunning
ly, magical treatments can cure it. Generalized concern p e r s o n’s cottage or a priest’s chambers than in court .
about this form of magical attack clearly manifested Together, these reasons explain why a common malady,
deeply rooted and widespread masculine insecurities, f requently discussed theore t i c a l l y, precipitated so few
but while some accusations undoubtedly transferred trials.
attention from a man’s internally generated impotence
to a convenient scapegoat, it is also clear that this form Ritual Attacks, Malevolent
of “m a g i c a l” attack was attempted and could be Intentions, and Magical Cures
effective. The means for provoking male impotence included
both ritual attacks (practices that anthropologists label
Elite Anxieties and Popular sorcery) and spontaneous acts and unstated ill will (that
Concerns a n t h ropologists call witchcraft). Both mechanisms
One of the earliest theories insists that early modern operated in early modern Europe, and both were coun-
witch hunts developed from the repressed sexuality of tered by a wide variety of popular rituals designed to
celibate clerics in the late Middle Ages. Although the overcome the bewitchment and restore male sexual
authorities who actually hunted witches were over- functioning.
whelmingly married magistrates, the preoccupation of The most common form of ritual spell to cause
some clerical demonologists, seen especially in the impotence was ligature, the tying of a cord or lace in a
Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of Witches, 1486), knot to cause a sympathetic effect on the man’s mem-
with unbridled female sexuality and the threat to male ber. It was sometimes thought to be particularly potent
virility did reflect the sexual neuroses of their authors. if performed during a marriage ceremony, but could be
In the Malleus,witches’ ability to interfere with normal conducted in other circumstances as well. Other ritual
sexuality was the first form of harmful magic discussed, procedures involved the use of images, rooster testicles,
moving from a chapter on their ability to manipulate and various herbs. Some, like bent snuffed-out candles,
people’s affections to one on their ability to obstruct the we re to inhibit erection, others to pre vent ejaculation,
procreative act—mainly by causing male impotence— and some to cause premature ejaculation. Related cere-
to a third that discusses their ability to make men think monies we re available that supposedly pre ve n t e d
that their genitals have been removed entirely. women from conceiving or caused abortion, but they
Members of the secular elite and Protestant ministers seem less common (and presumably less reliable) than
were not only allowed but also were expected to marry, rituals aimed at men.
so that it might appear that they did not have to strug- While anyone could use these rituals, some people
gle against temptation as the Catholic clergy did, but we re thought to be able to inflict impotence thro u g h
because one legacy of the Reformation was a height- spontaneous words or gestures, or simply through the
ened emphasis on fidelity in marriage, these husbands p ower of their ill will. Spontaneous actions could
often had to re p ress their sexual desires in ways not include a crude sexual gesture, a sharp glance (the “evil
totally unlike the self-restraint expected of their e ye”), or a simple motion or touch. Wo rds might be
Catholic bre t h ren. Fu rt h e r m o re, they we re even more hostile (a threat or insult) or insinuating (a sexual refer-
s e n s i t i ve to threats to virility than the Catholic clergy, ence or innuendo), but apparently even benign or
because a sexually active male’s honor was strongly con- friendly signals could be construed as spells depending
nected to both his sexual prowess and his pro c re a t i ve on the relationship between the people invo l ved, the
accomplishments. A threat to virility became an intimi- c i rcumstances, and the aftermath. T h e o re t i c a l l y, some
dating prospect in this honor-conscious culture, calling witches needed no mechanism at all to inflict the dam-
for vigilant precautions or a vigorous response. age; the sheer power of their ill will sufficed. In practice,
Although ord i n a ry peasants and townsmen share d because it was understood that magic did not cause all
upper-class male concerns with virility and honor, instances of impotence, legal allegations generally
witchcraft trials involving impotence we re rather less re q u i red some re f e rence to the suspect’s words or
f requent than theoretical discussions of it would actions to support them.
suggest. In England, the charge was ve ry infre q u e n t , Early modern Eu ropeans had a range of re m e d i e s
and on the Continent, although more common, it was available to counter impotence caused by a spell. Some
Impotence, Sexual 545 |
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could be performed at home by anyone, while others Dysfunction.” Pp. 222–268 inPsychosomatic Disorders: A
i n vo l ved consulting a professional healer. A number Psychophysiological Approach to Etiology and Treatment. Edited
i n vo l ved such symbolic actions as urinating thro u g h by Stephen Haynes and Linda Gannon. NewYork: Praeger.
Kramer, Heinrich, and James Sprenger [sic]. 1971. The Malleus
some sort of hole, like a church keyhole or a wife’s wed-
Maleficarum.NewYork: Dover.
ding ring. Other methods were more direct, including
Quaife, G.R. 1987. Godly Zeal and Furious Rage: The Witch in
at least one example of a sexual surrogate who plied a
Early Modern Europe. NewYork: St. Martin’s.
respectable trade restoring the virility of other women’s
Thomas, Keith. 1971. Religion and the Decline of Magic. New
husbands. Educated physicians, who understood that
York: Charles Schribner’s Sons.
many instances of impotence stemmed from psycholog-
ical roots, might resort to placebos to tap their patients’
Incubus and Succubus
powers of imagination.
The word “incubare” (from Latin, “to lie upon some-
thing”), which in Christian theology later came to
Belief, Fear, and Physiology
denote a demon lover who seduced women, was origi-
Like early modern physicians, modern social scientists
nally associated with nightmares: Horace believed that
agree that psychological problems can cause impotence.
nightly asthma attacks and nightmares were caused by
Furthermore, they acknowledge that at least some of
so called Ephialtesor “Incubi.” Lascivious and lecherous
the ritual techniques in early modern and other cultures
spirits, fauns, and satyrs permeated ancient sources:
intended to inflict or cure impotence could work
Strabo mentioned them in his Geography (1,19) and
through this link between mind and body.
Petronius in Satyricon (38,8). A “succubus,” which
Social scientists have traditionally played down the
became its female counterpart, originally played a
significance of this efficacy, assuming it to be a manifes-
major part in hagiography, illustrating the temptations
tation of psychological weakness in the afflicted person
of holy men. The Church Fathers, chiefly St .
rather than psychological strength in the sorc e rer or
Augustine, St. Jerome, and Isidore of Seville, intro-
healer, and also by assuming that it merely reflects a pri-
duced both terms and notions into medieval theology:
or cultural belief in the power of magic. In part i c u l a r,
incubi—demons in the shape of human males—preyed
p s ychodynamic psychosomatic theory classified psy-
on women, whereas succubi—demons in female
chogenic impotence as a conversion reaction, a symbol-
shape—pursued men.
ic somatization of an intrapsychic tension, while cultur-
al determinism insists that impotence resulting fro m
Humans and Demons
witchcraft or sorcery always stemmed from fear instilled
by cultural belief in its power, and took its form from Although an incubus was generally believed to be unable
cultural expectations as well. to pro c reate and a succubus was unable to bear childre n ,
Howe ve r, current medical understanding classifie s both concepts appeared in legends of ancestors—one of
p s ychogenic impotence as a psychophysical disord e r, a the most famous was Merlin—to explain their supposed
d i rect manifestation of hormonal changes triggered by demonical abilities. Most had their sources in
the “flight or fig h t” stress response. Fear can indeed p re-Christian traditions, although the Bible insists that
trigger this response, but so can other strong emotions, the giants sprang from intercourse between fallen angels
and the fear that triggers it can come from a wide va r i- (or demons) and the daughters of mankind. Many leg-
ety of perc e i ved dangers. Spontaneous words and ges- ends of important families detailed such half-human
t u res can instil fear, anger, despondency, or rage lead- and half-divine ancestors; for example, Me rovech, the
ing to impotence without any prior expectations or mythic ancestor of the Me rovingians, was allegedly the
enculturation, and malicious rituals we re deve l o p e d son of a sea-god. Many others we re ru m o red to have
and used deliberately to trigger this psyc h o p h y s i c a l demonical ancestors, including Ro b e rt, the father of
p ro c e s s . William the Conqueror; Ma rtin Luther; Alexander the
Great; Plato; Julius Caesar; Scipio Africanus; Ro m u l u s
EDWARD BEVER
and Remus; Merlin; or the Hu n s .
See also:BEWITCHMENT;COUNTERMAGIC;CUNNINGFOLK;CURSES; The Latin Church generally did not admit the re a l i-
DISEASE;EVILEYE;HONOR;LOVEMAGIC;MALEFICIUM;MALLEUS ty of intercourse with demons before the twelfth cen-
MALEFICARUM;SPELLS;WORDS,POWEROF. t u ry. The most important intermediary, Is i d o re of
References and further reading:
Seville, strongly rejected the idea of succubi in his
Bever, Edward. 2000. “Witchcraft Fears and Psychosocial Factors
Et y m o l o gy, l a t e r, Bu rc h a rd of Worms in his C o r re c t o r
in Disease.” The Journal of Interdisciplinary History30:
(Book 19 of his De c re t u m) denied that elves we re able
573–590.
to have sex with human beings. In the twelfth century,
Briggs, Robin. 1996. Witches and Neighbors: The Social and
William of Paris vehemently disapproved of the idea
Cultural Context of European Witchcraft.NewYork: Penguin.
Heiman, Julia, and John Hatch. 1981. “Conceptual and that demons we re able to have offspring, although in
Therapeutic Contributions of Psychophysiology to Sexual 1120 Gu i b e rt of Nogent said not only that his father
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was denied consummation of marriage due to sorc e ry emissions, or as succubi from men during intercourse.
but also that the Devil visited his mother in the guise The demons saved the semen to use subsequently when
of an incubus. copulating with women. Some writers claimed that the
In the thirteenth century, the concept of the incubus children born from such unions were half human and
became more common, partly through the many vari- half beast.
ants of the stories about Merlin and Melusine; fro m Some English incubi served as familiars to witches.
then onward, legends about demonical pro c re a t i o n In continental trials, after sex with devils became a key
began to spread. After the thirteenth century, the aspect of witchcraft, witches we re tort u red until they
“ i n c u b u s” condemned in Is i d o re’s Et y m o l o gy as mere confessed to having intercourse with incubi. In 1485,
fantasy invo l ved real assaults by lascivious demons, the inquisitor of Come condemned forty-one of these
adding a vo l u n t a ry character as fulfillment of sinful women to death. Incubi we re believed to be visible to
female sexual desire. At the same time, the notion of the witches alone, except in unusual circumstances. Stories
vo l u n t a ry pact with the demon developed as the like La belle et la bête ( Beauty and the Beast) and its
Inquisition spread; intercourse with demons became an ancient fore ru n n e r Amor and Ps yc h e described people
accepted concept in ort h o d ox theology. By the four- who had invisible partners, and such folk beliefs
teenth century, Pope Benedict XIV employed the testi- became a standard part of theological treatises. T h e s e
mony of the Bible as proof for the existence of incubi debated whether incubi had physical or spiritual bod-
and succubi in his De servo rum Dei Be a t i ficatione et ies, as well as the gravity of the sin of intercourse with
b e a t o rum canonizatione ( On the Be a u t i fication of the demons and the techniques of intercourse. The insa-
Servants of God and the Canonization of the Blessed). tiable curiosity of the experts led them to examine all
In particular, heretics, and later witches, were not only possible details of sexual intercourse with demons, and
accused of copulating frequently with demons (some- their sadistic industry was rewarded with an abundance
times in animal form), but also of worshipping them, of imaginative details.
especially during their festivals, the Sabbats. In t e rcourse with demons implied a pact with the
Devil and therefore served as evidence in trials, starting
The Incubus as Lover at an inquisitorial trial in Carcassonne in 1275. T h e
Demon lovers existed in the stories of the ancient famous Irish witch, Dame Alice Kyteler, was accused in
Hebrews, Egyptians, Greeks, Assyrians, and Persians, 1324 of having intercourse with an incubus called
among others, while contemporary belief in UFOs Robert son of Art. Innocent VIII, in his notorious bull
includes reports not only of abduction by aliens, but of 1484 against the witches, Summis desidera n t e s
also of sexual intercourse with them. affectibus (Desiring with Supreme Ardor), affirmed the
In the Sefer ha-Zo h a r (Book of Splendor), the most reality of intercourse with demons. Witchcraft theorists
i m p o rtant book of Jewish mysticism, any pollution of we re keen to find evidence for witches’ sexual inter-
the semen produced demons. Michael Ps e l l u s course with incubi in order to prove the existence of
(1019–1078) retold folk beliefs of demon–human rela- demons, and thus of the entire spirit world, including
tionships in his De nugis curialum ( On Court i e r’s angels and God.
Trifles) speculating about the offspring of such relation-
ships. Succubi
Late medieval and early modern witches inva r i a b l y Less prevalent than incubi, succubi could appear as
described intercourse with demons or with the Devil as beautiful women who tempted anchorites, but more
d i s a g reeable and painful. Heinrich Kramer, in the often they visited men in their sleep. Because of
Malleus Maleficarum(The Hammer of Witches, 1486), Christian views about the inherently evil nature of
noted scornfully that in the past, incubus devils assault- women, they were morally weak and therefore more
ed women against their wills, but now the witches vol- prone to yield to sexual seduction than men. Although
untarily offered themselves. Wi t c h e s’ confessions and a man visited by a succubus was most likely not at fault,
some witchcraft theorists described incubi with huge succubi appeared often in the record of witchcraft tri-
members, sometimes made of horn or cove red with als. Intercourse with succubi was often described as
scales, obviously emphasizing their animal-like nature; penetrating a cavern of ice, similar to the notion of the
like the Devil, incubi ejaculated icy semen. Si l ve s t ro ice-cold semen of the incubi.
Prierias contributed an extraord i n a ry detail, re p o rt i n g
in his De strigimagaru m , demonumque mira n d i s The Devil’s Children
(Concerning the Prodigies of the Witch-Magicians and There was widespread belief that misshapen children
Demons, 1521), that incubi had a double penis. descended from the sinful intercourse between a
Some witchcraft theorists insisted that incubi could human and an incubus demon. In 1275, a certain
impregnate women. Demons, unable to generate semen Angela de la Barthe bore a child in Toulouse that was
t h e m s e l ves, stole it from men who had nocturnal half wolf and half human as a result of a long-lasting
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relationship with a demon, who had intercourse with a re extremely difficult to identify. None of them was
her every night. Other women give birth to unspeak- explicitly condemned, except by using the word s
able monsters or even objects. Obviously in some leg- “pagan” and “superstitious” in the title of the list. These
ends the concept of the changeling intertwines with the words had a highly pejorative connotation in the peri-
De v i l’s offspring; folk belief asserts that demons od, although they might also have re f e r red to riva l r i e s
abducted children and left misshapen monsters behind. among different groups of Christians or different views
For its part, the Church interpreted ancient beliefs of ideal Christianity.
about fairy abductions as punishment for sins. By the Se veral scholars have linked the text to the re f o r m-
seventeenth century, medical treatises began explaining ing, rather than the missionary work of St. Boniface
monstrous children as a result of shock, but still associ- (ca. 675–754/755), although Boniface is not thought
ated them with nightmares. to be the author. The list seems to contain practices of
The Catholic Church offered five methods for pagan origin that the author believed still surv i ved in
driving away incubi and succubi: (1) confession; Christian communities, re g a rdless of whether or not
(2) making the sign of the cross; (3) reciting prayers; they actually did. Although many earlier and
(4) moving to another location; or (5) exo rc i s m . n e a r-c o n t e m p o r a ry Frankish Church councils, roy a l
Caesarius of Heisterbach stated in his D i a l o g u s capitularies, and individual churchmen had listed and
Miraculorum(The Dialogue on Miracles,1150) that St. condemned religious practices that they designated
Be r n a rd of Clairvaux re p o rtedly chased away an pagan and superstitious, there is no necessary connec-
incubus by exo rcism. In some cases, holy water or a tion between the In d i c u l u s and the Council of
Paternoster provided some help. Leptinnes, and the list may well date to the later
eighth century or even the early ninth, as analysis of
CHRISTA TUCZAY
the manuscript evidence indicates.
See also:BURCHARDOFWORMS;CORPOREALITY,ANGELICAND A number of the practices listed in the In d i c u l u s a s
DEMONIC;DEMONOLOGY;DEMONS;FAIRIES;FAMILIARS;INNO- “pagan” included ceremonies for the gods Mercury and
CENTVIII,POPE;ISIDOREOFSEVILLE,ST.; KABBALAH;KYTELER,
Jupiter (romanized names of Thor and Odin), and the
ALICE;LILITH;MALLEUSMALEFICARUM;MERLIN;MONSTERS;
o f t e n - c r i t i c i zed observation of the Kalends of Ja n u a ry,
NIGHTMARES;PACTWITHTHEDEVIL;PRIERIAS,SILVESTRO;SEXU-
conducting religious rites in groves dedicated to pagan
ALACTIVITY,DIABOLIC.
deities, respect paid to pagan sacred stones, shrines, and
References and further reading:
idols, and sacrifices of animals to the sun. There is no
Caesarius, Heisterbacensis. 1929. The Dialogue on Miracles.
Translated by H. von E. Scott and C. C. Swinton Bland. 2 indication that these observances were in any way dia-
vols. London: G. Routledge and Sons. bolical in character. Other practices included “s a c r i-
Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. 1989. The Encyclopedia of Witches and l e g e s” — d i s t o rtions or misuse of Christian cere m o n i e s
Witchcraft.NewYork and Oxford: Facts on File. of mourning the dead, misconduct in church buildings,
Levack, Brian P. 1995. The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe. e xc e s s i ve sacrifices to saints, or indiscriminate ve n e r a-
2d ed. London and NewYork: Longman. tion of the dead as saints. Ecclesiastical reformers for
Map,Walter. 1983. De nugis curialium.Translated by M. R.
the next several centuries sharply criticized such misdi-
James. Rev. by C. N. L. Brooke. Oxford: Clarendon.
rection of devotional enthusiasm as harmful “s u p e r s t i-
Robbins, Rossell Hope. 1959. Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and
tion.”
Demonology.NewYork: Crown.
Later thinkers linked still other practices to both sor-
Stephens, Walter. 2002. Demon Lovers: Witchcraft, Sex, and the
c e ry and witchcraft. Among these we re the use of
Crisis of Belief.Chicago and London: University of Chicago
Press. enchanted amulets and knots (ligatures), incantations,
divination, weather magic, and the belief that cert a i n
Indiculus Superstitionum women had the power to command the moon and
et Paganiarum remove men’s hearts from their bodies. In addition, at
This list of thirty religious practices designated as least from the thirteenth century on, diabolical sorcery
pagan and superstitious followed the canons of the came to be considered idolatry, so that veneration or
Frankish Council of Estinnes/Leptinnes (ca. 742/743) worship directed at any being other than God, the
in the unique surviving manuscript, probably produced angels, or the saints was re g a rded as the worship of
at Fulda, later held at Mainz, and now in the Va t i c a n demons. Psalm 95 (96) stated that the gods of the
library. Neither the author nor any of the circumstances pagans were demons in disguise, and many of the prac-
of its production are known, and it is clearly not an tices on the list that seemed to indicate residual pagan
authoritative ecclesiastical document, but rather a list of religious practices would then be condemned as some-
practices from the northeastern edge of the late thing far more sinister than nondiabolical superstitions.
Me rovingian or early Carolingian Frankish world that Despite its private and idiosyncratic character, the
the author knew of or had read about. Many of these Indiculus superstitionum (A List of Superstitions and
practices are mentioned in no other source, and some Pagan Practices) neve rtheless provided import a n t
548 Indiculus Superstitionum et Paganiarum |
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witness to ecclesiastical interests and concerns about a version: it was the turn of witches, mostly women, to be
s o c i e t y, some of whose members defined Christianity accused of cannibalism and vampirism. The notion of
by asserting what it was not, at a key moment in witches devouring children or sucking their blood,
Frankish and European history. Other earlier and con- w i d e s p read even in such nonprimitive cultures as
temporary sources, particularly church councils and the Renaissance Italy and verified by twentieth-century
literature of penitentials were more direct, explicit, con- anthropologists in their field research, cries out for an
demning, and informative of practices similar to those explanation that can harmonize cultural diffusion with
in the Indiculus,but it, too, constitutes a small window archetypal and structural inheritance.
on the cultural values of the late eighth century. In the heyday of Eu ropean witch hunting, witches
no longer confessed to eating children at Sabbats, but
EDWARD PETERS
they continued to be accused of murdering them.
See also: AMULETANDTALISMAN;CAESARIUSOFARLES;DIVINA- Demographic and social factors re v i ved and adapted
TION;IDOLATRY;MOON;SUPERSTITION;WEATHERMAGIC. these ancient beliefs. Crushingly high rates of infant
References and further reading:
m o rtality struck early modern Eu rope during its two
English translation in McNeill, John T., and Gamer, Helena M.,
worst agrarian crises (the 1590s and late 1620s). It is
eds. and trans. 1939, rprt. 1998. Pp. 419–421 in Medieval
probably not coincidence that at such moments witch-
Handbooks of Penance.NewYork: Columbia University Press.
craft accusations offered another way to deal with
Dierkens, A. 1984. “Superstitions, christianisme et paganisme à la
unbearable illness and death, particularly the death of
fin de l’époque mérovingienne—A propos de l’Indiculus super-
stitionum et paganiarum.” Pp. 9–26 in Magie, Sorcellerie, young babies.
Parapsychologie.Edited by Hervé Hasquin. Brussels: Université Of course, popular perception of infanticide as mal-
Libre de Bruxelles. e fic i u m (harmful magic) varied considerably acro s s
Flint, Valerie I. J. 1991. Pp. 41–44, 172 in The Rise of Magic in Eu rope. In the French department of Ariège and in
Early Medieval Europe.Princeton: Princeton University Press. southern Netherlands, for instance, witches we re
Hen, Yitzhak. 1995. Pp. 178–180 in Culture and Religion in blamed for stillbirths and for killing the newborn in
Merovingian Gaul A.D. 481–751.Leiden, NewYork, and
their cradles. But in other places, for example,
Cologne: E. J. Brill.
Denmark, such accusations were exceptional.
Markus, Robert A. 1992. “From Caesarius to Boniface:
Although Old Régime Eu rope was not a child-
Christianity and Paganism in Gaul.” Pp. 154–172 in The
c e n t e red society, much literary evidence suggests that
Seventh Century: Continuity and Change.Edited by Jacques
infants we re not held cheap. Howe ve r, centuries-o l d
Fontaine and J. N. Hillgarth. London: Studies of the Warburg
Institute, Vol. 42. disguised forms of infanticide, in some ways almost
Wood, Ian. 1995. “Pagan Religions and Superstitions East of the i n s t i t u t i o n a l i zed, remained widespread. They followe d
Rhine from the Fifth to the Ninth Century.” Pp. 253–279 in certain conventions and therefore were not considered
After Empire: Towards an Ethnology of Europe’s Barbarians. homicide by practitioners and authorities. These indi-
Edited by Giorgio Ausenda. Woodbridge, Suffolk-Rochester, rect infanticides included the practice of abandoning
NY: Boydell. n ewborn babies, sending them to wet nurses, and
“overlaying,” whereby parents rolled over a baby sleep-
Infanticide ing with them and smothered the infant. Churc h
When the witches’ Sabbat was first described in the fif- authorities repeatedly prohibited parents from sleeping
teenth century, murdered babies provided vital ingredi- with infants. In several Italian synods, the power to
ents for its perverse rituals. Recruits were “given a jar a b s o l ve from this sin was re s e rved to the bishop. Fo r
full of ointment with which . . . he must go to the reasons that have yet to be explained, Eu rope began a
[Sabbat]. . . . That unguent is made . . . out of the fat draconian criminal prosecution of infanticide in the
of small children who have been cooked.” Moreover, sixteenth century, when nearly every state passed legis-
some convicted witches confessed to strangling babies lation against child murd e r. In France, 5,000 seems a
and “the next night they open the grave and take the conservative estimate for the number of women execut-
body . . . to the synagogue, where it is cooked and eaten” ed under a statute of 1556; here, the great infanticide
(Kors and Peters 2001, 161–162). A century later, can- craze took vastly more women’s lives than witch hunt-
nibalism disappeared from witchcraft confessions, but ing (Soman 1992). Ultimately, “change in the conduct
the cliché endured: an illustration of the satanic meal of criminal proceedings relating to witchcraft . . . began
printed in Francesco Maria Guazzo’s treatise of 1608, to take shape in the second half of the seventeenth cen-
the Compendium Ma l e fic a rum (A Su m m a ry of tury. As witchcraft declined and gradually lost its status
Witches), depicts two witches roasting a child over a as a crime, the blurring of the two crimes declined, and
fire. The ancient myth of ritual murders, brought by mothers who killed their children were tried simply for
Syrians against the Jews, Romans against Christians, infanticide” (Levack 1999, 78–80).
Christians against Gnostics, and the medieval Church
against Jews and heretics, had been twisted into a new OSCAR DI SIMPLICIO
Infanticide 549 |
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See also:CANNIBALISM;OINTMENTS;RITUALMURDER;SABBAT; had to swear an oath to support the decrees of the
VAMPIRE. Council of Tre n t .
References and further reading: This close link between the Ba varian house of
Johansen, Jens C. 1990. “Denmark: The Sociology of
Wittelsbach and certain Jesuits at Ingolstadt con-
Accusations.” Pp. 339–366 in Early Modern European
tributed decisively to Bavaria’s position in the history of
Witchcraft. Centres and Peripheries.Edited by Bengt Ankarloo
witchcraft. In the 1560s Canisius became deeply con-
and Gustav Henningsen. Oxford: Clarendon.
vinced that a war between good and evil was going on,
Kieckhefer, Richard 1976.European Witch Trials: Their Foundation
and that the sharp increase in witchcraft was the conse-
in Popular and Learned Culture, 1300–1500.Berkeley, CA:
University of California Press. quence and climax of all the devilish here s i e s
Kors, Alan C., and Edward Peters, eds. 2001. Witchcraft in Europe ( Lutheranism, Zwinglianism, Anabaptism, Calvinism,
400–1700. A Documentary History.2d ed. Revised by E. Peters. Spiritualism) that had sprung up during the past gener-
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ation. It is likely, though still unproven, that Canisius
Levack, Brian. 1999. “The Decline and End of Witchcraft was already inspired by the Malleus Ma l e fic a rum (T h e
Prosecutions.” Pp. 1–94 in Witchcraft and Magic in Europe. The Hammer of Witches, 1486). Certainly this was true of
Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries.Edited by Bengt Ankarloo
the second generation of Jesuits, when Gre g o ry of
and Stuart Clark. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania
Valencia SJ dominated the Un i versity of In g o l s t a d t .
Press.
Gre g o ry wrote the expert opinion on witchcraft com-
Risse, Guenter. 1997. “Cause of Death as a Historical Problem.”
missioned by Duke Wilhelm V “the Pi o u s” in Ap r i l
Continuity and Change12, 2: 175–188.
1590, which pointed firmly to the Ma l l e u s and Pe t e r
Soman, Alfred. 1992. Sorcellerie et Justice Criminelle: Le Parlement
de Paris (16e– 18esiècles).Bath: Variorum. Binsfeld as the only acceptable authorities for Catholics
generally, and Bavarian judges in particular.Witchcraft
Ingolstadt, University of
was considered an exceptional crime (crimen exceptum)
The sixteenth-century law faculty of Ingolstadt at the requiring exceptional legal measures (p ro c e s s u s e x t ra o r-
Bavarian University first encouraged witch hunting, d i n a r i u s). This opinion was supported not only by
but by the end of the century, for the most part it Pe t rus St e va rtius SJ (1549–1624), Michael Ma y r h o f e r
adopted a skeptical attitude toward witchraft. Founded SJ (1548–1641), and of course Jacob Gretser SJ, but
in 1472, the University of Ingolstadt played a charac- also by all members of the law faculty, including the
teristic role in the process of early modern state forma- famous Italian jurist Andreas Fachineus. At this point,
tion. Bavaria’s future leaders were to be trained there in to the dismay of the Bavarian political elite, the univer-
loyalty to the ruling house and in regional customs. sity was dominated not just by the spirit of the
Ingolstadt was established to prevent money from leav- Counter-Reformation, but also by persecutory zeal. At
ing Bavaria when students attended other universities the same time, scores of future Catholic rulers and their
and to exercise cultural hegemony over neighboring f u t u re councillors we re educated here, including the
secular and ecclesiastical territories. Ingolstadt proved Em p e ror Fe rdinand II, the Ba varian Pr i n c e - El e c t o r
to be successful, since the dukes managed to employ Maximilian I, the Archbishop Fe rdinand of Cologne,
professors who attracted students. It gained stature Münster, Hildesheim, Liège, and Paderborn, and sever-
when Dr. Johannes Eck, a distinguished theologian, al prince-bishops, who would become responsible for
challenged Luther’s Reformation theology of justifica- the most terrible witch hunts in Europe.
tion by faith alone. By emphasizing Catholicism, unity, The prince-bishops’ lawyers and officials as well as
and tradition, Ingolstadt became a bridgehead of the notorious Dr. Johann Sigmund Wagnereckh, coun-
C o u n t e r-Reformation Ge r m a n y, attracting Catholic cillor in the duchy of Bavaria, were likewise educated at
students from all over central Europe, including future Ingolstadt.
Catholic princes, prince-bishops, and theologians. Within ten years after an articulate opponent of
When the Jesuits appeared, Duke Albrecht V of witch hunting, Dr. Kaspar Lagus (1533–1606) had
Ba varia re c o g n i zed that his state could benefit gre a t l y been removed from the law faculty in 1585, the scene
f rom these new cadre s’ expertise in the Catholic changed entire l y. During the 1590s the law faculty
C h u rch by using his land as a strategic base. The Je s u i t regained independence and a new generation of
scholar Peter Canisius was invited to occupy the chair l a w yers, with Dr. Joachim Denich (a son-in-law of
p reviously held by Eck, and he did so in a much more Lagus) and Dr. Kaspar Hell as the senior law professors.
f a vorable environment, backed by his fast-grow i n g In 1601, they stopped an irregular witchcraft trial con-
o rder in the 1560s. The Jesuits we re expected to disci- ducted by some zealous court councillors in Mu n i c h
pline the clergy and offer important support to the b e f o re it could trigger a general witch hunt. Although
Wittelsbach dynasty’s struggle against Lutheran fac- the zealot faction tried to intimidate these pro f e s s o r s
tions within the Ba varian nobility and the citize n ry of (and Dr. Hell was indeed charged with treason and
its larger towns. Eventually the theology faculty was t h rown into prison), the jurists’ minds re m a i n e d
handed over entirely to the Jesuits and all pro f e s s o r s unchanged. They insisted on regular criminal pro c e-
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d u res according to imperial law (p rocessus ord i n a r i u s) . e ventually dissolved did Ingolstadt become a center of
The university became invo l ved in one of the most enlightened ideas. Adam Weishaupt (1746–1830), the
ardent power struggles in Bavaria, lasting for roughly a founder of the enlightened Illuminate Ord e r, was pro-
generation, with factions within the unive r s i t y, the fessor at Ingolstadt. At the beginning of the nineteenth
Jesuits, the government, and even the ruling dynasty. c e n t u ry, the Ba varian university was transferred first to
Howe ve r, despite the re m oval of Dr. Hell (whose son, Landshut, and in 1826 to Mu n i c h .
Kaspar Hell SJ, later became one of the most deter-
WOLFGANG BEHRINGER
mined opponents of witch hunting in the region, and
director of the Jesuit College in Amberg), the law facul- See also:BAMBERG,PRINCE-BISHOPRICOF;BAVARIA,DUCHYOF;
ty maintained its skeptical attitude and never again BAVARIANWAROFTHEWITCHES;BINSFELD,PETER;CANISIUS,ST.
conceded the illegal processus extraordinarius,as suggest-
PETER;ECCLESIASTICALTERRITORIES(HOLYROMANEMPIRE);
ed by the zealot faction. In fact, Joachim Denich’s son
EICHSTÄTT,PRINCE-BISHOPRICOF;FERDINANDII,HOLYROMAN
EMPEROR;FULDA,PRINCE-ABBEYOF;GERMANY;GREGORYOF
Dr. Kaspar Denich (1591–1660) succeeded his father
VALENCIA;GRETSER,JACOB,SJ;JESUITS(SOCIETYOFJESUS); MAX-
as the dominant member of the law faculty. Be t we e n
IMILIANI,DUKEOFBAVARIA;MEYFART(MEYFAHRT), JOHANN
1614 and 1629, both served simultaneously on the law
MATTHÄUS;NUSS,BALTHASAR;SATTLER,GOTTFRIED;TANNER,
faculty when it made some serious decisions. In 1614, ADAM;THOMASIUS,CHRISTIAN;UNIVERSITIES;WEYER,JOHANN;
the law faculty demanded capital punishment for a WILHELMV, “THEPIOUS,” DUKEOFBAVARIA;WÜRZBURG,
judge, Gottfried Sa t t l e r, who had conducted an illegal PRINCE-BISHOPRICOF.
witch hunt at Wemding; similarly in 1618 it sentenced References and further reading:
to death judge Balthasar Nuss (or Ross), the terrible Behringer,Wolfgang. 1997. Witchcraft Persecutions in Bavaria.
witch hunter of Fulda. Both became decisive pre c e- Popular Magic, Religious Zealotry and Reason of State in Early
Modern Europe.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
dents, cited afterw a rd by opponents of witch hunting
like Adam Ta n n e r, Friedrich Spee, and Jo h a n n
Matthäus Meyfart (Meyfahrt). These cases demonstrat- Innocent VIII, Pope (1432–1492)
ed that legal decisions could be erroneous, and witch Pope Innocent V I I I ’s bull on witchcraft, Su m m i s
hunting could become a crime itself. In the late 1620s, Desiderantes Affectibus (Desiring with Supreme Ardor)
the Ingolstadt law faculty tried to curb the terrible per- on December 5, 1484, supported the efforts of the
secutions in Eichstätt, and limited witchcraft trials in Dominican inquisitor Heinrich Kramer to prosecute
Ba varia, supported by the Jesuit Adam Ta n n e r, who witches in Upper (southern) Germany and contributed
shared the lawyers’ ideas. Kaspar Denich’s son Sebastian to the formation of the belief in diabolical witchcraft
Denich SJ would continue the family opposition to and a diabolical conspiracy.
witch hunting in the third generation. Born Gi ovanni Battista Cibo in Genoa, the future
Be t ween 1670 and 1760, when witch hunts no pope led a profligate and dissolute youth before study-
longer posed an immediate threat, In g o l s t a d t’s re p u t a- ing at Padua and Rome and taking holy orders. After
tion declined, and its legal decisions became of less con- entering the service of Cardinal Calandrini, he was con-
sequence. Under the Jesuit umbrella, the university was secrated bishop of Savona in 1467, exchanging his see
cut off from intellectual changes in western and nort h- to become bishop of Molfetta five years later. El e c t e d
ern Eu rope, and the legal opinions of luminaries like pope on August 29, 1484, he attempted to re s t o re
Christoph von Chlingensberg (1651–1720) or his son peace to Christendom, meanwhile promoting an
Hermann Anton von Chlingensberg (1685–1755) look abortive alliance against the Ottoman Empire and tack-
old-fashioned in comparison to Protestant unive r s i t i e s ling the papacy’s spiraling debt through the expedient
like Halle or Göttingen. Because all Protestant authors of creating and then selling ecclesiastical offic e s .
we re on the Index Li b ro rum Pro h i b i t o rum ( Index of Though politically inexperienced and frequently ill,
Prohibited Books), Catholic lawyers we re not eve n Innocent soon proved himself a fearsome enemy to
a l l owed to use older authors like Johann We ye r, let alone “ h e re s i e s” of all kinds, strongly condemning both the
such enlightened opponents of witchcraft trials as Hussites in Bohemia and Jewish conversos in Spain. He
Christian Thomasius. In order to break this Jesuit stran- also sanctioned a ferocious campaign against
glehold, courtiers founded the Ba varian Academy of Waldensian communities in southeastern France and
Sciences in 1759, and officials of the central gove r n m e n t forbade Gianfrancesco Pico della Mirandola to hold a
a voided consulting the Ingolstadt faculties, considering public debate in Rome on his “900 Theses,” which
their expertise as inferior. In 1766, enlightened politi- ranged from magic to mathematics. He found Pi c o’s
cians in Munich, some of them Protestant conve rts who ideas “offensive to pious ears” for honoring “the deceits
had studied in the Netherlands, launched the “Ba va r i a n of the Jew s” and supporting “the errors of pagan
War of the Witches,” a fie rce public debate that serve d philosophers” (Farmer 1998, 15).
to intimidate the conserva t i ve faction. Only when the One of In n o c e n t’s first actions on becoming pope was
Jesuit order was stripped of its power of censorship and to issue his witch bull. Although he apparently lacked
Innocent VIII, Pope 551 |
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first-hand experience of witchcraft trials, this pro m u l g a- See also: GOLSER,GEORG;HUSSITES;KRAMER(INSTITORIS), HEIN-
tion was directly prompted by Kramer’s appeal against RICH;MALLEUSMALEFICARUM;PAPACYANDPAPALBULLS;VAUDOIS
local opposition to his witchcraft trials in Up p e r (WALDENSIANS).
References and further reading:
Ge r m a n y. Local elites, clergy, and judicial authorities had
Brauner, Sigrid. 1995. Fearless Wives and Frightened Shrews. The
all been extremely wary—if not downright skeptical—of
Construction of the Witch in Early Modern Germany.Amherst:
the methods Kramer employed to uncover suspected
University of Massachusetts Press.
witches and to obtain confessions and convictions.
Craven, William G. 1981. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Symbol
Though Kramer had probably already honed his theories
of his Age.Geneva: Droz.
about witchcraft that would surface two years later in the Farmer, Stephen Allen, ed. 1998. Syncretism in the West: Pico’s 900
Malleus Ma l e fic a rum (The Hammer of Witches, 1486), Theses (1486). The Evolution of Traditional, Religious and
he felt the need to seek support from the new pope. Philosophical Systems.Tempe, AZ: Medieval and Renaissance
Lu c k i l y, he found a re c e p t i ve audience in Innocent V I I I , Texts and Studies.
who incorporated Kramer’s views into the main body of Kors, Alan Charles, and Edward Peters, eds. 2001. Pp. 177–180
his bull, declaring that “It has recently come to our ears in Witchcraft in Europe 400–1700: A Documentary History,2d
ed. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
. . . that in some parts of Upper Germany . . . many per-
Kramer (Institoris), Heinrich. 2004. Der Hexenhammer. Malleus
sons . . . give themselves over to demons, incubi and suc-
Maleficarum.Edited and translated by Günter Jerouschek,
c u b i” (Kors and Peters 2001, 178). Si g n i fic a n t l y,
Wolfgang Behringer, and Werner Tschacher. 4th ed. Munich:
Innocent made no distinction between the re s p e c t i ve
Deutscher Taschenbuch.
p redisposition of men and women to commit witchcraft;
Segl, Peter, ed. 1988. Der “Hexenhammer”: Entstehung und Umfall
“persons of both sexe s” chose to forsake eternal salva t i o n des “Malleus Maleficarum” von 1487.Cologne/Berlin: Böhlau.
for the joys of practicing demonic arts. Innocent bro k e
Innsbruck
little new ground with Summis De s i d e rantes Affectibus,
re i n f o rcing numerous earlier papal pro n o u n c e m e n t s Capital of the Habsburg county of Tyrol, Innsbruck
against the use of diabolical magic. Even though Sa b b a t s became the site of a particularly noteworthy trial for
we re not mentioned, the fig u re of the Devil took center witchcraft in 1485. Although part of a larger late
stage as the active instigator of witchcraft. medieval trend toward ecclesiastically inspired witch
The bull reinforced the idea that maleficia (evil acts hunts, it is exceptional because both religious and secu-
or evil doings) rather than ritual magic lay at the heart lar authorities intervened to end it. Both Archduke
of witchcraft, railing against the “incantations, charms Sigismund and Bishop Georg Golser of Brixen success-
and conjurings” that cut down “the offspring of fully drove the Dominican inquisitor Heinrich Kramer
women, the young of animals, the fruits of trees. . .and (Institoris) from Tyrol and secured the release of the
. . . hinder men from begetting and women from con- accused witches he had interrogated and tortured. In
ceiving, and pre vent all consummation of marriage” addition, events in Innsbruck had the unintended con-
( Kors and Peters 2001, 178). Mo re ove r, In n o c e n t sequence of prompting Kramer to compose his notori-
intended to strengthen Kramer’s authority and compel ous handbook for judges, the Malleus Maleficarum
local authorities to participate in his crusade against (The Hammer of Witches, 1486). Si g n i fic a n t l y,
witchcraft. Thus, Pope Innocent ord e red that inquisi- Innsbruck never again experienced a major witchcraft
tors were not to be hindered in their investigations by trial, and governmental officials continued to limit the
anyone, regardless of status or profession; he command- prosecution of witches in Tyrol and most surrounding
ed the bishop of Strasbourg, in part i c u l a r, to pro t e c t Habsburg territories.
and assist them in eve ry way possible. The seve re s t Sh o rtly after Pope Innocent VIII issued Su m m i s
penalties were to be handed down on individuals who d e s i d e rantes affectibus ( Desiring with Su p reme Ard o r ) ,
opposed, or refused to cooperate, with them; Churc h his so-called “Witch Bu l l” of 1484, attempting to
o f ficials had the right to compel secular authorities to remove juridical obstacles to the prosecution of witches,
intervene in the struggle against doctrinal heresy. Kramer arrived in the Alpine valleys of Tyrol in summer
Though Innocent VIII was a comparatively we a k 1485 to identify and to eradicate the “heretical deprav-
pope, unable to compel officials to indulge witch-hunt- ity” of which the bull speaks. His preaching produced
ing inquisitors or even pre s e rve law and order within his numerous denunciations from his audience, and he set
own patrimony, his pronouncements helped create a cli- about arresting and interrogating those accused by their
mate in which the concept of demonic witchcraft neighbors. All told, around fifty women found them-
described later in his pontificate by the Ma l l e u s selves subjected to the inquisitor’s investigations, along-
Ma l e fic a ru mmight thrive; the papal bull was often print- side at least two men. Ul t i m a t e l y, seven women we re
ed in front to early editions, serving as a kind of pre f a c e imprisoned and being formally tried when proceedings
and tacit papal approval for its often dubious assert i o n s . were halted.
The testimony of both accusers and accused revealed
JOHN CALLOW a whole world of everyday magical practices and beliefs.
552 Innsbruck |
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Most common we re chronic or acute maladies stem- ———. 1987b. “Lebensbewältigung durch Magie: Alltägliche
ming from supernatural causes: lameness, rheumatism, Zauberei zu Innsbruck gegen Ende des 15. Jahrhunderts.” Pp.
gout, arthritis, blindness, headaches, female barrenness, 80–116 in Alltag im 16. Jahrhundert: Studien zu Lebensformen
in mitteleuropäischen Städten.Edited by Alfred Kohler and
and male impotence. Charges of murder through magi-
Heinrich Lutz. Vienna: Verlag für Geschichte und Politik.
cal means were also made in the course of the interroga-
Evans, R.J.W. 1979. The Making of the Habsburg Monarchy,
tions. Research has uncovered a host of local animosi-
1550–1700. Oxford: Clarendon.
ties that led to denunciations (Dienst 1987b). En v y,
rivalry, and public quarrels between armorers and bow-
men, settled residents and newcomers, as well as Inquisition, Medieval
younger and older women apparently provoked the for- Inquisition, in a general sense, means a certain form of
mation of suspicions. Largely absent from accounts juridical procedure; in a more specialized sense, it des-
generated by these cases (and from Kramer’s Ma l l e u s) ignates the method used by the medieval and early
we re details normally associated with diabolical forms modern Catholic Church for the discovery and prose-
of magic, such as the witches’ Sabbat. cution of heretics and others guilty of criminal sins.
As Kramer’s proceedings we re accelerating, Bi s h o p
Golser took steps to suppress them. He insisted on the Origins
i n vo l vement of a secular magistrate and appointed one of In both ancient Roman and Germanic procedural law,
his priests to serve as an ecclesiastical commissioner, work- a charge preferred by the injured party was the normal
ing to undermine Kramer. The secular magistrate dis- way of instituting an action before a court, a procedure
missed the charges against all seven women being held, generally termed accusatorial, because magistrates
and soon Kramer himself was charged with abuse of offic e usually did not initiate trials. With the intensified
and commanded to leave Ty rol by Archduke Si g i s m u n d . control that the late Roman emperors exerted over their
In i t i a l l y, Kramer did not want to acknowledge the ord e r, subjects, a new form of initiating a lawsuit in certain
finding it an affront to his authority; but when the hus- kinds of cases came into use: the inquisitorial
bands of the women accused of witchcraft threatened to p ro c e d u re. In this pro c e d u re, without any formal
s e i ze him, he thought better and left the territory. accusation being made, the authorities began to inquire
In subsequent years, although many of the surround- whether a crime had been committed. The search for
ing territories of southwestern Germany (including evidence undertaken by officials both in criminal and
some ruled by the Habsburgs) became major centers of in civil cases was called i n q u i s i t i o. In criminal cases,
witch hunting, Innsbruck remained immune from fur- and in the case of testimony from slaves, the magistrates
ther witch panics. Trials involving simple charges of sor- also had recourse to torture to obtain information and
cery occurred in 1540, 1602, and 1629, while charges confessions.
of diabolical alchemy were brought against another sus- When Christianity became the official religion of the
pect in 1650. And although at least seventy-two trials Roman state around 380, the inquisitio-procedure was
occurred in Tyrol during the sixteenth and seventeenth also used in the criminal prosecution of some
centuries, they too remained limited in size and intensi- n o n-Christian and Christian hetero d ox citizens. Wi t h
ty (Dienst 1987a, 286–288). In fact, the government in the fall of the empire and the foundation of new
In n s b ruck normally tried to limit the prosecution of Germanic successor kingdoms in the fifth and sixth
witches in areas over which it had jurisdiction, as it did centuries, however, these late imperial practices general-
in the seventeenth century when it repeatedly sup- ly fell into disuse throughout Europe. Within the clergy
pressed cases originating in Prättigau. of the Catholic Church, however, the inquisitio proce-
dure survived, although for a long time it was of little
EDMUND M. KERN i m p o rtance. Charlemagne (ruled 768–814) tried to
See also:AUSTRIA;GERMANY,SOUTHWESTERN;GOLSER,GEORG; introduce official inquisition anew into secular jurisdic-
INNOCENTVIII,POPE;KRAMER(INSTITORIS), HEINRICH;MALLEUS tion by ordering his emissaries, the missi dominici, t o
MALEFICARUM;TYROL,COUNTYOF. inquire diligently into the administration of the counts
References and further reading: and other dignitaries, and to use the inquisitorial
Benedikter, Hans. 2000. Hexen und Zauberer in Tirol.Bolzano: p rocess known as the R ü g e ve rf a h re n (censuring pro c e-
Verlagsanstalt Athesia. dure) in certain kinds of serious cases, but these institu-
Byloff, Fritz. 1934. Hexenglaube und Hexenverfolgung in den öster-
tions did not survive the ninth century.
reichischen Alpenländern. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
In the sphere of religion, the early medieval hierarchy
Dienst, Heide. 1987a. “Hexenprozesse auf dem Gebiet der heuti-
had no need to develop special proceedings against
gen Bundesländer Vorarlberg, Tirol (mit Südtirol), Salzburg,
h e retics, since there we re only rare cases of deviance
Nieder- und Oberösterreich sowie des Burgenlandes.” Pp.
from the normative faith, which involved only individ-
265–290 in Hexen und Zauberer: Die grosse Verfolgung—ein
europäisches Phänomen in der Steiermark.Edited by Helfried ual persons, usually intellectuals without a popular
Valentinitsch. Graz: Leykam. following.
Inquisition, Medieval 553 |
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Central and Late Middle Ages used against both the accused and the witnesses, the
The first sects that appeared in western Europe during witch hunts would probably have remained an
the eleventh century remained restricted to a regional i n s i g n i ficant episode in the history of the later Mi d d l e
level and therefore failed to evoke significant reactions Ages and the early modern period, because a tiny num-
in ecclesiastical law. The situation changed in the fol- ber of persons would have confessed to diabolical
lowing century, when Cathars and Waldensians alienat- witchcraft. The fact that practically none of the
ed a quite considerable part of the population of Knights Templar confessed to any occult beliefs or rites
France, It a l y, and the Rhine provinces from the when questioned without force, while nearly all of
Catholic Church. Local ecclesiastical councils pre- them confessed to the most absurd blasphemies and
scribed more severe punishments, including excommu- misdeeds when subjected to tort u re, offers suffic i e n t
nication, mutilation, imprisonment, and the withdraw- p roof of the power of tort u re .
al of civil rights. The general councils, especially Although inquisitors we re assigned to specific
Lateran III and IV (1179, 1215), described and con- localities and initially did not exchange information
demned heretical beliefs and practices. Several popes with each other, there existed, nonetheless, a cert a i n
issued detailed bulls about the new heterodoxy, such as uniformity to their practices, insofar as the inquisi-
Lucius III in 1184 with the decretalAd abolendam(For tors acted on the basis of similar papal directions and
the Purpose of Doing Away With), ordering the clergy we re nearly all members of the Dominican or (less
to identify heresies and lay judges to punish them. The f requently) Franciscan orders. Ne ve rtheless, besides
papacy, whose religious authority had grown continual- the papally appointed or delegated inquisitors, bish-
ly since the Investiture Controversy of the late eleventh ops continued to exe rcise this function. The famous
and early twelfth centuries, soon tended to doubt the trial of the Dominican mystic Meister Ec k h a rt (d. ca.
vigilance of the local episcopal inquisitions and to sub- 1328), for example, was initiated by the arc h b i s h o p
stitute its own centralizing power in their place. In the of Cologne and then transferred to the papal curia at
late twelfth century, Pope Innocent III (ru l e d Av i g n o n .
1198–1216) explicitly urged the use of the inquisitori- To understand that the regular use of the inquisitori-
al process as a means of disciplining members of the al process from the second half of the thirteenth centu-
clergy by directly submitting them to his ex officio ry onward constituted an innovation, it is wort h w h i l e
jurisdiction. In the Church’s fight against the heretical to compare it with the synodal court (Ge r m a n
sects, Innocent was the first pope to combine heresy Se n d g e r i c h t), an institution established in the time of
with the doctrine of laesa maiestatis (lese majesty) in Charlemagne. The synodal court was held by the bish-
Roman law; that is, he argued that the heretics com- op or his vicar in each parish on regular terms; sworn
mitted high treason against God. Given that this crime parishioners (synodal witnesses), whose obligation it
was capital in secular law, the same retribution also had was to spy on the members of the congregation, we re
to be used against unrepentant heretics. In 1207, expected to denounce all violations of the Churc h’s
Innocent decided that the goods of a convicted heretic norms. Howe ve r, they we re concerned with external
should be sold: one part going to the accuser, another infringements only; there was no question of their dis-
to the court, and a third to be invested in building pris- covering or controlling individual religious beliefs. But
ons. Gregory IX (ruled 1227–1241) inserted anti- the aim of the inquisitorial pro c e d u re was precisely to
heretical measures firmly into canon law and created uncover and prosecute such beliefs. For this, the confes-
the office of inquisitor of heretical depravity. He sion of the accused was necessary, and it could now be
assigned Dominican friars to act as inquisitors by papal obtained by tort u re. The older possibility of purging
authority as judges subdelegate, a regulation that oneself through the oaths of oath helpers (compurga-
formed the central structure of “the Inquisition” until tion) or an ordeal was eliminated. The older punish-
its abolition. After Gregory, the inquisitorial method of ments had consisted of various forms of conve n t i o n a l
dealing with heretics became a standard feature of ecclesiastical penance, and the secular powers had no
canon law. From the thirteenth through the eighteenth p a rt in the pro c e d u re. Now, many convicts re c e i ved a
centuries, jurists produced a large body of normative death sentence, to be executed by the secular authori-
texts on inquisitorial procedure. ties, or the secular “arm” of ecclesiastical discipline.
The other legal prescription that influenced the
future development most deeply was Innocent IV’s bull Procedure
Ad extirpandam (to Exterpate, 1252), which permit- The common procedure of the Inquisition followed
ted inquisitors to use tort u re without incurring irre g u- established rules, codified in manuals. When the
l a r i t y. W h e reas tort u re had hitherto been exc l u d e d inquisitor arrived at his destination and began his work,
f rom Church law, now it was declared a legal instru- he delivered a sermon and proclaimed a “period of
ment for the detection of heretics. Without the intro- grace” of two to four weeks so that people under suspi-
duction of tort u re in the inquisitorial process, when cion might have an opportunity to confess voluntarily,
554 Inquisition, Medieval |
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and so receive only light penances. The period of grace period. Specifically for witchcraft, the same is true of
also allowed private denunciations of suspected Heinrich Kramer’s Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer
heretics. After the period of grace expired, those sus- of Witches, 1486). Among the historiographical
pected of heresy were cited, taken prisoner, and ques- sources, one chronicle merits special mention, because
tioned; if the inquisitor thought their answers to be it was written by a member of that organization, that is,
insufficient, torture was applied. From 1264 onward, the diary-like notices of the Dominican Wi l l i a m
the inquisitors were at least present in the torture cham- Pelhisson (Pelisso) on the actions of the inquisitors in
ber, although they usually did not apply torture them- Toulouse from about 1220 to 1240.
selves. Innocent III had greatly restricted the ability of
PETER DINZELBACHER
lawyers to defend heretics, so the accused did not dis-
pose of the help of a skilled defender.Those accused of See also:ACCUSATORIALPROCEDURE;COURTS,ECCLESIASTICAL;
heresy were not told the names of the witnesses for the COURTS,INQUISITORIAL;DOMINICANORDER;EYMERIC,NICOLAS;
prosecution because inquisitors learned from experi- GREGORYIX,POPE;GUI,BERNARD;HERESY;INQUISITORIALPRO-
ence that relatives of the accused might attack them. CEDURE;MALLEUSMALEFICARUM;ORDEAL;ORIGINSOFTHE
Upon conviction by the inquisitorial tribunal, sen- WITCHHUNTS;TEMPLARS;TORTURE;VAUDOIS(WALDENSIANS).
References and further reading:
tences for heretics varied, because there were many pos-
Arnold, John H. 2001. Inquisition and Power: Catharism and the
sibilities: fines, flagellation, the wearing of badges,
Confessing Subject in Medieval Languedoc.Philadelphia:
penitential pilgrimages, loss of possessions, temporary
University of Pennsylvania Press.
or lifelong imprisonment, and, at worst, delivery to the
Audisio, Gabriel. 1999. The Waldensian Dissent: Persecution and
secular arm, which meant burning at the stake. The
Survival, c. 1170–c. 1570.Cambridge and NewYork:
condemned’s possessions were divided among the holy Cambridge University Press.
office, the pope, and the secular authorities who had Bernard Gui et son monde(Cahiers de Fanjeaux 16). 1981.
lent their help (which, however, was secured by the Toulouse: Privat.
menace of excommunication). Brambilla, Elena. 2000. Alle origini del Sant’Uffizio: Penitenza, con-
fessione e giustizia spirituale dal medioevo al XVI secolo.Bologna:
Sources Il Mulino.
Friedlander, Alan. 2000. The Hammer of Inquisitors: Brother
Given that all trials were held in strict secrecy, and all
Bernard Délicieux and the Struggle Against the Inquisition in
relevant documents kept under lock and key, what are
Fourteenth-Century France.Leiden-Boston-Cologne: Brill.
the historian’s sources? Although the inquisitors made
Given, James B. 1997.Inquisition and Medieval Society: Power,
and kept far more extensive records than other tri-
Discipline, and Resistance in Languedoc.Ithaca, NY: Cornell
bunals, sometimes the relevant documents, especially
University Press.
trial records, have been destroyed. For example, docu- Kelly, Henry Ansgar. 2001. Inquisitions and Other Trial Procedures
ments were destroyed in 1559 by the Roman mob after in the Medieval West.Aldershot and Burlington, VT: Ashgate.
the death of Pope Paul IV, and again after Napoleon’s Kieckhefer, Richard. 1979. The Repression of Heresy in Medieval
reign, when the thousands of trial records he had taken Germany.Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
to Paris were sold in fragments. Nevertheless, many ———. 1995. “The Office of Inquisition and Medieval Heresy.”
inquisitorial documents have been preserved in secular The Journal of Ecclesiastical History46: 36–61.
Lambert, Malcolm. 1992. Medieval Heresy: Popular Movements
and ecclesiastical archives (like those of the episcopal
from the Gregorian Reform to the Reformation.Oxford:
inquisition in the village of Montaillou, from the first
Blackwell.
q u a rter of the fourteenth century) or the va s t
Lea, Henry Charles. 1887–1888. A History of the Inquisition in the
Collection Doat in Paris. Apart from archival sources,
Middle Ages.3 vols. NewYork: Harper.
inquisitorial handbooks, written by and for inquisitors,
Maisonneuve, Henri. 1960. Études sur les origines de l’Inquisition.
gave a detailed and complete picture of the operating Paris: Vrin.
procedures and the self-interpretation of the papal Pegg, Mark Gregory. 2001. The Corruption of Angels: The Great
inquisition. The best known are the Pra c t i c a Inquisition of 1245–1246.Princeton: Princeton University
Inquisitionis haereticae pravitatis (The Practice of the Press.
Inquisition of He retical De p r a v i t y, ca. 1324) by Peters, Edward. 1988. Inquisition.NewYork: The Free Press.
Bernard Gui, inquisitor at Toulouse from 1306 to Schreiner, Klaus. 1990. “‘Duldsamkeit’ (tolerantia) oder
‘Schrecken’ (terror).” Pp. 159–210 in Religiöse Devianz.
1324, containing three parts on the procedure, one on
Untersuchungen zu sozialen, rechtlichen und theologischen
the power of the Inquisition, and one on the history
Reaktionen auf religiöse Abweichung im westlichen und östlichen
and types of heresy. In 1376, Nicolau Eymeric, inquisi-
Mittelalter.Edited by Dieter Simon. Frankfurt: Vittorio
tor general of the Crown of Aragon, wrote a
Klostermann.
Directorium Inquisitorum (Directory of Inquisitors),
Segl, Peter, ed. 1993.Die Anfänge der Inquisition im Mittelalter.
discussing Catholic belief, the nature and variety of Cologne: Böhlau.
heresies, and inquisitorial procedure. Eymeric’s work Simon, Dieter, ed. 1990. Religiöse Devianz. Untersuchungen zu
was the standard manual long into the early modern sozialen, rechtlichen und theologischen Reaktionen auf religiöse
Inquisition, Medieval 555 |
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Abweichung im westlichen und östlichen Mittelalter.Frankfurt: It took three decades to draw the template that, with
Vittorio Klostermann. f ew adjustments, characterized this institution until its
Trusen, Winfried. 1988. “Der Inquisitions-Prozess.” Zeitschrift der extinction. By the 1560s, it had settled into four tri-
Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte/Kanonistische Abteilung74:
bunals: Lisbon, created 1548; Évora, also 1548; Go a ,
168–230.
the capital of Po rtuguese Asia, created 1560; and
Wakefield, Walter L. 1974. Heresy, Crusade, and Inquisition in
Coimbra, begun in 1565. It evo l ved mechanisms to
Southern France, 1100–1250.Berkeley and Los Angeles:
i m p rove its surveillance techniques: regular inquisitorial
University of California Press.
visits intensified in the last quarter of the sixteenth cen-
t u ry (but practically disappeared after 1637); a local net-
Inquisition, Portuguese
w o rk of Holy Of fice commissioners and f a m i l i a re s ( l a y
Created much later than the Spanish, the Po rt u g u e s e o f ficials of the Inquisition) was created in the sixteenth
Inquisition was preoccupied throughout its long exis- c e n t u ry, achieving gigantic pro p o rtions in the early eigh-
tence with problems of “Ju d a i z i n g” among the large teenth century. In 1547, its first Index of Pro h i b i t e d
community of “New Christians” (descendants of Jew s Books was published, enlarging the Roman In d e x .Ot h e r
c o n ve rted through a process forced on them in 1497); mechanisms included visits to seaports (initiated in
c o n s e q u e n t l y, it paid re l a t i vely little attention to crimes 1550), visits to bookshops on orders from the Ge n e r a l
of witchcraft, folk healing, or other illicit forms of magic. Council; and pre l i m i n a ry censorship of all printed texts,
The establishment of a Portuguese Holy Office was a which could be distributed only after examination and
lengthy process, which encountered much re s i s t a n c e licensing by Holy Of fice q u a l i fic a d o res (censors). It com-
f rom the Holy See from the moment King Manuel I piled sets of its internal regulations, or Re g i m e n t o s , i n
took the first steps in 1515 to resolve Portugal’s sizable 1541, 1552, 1570, 1613, 1640, and 1774.
“New Christian” problem by acquiring the same privi- In addition, the Inquisition used its own rituals wise-
leges that his neighboring “Catholic kings” had pos- ly, of which the autos-da-fé or acts of faith were the most
sessed since 1478. Howe ve r, the Crow n’s intentions dramatic. The first was performed at Lisbon in 1540,
we re obtained only under King João III, exe rting all and the last public act at Coimbra, in 1781. T h e s e
kinds of pressure on the Holy See, in an environment s e l f-legitimating rituals affirmed the institution’s mis-
filled with bribery by both royal and “New - C h r i s t i a n” sion, promoted its power, and disseminated an image of
agents in Rome, against a background of we a k e n i n g Catholic triumph and terror.The political implications
papal power due to the Protestant Reformation, the of the In q u i s i t i o n’s actions, more acute in the period
1527 sack of Rome, and the Tu rkish conquest of after the restoration of Po rtuguese independence fro m
Hungary in 1526. Spain in 1640, should not go unmentioned, although
In 1536, the Inquisition was definitively instituted in they require more solidly founded studies.
Portugal by Paul III’s bull Cum ad nihil magis.Yet it was The rhythms of inquisitorial prosecution we re not
not until a further bull of 1547, Meditatio cord i s homogeneous. Fo l l owing a fairly mild beginning, which
(Mediation of the Heart), that the main legal features of lasted until 1605, at an average of 46 cases/ye a r, until
the Po rtuguese Holy Of fice we re finally established. It 1674, when the pope suspended the Inquisition, the sev-
was a court that was simultaneously ecclesiastical (dele- enteenth century marked a period of maximum re p re s-
gated by the pope, it had jurisdiction over crimes sion at 78 cases/ye a r. When it was reinstated in 1681, it
against the Christian faith, and its judges were clerics) s h owed clear signs of decline, which intensified signifi-
and royal (the king appointed the Grand In q u i s i t o r, cantly after 1750, and its annual case average dropped to
who was invested by the pope). The Grand In q u i s i t o r t wenty-six. It is estimated that overall, about 5 percent of
c o n t rolled the election of the In q u i s i t i o n’s Ge n e r a l its ve rdicts called for burning at the stake; the usual sen-
Council members, oversaw its activities, and physically tences we re imprisonment and banishment, sometimes
e xecuted its capital sentences. This institution prove d re i n f o rced by physical punishment (whippings and the
to be extraordinarily durable: for almost three centuries, galleys) and defamation (e.g., wearing special penitential
except from 1774 until its final extinction on April 5, clothes such as the hábito penitencial) .
1821, it used this dual dependence on the pope and the
king wisely to consolidate its power and maintain its “New Christians” and Witches
a u t o n o m y. The Holy Of fice eventually became one of A simple analysis of the Inquisition’s 44,000 prosecu-
the most powerful bureaucratic and judicial institutions tions clearly shows that, excepting Goa, its targets were
of Po rtugal. Its second grand inquisitor (1539), Do m overwhelmingly “New Christians” accused of secretly
Henrique, the king’s brother and archbishop of Br a g a practicing Judaism. In Portugal, Protestant heresy was
(later cardinal, papal legate, archbishop of both Evo r a i n s i g n i ficant; a few foreigners we re prosecuted at
and Lisbon, and even king), played a leading role in the Lisbon or Goa. Although Portuguese history lacks
strategy of independence and centralization that char- detailed statistical analyses, it appears that around 78
acterized Portugal’s Holy Office. percent of those sentenced by the three mainland
556 Inquisition, Portuguese |
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tribunals (Lisbon, Coimbra, and Evora) were accused of Gustav Henningsen and John Tedeschi. DeKalb: Northern
“Judaizing.” For example, among Coimbra’s 10,374 Illinois University Press.
cases, Judaism accounted for 83.4 percent. Witchcraft Bethencourt, Francisco. 1987. O Imaginário da magia: feiticeiras,
saludadores e nigromantes no século. XVI.Lisbon: Projecto
and sorcery ranked third at 3.1 percent, behind “actions
Universidade Aberta.
impeding the Inquisition’s proper functioning” (4.5
———. 1990. “Portugal: A Scrupulous Inquisition.” Pp. 403–422
percent), but ahead of such offenses as heretical blas-
in Early Modern European Witchcraft:Centres and Peripheries.
phemy (2.7 percent), bigamy (1.9 percent), or sodomy
Edited by Bengt Ankarloo and Gustav Henningsen. Oxford:
(0.4 percent).
Clarendon.
Prosecutions for witchcraft and illicit magic va r i e d ———. 1995. L’Inquisition à l’époque moderne: Espagne, Portugal,
throughout the Portuguese Inquisition over time; in the Italie, XVe–XIXe siècle.Paris: Fayard. [Revised Portuguese ed.,
sixteenth century, for example, Coimbra had many 2000.]
f ewer such cases than either Évora or Lisbon. Fi g u re s Braga, Paulo Drumond. 1997. A Inquisição nos Açores.Ponta
for Goa remain unknown and unknowable; but for Delgada: Instituto Cultural de Ponta Delgada.
mainland Po rtugal between 1600 and 1774, we know Coelho, António Borges. 1987. Inquisição de Évora. Dos primórdios
a 1668.Lisbon: Caminho.
of 818 such cases, again just above 3 percent of the
Magalhães, Joaquim Romero. 1981. “E assim se abriu judaismo no
overall totals (Coimbra 361, Lisbon 264, Évora 193).
Algarve.” Revista da Universidade de CoimbraXXIX: 1–74.
Of these, no fewer than 690 of the original trial records
Mea, Elvira Cunha Azevedo. 1997. A Inquisição de Coimbra no
remain (284 from Coimbra, 240 from Lisbon, and 166
século XVI. A instituição, os homens e a sociedade.Porto:
from Évora). Analysis of these 690 actual trials showed
Fundação António de Almeida.
that 36 percent of these defendants we re folk healers Paiva, José Pedro. 1997. Bruxaria e superstição num país sem “caça
using superstitious practices, 29 percent were feiticeiros ás bruxas.”Lisbon: Notícias.
(sorcerers) usually charged with some kind of malefici- Saraiva, António José. 1969. Inquisição e cristão-novos.Lisbon:
um (harmful magic), 18 percent were both folk healers Inova.
and feiticeiros,8 percent used spells to keep from being Tailland, Michele Janin-Thivos. 2001. Inquisition et societé au
wounded, 5 percent we re charged with making a pact Portugal. Le cas du tribunal d’Évora 1660–1821.Paris:
Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.
with the Devil, and 4 percent were healers or feiticeiros
also charged with some other crime, for example, blas-
phemy or abuse of Church rituals. Inquisition, Roman
These 818 cases (908, including the small The Roman Inquisition usually refers to the organiza-
s i x t e e n t h-c e n t u ry totals) re p resent only the tip of the tion created by Pope Paul III with the bull Licet ab ini-
iceberg of denunciations for various kinds of illicit magic tio(It Is Allowed from the Beginning) of July 21, 1542.
made to Po rt u g a l’s Holy Of fice. Again taking Coimbra as Governed by a board of cardinals, it eventually includ-
an example, its 361 cases resulted from no fewer than ed forty-six provincial inquisitorial tribunals, run by
6,190 denunciations re c o rded in the notebooks of the Dominican or sometimes Franciscan inquisitors, and
t r i b u n a l’s prosecutors (Ca d e rnos do Pro m o t o r) for the located in Italy’s most important cities and, in a few
period 1611–1757—almost twenty denunciations for cases (e.g.,Malta), in foreign countries.
e ve ry arrest. Denunciations—but not trials—incre a s e d When Sixtus V re o r g a n i zed the Roman curia in 1588,
sharply after 1690, peaking in the 1740s. the Inquisition board became the C o n g regatio Sa n c t a e
Like other Mediterranean inquisitions, Po rt u g a l’s Inquisitionis Ha e reticae Pravitatis o r, for short, the
Holy Office did not punish its “witches” very rigorous- C o n g regatio Sancti Of fic i i ( C o n g regation of the Ho l y
ly, although most of them were exhibited at autos da fé. Of fice; hereafter “[Roman] Congre g a t i o n”). It operated
The vast majority were banished or exiled. Exactly four as an independent court and as a surveying board ove r-
were condemned to death, but twenty-seven more died seeing provincial tribunals through a massive corre s p o n-
in prison before their trials were concluded. Overall, in dence. Presided over by the pope, it varied from six to
comparison with the other major Mediterranean inqui- fifteen cardinals (inquisitors general—inquisitori gener-
sitions, Po rtugal paid much less attention to witch- a l i) plus various advisors (experts in theology and canon
craft—proportionately only half as much as Spain after law), notaries, and warders. After the unification of It a l y
1600, and vastly less than the Roman Inquisition. (1861), the Roman Inquisition no longer held jurisdic-
tional powe r. In 1908 the Congregation was thoro u g h l y
JOSÉ PEDRO PAIVA reshaped, and in 1965 changed its name to C o n g re g a t i o n
for the Doctrine of Fa i t h .
See also:COURTS,INQUISITORIAL;INQUISITION,ROMAN;INQUISI-
Most provincial tribunals we re operating before the
TION,SPANISH;INQUISITORIALPROCEDURE;PORTUGAL.
establishment of the Roman Congregation, which
References and further reading:
p a rtly was superimposed on a medieval stru c t u re .
Amiel, Charles. 1986. “The Archives of the Portuguese
Inquisition: A Brief Survey.” Pp. 79–99 in The Inquisition in Fo l l owing is a list of provincial tribunals (those outside
Early Modern Europe: Studies on Sources and Method.Edited by Rome), grouped according to states (Del Col 2002,
Inquisition, Roman 557 |
Wicca | Richard M.Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Western Tradition | 595 | 46049 Golden Chap.i av First Pages 08/25/2005 p.558 Application File
350–351), with the date of their creation (for those devils and the abuse of sacraments and sacramentals),
established after 1542) in brackets, and with capital canon law gave inquisitors jurisdiction over maleficium
cities in bold: (harmful magic) and “superstitions” generally. Worse,
when witches admitted adoring the Devil, they became
Duchy of Savoy: Asti, Mondovi, Saluzzo, Turin, guilty of apostasy—a more serious crime than here s y.
Vercelli; In the early sixteenth century, many Italian inquisitori-
State of Milan:Alessandria, Como, Cremona, al tribunals started murderous witch hunts, as hap-
Milan,Novara, Pavia, Tortona; pened in Valcamonica in 1518 and at Mirandola
Republic of Venice:Aquileia, Belluno, Bergamo, between 1522 and 1525. Pope Paul III established the
Brescia, Capodistria (for Istria), Ceneda, Crema Roman Inquisition mainly to check the spread of the
(1614), Padua, Rovigo, Treviso, Venice,Verona, Protestant Reformation in Italian cities. Therefore, in
Vicenza, Zara (for Dalmatia); its first decades, the Roman Congregation discussed
Republic of Genoa:Genoa; very few cases of witchcraft: exactly five are known from
Duchy of Mantua:Casale Monferrato, Mantua; 1542 to 1559. Shaping any clear policy toward witch-
Duchy of Modena:Modena(1599), Reggio Emilia craft was delayed by the Roman Congregation’s lack of
(1599); interest. On May 11, 1559, when Pope Paul IV autho-
Duchy of Parma:Parma(1588), Piacenza; rized the execution of four witches tried by the bishop
Grand Duchy of Tuscany:Florence,Pisa, Siena; of Bologna, he declared that he was ignoring the law
Papal States:Ancona, Avignon, Bologna, Faenza, that spared the life of a first-time offender, if the person
Fermo (1631), Ferrara, Gubbio (1632), Perugia, repented, because of the extreme gravity of these
Rimini, Spoleto (1685); witches’crimes.
Kingdom of Naples:Naples. The Roman In q u i s i t i o n’s attitudes tow a rd the va s t
field of magic and superstition, together with witch-
A few tribunals operated outside Italy (besides craft, changed abruptly in the last decades of the six-
Avignon): Cologne for the Holy Roman Em p i re ; teenth century, after the final defeat of the Pro t e s t a n t
C a rcassonne and Toulouse for France; Besançon for Reformation in Italy; henceforth, these became by far
Franche Comté; and Malta for the island of Ma l t a the crimes the Roman Inquisition most often inve s t i-
(established in 1574) (Del Col 2002). gated. The Roman Inquisition, born as a special court,
An inquisitor, nearly always a member of the n ow became a more ord i n a ry means of control ove r
Dominican ord e r, presided over these courts; only the religious life throughout the Italian states.
inquisitors of Tuscany and, part l y, of the Ve n e t i a n This change necessitated a definite policy tow a rd
Republic, belonged to the Franciscan order. At first, the witchcraft. It remains unclear how far, if at all, the
generals of their orders appointed the inquisitors, but, Roman Inquisition copied the guidelines established
since the end of the sixteenth century, the Ro m a n long before (1526) by the Spanish Inquisition; cert a i n-
C o n g regation appointed them. In some cases, such as l y, they we re extremely similar. Sp e c i fic a l l y, by 1588
the Republic of Lucca and the Kingdom of Na p l e s , the Roman authorities urged their provincial tribunals
bishops presided over the courts (but in the city of to ignore denunciations of “a c c o m p l i c e s” by witches
Naples, besides the episcopal court, there was also an who had confessed to participating in the witches’
inquisitor with jurisdiction over the entire state). Sabbat. These guidelines pre vented witch hunts at a
In addition to the main tribunals, there we re also time when massive persecutions occurred in other
some vicariates, that is, tribunals presided over by an Eu ropean regions, but they did not deny the theore t i-
inquisitorial vicar under the authority of an inquisitor; cal reality of the Sabbat, as one might expect. In s t e a d ,
for instance, before 1599, Modena was a vicariate those indicted for witchcraft we re treated according to
under the authority of the inquisitor of Ferrara. Si n c e the regulations for heresy trials, which permitted
the beginning of the seventeenth century, moreover, the repentant defendants to avoid the death penalty, at
so-called “vicariati foranei” (lower country court s ) least after their first conviction. The witchcraft trials
spread all over the various Italian States as a branch of begun or supported by the card i n a l - a rchbishop of
city courts. Milan, St. Carlo Borromeo, mainly in 1583 in Va l
Mesolcina (where ten women suffered at the stake),
The Roman Inquisition and largely bypassed the Roman Congregation because of
Witchcraft B o r ro m e o’s exceptional role and prestige. Howe ve r,
Inquisitorial jurisdiction, covering anything defined as inquisitors undertaking similar persecutions we re
“heresy” by canon law or theology, also included witch- immediately forbidden to proceed by the Ro m a n
craft. Because such offenses aroused suspicions of C o n g regation, which in some cases even punished
heresy (usually because they involved the invocation of overly zealous judges, including the archbishop and
558 Inquisition, Roman |
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a rchdeacon of Bitonto in 1596. T h e re f o re, as far as the Roman Holy Office.
re p ression of witchcraft was concerned, since the late Do c u m e n t a ry evidence re veals that the tribunals of
sixteenth century, the Congregation of the Ro m a n the Roman Inquisition by and large spared witches’
Inquisition clearly pre f e r red persuasion, often thro u g h lives and preferred to punish them by abjuration, flog-
the intervention of confessors, to re p re s s i o n . ging, or exile. The Holy Office was more lenient than at
Moreover, the Roman Inquisition’s moderate policies least one of the popes who headed it: Gregory XV’s bull
about witchcraft now received official form in a famous Omnipotentis De i ( Omnipotent God, 1623) imposed
document, the In s t ructio pro formandis processibus in the death sentence even on a repentant first offender, if
causis strigum, sortilegiorum et maleficiorum(Instruction convicted of committing a maleficiumthat resulted in a
for Conducting Trial Pro c e d u res Against Wi t c h e s , fatal injury; but his decree was never applied, probably
Sorcerers, and Evildoers). We do not know exactly who because the inquisitors general opposed it.
d rew up this document, or when; either its first draft In the eighteenth century, the Roman In q u i s i t i o n
dates from the ve ry late-sixteenth century and its seemed to be rapidly decaying. Its judicial business
author was Giulio Monterenzi, the chief prosecutor (fis- d e c reased; charges and punishments seemed to invo l ve
cal) of the Holy Office (Decker 2001), or it might have second-rate crimes such as blasphemy, sexual solicitation
been assembled by the cardinal inquisitor De s i d e r i o in the confessional (the so-called sollicitatio ad turpia),
Scaglia, around 1620 (Tedeschi 1991, 205–227). We and “superstition,” which became less and less diabolical
know that the Roman Congregation began sending its and more human. Mo re ove r, many books on exo rc i s m
In s t ru c t i o to provincial inquisitors in the first two we re put on the Index of Prohibited Books, among them
decades of the seventeenth century. the work of Gi rolamo Menghi, a famous Franciscan friar
The Roman In q u i s i t i o n’s In s t ru c t i o e m p h a s i zed two who had strongly supported witch hunting in the late
guidelines: the first gave formal approval to its policy sixteenth century. Roman authorities began suspecting
f rom the late sixteenth century, stating that persons that much diabolic possession and consequent indict-
could not be prosecuted for participating in the Sabbat; ments for witchcraft resulted from mental and physical
moreover, inquisitors were forbidden to convict a pris- diseases instead of some diabolical spell.
oner by finding evidence of the De v i l’s mark or by a All this was happening in an Italian and Eu ro p e a n
d e f e n d a n t’s not shedding tears under tort u re. T h e e n v i ronment in which Enlightenment culture was
Instructio’s second rule introduced some new principles s p reading with all its radical opposition to witchcraft,
on the question of m a l e fic i u m , h i t h e rto neglected, magic, and diabolic phenomena. At the end of this
p robably because lay courts had claimed jurisdiction p rocess, the Roman Inquisition, with its judicial cau-
over it. The Roman Inquisition now claimed jurisdic- tion, still upholding the theoretical grounds of the
tion over m a l e ficium and stipulated (1) no suspect belief in witchcraft (still partly pre s e rved in Catholic
could be arrested unless material evidence of a crime c u l t u re today), found itself most unfashionable.
could be found; (2) the judge must consult a physician Un s u r p r i s i n g l y, it attempted to struggle against
to identify exactly the cause of an illness, whether nat- “ En l i g h t e n e d” philosophy and science rather than
ural or diabolic; and (3) inquisitors we re forbidden to against the witches; but even in Italy it lost this battle
p rosecute suspects on testimony from exo rcists, ove r l y and could not prevent the diffusion of new ideas. The
inclined to see the works of the Devil and his allies provincial tribunals of the Roman Inquisition, by now
everywhere. obsolete and useless, were dismantled around mid-cen-
Although the Instructio enables us to know the atti- tury, mainly to satisfy the desire of the Italian states: at
tude of the Roman Inquisition tow a rd witchcraft, its Naples (1746), Parma (between 1765 and 1768),
wider significance, and, especially, its actual impact, Tuscany (1782), or Modena (1785); in the Papal States;
remain unresolved, for several reasons. First, the rules of most of them we re probably suppressed during the
the Instructio,like the legal practices from which it orig- Napoleonic conquest. However, some courts, for exam-
inated, did not disturb the theoretical ground on which ple, Bologna, continued until the mid-nineteenth
belief in witchcraft rested. Second, its ve ry existence century, on the eve of Italian unification.
suggests that provincial inquisitors committed frequent
GUIDO DALL’OLIO;
abuses while investigating witchcraft. Last, the Roman
C o n g regation diffused the document only in manu- TRANSLATED BY CARLO DALL’OLIO
script form among the bishops or inquisitors under its
See also: BENANDANTI;BORROMEO,ST.CARLO;COURTS,ECCLESIAS-
jurisdiction, until 1657, when a printed edition was
TICAL;COURTS,INQUISITORIAL;DOMINCANORDER;ECCLESIASTI-
published, and it took no official action against those
CALTERRITORIES(HOLYROMANEMPIRE); ENLIGHTENMENT;EPIS-
judges who committed abuses outside its jurisdiction.
COPALJUSTICE;HERESY;INQUISITION,MEDIEVAL;INQUISITION,
Sometimes Italian courts continued sentencing witches SPANISH;INQUISITION,VENETIAN;INQUISITORIALPROCEDURE;
to death by using pro c e d u res disapproved by the ITALY;LAWSONWITCHCRAFT(EARLYMODERN); MENGHI,
Inquisition, Roman 559 |
Wicca | Richard M.Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Western Tradition | 597 | 46049 Golden Chap.i av First Pages 08/25/2005 p.560 Application File
GIROLAMO;MILAN;MODENA;PAPACYANDPAPALBULLS;PEÑA, b e l i e ved. Well after the foundation of the Holy Of fic e
FRANCISCO;PIEDMONT;ROMANCATHOLICCHURCH;SIENESE in Castile in 1478, jurisdiction over sorc e ry and witch-
NEWSTATE;SUPERSTITION. craft remained largely in secular hands; a Castilian
References and further reading:
d e c ree of 1500 ord e red an investigation into sorc e ry
Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. 2000. L’Inquisizione e gli storici:
but re f e r red the matter to the civil courts. T h e
un cantiere aperto.Tavola rotonda nell’ambito della Conferenza
m e d i e val papal Inquisition had likewise left such ques-
annuale della ricerca (Roma, 24–25 giugno 1999). Rome:
tions largely in secular hands, so that no change of pol-
Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.
icy was invo l ved. In the first thirty years of its activity,
Canosa, Romano. 1986–1990. Storia dell’Inquisizione in Italia
dalla metà del Cinquecento alla fine del Settecento.5 vols. Rome: the Castilian Inquisition showed little interest in sor-
Sapere 2000. c e ry (h e c h i c e r í a); in the early sixteenth century, re p re s-
Cardini, Franco, ed. 1989. Gostanza, la strega di San Miniato: sion of the offense was still normally in the hands of
Processo a una guaritrice nella Toscana medicea.Rome-Bari: c o u rts belonging to other jurisdictions (bishops and
Laterza. abbots, nobles and towns). Certain types of popular
Dall’Olio, Guido. 2001. “Tribunali vescovili, Inquisizione romana superstition, and the whole range ofa s t ro l o g y, we re ill-
e stregoneria: I processi bolognesi del 1559.” Pp. 63–82 in Il
d e fined areas in which many learned men and clergy
piacere del testo: Saggi e studi per Albano Biondi.Edited by
dabbled. Astro l o g y, for example, was on the unive r s i t y
Adriano Prosperi. Vol. 1. Rome: Bulzoni.
syllabus at Salamanca, but not until the late sixteenth
Decker, Rainer. 2001. “Entstehung und Verbreitung der römis-
c e n t u ry did the Inquisition, encouraged by the papacy,
chen Hexenprozessinstruktion.” Pp. 159–175 in Inquisition,
attempt to suppress it as a science. The inquisitorial
Index, Zensur: Wissenkulturen der Neuzeit im Widerstreit.Edited
by HubertWolf. Paderborn: Schöningh. Index of 1583 followed Rome in banning occult art s
———. 2002. “Gerichtsorganisation und Hexenprozessrecht der and divination. The campaign of the Catholic author-
römischen Inquisition: Neue Quellenfunde zu Theorie und ities against popular superstition was a broad one,
Praxis.” Pp. 455–474 in Hexenprozesse und Gerichtpraxis.Edited marginal to the In q u i s i t i o n’s concerns in the sixteenth
by Herbert Eiden and Rita Voltmer.Trier: Spee. c e n t u ry but more significant in the seventeenth, when
Del Col, Andrea. 2002. “Le strutture territoriali e l’attività in some tribunals it accounted for a fifth of all pro s e-
dell’Inquisizione romana.” Pp. 343–378 in L’Inquisizione.Atti
c u t i o n s .
del Simposio internazionale, Città del Vaticano, 29–31 ottobre
In the crown of Aragon, which re c e i ved the new
1998. Edited by Agostino Borromeo. Città del Vaticano:
Inquisition slightly later than Castile, Inquisition tri-
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana.
bunals began to investigate maleficent witchcraft (bru-
———, and Giovanna Paolin, eds. 1991. L’Inquisizione romana in
j e r í a) in mountainous districts by the mid-1490s,
Italia nell’età moderna: Archivi, problemi di metodo e nuove
ricerche.Atti del seminario internazionale, Trieste, 18–20 mag- claiming that heresy was invo l ved. Me d i e val secular
gio 1988. Rome: Ministero per i Beni Culturali e Ambientali. practice had been that witches should be burned, and
Ginzburg, Carlo. 1983. The Night Battles: Witchcraft and Agrarian the Inquisition at first followed suit: the Saragossa tri-
Cults in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries.Translated by bunal burned one in 1498, another in 1499, and three
John and Anne Tedeschi. London: Routledge. in 1500. Afterw a rd, it re p o rted some cases of witches
Nannipieri, Silvia. 1999. Caterina e il diavolo. Una storia di streghe (brujas) in Castile also, for example, at Toledo (1513) or
e inquisitori nella campagna pisana del Seicento.Pisa: ETS.
Cuenca (1515). By 1520, edicts of faith in both Castile
Prosperi, Adriano. 1996. Tribunali della coscienza: Inquisitori, con-
and Aragon added magic, sorc e ry, and witchcraft to
fessori, missionari.Turin: Einaudi.
their list of offenses implying here s y. Howe ve r, eve n
Romeo, Giovanni. 1990. Inquisitori, esorcisti e streghe nell’Italia
though Spain had already produced several treatises on
della Controriforma.Florence: Sansoni.
witchcraft by this time, belief in the Sabbat was still far
———. 1994. “I processi di stregoneria.” Pp. 189–209 in Storia
dell’Italia religiosa.Edited by Gabriele de Rosa and Tullio f rom being accepted by educated Spanish opinion. At
Gregory.Vol. 2. Rome-Bari: Laterza. Saragossa in 1521 a theologian declared that the Sabbat
———. 2002. L’Inquisizione nell’Italia moderna.Rome-Bari: “was a delusion and could not have occurred, so no
Laterza. heresy is involved” (Kamen 1997, 270).
Tedeschi, John. 1990. “Inquisitorial Law and the Witch.” The subsequent policy of the Inquisition arose out of
Pp. 83–118 in Early Modern European Witchcraft: Centres and an historic meeting held at Granada in 1526. As a result
Peripheries.Edited by Bengt Ankarloo and Gustav Henningsen.
of a persecution of witches by secular authorities in
Oxford: Clarendon.
Na va r re the year before, Inquisitor General Ma n r i q u e
———. 1991. The Prosecution of Heresy. Collected Studies on the
delegated a committee of ten to decide whether witches
Inquisition in Early Modern Italy.Binghamton, NY: Center for
really did go to the Sabbat. The discussion paper they
Medieval and Early Renaissance Studies.
o f f e red to the meeting noted that “the majority of
jurists in this realm agree that witches do not exist,”
Inquisition, Spanish
because of the impossibility of the acts they claimed to
The role of the Spanish Inquisition in cases of witch- d o. A vote was taken and six of those present decided
craft was much more restricted than is commonly “that they really go” to the Sabbat; a minority of four
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to the principal people and explain to them that the loss
of harvests and other ills are either sent by God for our
sins or are a result of bad we a t h e r, and that witches
should not be suspected” (Kamen 1997, 272). In the
next few months, he and his colleague judged and
penanced sixty-four witches at Bilbao and Pa m p l o n a ;
some were whipped, but none died.
In other Inquisitions of the peninsula, a similar skep-
ticism was the rule. The tribunal of Saragossa executed a
witch in 1535, but after protests by the Su p re m a ,it exe-
cuted no further witches throughout its history. In 1549
the inquisitor of Ba rcelona, Diego Sarmiento, allowed a
number of witches to be executed without referring the
cases to his superiors. The Su p re m a sent Francisco Va c a
to investigate and re p o rt; he sent them one of the most
damning denunciations of witchcraft persecution eve r
re c o rded, recommending freeing all prisoners, and
returning all confiscated pro p e rt y. Inquisitor Sa r m i e n t o
was pensioned off in 1550 for ignoring re g u l a t i o n s
( Monter 1990, 265–267). For the rest of its care e r, the
Inquisition executed no witches in Catalonia.
T h roughout the sixteenth century, the In q u i s i t i o n
seems to have maintained its hostility to persecution.
Juana Iz q u i e rda, tried before the Toledo tribunal in
1591, confessed to taking part in the ritual murder of a
number of children. Sixteen witnesses testified that the
c h i l d ren had in fact died suddenly, and that they consid-
e red Iz q u i e rda to be a witch. What would in any other
Eu ropean country have earned Iz q u i e rda the death sen-
tence, in Spain earned her 200 lashes.
The only significant lapse from this good re c o rd
occurred a few years later in Navarre, where the tribunal
Pedro Barruguete’s painting, Burning of the Heretics (1490), had for many years resisted local pre s s u re to exe c u t e
depicting an auto de fe(act of faith), a public ceremony in which the witches (see Henningsen 1980). The background to
Inquisition transferred convicted heretics to the secular authorities for this relapse originated not in Spain but in France. Just
execution. (Erich Lessing/Art Resource)
a c ross the fro n t i e r, in the Pays de Labourd, the
Bordeaux judge Pierre de Lancre had conducted a hor-
voted “that they go in their imagination” (Kamen 1997, rendous witch hunt in the autumn of 1609, during
271). The committee also decided that, because the which he supposedly executed around eighty witches
homicides to which witches frequently confessed might (but probably only twe l ve, including three priests).
well be illusory, they should be tried by the Inquisition Many suspected Basque witches (xo r g u i n a s ) fled ove r
and not handed over to the civil authorities. If, howev- the border into Na va r re and created a witch scare on
er, the authorities had proof of homicide, they could act Spanish territory.The inquisitors of Logroño reacted by
on their own account. arresting dozens of xorguinas and even obtained permis-
In general, the committee was more concerned about sion from the Suprema(which apparently forgot its own
educating the so-called witches than chastising them. guidelines) to confiscate their pro p e rt y. They held a
The persecution and execution of witches continued, g reat auto decfe on Su n d a y, November 7, 1610. Fi f t y-t h re e
but the Holy Of fice played ve ry little part in it. T h e prisoners took part; twenty-nine of them were accused
1526 decisions we re communicated in detail to local of witchcraft. Six witches we re burned at the stake,
tribunals as distant as Sardinia. In Navarre, for example, together with the corpses of five others who had died in
the inquisitors were given strict instructions not to pro- prison. In Ma rch 1611, the Su p re m a d e p u t i zed a
ceed in such cases without consulting the supre m e Logroño inquisitor, Alonso de Salazar Frías, to visit the
council (Su p re m a) and the local judges. When cases a f flicted parts of Na va r re, carrying an edict of grace
o c c u r red in Na va r re in 1538, the inquisitor, inviting the inhabitants to confess their errors. Sa l a z a r
Va l d e o l i vas, was instructed by the Su p re m a not to h e a rd almost 2000 confessions, mainly from childre n .
accept the confessions of witches literally, and to “speak In the course of his mission, Salazar came to the
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conclusion that these offenses were entirely imaginary, of Venice and the inquisitor, a Conventual Franciscan
and became embroiled with his senior Logroño col- friar, prosecuted only seven cases against men (one for
leagues, who never doubted the reality of all aspects of magic) and twenty against women (nineteen for
witchcraft. magic). During a major witch hunt in the Valcamonica,
Be f o re Sa l a z a r’s mission, the Inquisitor General had north of Brescia, between 1518 and 1521, the Venetian
commissioned an opinion (c o n s u l t a) from Pe d ro de government’s chief executive organ, the Council of Ten,
Valencia. His report, dated April 1611, was careful not requested that the papal nuncio supervise the work of
to deny the reality of witchcraft. Howe ve r, he implied the Dominican inquisitor and six judges appointed by
that there was a strong element of mental sickness in the bishop of Brescia. After more than 165 trials and 62
the Na va r re events (“The accused must be examined to 80 executions by fire, the Council of Ten halted the
first to see if they are in their right mind”; their con- prosecutions (Del Col 1988). The nuncio remained
duct, he said, “is more that of madmen than of thereafter the most important inquisitorial judge in the
heretics”), and urged that exceptional care must be tak- Republic.
en to prove offenses through “evidence, according to From 1541 to 1560, the Venetian Inquisition was
law” (Kamen 1997, 275). run by the nuncio’s auditor and the inquisitor, both
On August 29, 1614, the Supremafinally reaffirmed with competence throughout the Republic. After 1560,
its policy of 1526, which remained the basic guide to its the nuncio, the patriarch, and the inquisitor (now a
f u t u re policy. Drawn up in thirty-two articles, these Dominican friar) served as judges; by the end of the six-
instructions advised caution and leniency in all investi- teenth century, as in other Italian tribunals of the Holy
gations. Although the Spanish Inquisition still regarded Office, the inquisitor had come to play the leading role.
witchcraft as a crime and claimed jurisdiction over it, in From April 22, 1547, on, the Tre savi sopra l’eresia,pres-
practice it rejected all testimony about it as delusion. tigious members of the Senate elected by the Mi n o r
Thus, for the most part, Spain was saved from the rav- Council and after 1595 by their peers, participated in
ages of popular witch persecutions pre valent in many the tribunal’s proceedings—but almost always as mere
areas of Europe. The decision of 1614 benefited those “assistants.” Nonetheless, Venetian secular government,
accused but placed the Spanish Inquisition in an f requently flouting the provisions of canon law, had a
ambiguous position both in theory and in practice. In s i g n i ficant impact on the In q u i s i t i o n’s operations,
t h e o ry, it admitted that diabolism was possible but because the Council of Ten oversaw the functioning of
denied any single instance of it. In practice, it was reluc- fifteen Inquisition tribunals throughout the Republic’s
tant to intervene in witchcraft cases and often conceded territories: Belluno, Bergamo, Brescia, Capodistria
jurisdiction to the civil authorities. It continued to (covering the Istrian peninsula), Ceneda, Crema (estab-
prosecute all types of superstition with vigor. lished in 1614), Feltre (only in the sixteenth century),
Padua, Rovigo, Treviso, Udine, Venice, Ve ro n a ,
HENRY KAMEN
Vicenza, and Zara (covering Dalmatia). It also ruled on
See also: ARAGON;ASTROLOGY;BASQUECOUNTRY;COURTS, issues of territorial competence, impeded the sequestra-
INQUISITORIAL;INQUISITION,MEDIEVAL;LANCRE,PIERREDE; tion of convicted here t i c s’ goods, resisted the extradi-
SALAZARFRÍAS,ALONSODE;SPAIN;SUPERSTITION;VALENCIA,
tion of Venetian subjects to Rome, allowed foreign sus-
PEDRODE.
pects to escape from prison, proposed sentences lighter
References and further reading:
than those formally mandated, and curtailed the eccle-
Caro Baroja, Julio. 1967. Vidas mágicas e Inquisición.2 vols.
siastical judges’ freedom of action in other ways (De l
Madrid: Taurus.
Col 1991).
Henningsen, Gustav. 1980. The Witches’ Advocate: Basque
Witchcraft and the Spanish Inquisition.Reno: University of A rough calculation based on an imprecise inventory
Nevada Press. of the series Sa n t’ U f fic i o (Venice, Archivio di St a t o )
Kamen, Henry. 1997. The Spanish Inquisition: An Historical indicates that from 1547 to 1794, 1,041 of 3,592 cases
Revision.New Haven and London: Yale University Press. handled by the Inquisition of Venice—by no means all
Lea, Henry Charles. 1906–1907. A History of the Inquisition of of them complete trials—concerned belief in and prac-
Spain.4 vols. London: Macmillan. tice of illicit magic. At first, cases involving magic
Monter,William. 1990. Frontiers of Heresy: The Spanish Inquisition
constituted a small proportion of the Inquisition’s case
from the Basque Lands to Sicily.Cambridge: Cambridge
load; but from the late sixteenth century, they amount-
University Press.
ed to between one-third and one-half. Studies of about
Tausiet, María. 2000. Po n zoña en los ojos. Brujería y Superstición en
500 cases tried between 1550 and 1650 (Martin 1989)
Aragón en el siglo XVI.Zaragoza: Institución Fernando el Católico.
revealed a wide variety of magical practices: necroman-
Inquisition, Venetian cy (learned ritual magic, consulting the spirits of the
Although it developed a few individual characteristics, dead); divination (both learned and popular) and
the Inquisition of Venice remained a branch of the conjuration of spirits and saints through spells and
Roman Inquisition. From 1500 to 1519, the patriarch incantations, finding lost or stolen objects, gaining or
562 Inquisition, Venetian |
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impeding love, obtaining money, predicting the future; Inquisitorial Procedure
and a vast range of popular healing practices. Few pro- Inquisitorial pro c e d u re, the main method used to
ceedings culminated in formal condemnations, and prosecute crime in Europe during the late medieval and
culprits re c e i ved light punishments. Diabolical witch- early modern periods, greatly facilitated the conviction
craft was conspicuously absent (only six cases contain of accused witches. The inquisitorial form of criminal
references to the Sabbat), and no one was condemned p ro c e d u re was introduced into continental Eu ro p e a n
to death on this charge. c o u rt rooms between the thirteenth and sixteenth cen-
After 1700, however, three men were condemned by turies. In most places, it replaced the accusatorial sys-
the Inquisition and executed by Venetian secular tem of criminal pro c e d u re, which had been the main
authorities for abuse of consecrated hosts for magical method of prosecuting crime in both the ecclesiastical
purposes: two were strangled in jail in 1705, the other and secular courts since the fall of the Roman Empire.
was burned at the stake in the Piazza San Ma rco in Inquisitorial procedure changed both the way crimi-
1724. This was the first and last such event at Venice, as nal prosecutions we re initiated and the way court s
h e retics sentenced to death we re usually drowned at determined guilt. In the accusatorial system, the
night out of the Lagoon (Del Col and Milani 1998). i n j u red party or his or her kin initiated a criminal
Although “e n l i g h t e n e d” rulers in other Italian states action. The accusation was a formal, public, sworn
abolished inquisitions in the 1770s and 1780s, those statement laid before the court. The person who
in the Venetian Republic lasted until the arrival of entered the complaint technically became the prosecu-
Na p o l e o n’s armies. Only two of its tribunals, Ve n i c e tor of the crime, and the trial was an adversarial pro-
and Udine, pre s e rve extensive documentary holdings; ceeding between the accuser and the accused. The out-
two others, Rovigo and Fe l t re (eventually united with come of those trials in which the guilt of the accused
Belluno) are complete for the sixteenth century. was in doubt was determined either by an ordeal or by
Un s u r p r i s i n g l y, few scholars concerned with magic oaths re g a rding the good reputation of the accused. If
and witchcraft have exploited the surviving trial the court determined that the accused was innocent,
re c o rd s . the accuser was liable to a punishment that was the
same as the accused would have received if convicted.
ANDREA DEL COL;
In trials following inquisitorial procedure, the courts
TRANSLATED BY ANNE JACOBSON SCHUTTE assumed responsibility for the initiation and pro s e c u-
tion of crime. The first method of initiation was by
a c c u s a t i o n . Most courts still allowed individuals to
See also: BENANDANTI;COURTS,INQUISITORIAL;INQUISITION,
initiate cases in the traditional manner by accusing
ROMAN;ITALY.
another person of a crime, but the state regulated the
References and further reading:
Barbierato, Federico. 2002. Nella stanza dei circoli: Clavicula methods by which this was done. The liability of the
Salomonis e libri di magia a Venezia nei secoli XVII e XVIII. accuser was generally reduced to a bond, payable as a
Milan: Bonnard. surety at the time of accusation, and in many jurisdic-
Davidson, Nicholas S. 1988. “Rome and the Venetian Inquisition tions it was eliminated entire l y. In certain circ u m-
in the Sixteenth Century.” Journal of Ecclesiastical History39: stances, including many witchcraft cases, the court s
16–36. allowed secret accusations. In cases initiated by accusa-
Del Col, Andrea. 1988. “Organizzazione, composizione e giuris-
tion, the court superintended the entire process and
dizione dei tribunali dell’Inquisizione romana nella repubblica
assumed responsibility for the prosecution if the accuser
di Venezia (1500–1550).” Critica storica25: 244–294.
w i t h d rew the charge or reached a settlement with the
———. 1991. “L’Inquisizione romana e il potere politico nella
accused. A second method of initiation was bydenunci-
repubblica di Venezia (1540–1560).” Critica storica28:
ation, according to which persons holding positions of
189–250.
———, and Marisa Milani. 1998. “‘Senza effusione di sangue e a u t h o r i t y, such as clerics or minor officials, would
senza pericolo di morte’: Intorno ad alcune condanne capitali secretly submit the name of an alleged offender to the
delle Inquisizioni di Venezia e di Verona nel Settecento e a court, which then assumed responsibility for trying the
quelle veneziane del Cinquecento.” Pp. 141–196 in Eretici, person who had been denounced. Ecclesiastical court s
esuli e indemoniati nell’età moderna.Edited by Mario Rosa. had used denunciation as early as the ninth century, but
Florence: Olschki. it now became a regular means by which criminal cases
Martin, Ruth. 1989. Witchcraft and the Inquisition in Venice,
could be initiated.
1550–1650.Oxford: Blackwell.
A third method of initiation, frequently used in
Milani, Marisa, ed. 1994. Streghe e diavoli nei processi del S.
witchcraft and heresy cases, was by proceeding ex offi-
Uffizio: Venezia 1554–1587.Bassano del Grappa: Ghedina e
cio. In these cases, judges or officials of the court would
Tassotti.
start the proceedings by themselves on the basis of evi-
Tedeschi, John. 1991. The Prosecution of Heresy: Collected
Studies on the Inquisition in Early Modern Italy.Binghamton, dence the court had obtained through its own investi-
NY: Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies: 89–126. gation. Prosecutions ex officio often took place when
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persons, including alleged witches, we re suspected Inquisitorial pro c e d u re was never introduced into
merely on the basis of ill fame or rumor. In some juris- English secular courts. After the abolition of ord e a l s ,
dictions the court arranged for members of the com- the determination of guilt in courts of common law was
munity to testify to the existence of the rumor that the assigned to lay juries rather than professionally trained
person had committed a crime. judges. In Scotland, which saw a limited reception of
The most distinctive feature of inquisitorial pro c e- Roman law in the late sixteenth century, certain ele-
d u re was the collection and evaluation of evidence by ments of inquisitorial pro c e d u re, for example, the
the officers of the court in an effort to establish guilt or collection of written testimony in dossiers and the
innocence. The system reflected the growing interest of introduction of defense attorneys to respond to indict-
the state in the prosecution of crime. Regardless of the ments, became part of secular criminal pro c e d u re. In
method used to initiate the prosecution, inquisitorial the Scandinavian countries, inquisitorial pro c e d u re ,
trials we re conducted entirely by officers of the court , and the use of tort u re with which it was often associated,
who deposed witnesses and interrogated the prisoner as made little headway. In eastern Eu rope, especially
p a rt of an effort to prove guilt. Judges gave weight to Hu n g a ry, some medieval ordeals surv i ved until the
different pieces of evidence on the basis of rules estab- eighteenth century.
lished by jurists. “Pe rf e c t” proof in capital crimes The adoption of inquisitorial pro c e d u re facilitated
re q u i red either a confession or the testimony of two the prosecution of all crime, but it proved to be espe-
u n related eyewitnesses. Circumstantial evidence was cially useful in witchcraft trials. The elimination of the
i n s u f ficient to convict in a capital case but could be liable accuser made it possible for villagers to bring
used to authorize the use of torture to secure a confes- charges against their neighbors, sometimes secre t l y,
sion. In contrast to the accusatorial system, in which without fear of being held accountable themselves if the
the determination of guilt was based on the outcome of charges were not upheld. Local officials could now pro-
an ordeal or the reputation of the accused, inquisitorial ceed against suspected witches ex officio, simply on the
p ro c e d u re re p resented an effort to determine guilt on basis of rumor. Inquisitorial procedure also made it pos-
the basis of human reason. Inquisitorial procedure was sible to arrest and interrogate witches named by their
the product of the scientific jurisprudence that deve l- alleged accomplices, thus making feasible some of the
oped on the Eu ropean continent in the late Mi d d l e largest witch hunts of the entire period.
Ages. It was introduced only after the Fo u rth Lateran Inquisitorial pro c e d u re, especially when it invo l ve d
Council (1215) forbade clerics to participate in the the use of torture to secure proof through confessions,
ordeals, a prohibition that effectively abolished them. also made convictions in witchcraft cases more likely
While also abandoning ordeals and compurgation, than under accusatorial pro c e d u re, which could be
Anglo-American legal practice has retained the manipulated to secure acquittals. The most intense
accusatorial system, and its adherents condemn inquisi- witchcraft prosecutions occurred in countries where
torial pro c e d u re for its secre c y, its denial of the rights inquisitorial pro c e d u re had come into wide use, espe-
the accused, and its authorization of torture. It has also cially in the German territories. Conve r s e l y, the num-
been criticized on the grounds that the same judicial ber of trials and convictions remained relatively low in
o f ficials who prosecuted the criminal also determined countries that never adopted inquisitorial pro c e d u re .
that person’s guilt. Although inquisitorial pro c e d u re The use of inquisitorial pro c e d u re, howe ve r, did not
was vulnerable to abuse, especially when tort u re was necessarily lead to a large number of convictions and
applied, it did provide for legal re p resentation of the executions in witchcraft cases. Witches tried before the
accused, and it did not presume the guilt of the Spanish, Po rtuguese, and Roman Inquisitions, which
accused, as is so often alleged. The legal “presumptions” used inquisitorial pro c e d u re but that also insisted on
judges made we re determinations that there was suffi- maintaining rigid procedural and evidentiary ru l e s ,
cient evidence to proceed with a trial. convicted and executed re l a t i vely few witches. T h e
Inquisitorial pro c e d u re was not adopted in all same can be said for those witches who we re tried on
European jurisdictions, but it became standard in eccle- appeal before the Pa rl e m e n t of Paris, the most pre s t i-
siastical courts, especially papal and episcopal tribunals gious secular tribunal in Europe employing inquisitori-
appointed to investigate here s y. In the Middle Ages, al procedure.
papal commissions issued to various ecclesiastics we re In certain circumstances, more ove r, it was easier to
often re f e r red to collectively as the Inquisition, eve n secure a conviction in a court that followed accusatorial
though the inquisition possessed no permanent organi- p ro c e d u re than in one using inquisitorial pro c e d u re .
zation (Kieckhefer 1995). In secular courts, inquisitori- When courts began to exe rcise caution in witchcraft
al pro c e d u re was adopted mainly in those areas of trials, especially toward the end of the seventeenth cen-
Europe most directly influenced by the study of Roman t u ry, it proved easier to secure a conviction of witches
law: Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, the Low Countries, by juries, which were not bound by a strict law of proof,
Switzerland, and Germany. than by relying on a trained judge to evaluate the
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evidence. The re l a t i ve “s u c c e s s” of a witchcraft trial example in illo tempore(at that time), may be included.
using accusatorial procedure under those circumstances In a narrower sense, the term “invocation” is restricted
explains why the decline of witchcraft prosecutions was to those parts of conjurations that contain the names of
sometimes more sudden in countries that employe d the powers whose help is being sought (“in the name of
inquisitorial pro c e d u re than in those that did not. In thus-and-such divinities or demons”). Even if spoken
France, for example, where judges controlled the judi- words form the core of any invocation, it also regularly
cial process, witchcraft trials ended abruptly once the re q u i res corresponding gestures, ve ry often combined
c o u rts began to question the validity of the charges with the use of sacrifices, magic objects, symbols, and
brought before them. In England and Scotland, on the so forth. When the powers addressed do not re a c t
other hand, where juries determined the facts of the i m m e d i a t e l y, which usually happens, the invo c a t i o n
case, witchcraft trials lingered on well into the eigh- must be repeated or intensified.
teenth century. Concerning witchcraft in Europe, we must deal here
with the invocations used in black magic, be they invo-
BRIAN P. LEVACK
cations of God, of events of sacred history (Je s u s’s
See also: ACCUSATIONS;ACCUSATORIALPROCEDURE;COURTS, Passion, the Last Judgment), of the saints—or invoca-
ECCLESIASTICAL;COURTS,INQUISITORIAL;COURTS,SECULAR; tions of demons and ghosts. God and his saints we re
EVIDENCE;INQUISITION,MEDIEVAL;INQUISITION,PORTUGUESE;
invoked again and again for magical purposes, proving
INQUISITION,ROMAN;INQUISITION,SPANISH;INQUISITION,
that most people using sorc e ry by no means thought
VENETIAN;LAWYERS;ORDEAL;PARLEMENTOFPARIS;ROMANLAW;
t h e m s e l ves outside the Christian religion. An example
TORTURE;TRIALS;WITCHHUNTS.
for an invocation spoken for making a dead person rise
References and further reading:
may be quoted from a fifteenth-century German necro-
Cohn, Norman. 1975. Europe’s Inner Demons: An Enquiry Inspired
by the Great Witch-Hunt.London: Chatto. m a n c e r’s manual: “by the virtue and power of the
Kieckhefer, Richard. 1976. European Witch Trials: Their divine majesty, and by the thrones and dominations
Foundations in Popular and Learned Culture, 1300–1500. and powers and principalities of Him . . ., and by those
London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. [angels] who do not cease to cry out with one vo i c e ,
———. 1995. “The Office of Inquisition and Medieval Heresy: saying, ‘Ho l y, holy, holy . . ., and by these names,
The Transition from Personal to Institutional Jurisdiction.” which cause you fear and terror: Rator, Lampoy,
Journal of Ecclesiastical History46: 36–61.
Despan, Brulo . . . the deceased is conjured to follow
Langbein, John. 1974. Prosecuting Crime in the Renaissance:
the magician’s instructions (Kieckhefer 1997, 128).
England, Germany, France.Cambridge, MA: Harvard
This broad range of numinous instances who are called
University Press.
to help, from God himself to the most fantastic names
Levy, LeonardW. 1967. “Accusatorial and Inquisitorial Systems of
of unknown demons, was quite characteristic for those
Criminal Procedure: The Beginnings.” Pp. 16–54 in Freedom
and Reform.Edited byHarold Hyman and Leonard Levy. New forms of sorcery that intended to effect some advantage
York: Harper and Row. for the wizard or his client. Similar forms were applied
Peters, Edward. 1988. Inquisition.NewYork: Free Press. to find hidden treasures, to compel a dead person to tell
Stern, Laura Ikins. 1994. The Criminal Law System of Medieval the future, and so forth.
and Renaissance Florence.Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Exclusive invocations of the Devil or his hosts seem
Press. to have been restricted to heretics and witches, at least
according to their persecutors. An early instance of con-
Invocations demning the i n vocator daemonum ( i n vocator of
By the term i n vo c a t i o,the Romans usually meant the demons) can be found in the Codex Theodosianus9, 16,
p roper prayers for the intervention of the gods. Late 5, promulgated in 438. The ban on invocations of
antique theurgy may be re g a rded as a form of invo c a- demons, which remained a constant item in criminal
tion. In Roman Catholicism, “invo c a t i o n” is a techni- codes until modern times, can be found in, for exam-
cal term for both the liturgical prayer for divine inter- ple, the early medieval Visigothic code or in Ul r i c h
vention, especially in the consecration of the Tengler’s sixteenth-century Layenspiegel.These prohibi-
Eucharist, and for a prayer for the helping interve n- tions re flect standard Christian mentality. Ve ry rare l y,
tion of the saints. more tolerant positions can be found. In around 1370,
Though an invocation is phenomenologically kin- a Spanish Dominican (!), Raimundus of Tarrega, a con-
dred with conjurations, spells, incantations, exorcisms, ve rted Jew, wrote a treatise De invocatione daemonum
p r a yers, and cursing—all manifestations of sacred and ( On the In vocations of Demons), according to which
powerful speech—its distinguishing feature consists in we are permitted to invoke and adore demons, keeping
a more or less forceful claim to exercise a degree of coer- in mind that they can be venerated as Go d - m a d e
cion over the beings addressed, whose compliance is beings. Inquisitor Nicolas Eymeric had this book
implied. It is not only begging, but also an order; other burned and composed one himself against those who
elements like narrative ones, quoting a successful called up demons.
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The Devil appears to witches who had invoked him, from Francesco Maria Guazzo’s Compendium Maleficarum (A Summary of Witches),
1608. (Art Archive/Dagli Orti)
Notwithstanding the ascription of invo c a t i o n a l in animal form. For the late Middle Ages, the trial of
practices to heretics and witches in the stereotypes of the perve rted marshal of France Gilles de Rais
their persecutors, there can be no doubt that demons (1404–1440) contains much material on the invo c a-
we re indeed frequently invoked; it is sufficient to tion of evil spirits and shows the technical level that
consider the number of conjuring books pre s e rve d this “a rt” had reached. All the typical components of
f rom the late Middle Ages onward, both manuscripts a professional invo c a t i o n — s a c r i fice, magical circ l e ,
and printed books, all clearly intended for practical conjuring book, and so on—form part of the rituals
use. Many of them we re written in Latin, which his collaborators described. Another instance fro m
p roves their circulation within learned groups of soci- the age of Louis XIV is connected with the “Affair of
e t y, that is, during the Middle Ages, the clergy. the Poisons,” where diabolical invocations formed
Biographical, historical, juridical, and other sourc e s p a rt of black masses. Gilles de Rais was a medieva l
p resent further evidence. A famous early example was Satanist, whose existence as a sect is doubted by most
the experience of the Roman emperor Julian the historians. Howe ve r, there is evidence that such sects
Apostate (361–363), who witnessed, much to his ter- indeed existed from the twelfth century onward on a
ro r, the invocations of demons in a pagan temple, local level, and that they did invoke Satan or demons.
reopened by him (T h e o d o ret, Hi s t o ry of the Churc h Of course, the existence of similar groups in modern
III, 3, 130). The “New Manichaeans,” one of the ear- times cannot be denied.
liest heretical groups of the Middle Ages, we re The invocation of the dead, that is,necromancy, also
accused at the synod of Orléans (1022) of ritually formed part of the magical arts. Its most frequent aim
declaiming the names of demons, who then appeare d was to make the deceased provide information about
566 Invocations |
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the future. In voking dead men has a long history, Klapper, Joseph. 1907. “Das Gebet im Zauberglauben des
s t a rting with the witch of Endor (1 Kings 28) and Mittelalters.” Mitteilungen der schlesischen Gesellschaft für
Ulysses’s seer, the blind Theiresias. There is ample evi- Volkskunde9: 5–41.
Mammoli, Domenico, ed. 1972. The Record of the Trial and
dence for similar practices from late antiquity; it did
Condemnation of a Witch, Matteuccia di Francesco, at Todi, 20
not cease entirely after the Christianization of the
March 1428.Rome: Res Tudertinae.
Roman Empire, although real cases become rather rare
Platz, Conrad W. 1681. Kurtzer, nothwendiger und wolgegründter
in the Middle Ages and afterward. In legends and goth-
Bericht von dem Zauberischen Beschweren und Segensprechen.
ic novels, howe ve r, like that of the famous scholar
Nuremberg.
Johann Faust, the invocation of the dead remained a Reichard, Gladys A. 1944. The Compulsive Prayer.NewYork:
t o p o s ; Faust brought the shadows of Alexander the AMS.
Great and his spouse before the Holy Roman Emperor Russell, Jeffrey B. 1972. Witchcraft in the Middle Ages.Ithaca, NY:
Charles V (as the 1587 Faustbuch,chap. 33, narrates). Cornell University Press.
In vocations of the dead have also been re c o rded as Schusser. 1927. “Beschwörung, beschwören.” Handwörterbuch des
acts of saints, and thus of course qualified as miracles. deutschen AberglaubensI: 1109–1129. Berlin: de Gruyter.
Zacharias, Gerhard. 1979. Satanskult und Schwarze Messe.3rd ed.
So St. Spyridion (d. ca. 350) asked his dead daughter to
Wiesbaden: Limes.
reveal to him the place where she had hidden some pre-
cious objects, and she answe red him out of her grave .
St. Se verin of Noricum (d. 482) re v i ved a deceased Ireland
priest, whom he wanted to continue with his pastoral Perhaps the most remarkable thing about trials for
obligations. St. Fridolin of Säckingen (seventh century) witchcraft in Ireland is how few of them there were. In
made one of his benefactors, named Ursus, arise fro m the case of the medieval period, the irregular structure
the grave and brought the re v i ved corpse with him to of the church in Gaelic Ireland means that virtually no
c o u rt in order to provide testimony for a disputed archival material has survived. Therefore it is impossi-
donation that he had re c e i ved from Ursus during his ble to know whether or not witchcraft prosecutions
lifetime. This saint’s regular iconographic attribute, occurred there. A collection of proverbs made in late
therefore, is a small skeleton or corpse. sixteenth-century County Clare contained a saying that
Formally, invocations typically contained an appella- seems to have originated in a piece of advice literature
t i ve (the addressee), with or without further specific a- to a Gaelic lord enjoining him to “Burn them who do
tions, and an ord e r. Most often, they also cited the witchcraft.” However, whether this was in imitation of
names of the divinities or demons by whose power the the biblical injunction in Exodus 22:18 or whether it
words should work. For example, the formula sung by reflected actual judicial practice within a lordship is not
Matteuccia di Francesco, the witch of Todi, in 1428 to clear. Within that part of medieval Ireland controlled
call her animal demon goes: “O Lu c i b e l l o, / demonio by the Anglo-Normans, evidence survives for only one
dello inferno, / poichè sbandito fosti, / el nome cagnasti, / witchcraft trial, that of Alice Kyteler, who with some
et ay nomeLucifero maiure, / vieni ad me o manda un tuo codefendants was tried for sorcery and heresy in 1324
s e rv i t o re .”(O Lucibello, demon of hell, having been by Bishop Ledrede in Kilkenny. Her trial suggests that
banned you changed the name, and into the name Ledrede was attempting to introduce the methods of
Lucifer the greater. Come to me or send me one of your the Inquisition into the judicial practice of Ireland.
servants!) (Mammoli 1972, 22). The Christian version The absence of witchcraft trials in early modern
of an invocation comprises the same elements, as we Ireland is even more striking, especially given that many
learn, for example, f rom St. Se verin: “Thus the holy of those who migrated to Ireland after 1600 came from
man spoke to the corpse: ‘In the name of our Lord Jesus Scotland, where witchcraft trials we re frequent and
Christ, saint priest Silvinus, speak with your bro t h- n u m e rous. While there are a number of re f e rences to
ers!’”(Eugippius 1965, c. 16). the practice of witchcraft in early modern Ireland, only
nine trials for witchcraft are known and details survive
PETER DINZELBACHER
on only two.The first was that of Florence Newton of
See also:AFFAIROFTHEPOISONS;BLACKMASS;DEMONS;DEVIL; Youghal, tried for witchcraft in 1661, and, second, the
ENDOR,WITCHOF;EYMERIC,NICOLAS;FAUST,JOHANNGEORG; Island Magee witchcraft trials of 1711. New t o n’s case
LAWSONWITCHCRAFT(MEDIEVAL); LAYENSPIEGEL;MIRACLES;
followed a classic pattern: first, Mary Longdon’s refusal
MOURA,MANUELVALEDE;NECROMANCY;RAIS,GILLESDE;RITU-
of charity to Florence Newton; second, Newton’s curse
ALMAGIC;SATANISM;TODI,WITCHOF;WORDS,POWEROF.
f o l l owed by Longdon’s subsequently falling into fit s .
References and further reading:
The Island Magee trial was more complex, with seve n
Eugippius. 1965. The Life of Saint Severin.Translated by Ludwig
women being accused by Mary Dunbar of bewitching
Bieler.Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press.
Kieckhefer, Richard. 1997. Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer’s her after she fell into fits. On the basis of the surviving
Manual of the Fifteenth Century.University Park: Pennsylvania deposition evidence, there does not seem to be any con-
State University Press. c rete cause for dispute, such as the refusal of charity,
Ireland 567 |
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b e t ween Dunbar and her accusers. In both instances, i m p o rtance of breaches in charity was less signific a n t
the normal mechanisms of the assize were used to con- than in other places. In Ireland, redistribution of
duct the trials. resources took place between ethnic groups rather than
Historians have offered three principal explanations, social ones; hence, while ethnic tensions may have been
all of them quite faulty, as to why so few witchcraft tri- s t rong, social tensions remained weak. The kinds of
als are known from early modern Ireland. One unlikely tensions that often underlay witchcraft accusations and
theory suggested that Ireland’s legal framework differed trials elsew h e re we re muted in Ireland, with a corre-
f rom En g l a n d’s and discouraged witchcraft pro s e c u- sponding reduction in the general rate of criminal
tions. This was clearly not the case. The Irish statute activity—including witchcraft. This trend may have
against witchcraft of 1586 repeats almost verbatim the been re i n f o rced by the cohesion that seems to have
English act of 1563. A handbook prepared in 1634 for existed within specific ethnic groups in Ireland: this
Irish justices of the peace by Richard Bolton also p romoted some extreme violence between those
instructed the justices in the marks of witchcraft, based groups, as in the 1640s, but maintained high levels of
on English precedents. A second unconvincing expla- social solidarity within them.
nation blamed the destruction of many Irish records in A second consideration that may have served to mit-
the 1922 explosion in the Public Re c o rd Of fice of igate the incidence of witchcraft trials can be traced to
Dublin; hence, re c o rds of witchcraft trials simply do not attitudes tow a rd the law in early modern Ire l a n d .
s u rv i ve. Howe ve r, St. John D. Se y m o u r’s book, Ir i s h Ireland in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth cen-
Witchcraft and Demonology,published nine years before turies was becoming a colonial society, within which
the explosion, failed to identify any further evidence of there was considerable disruption of native Irish social
witchcraft trials. This was unlikely to be the result of s t ru c t u res and a simultaneous fracturing of kin net-
careless scholarship, because in other areas, such as his works among colonists through the migration process.
w o rk on the Cro m wellian church, Seymour was a In this context, law played an important part in defin-
meticulous scholar. A third fla wed explanation held ing and maintaining social relationships. Rather than
that the native Irish failed to prosecute witchcraft cases being seen as an adversarial process, the law served to
in the common law courts in Ireland as an expression of bind individuals and communities together either by
passive resistance against an alien judicial system. This providing sites where relationships could be negotiated,
too seems unlikely. On the basis of surviving Irish court such as the assize or quarter sessions, or by providing a
re c o rds, it is clear that the native Irish we re deeply framework for the definition and maintenance of order.
involved in the workings of the common law system by In Ireland, law was not, therefore, seen as an appropri-
the 1640s. They eagerly prosecuted theft, assault, and ate instrument to use when seeking a resolution of the
murder through these courts, so it is difficult to see why sort of social tensions that appear to have underlain so
witchcraft should have been excluded in such a way. many witchcraft trials elsew h e re. In Ireland, other
In some ways, seeking answers to the question of mechanisms, such as arbitration, proved more impor-
why there were so few witchcraft trials in early modern tant in this area.
Ireland is to formulate the problem badly. It might be
RAYMOND GILLESPIE
better to ask why the beliefs in witchcraft and malefi-
cent magic, which clearly existed in early modern See also:ENGLAND;KYTELER,ALICE;LAWSONWITCHCRAFT(EARLY
Ireland and which produced accusations of witchcraft MODERN); SCOTLAND;TRIALS.
References and further reading:
from time to time, failed to translate into formal witch-
Gillespie, Raymond. 1991. “Women and Crime in
craft trials. To understand the answer to that question
Seventeenth-Century Ireland.” Pp. 43–52 in Women in Early
i n vo l ves both social and economic analysis together
Modern Ireland.Edited by Margaret MacCurtin and Mary
with an understanding of the cultural role of law in ear-
O’Dowd. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
ly modern Ireland. In economic terms, Ireland share d
Lapoint, Elwyn. 1992. “Irish Immunity to Witch Hunting,
one feature with other areas of the British Em p i re 1534–1711.” Eire-Ireland27: 76–92.
w h e re witchcraft trials we re few or absent before the Seymour, St. John D. 1913. Irish Witchcraft and Demonology.
1680s, most notably the Isle of Man, the Scottish high- Dublin and London: Hodges, Figgis, and Humphrey Milford.
lands, and most of colonial America. That feature was a
lack of pressure on available resources. Irish population, Isidore of Seville, St. (ca. 560–636).
though growing fast in the seventeenth century, was St. Is i d o re of Seville was bishop of Seville (600–636) and
l ow in relation to the re s o u rces. The result was that, the most widely learned churchman of early seve n t h -
unlike England and many parts of Europe, there was no c e n t u ry Iberia. He presided over the important Fo u rt h
s i g n i ficant redistribution of wealth through infla t i o n , Council of Toledo in 633 and was a prominent adviser
and hence, those who were increasingly pushed to the to the Visigothic kings of the Iberian Peninsula, part i c-
edge of society elsewhere, notably the poor and women, ularly in matters of raising the level of clerical culture
we re less marginalized in Ireland. Consequently, the and systematizing and circulating the knowledge of
568 Isidore of Seville, St. |
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antiquity and the early Christian world. Is i d o re was also s i g n i ficance of his treatment of magic lies in the wide
a polymath whose interests ranged across a vast number variety of practices he included in this category and in
of subjects. Although not an original thinker, he became his lack of discrimination between pre-Christian and
a successful compiler of much of the learning of the Christian sources. In 2001 the Roman Catholic
ancient world, including its views on magic and sorc e ry. Church named Isidore the patron saint of the Internet.
He passed that learning on to centuries of later re a d e r s
EDWARD PETERS
in his vast work called the Et y m o l o g i e s , a kind of ency-
clopedia of all knowledge, based on the theory that the See also: ANGELS;AUGUSTINE,ST.; BIBLE;CIRCE;DEMONS;DIVINA-
meaning of eve rything could be learned by considering TION;ENDOR,WITCHOF;NECROMANCY.
References and further reading:
the origins of its name. Although Is i d o re died before he
Brehaut, Ernest. 1912. Rprt. 1964. An Encyclopedist of the Dark
had completed the work, his friend Braulio of Sa r a g o s s a
Ages: Isidore of Seville.NewYork: AMS.
edited the work and divided it into twenty books. T h i s
Collins, Roger. 1983.Early Medieval Spain: Unity in Diversity.
w o rk immediately became and long remained the chief
NewYork: St. Martin’s.
s o u rce of information on the learning of antiquity. A close
Flint, Valerie I.J. 1991. The Rise of Magic in Early Medieval
reader of the works of St. Augustine, Is i d o re demon- Europe.Princeton: Princeton University Press.
strated a broader interest in the nonreligious aspects of Fontaine, Jacques. 1983. Isidore de Seville et la culture classique
Gre c o - Roman thought than Augustine, and his discus- dans l’Espagne visigothique.Paris: Études augustiniennes.
sion of magic in Book VIII of the Et y m o l o g i e s b e c a m e Hillgarth, J. N. 1980. “Popular Religion in Visigothic Spain.” Pp.
the standard approach to the term and its history. 3–60 in Visigothic Spain: New Approaches.Edited by Edward
In his discussion of magic, Isidore drew heavily on all James. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kors, Alan Charles, and Edward Peters, eds. 2000. Witchcraft in
the Roman literature he knew, whether pagan or
Europe, 400–1700: A Documentary History.2d ed. Philadelphia:
Christian. Book VIII, chapter 9 begins with Is i d o re’s
University of Pennsylvania Press.
version of the history of magic from an imaginary
Stocking, Rachel L. 2000. Bishops, Councils, and Consensus in the
Zoroaster, king of the Bactrians, to his own day, citing
Visigothic Kingdom, 589–633.Ann Arbor: University of
as sources Aristotle and the Roman poet Lucan. In
Michigan Press.
VIII.9.3, Is i d o re stated that the magic arts we re the Veenstra, Jan. 1998. Magic and Divination at the Courts of
result of the teaching of rebel angels concerning divina- Burgundy and France.Leiden: Brill.
tion, auguries, oracles, and necro m a n c y. Although
magicians possessed great powers, they did not perform Islamic Witchcraft and Magic
miracles. He pointed out that Circe, in Ho m e r’s The Quran (Koran) attests the existence and efficacy of
Od y s s e y, was a magician in this sense, and he quoted magic and the existence of a class of spirits called jinns
other Latin poets to the same effect. Isidore was one of in Muslim theology and folklore. In the centuries after
the most influential transmitters of the image of Circe the first preaching of Islam, Muslim sorcerers contin-
as a witch to later centuries. He mentioned her again in ued to employ pre-Islamic Arab spells and adapted
Book XI.4. For Is i d o re, all testimonies on the subject magical materials from the Greeks, Copts, Nabataeans,
we re of equal value and re f e r red to the same thing, and others. Moreover, the Quran began to be used for
re g a rdless of whether they are of He b rew, Gre e k , sortilege and other magic. Although practitioners of
Roman, or Christian origin. Just before speaking of magic were usually regarded as sinister, they were not
Circe, for example, he cited the example of Moses and systematically persecuted.
the magicians of Pharaoh (Exodus7:8). The last two suras or chapters of the Quran are both
Isidore offered a long catalog defining twenty differ- very short and apotropaic. Sura113 proclaims:
ent kinds of magic culled from all his sourc e s ,
concluding with the warning that “In all these the In the Name of God, the Merciful, the
demonic art has risen from a pestilential association of Compassionate
men and bad angels [demons]. Whence all must be Say: “I take refuge with the Lord of the Daybreak
a voided by Christians and rejected and condemned From the evil of what he has created,
with thorough-going malediction” (IX, 31). From the evil of darkness when it gathers,
Ge n e r a l l y, Is i d o re’s ideas about magic we re those of From the evil of women who blow on knots,
S c r i p t u re, early Christian literature, the Greek and From the evil of the envier when he envies.”
Latin poets, and Roman law. He does not discuss any (The Koran Interpreted 1953, 2: 362)
practices that can be identified as those of his own day,
but he provided a considerable vocabulary of terms to In pre-Islamic Arabia, spells were commonly cast by
later writers who wished to classify contemporary tying knots and envy often provoked the casting of the
practices in their own age. On the subject of magic, as evil eye. According to al-Bukhari’s ninth-century collec-
on other subjects, Is i d o re’s work became the standard tion of sayings concerning the deeds and words of the
re f e rence book for centuries of later scholars. T h e Prophet, this sura was revealed to Muhammad after he
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had been placed under a spell that invo l ved the knot- light, on the whole,jinnshad a reputation for cruel and
ting together and burial of a comb with some of the a r b i t r a ry behavior. They lurked in such sinister and
p ro p h e t’s hair (Al-Bukhari 1893–1896, 5, 250). unclean places as cemeteries, caves, and lavatories. The
Muhammad had the sorc e rer killed—an act that may ghoul, shape-shifting jinn, who was usually female and
h a ve served as a precedent for the order of the Caliph cannibalistic, lurked in wastelands and sometimes used
‘Umar (ruled 634–644) that all the sorcerers in one area the semblance of beauty to lure men to their doom.
of Iraq should be killed (Morony 1984, 397–398) The So rc e rers usually derived their powers from control of
t e n t h-c e n t u ry bookseller and cataloger Ibn al-Na d i m the jinns.The mad (majnun) were commonly held to be
listed a sorc e rer who had produced treatises entitled possessed by j i n n s (We s t e r m a rk 1899; Ma c d o n a l d
The Un t i e d , The Ti e d , The Knots, and The Tw i s t i n g s 1909, 130–156; Fahd 1971).
(Ibn al-Nadim 1970, 2, 731; Morony 1984, 399) Ji n n s we re held to be the sources of inspiration for
Sura114 is as follows: the pre-Islamic poetry of the Arabian Peninsula. Every
poet was supposed to have his qarin,or associate spirit.
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Po e t ry was used for cursing, particularly in the fin a l
Compassionate moments before engaging in battle with a rival tribe. To
Say: “I take refuge with the Lord of men, some extent, this association between poetry and
the King of men, demonic inspiration persisted in the Islamic tradition
the God of men, for centuries, and there were numerous anecdotes about
from the evil of the slinking whisperer famous poets receiving their inspiration from Iblis or
who whispers in the breasts of men one of the other lesser jinns. Poetry proper was distin-
of jinnand men.” guished from s a j’, a form of rhymed and rhythmic
(The Koran Interpreted 1953, 2: 363) utterance that was in the first instance the language
e m p l oyed by the k a h i n s or soothsayers. The k a h i n s o f
The whisperer in the breasts of man was Iblis or p re - Islamic Arabia not only uttered predictions, but
Satan (who in later Islamic lore was usually visualized as also cast spells, practiced medicine, and acted as tribal
a handsome one-eyed old man with a thin beard). The mediators. The Prophet fie rcely denounced K a h i n s .
Arabic noun waswasmeans whispering, devilish insinu- Nevertheless, their magical use of saj’ and the forms of
ation, temptation, melancholy, or delusion. Ji n n s a re divination persisted into Islamic times (Ma c d o n a l d
repeatedly re f e r red to in the Quran and consequently 1909, 30–34; Fahd 1987, 91–176).
form part of orthodox Muslim belief. According to the Fi n a l l y, sorc e ry also features in s u ra 7 of the Qu r a n
Quran, the j i n n s we re created from smokeless fire . relating the encounter of Moses with the sorc e rers of
Elsewhere in the Quran, the Biblical King Solomon is Pharaoh. They conjured up serpents, but Moses cast his
credited with power over the jinn: a considerable body staff upon the ground and it became a serpent that
of Islamic folklore grew up about his dealings with the d e vo u red the hallucinations conjured up by the
jinns, his use of various magical impedimenta, and his Egyptian sorcerers (Moses’s staff was often discussed in
imprisonment of some j i n n s in stoppered flasks (T h e later Islamic occult treatises). The magical powers of
Ko ran In t e r p re t e d 1953, 2: 96–98; 21: 78–82; 34: Solomon and Moses, as well as Mu h a m m a d’s re s e m-
12–13). After the conquest of Persia by Muslim armies blance to a kahinin some superficial respects, stimulat-
in the seventh century, Arabic lore about jinns w a s ed the production of a body of Islamic literature that
assimilated to the preexisting Persian lore about d i vs sought to discriminate between divinely inspire d
(supernatural monsters). The legendary Pe r s i a n p rophecy and the miracles of saints on the one hand,
m o n a rch, Jamshid, controlled the d i vs in much the and witchcraft and various forms of divination and
same way that Solomon controlled the jinns.Jinnswere occultism on the other.
sometimes also re f e r red to as s h a i t a ns (satans) and in One of the most extensive and predominantly skep-
Sura 2 of the Quran, the shaitans were responsible for tical accounts of the various branches of occultism can
teaching people sorc e ry, making use of two fallen be found in the fourt e e n t h - c e n t u ry No rth African
angels, Harut and Marut, who were hung upside down philosopher-historian Ibn Khaldun’s Mu q a d d i m a
in a well in Ba bylon (The Ko ran In t e r p re t e d 1953, 2: (Pro l e g o m e n a). Ibn Khaldun believed that good inten-
96–97). This legendary well became a place of pilgrim- tions underpinned true prophecy, while evil intentions
age for those who wished to learn sorcery. m a rked out the divinatory powers of the sorc e re r. He
Like Christian angels, there were good jinnsas well as also stressed the distinction between a miracle-working
rebellious and maleficent jinns. Law books proclaimed Su fi, whose powers came from God, and a magician
the lawfulness for Muslim mortals of commercial and who worked with talismans or magic letters. (Ib n
sexual intercourse with jinns.Jurists set out the proper- Khaldun 1967, 1, 191). Although Ibn Khaldun wished
ty and marriage rights of j i n n s . Ne ve rtheless, though to reject as much of magic and the related occult sci-
some anecdotes presented individual j i n n s in a benign ences as possible, he was fascinated by the occult. He
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d e fined sorc e ry as the technique by which souls may which apparently date from the late ninth and early
i n fluence the world without any aid. Because sorc e ry tenth centuries. Although alchemical recipes and specu-
i n vo l ved veneration of spheres, stars, or j i n n , it was a lations we re at the center of the Jabirian corpus of
form of infid e l i t y. Not only was the effectiveness of pseudepigrapha, it contained a great deal of other mat-
magic attested by the Quran and religious law, but also ter, some of which must be characterized as ritual and
Ibn Khaldun had personally observed a sorcerer making talismanic magic (Kraus 1942). Ibn Khaldun (1967,
use of spitting and of knots, as well as a pact with the 3,157) described Jabir as the chief sorc e rer of Is l a m .
jinns.Ibn Khaldun also gave an account of the “rippers” Among much else, one finds spells to kill snakes, to
of North Africa, who could tear an animal or a garment cure insomnia, to trap jinnin statues, and for the artifi-
to pieces by pointing at it and muttering certain magic cial generation of serpents and homunculi. The Jabirian
words. This sort of magic was used to blackmail herds- corpus placed much emphasis on the “filthy dispen-
men into paying off the sorc e rer with an animal fro m s a ry”—the magical use of corpses, semen, blood, and
his flock. Ibn Khaldun had actually talked with these excrement, as well as relying on the power of the planets
s o rc e rers (Ibn Khaldun 1967, 1, 203–245; 3, 156–227). and stars to infuse talismans. Jabirians drew on the
Whether effective or not, magic was widely re g a rd e d occult legacy of late antiquity, but also on folk magic.
by Muslims as something alien to Islam, as something Similar material was ascribed to the probably no less
that had either surv i ved from pagan idolatry or had been l e g e n d a ry Ibn Wahshiyya, who was supposed to have
i m p o rted from neighboring lands. The Copts in part i c- written on poisons, magic alphabets, and alchemy.The
ular we re re g a rded as the heirs of an ancient and secre t chief work ascribed to him was the Kitab al-falaha
Pharaonic wisdom. Ibn Khaldun re g a rded Eg y p t i a n a l-n a b a t i y y a ( Nabataean Agriculture). Pu r p o rtedly a
temples as relics of ancient sorc e ry and the Copts, translation from Syriac made ca. 900, it celebrated the
together with ancient Syrians and Chaldaeans, as the ancient glories of pre-Islamic Iraq, especially its mastery
original specialists in sorc e ry, astro l o g y, and talismans. A of agronomy. It also contained a vast amount of occult
g reat deal of extremely sinister, but most fantastical sor- l o re. Si m i l a r l y, the book on poisons, Kitab al-sumam,
c e ry was traced back to the mysterious Sabaeans of included what we would regard as malefic spells rather
Harran (today in eastern Tu rkey). The Sabaeans we re than poisons—for example, an unusually disgusting
star worshippers who reputedly practiced human sacri- recipe for producing a human-headed calf, the mere
fice and used seve red heads to predict the future; their sight of which was enough to kill people (Ul l m a n n
city was a place of abomination. The tenth-century 1972, 209–210, 384, 440–443; Hutton 2003, 153).
book-cataloger Ibn al-Nadim mentioned a Sa b a e a n Ibn Wahshiyya’s spells for conjuring spirits, as well as
book, a l - Ha t i fi, that dealt with planetary worship, Jabirian speculations about the khawasor special prop-
human sacrifice, knotting spells, incantations, and talis- e rties of plants, stones, and parts of the human body,
mans. Sabaean paganism, whatever its true nature , we re drawn on in the manual of magic known as
a p p a rently surv i ved for several centuries under Is l a m i c Ghayat al-hakim fi’l sihr (The Goal of the Sage with
rule. Ibn al-Nadim further observed that while some Respect to Magic). Falsely ascribed to a re s p e c t a b l e
s o rc e rers claimed to acquire their powers by fasting and Andalusian Arab mathematician, al-Majriti (d. 1008), it
living virtuous lives, others boasted that their powe r was probably written in the 1050s. It was later abridged
came from disobeying divine laws and doing forbidden and translated into Latin in the mid-thirteenth century
things. Like Ibn Khaldun, Ibn al-Nadim saw Egypt as as Picatrix.The Ghayat offered a wide range of recipes
the place par excellence for sorc e ry. He also re c o rded a for the manufacture of talismans under the appropriate
d ream told to him by a magician of his acquaintance, in astrological influences. The filthy dispensary was often
which the magician beheld Venus surrounded by black used; for example, a spell for a magic mirror re q u i re d
Nabataeans (the ancient inhabitants of Iraq) with clove n the use of tears, blood, earwax, spittle, sperm, urine,
h o oves (Ibn al-Nadim 1970, 2, 745–773; Hutton 2003, and exc rement. Despite the protests of Islam in the
138–140, 145–150). exordium and elsewhere, the general tone of the Ghayat
Although the ‘ulum al-awa’ i l , or sciences of the was sinister. Indeed, some of its spells we re so sinister
ancients, including Aristotelian philosophy, Eu c l i d e a n and fantastic that a critical reader may conclude that
g e o m e t ry, and Ptolemaic astro n o m y, we re widely they were included as horror stories to make a reader’s
respected by medieval Muslim intellectuals, there was flesh creep, rather than representing the actual practice
also a sinister side to what was (or at least was suppos- of magicians in Muslim lands (Ps e u d o - Majriti 1933;
edly) the legacy of antiquity.The Jabirian corpus is one Pseudo-Majriti 1986; Matton 1977, 245–317; Pingree
of the most important examples of this d a m n o s a 1980; Ullmann 1972, 385–386; Hutton 2003,
h a e re d i t a s . Jabir ibn Hayyan was an alchemist who 154–158).
allegedly lived in the late eighth and early ninth cen- Despite ‘Umar’s instructions to his governors in Iraq,
turies, but it seems fairly clear that he did not write the there has never been a sustained witch-hunting craze in
huge number of treatises attributed to him, most of Islamic lands, nor anything resembling He i n r i c h
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Si m i l a r l y, in The Arabian Ni g h t s , witches often fea-
t u red as lesbians and sometimes as man-eaters. Arab
witches we re believed to fly on jars rather than bro o m-
sticks. But the magical stories of The Arabian Ni g h t s
f e a t u red just as many male No rth African and
Zo roastrian Persian sorc e rers as they did female witches.
Male and female sorc e rers we re normally presented as
w o rking alone, rather than in covens, in both T h e
Arabian Ni g h t s and in popular epics of folk literature
( Irwin 1994, 184, 201–203). ‘Aquila, the sorc e ress in
the romance of Sayf bin Dhi Ya z a n , was credited with
“ k n owing magic, having j i n nhelpers, opening up tre a-
s u res, uncovering the secrets of the heart, changing
shape, knowing how to fly in the air, constru c t i n g
elixirs, countering spells and unlocking talismans”
( Lyons 1995, 1: 49). The sorc e resses of popular
romance we re not always malign fig u res. In “The Ta l e
of the Second De rv i s h” in The Arabian Ni g h t s ,a king’s
daughter was able to detect that the prince has been
turned into an ape, because as a child she studied with
“a wily and tre a c h e rous woman who was a witch” who
“taught me witchcraft, and I copied and memorize d
the seventy domains of magic.” Despite her sinister
a p p re n t i c e s h i p, the princess was virtuous and engaged
in a shape-shifting battle with j i n n who had impris-
oned the prince in ape’s form. (T h e Arabian Ni g h t s ,
1 0 8 – 1 1 2 ) .
In the absence of trial records or of any source com-
parable to the Malleus,one is dependent on tales of the
m a rvellous and what the sorc e rers wrote about them-
s e l ves, together with later accounts by Western trav-
A genie flies with two people (from The Arabian Nights). The
ellers and anthropologists. One of the most interesting
Arabian Nightscontains much Islamic magic, including jinns, good
and evil spirits, and witches. (Bettmann/Corbis) s o rc e re r’s manuals, the ‘Uyun al-haqa’ i q remains in
manuscript. It was compiled in the mid- to late-thir-
teenth century by Abu’l-Qasim al-Iraqi, who worked as
K r a m e r’s witch-hunting manual, the Ma l l e u s s t reet corner conjuror in Mamluk, Cairo. A curious
Ma l e fic a rum (The Hammer of Witches, 1486). Pa c t s m i x t u re of supernatural spells and conjuring tricks, it
with the Devil and contracts to sell one’s soul we re contained spells for mind reading, walking on water,
v i rtually unknown in Islamic culture. Instead, the and giving a man the appearance of a bird, among
s o rc e rer sought to control the j i n n s by mastery of the many other marvels. Abu’l-Qasim had read widely and
right magical words and impedimenta. Mo re ove r, sor- had also engaged in the (misguided) study of the images
c e rers we re more likely to be male than female. T h e re in ancient Egyptian temples (Irwin 1994, 203, 321;
are very few references to covens of witches in Arabic, Ullmann 1972, 235–236, 391–392).
Persian, or Turkish literature. However, Leo Africanus, Ab u’l - Qasim was a late re p re s e n t a t i ve of the sort of
a sixteenth-c e n t u ry No rth African conve rt to s o rc e rer who studied what he took to be the ‘ulum al-
C h r i s t i a n i t y, who wrote a Description of Africa w h i l e a w a’ i l and who invoked authorities like Hermes and
residing in It a l y, gave an account of something that Pl a t o. In c re a s i n g l y, this was replaced by a magic that
looks like a coven and that flourished in Fez when he d rew to some extent on Su fimysticism, used the Qu r a n
was a boy. Leo recalled that it included female diviners as a kind of spell-book, and worked magic thro u g h
who pretended that they enjoyed the friendship of vari- i n voking the name of God or by manipulating letters
ous types of jinns—red, white, and black. When asked and numbers. The great magical compendium, the
to pro p h e s y, the women faked being possessed. T h o s e Shams al-Ma’arif al-Ku b ra(The Great Sun of Gn o s i s )
who had come to consult them left presents for the was the most famous and popular work expounding this
j i n n s . Leo added that these women we re lesbians with kind of magic. Attributed to the No rth African Sh a d h i l i
p re d a t o ry designs on any pretty women who came to Su fimystic, Muhyi al-Din al-Buni (d. 1225), it seems to
consult them (Leo 1896, vol. 2, p. 458). h a ve been assembled some decades after his death by his
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disciples. The text (of which there are variant ve r s i o n s ) Ibn al-Nadim. 1970. The Fihrist of Ibn al-Nadim: ATenth-Century
was illustrated with numerous designs for talismans and Survey of Muslim Culture.Translated by Bayard Dodge. New
magic squares. Despite the piety of much of the text and York: Columbia University Press.
Ibn Wahshiyya. 1993, 1995. Al-Filaha al-nabatiyya = L’agriculture
its emphasis on ritual purity and fasting, some of the
nabatéenne, traduction attribuée à Ibn Wahshiyya.Edited by
spells had an evil intent. For examples, the book gave
Toufic Fahd. 2 vols. Damascus: al-Mahad al-’Ilmi al-Faransi lil
guidance on such matters as soul stealing, magically set-
Dirasat al-’Arabiyah.
ting a house on fire, and paralyzing an enemy thro u g h
Irwin, Robert. 1994. The Arabian Nights: a Companion.London:
fashioning a wax doll (Buni; al-Ga w h a ry 1968).
Allen Lane, Penguin.
L i t e r a ry magic was an urban affair. We know much The Koran Interpreted.1953. 2 vols. Translated by A. J. Arberry.
less about rural and desert sorc e ry. From the late eigh- London: Allen and Unwin.
teenth century onward, the puritanical Wahhabi sect set Kraus, Paul. 1942.Jabir ibn Hayyan, Contribution á l’histoire des
out to extirpate pagan surv i vals and unacceptable super- idées scientifiques dans l’Islam, 1: Le corpus des écrits Jabiriens, 2:
stitious accretions to strict Islamic practice in the Arabian Jabir et la science grecque.Cairo: Mémoires présentés à l’Institut
Peninsula. Ne ve rtheless, plenty of evidence demonstrates de l’Egypte.
Lane, EdwardWilliam. 1836. Manners and Customs of the Modern
the surv i val of magical practices in the desert up to the
Egyptians.London: The Society for the Diffusion of Useful
p resent day. In part i c u l a r, the low-caste Sulluba tribe,
Knowledge.
who work mostly as hunters and blacksmiths, have a re p-
Leo Africanus. 1896. The History and Description of Africa by Leo
utation as guardians of magical knowledge. The women
Africanus.Translated by John Pory. Edited by R. Brown. 3 vols.
of this tribe in particular are reputed to be able to cast
London: Hakluyt Society.
spells; they have the power of the evil eye, as well as being Lyons, Malcolm. 1995. The Arabian Epic: Heroic and Oral Story-
e x p e rts in poison and witchcraft. They tell fortunes by telling.3 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
casting stones and shells upon the ground. (It is wort h Macdonald, Duncan Black. 1909. The Religious Attitude and Life
noting that it is generally held throughout Islamic lands in Islam.Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
that the bearer of the evil eye is not necessarily aware that Matton, Sylvain, ed. 1977. La Magie Arabe Traditionelle.Paris:
he or she possesses it.) The Sulluba serve as scapegoats, Retz.
Morony, Michael, G. 1984. Iraq After the Muslim Conquest.
for other tribes tend to blame their misfortunes on
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Sulluba sorc e ry (Dickson 1949, 521–525).
Pingree, David. 1980. “Some of the Sources of the Ghayat
al-Hakim.”Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes43:
ROBERT IRWIN
1–15.
See also:AMULETANDTALISMAN;ANGELS;DEMONS;DIVINATION; Pseudo-Majriti. 1933. Das Ziel der Weisen,1. Arabischer Text.
EVILEYE;JEWS,WITCHCRAFT,ANDMAGIC;MAGICANDRELI- Edited by Helmut Ritter. Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, Studien der
GION;MOSES;SORCERY;SPELLS. Bibliothek Warburg.
References and further reading: ———. 1986. Picatrix. The Latin Version.Edited by David
Al-Bukhari. 1893–1896. al-Jami’ al-sahih.9 vols. Bulaq, Cairo: Pingree. London: Warburg Institute.
Bulaq Press. Savage Smith, Emilie, ed. 2004. Magic and Divination in Early
Al-Buni. n.d. Shams al-Ma’arif al-Kubra.Beirut: al-Maktaba Islam.Burlington, VT and Aldershot: Ashgate.
al-Thaqafa. Ullmann, Manfred. 1972. Die Natur- und Geheimwisssenschaft in
al-Gawhary, Mohammed M. 1968. Die Gottesnamen in magischen Islam,Leiden: E. J. Brill.
Gebrauch in den al-Buni zugescrieben Werken.Bonn: Westermark, Edward. 1899. “The Nature of the Arab Ginn,
Rhenischen Friedrich-Wilhelm’s Universität. Illustrated by the Present Beliefs of the People of Morocco.”
Dickson, H. R. P. 1949. The Arab of the Desert: A Glimpse into Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and
Badawin Life in Kuwait and Sau’di Arabia.London: Allen and Ireland29: 252–269.
Unwin.
Doutté, E. 1908. Magie et religion dans l’Afrique du Nord.Algiers:
Isolani, Isidoro (1475–ca. 1528)
Jourdan.
Fahd, Toufy. 1966. “Le Monde du sorcier en Islam.” Pp. 155–204 Isolani was a Dominican professor of theology, active in
in Le Monde du Sorcier: Egypt, Babylone, Hittites, Israel, Islam, Milan and its vicinity in the early sixteenth century,
Asie Centrale, Inde, Nepal, Vietnam, Japon.Edited by Denise whose numerous writings expressed concern with the
Beanot et al. Paris: Editions du Seuil. growing presence of witches in northern Italy. Isolani
_________. 1971. “Anges, démons et djinns en Islam.” discussed the theoretical aspects of the phenomenon of
Pp. 153–214 in Genies, anges et demons.Edited by Denise
witchcraft, justified the harsh persecution of this dia-
Bernot et al. Paris. Editions du Seuil.
bolical sect, and offered information about contempo-
Fahd, Toufic (Toufy). 1987. La Divination Arabe.Paris: Sindbad.
rary witch hunts. He also discussed female living saints,
Hutton, Ronald. 2003. Witches, Druids and King Arthur.London
whom he viewed as antitheses to witches.
and NewYork: Hambledon and London.
Isolani joined the monastery of Santa Maria delle
Ibn Khaldun. 1967. The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History.
3 vols., 2d ed., Translated by Franz Rosenthal. London: Grazie in Milan, which belonged to the Lombard
Routledge and Kegan Paul. C o n g regation, and completed his studies in Bologna,
Isolani, Isidoro 573 |
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w h e re he studied under the famous theologian and of the Church Militant, 1517), which was concerned
demonologist Silvestro Prierias. In the first two decades with papal authority. Witches provided one indication
of the sixteenth century, he was reader in philosophy of an increasing diabolical presence in the world, a sign
and theology in various Dominican institutions and of the imminent coming of the Antichrist; Is o l a n i
prior of friaries in Milan, Cremona, and Pavia. At praised the execution of more than sixty witches in
Milan, Isolani was involved in pro-French politics and Como in 1514, while he was serving as a reader in a
affiliated with the spiritual circle headed by the mystic local friary. In his book about the In e x p l i c a b l e
Arcangela Panigarola. Mysterious Deeds of the Blessed Ve ronica of Bi n a s c o
He was a pro l i fic author who discussed the major (1518), Isolani attempted to distinguish between dia-
c o n t roversies of his time, including pro p h e c y, the bolically and divinely inspired supernatural phenome-
immaculate conception, and the Luther affair. Is o l a n i na, presenting this Milanese mystic as an antiwitch.
e n t e red the debate on magic and witchcraft in 1506,
TAMAR HERZIG
with his Libellus adversus magos, divinatores, maleficos (A
Little Book Opposing Magicians, Diviners, and See also: CAGNAZZO,GIOVANNIOFTAGGIA(ORTABIA);
Sorcerers). In the Libellus, Isolani rejected any distinc- DEMONOLOGY;DIVINATION;ITALY;LIVINGSAINTS;MAGIC,
tion between natural and demonic magic: even magical
LEARNED;MAGIC,NATURAL;MALEFICIUM;MILAN;PRIERIAS,SIL-
rites that did not explicitly invoke demons were incom-
VESTRO;RATEGNO,BERNARDOOFCOMO.
References and further reading:
patible with Christianity, and all those who practiced
Isolani, Isidoro. 1506. Libellus adversus magos, divinatores, malefi-
them were heretics with a tacit or explicit pact with the
cos.Milan: J.A. Scinzenzeler.
Devil. His arguments resembled other Re n a i s s a n c e
———. 1517. De Imperio militantis ecclesiae libri quattuor.Milan:
refutations of astrology and similar practices, but the Gotardus Ponticus.
Libelluswas among the first Italian books that discussed ———. 1518. Inexplicabilis mysterii gesta Beatae Veronicae Virginis
witches in a polemical treatise against magic. praeclarissimi Monasterii Sanctae Marthae urbis Mediolani. Sub
Isolani treated witchcraft in the third part of his observatione Regulae Divi Augustini.Milan: Gotardus Ponticus.
Libellus. He argued that the witches submitted both Prosperi, Adriano. 1992. “New Heaven and New Earth: Prophecy
body and soul to the Devil; they met occasionally in and Propaganda at the Time of the Discovery and Conquest of
the Americas.” Pp. 279–303 in Prophetic Rome in the High
f o rests, where they sang, danced, copulated with
Renaissance Period.Edited by Marjorie Reeves. Oxford:
demons, renounced the Christian faith, abused the
Clarendon.
Eucharist, and worshiped a certain mistress who
Redigonda, Abele. 1977. “La ‘Summa de donis sancti Joseph’ di
p resided over their meetings. With the De v i l’s assis-
Isidoro Isolani.” Cahiers de Josephologie25: 203–221.
tance, the witches killed children and caused fatal dis-
Zarri, Gabriella. 1996. “Living Saints: A Typology of Female
eases, impotence, infertility, and natural disasters. Their Sanctity in the Early Sixteenth Century.” Pp. 219–303 in
crimes we re real, not imaginary; Isolani repeated stan- Women and Religion in Medieval and Renaissance Italy.Edited
d a rd theological explanations about how God permit- by Daniel Bornstein and Roberto Rusconi. Chicago and
ted the Devil and his followers to deceive humans. London: University of Chicago Press.
Isolani never served as an inquisitor, but reported testi-
mony heard by contemporary inquisitors to prove his Italy
points, and praised their attempts to exterminate the “To the fire, to the fire, to the fire!” St. Bernardino of
witches’ sect. Siena’s invocation of stakes in a 1427 sermon against
The Libellusdeals mainly with types of learned mag- superstitions illustrates that the dangers from sorcery
ic popular among Italian men, but its section on witch- and now witchcraft were already strong in Renaissance
craft and maleficium (harmful magic) deals with “little Italy. The European fear of witches, endemic among
w o m e n” (m u l i e rc u l a e ) who practiced the healing art s . both urban and rural populations, materialized in small
Isolani asserted that, being illiterate, these women’s and occasionally large and bloody hunts. These patterns
healing abilities necessarily derived from pacts with the lasted over three centuries, but with irregular frequency,
Evil One. Isolani never cited the Ma l l e u s Ma l e fic a ru m intensity, and diffusion. Italy conformed to this general
(The Hammer of Witches, 1486), but repeated its con- scenario. However, one must also admit that an outline
tention that women’s frailty, and especially their lascivi- of Italian witchcraft trials is seriously hampered by a
ousness, accounted for their greater proclivity tow a rd lack of reliable modern studies. We know far too little
witchcraft. In the two decades following the publica- to sketch out anything except the broad temporal and
tion of his Li b e l l u s , other Dominicans (Rategno, geographical distribution of witchcraft trials in a rudi-
Prierias) from the Lombard Congregation voiced simi- mentary map, with many lacunae.
lar characterizations of the witches’ sect. Mo re ove r, a clear characterization of the crime must
Is o l a n i’s preoccupation with diabolic witchcraft p recede its general pro file. Fantastic tales of witches’
re c u r red in the first book of his De Imperio militantis gatherings we re certainly known by Be r n a rd i n o’s day,
ecclesiae libri quattuor (Four Books on the “Imperium” but the basis of most witnesses and accusers’ depositions
574 Italy |
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t h roughout Italy remained the fear of m a l e ficium ( h a r m- mid-seventeenth century, followed by a century of rare
ful magic); people we re not interested in whether or not and scattered witchcraft trials.
the Devil played a part. Ma l e fic i u mwas mainly a neigh-
borhood crime, fostered by the malevolence and suspi- F i rst Phase (1430–1 5 3 0 ) A re c o n s t ruction of the
cion endemic in early modern villages. But Italy also chronology of early Italian persecutions shows no par-
swarmed with cities, and we must not overlook the pro- ticular patterns of geographical diffusion. The entire
fessional urban witches of Renaissance Italy who special- Kingdom of Naples is a blank spot. In the Papal States,
i zed in love magic; they abound in inquisitorial re c o rd s t h e re occurred individual witchcraft trials at Ro m e
as well as in literature . (1424), Todi (1428), and Perugia (1446), all ending in
Italy for the most part escaped large witch hunts. e xecutions. Despite St. Be r n a rd i n o’s volcanic sermons,
This re l a t i vely mild pattern (rivaled on the continent t h e re we re few prosecutions in fif t e e n t h - c e n t u ry
mainly by the northern Netherlands) primarily resulted Tuscany: one woman was beheaded in Fl o rence as a
from three interconnected factors. First, after overcom- strega(witch) in June 1427. Further north, and later, we
ing the challenge of Protestantism, the post-Tridentine hear of a witch burned in 1471 at Vercelli; elsewhere in
C h u rch wished to indoctrinate its superstitious flo c k . Piedmont (Canavese), five women we re tried and two
Second, the Roman Inquisition (created in 1542), a of them executed in 1474–1475.
s t rongly centralized agency, claimed jurisdiction ove r By the end of the century, matters had taken a harsh-
this crime and successfully re m oved most witchcraft e r, dramatic turn. A pattern of escalation emerged;
cases from Italy’s less scrupulous secular courts. Third, a t h e re we re clusters of witchcraft trials in the early six-
judicial rationale raising standards of proof pre va i l e d teenth century, culminating between 1520 and 1530—
among the cardinals of the Congregation of Ro m e’s the heyday of Italian stakes. In 1506, three women were
Holy Of fice, which by 1600 had produced a manu- burned in the south, at Benevento, and between 1505
script In s t ructio pro formandis processibus in causis and 1524 three more died in Rome. Farther north, in a
strigum, sort i l e g i o rum et malefic o rum ( In s t ruction for tiny principality in the Po basin ruled by Gianfrancesco
Conducting Trial Pro c e d u re Against Witches, So rc e re r s , Pico della Mirandola, nephew of the great philosopher,
and Evildoers), eventually published in 1657. Fo r a secular court tried sixty witches and executed ten of
example, physicians had to establish whether an infant’s them in 1522. Two years later, near Rieti, the notorious
death was due to natural or unnatural causes. “In pros- Paulo Grillando sentenced three women to death: two
ecuting suspected witches the inquisitor must not reach of them had attended a Sabbaunder the famous walnut
the point of incarceration, inquisition or tort u re until tree of Benevento (already famous at Todi in 1428); the
the corpus delicti is judicially established. The presence other escaped the stake only by transfixing her thro a t
of sickness in a man or the presence of a corpse in with a nail. Bellezza Orsini, too, under torture, admit-
t h e m s e l ves do not constitute adequate evidence, s i n c e ted she had excavated infant corpses in order to prepare
infirmity and death do not need to be connected to acts the grease to enable her to fly to the Sabbat.
of witchcraft, but can result from a large number of Above all, Italy’s Alpine valleys were in flames. In the
natural causes” (Tedeschi 1990, 92). Val Fiemme (Trent), a secular court tried fifteen women
Moreover, after 1588 the Roman Inquisition prohib- and one man from 1501 to 1505. Under systematic tor-
ited prosecuting people denounced by witches as ture, they confessed to killing cattle, infanticide, storm
accomplices seen at the Sabbat, thus pre venting the raising, pacts with the Devil, and flights to lascivious
domino effect responsible for Eu ro p e’s worst witch nocturnal assemblies, and named their accomplices.
crazes. Other “modern” aspects of the inquisitorial trial, Large witch hunts took place in Val Camonica
such as an obligatory defense attorney, had little effect, (Brescia): a Dominican inquisitor between 1518–1521
while its reputedly limited use of torture requires care- tried at least 165 witches, and 64 of them were burned.
ful reappraisal. InValtellina, seven women out of thirty were executed.
At Venegono superiore (duchy of Milan), a “m i xe d”
Temporal and Geographical c o u rt of ecclesiastical and lay judges tried nineteen
Distribution women and two men, and burned seven women. But,
Given the physical geography of the Italian peninsula, although we have no reliable numbers of witches tried
our model of its witchcraft trials must contain three and executed here, the diocese of Como undoubtedly
large zones—the entire Alpine band, a central area, conducted the most ruthless and massive witchcraft tri-
from the Po flatlands southward, and the Kingdom of als on Italian territory. Here Antonio of Casale report-
Naples—and a four-phase temporal subdivision. An edly sentenced 300 witches to the stake in the years fol-
early phase, lasting from ca. 1430 to ca. 1530, was fol- l owing 1416. In 1485, we hear of another fort y - o n e
lowed by fifty years of apparent lull. Around the 1580s witches burned here. When Bartolomeo della Spina, in
came a sudden upsurge of witchcraft trials, mainly con- his Quaestio de strigibus (An In vestigation of Wi t c h e s ,
ducted by the Roman Inquisition. It endured until the 1523)writes that between 1519 and 1522, the number
Italy 575 |
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of witches tried in the diocese of Como exceeded a Meanwhile, inquisitorial trials for crimes related to
thousand and those executed exceeded a hundred, we witchcraft multiplied almost eve ry w h e re. At Na p l e s ,
have no way of ascertaining the solidity of his estimates. trials for magic virtually doubled, from twe n t y - five in
1582–1586 to forty-eight in 1597–1601. In Re g g i o
The Apparent Lu l l Early in the sixteenth century, Emilia, they mushroomed from 26 between 1582 and
“no thoughtful observer would have predicted that 1591 to 250 in the following decade. In Siena, five-year
witchcraft trials would become relatively rare” in Italy, averages of denunciations and trials for maleficium rose
or that the Roman Inquisition “would be primarily steadily from twe l ve to sixty-five between 1580–1584
responsible for curbing their spre a d” (Monter 2002, and 1600–1604. The trend is confirmed by the indexes
44). Though the Roman Inquisition would eve n t u a l l y of Venetian and Friulan Inquisitions (Monter and
play a hegemonic role in conducting Italian witchcraft Tedeschi 1986); in the latter, denunciations for magical
trials, during the central decades of the sixteenth centu- arts increased from 45 between 1557 and 1559 to 256
ry, its energies we re completely absorbed by the fig h t b e t ween 1596 and 1610. In the Ligurian village of
against Protestantism, and the previous rhythm of per- Triora, there occurred another significant episode from
secutions seemed to fall abruptly. During this apparent 1589 paralleling Lu c c a’s. St ruck by famine, it experi-
h a l f - c e n t u ry lull from witch hunting, lack of re s e a rc h enced an exceptional toll of infant mortality. An inves-
makes it impossible to discover variations in witchcraft tigation, started by the Inquisition, soon involved 100
trials from one region to another. Nevertheless, witch- suspects among its 2,500 people. When the villagers
craft trials did happen at unexpected times and we re complained about the mild way it was being conduct-
conducted indifferently by episcopal, inquisitorial, and ed, these cases we re taken in hand by the Republic of
secular courts. If Italian authorities apparently avoided Genoa, which seized eighteen women and one man and
any large-scale witch hunts, we have evidence of scat- sentenced five to death. Rome eventually succeeded in
t e red cases in major cities. In 1540, a Fl o rentine vicar stopping their executions, but only after all five women
sent four women to the stake at San Miniato. In 1569, had already died in Genoa’s prison. As this example sug-
five women were reportedly burned at Siena, and four gests, Italy’s fortunate avoidance of the worst excesses of
women at Rome in 1572. At Bologna, six women were witch hunting was indeed due primarily to the influ-
hanged and then burned in 1549, 1559, and 1577; ence of a strong central agency, the Holy Office, which
c l e a r l y, Johann We ye r’s re m a rk about the “m o d e r a t i o n monopolized jurisdiction over this crime in most of the
on the part of the magistrate at Bologna” (De Praestigiis peninsula and enforced such high standards of pro o f
Daemonum [On the Tricks of Devils], 539) needs to be that it eventually aborted a process that caused gre a t
corrected. And a serious confrontation ensued when the human devastation in most other European regions.
ove rzealous witch-hunting card i n a l - a rchbishop of In the Alpine valleys, the original Italian hotbed of
Milan and future saint, Carlo Borromeo, insisted on witch hunting, earlier traditions continued, but on a
sentencing eight women from Lecco to the stake. The much smaller scale: deaths declined drastically. Despite
Roman Congregation of the Holy Office, unsatisfied by some clusters of trials in Val Fassa (1573, 1627–1631,
the procedure followed, insisted that in the case of sup- 1643–1644: fourteen victims, including three men),
posed infanticides, the corpus delicti had to be verified, Non valley (1611–1615: ten victims, including thre e
thus anticipating its future moderate judicial strategy. men), or Nogaredo (1646–1647: eight victims, includ-
ing one man), lay judges ord e red barely thirty exe c u-
The Ma jor Witc hcraft Trials (1580– 1660) All of tions (three others died in prison). If we take into
our patchy information points to a resurgence of perse- account the Grison Italophone valley of Poschiavo (part
cutions during the last two decades of the century, of the diocese of Como), where the secular court con-
with a clear peak during the 1590s. Trials we re con- ducted some 160 trials between 1631 and 1674 in an
ducted in most parts of central It a l y, especially those a rea devastated by the Valtelline wars and the 1630
that had already gained the reputation of being infest- plague, the number of Italian stakes might surpass 100.
ed by witches, but less frequently in the south; mean-
while, in some Alpine valleys, trials again multiplied After 1650 By the second half of the seventeenth cen-
into extensive persecutions. At Lucca, where a secular t u ry, m a l e fic i u m trials had become scarce. In a few
c o u rt, using seve re tort u re, had already sent two Alpine valleys, the drag from previous witch hunts was
women to the stake in 1571, no fewer than fifteen peo- still visible, with trials again re p o rted in Non va l l e y
ple (ten women, five men) we re tried in 1589, and two (1679), Nogaredo (1714), and Poschiavo (1705, 1709,
women we re sentenced to death (both died in prison and 1753). South of the Alps, the activity of inquisitor-
b e f o re their executions). In Pe rugia, we know of a ial tribunals shrank drastically, but one must not over-
woman burned for witchcraft in 1590, in Fl o rence of look a surprising 1705 capital sentence for illicit magic
another one in 1612, and in Milan of a few more and sacrilege decreed by the Venetian Inquisition. In
b e t ween 1590 and 1610. the south, we know that the episcopal tribunal of
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Capua judged 130 cases of magic between 1600 and bigoted Ty rolean archduke Maximilian of Austria to
1715. But without further information available to extinguish the maleficent sect in the imperial land of
make useful series from this or other scattered cases Anaunia. A special tribunal, directed by a lay judge,
(which suggest a probable continuation of evil spells s e a rched the whole valley and interrogated some 400
intended to cause the death of enemies or unwanted people. Angered bymaleficiacommitted by their neigh-
l overs), we have no choice but to admit ignorance bors, 240 villagers testified against 140 suspected
about the prosecution of witches in the Kingdom of witches, including 20 men. The judge interro g a t e d
Naples. accused witches with the Malleus Ma l e fic a ru m (T h e
Hammer of Witches, 1486) and Peter Bi n s f e l d’s
I n t e r p r e tat ion s After an early upsurge of harsh Tractatus de confessionibus malefic o rum et sagaru m
witch hunts, a re l a t i vely benign tendency dominated (Treatise on Confessions of So rc e rers and Wi t c h e s ,
in the Italian peninsula after 1530. Can available stud- 1589) quite literally in his hand, and had them
ies let us sketch the peculiarities in our three geographi- searched for the Devil’s mark and tortured.
cal areas? How shall we interpret both the late The main preoccupations of the local population are
s i x t e e n t h - c e n t u ry rise in persecutions and indictments neatly expressed by the three Italian Ss (salute,soldi,ses-
and the next fifty years, which featured a slow disap- s o/health, money, sex), but in this context, their con-
pearance of m a l e fic i u m cases? Conventional wisdom cern for health and material goods pre d o m i n a t e d .
c redits overly skeptical ecclesiastical judges with re f u s- Infanticides and “w a s t i n g” (g u a s t o) of cattle or cro p s
ing to convict witches on the basis of formal accusa- we re the crimes most often re p o rted, against only one
tions made by common people. But could not the flow case of impotence induced by bewitchment. Su b-A l p i n e
of maleficiumcomplaints also have shrunk from below? peculiarities also included the fact that, though accusa-
These are major questions that historians have not yet tions and prosecutions we re usually directed against
confronted. women, men we re also tort u red and burned. T h e re
But an even more obvious question leaps off our we re re c u r rent charges of weather magic. In the Alps,
rudimentary map: why did most places in Italy appar- rain and hail caused by witches already had a long tradi-
ently escape persecution? Of course, lack of re s e a rc h tion; more ove r, these complaints fit with the climatic
and the dispersal of Roman Inquisitorial arc h i ves may i n t e r p retations of witchcraft trials, whose peak age is
hide more than we think; nevertheless, the sparse distri- c o n g ruent with the Little Ice Age, particularly stro n g
bution of witchcraft trials should be seen as a basic con- b e t ween 1570 and 1630. Un f o rt u n a t e l y, our informa-
dition, closely related to witchcraft beliefs, that we re tion for drawing a sociological pro file of witchcraft
deeply embedded in early modern communities. And defendants remains inadequate. Healers seem rare here;
before we account for the appearance or disappearance in Non valley, only one female witch was surely a heal-
of witch hunts, we must have a better grasp of what this e r, although six men we re soothsayers (c r i ve l l a t o r i). In
historical phenomenon was. Most Italians managed to Po s c h i a vo’s great drama, no reputed healers could be
coexist with the everyday ill will of some neighbors by found among the defendants. We also know that the
relying primarily on the “natural antidotes” to witch- numbers of married and widowed witches were approx-
craft: recourse to cunning folk and to a range of strate- imately equal, and we have some data on their ages. But
gies (force or persuasion) to tame a suspect neighbor. h ow meaningful are they, if most defendants had
Settling old scores with such maleficent people through already been suspected for many years?
the judiciary was “unnatural,” uncertain, traumatic,
and expensive. Still, these “u n n a t u r a l” solutions Rest of Ita ly The present state of re s e a rch gives us
recurred. The way in which many Italian trials were car- no option but to propose a pattern using the wide range
ried out, the depositions of victims, and testimonies of of evidence available from the post-1560 Sienese New
b ewitchment, re veal divergent typologies betwe e n State (Di Simplicio 2000), whose differences fro m
regions. Alpine areas we re quite considerable. In southern
Tu s c a n y, we find no trace of large witch hunts. Tr i a l s ,
Sub-Alpine Valleys From the cluster of trials carried mostly of individual witches, we re endemic but scat-
out between 1611 and 1615 by an itinerant court in tered between 1580 and 1660. The peak of the 1590s,
Non valley, it is possible to make some generalizations also notable in other parts of Italy, probably overlapped
for the entire Alpine arc (Be rtolini 1990). Their past with a more general Eu ropean crisis. Exc e s s i ve use of
belongs to the history of witch hunting in Ty rol. In t o rt u re was avoided, and peripheral courts like Si e n a
1573, the extension of the 1499 Ne u re f o rm i e rt e were scrupulously reminded by the Holy Office about
L a n d e s o rd n u n g to the prince-bishopric of Trent intro- its rules of pro o f. Sienese m a l e fic i u m cases concerned
duced antiwitch measures among its police regulations. human beings, particularly infants, and showed no
Early in the seventeenth century, the prince-bishop traces of diabolism. No weather-making witches we re
Carlo Gaudenzio Ma d ru z zo was encouraged by the ever denounced, and bewitching cattle seems very rare
Italy 577 |
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in this agrarian society. But “binding” to cause impo- written traces: trials against them we re extremely rare ,
tence was a specific type of spell that was frequently cast and they seldom left records like Giulio Cesare Chiesa’s
by women south of the Alpine valleys. account of his activity in 1690s Piedmont. In early
In bigger cities, like Venice, most spells were directed modern Germany, the Devil was equally active in towns
toward love or gain. Male experts, obsessed with mon- and in the countryside. The German experience is rele-
ey, specialized in conjurations and divination, useful in vant for It a l y, where admittedly the phenomenon was
gambling and tre a s u re hunting. Female experts, often rife but there seems to be no way to gauge its urban and
p rostitutes or other women of dubious re p u t a t i o n , rural intensity in the course of the seventeenth century
practiced “binding” together with charms and incanta- and beyond. The impact of widely publicized urban
tions for love magic. Here the maleficiumof infanticide and rural exorcisms on the general population is diffi-
was rarely reported, and of course there were no accusa- cult to assess, and in the short run, one should probably
tions of “wasting” cattle. A dearth of information pre- v i ew them as strong antidotes to modernization. A
vents us from generalizing the Venetian urban pattern, global assessment of their specific role in cases of mal-
but a similar pro file of illicit magic could probably be eficiumis difficult. For example, did parents of sick and
found between 1580 and 1660 in eve ry Italian tow n bewitched infants look first to an exorcist, or to a cun-
with more than 15,000 inhabitants. ning man who could exert his skill even from afar? In
And who we re the witches? In the Sienese state, the countryside, which was more easily available, the
m a l e ficent witchcraft was a gender-specific crime: a l l “official” specialist or the “forbidden” one? Certainly, a
witches we re women. Un f o rt u n a t e l y, we cannot check competition for power was inherent in the notion of
this intriguing feature against long series of trials from exorcism: would the Devil prevail over the religious rit-
other central and southern regions. Sienese documenta- ual? In the fight against illness and death, exo rc i s m s
tion will enable us to sketch some social profiles. Not all re p resented a fourth option, alongside healers, physi-
these women were old, unmarried, widows, very poor, cians, and prayer to God and the saints (including some
or marginal, and no specific occupations emerge, cer- living saints, mostly in southern Italy). After the six-
tainly not midwifery.Three kinds of witches can be dis- teenth century, white witches and cunning folk could
tinguished according to the personal power attributed no longer practice their magical healing with impunity,
to them. First came the neighborhood’s “social witch,” but the In q u i s i t i o n’s attitude tow a rd exo rcism long
who was frequently compelled to heal her victims on remained ambiguous. It is significant that only in the
the basis of the principle that qui scit destruere scit sanare eighteenth century we re Gi rolamo Me n g h i’s famous
(who knows how to destroy, knows how to heal). Second t reatises on exo rcism finally included in the Inex libo-
came the expert in therapeutic magic or divination, rum Prohibitorum (Index of prohibited books).
whose healing expertise was much sought after; it was The Church’s dogged campaign against superstitions
h owe ver a potentially risky activity, as we sometimes re veals that its hierarchy was playing for high stakes
find a shift from the status of “good” healer to malefi- concerning knowledge and powe r. The close contact
cent witch occurring in popular opinion. Last, indirect b e t ween religion and medical care accounted for its
evidence re veals a group of highly qualified cunning relentless concern about any kind of healing practice
men, who all managed to slip through the inquisitors’ that affected both body and soul. Such antimagical
nets and were never implicated in maleficiumcases. healing concerns we re epitomized in Gi ova n n i
Codronchi’s 1593 treatise De Christiana ac tuta meden-
Witchcraft and Power di salute (Of Christian and Safe Remedies for Health),
At the pinnacle of Italian society and powe r, we find a which stated that “for no reason may the sick ask cun-
f ew famous cases of crimen laesae maiestatis(crime of lese ning men for help to re c over their health; they must
majesty) involving m a l e fic i u m ; in both Rome (1635) suffer all pains and even die instead” (Di Si m p l i c i o
and Piedmont (1715), little wax fig u res we re made to 2000, 103). This disastrous strategy was strongly reject-
b ewitch and cause the death of Pope Urban VIII and of ed by people, judging from the Sienese statistic that
a Sa voy a rd prince. At the bottom as well, crucial powe r therapeutic magic still accounted for 9 percent of all
relations also permeated Italian witchcraft belief and inquisitorial offenses in the eighteenth century. Prayers,
witchcraft trials. Was recourse to inquisitors against rites holy objects, and amulets remained the paraphernalia
of witches stronger than the “natural contro l s” to neu- of both priests and magical healers. Of course, witch-
t r a l i ze bewitchment? We re the cures offered by the craft beliefs continued well beyond the seve n t e e n t h
C h u rch stronger than unofficial, forbidden healing? c e n t u ry, but they disappeared as things actionable at
We re cunning men stronger than exo rc i s t s ? l a w. Could this change be interpreted, as Si e n e s e
Among many topics that badly need improve d sources suggest, as evidence that maleficium was increas-
scrutiny by historians, exorcisms must be selected first. ingly considered simply an unlikely case of misfortune?
Their actual diffusion is difficult to re c o n s t ru c t , Focusing on the problem of power has led our
because, unlike witchcraft trials, exo rcisms rarely left analysis to a core theoretical problem concerning the
578 Italy |
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meaning of witchcraft trials. What needs more investi- Cardini, Franco, ed. 1989. Gostanza, la strega di San Miniato:
gation is the Italian dialectic between power and its Processo a una guaritrice nella Toscana medicea.Rome and Bari:
subjects, between the Church and the faithful. Laterza.
Dall’Olio, Guido. 2001. “Tribunali vescovili, Inquisizione romana
Witchcraft trials cannot be separated from the intense
e stregoneria: I processi bolognesi del 1559.” Pp. 63–82 in Il
religious climate of the post-Tridentine Church, and its
piacere del testo: Saggi e studi per Albano Biondi.Edited by
political ideology accounts for their peculiar course. It
Adriano Prosperi. Rome: Bulzoni.
was not coincidental that the peak phase of repression
Decker, Rainer. 2001.“Entstehung und Verbreitung der römischen
in the 1590s coincided with the most intense religious
Hexenprozessinstruktion.” Pp. 159–175 in Inquisition, Index,
climate of the period. Labeling and punishment of Zensur: Wissenkulturen der Neuzeit im Widerstreit.Edited by
deviants became a preoccupation of Church and HubertWolf. Paderborn: Schöningh.
regional states aiming at achieving conformity in Di Gesaro, Pinuccia. 1988. Streghe. L’ossessione del diavolo. Il
behavior and belief. In Scotland, It a l y, and elsew h e re , repertorio dei malefizi. La repressione.Bolzano: Praxis.
witches we re pursued primarily as “enemies of Go d . ” Di Simplicio, Oscar. 2000. Inquisizione, stregoneria, medicina.
The attempt to equate healers with maleficent witches Siena e il suo stato (1580–1721).Monteriggioni (Siena): Il
Leccio.
was a constant concern of the Church, and the mild,
———. 2005. Autunno della stregoneria. Maleficio e Magia Nell’
drawn-out trials against the Be n a n d a n t i of Friuli seem
Italia Moderna.Bologna: Il Mulino.
exemplary of this process of indoctrination.
Ferraironi, Francesco. 1955. Le streghe e l’Inquisizione.
To be fully victorious, such campaigns would have
Superstizioni e realtà.Imperia: Dominici.
involved much more than a single agency of repression,
Ginzburg, Carlo. 1983. The Night Battles: Witchcraft and Agrarian
e ven one as powe rful as the Roman Inquisition. T h e Cults in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries.Translated by
uneven penetration of Tridentine teachings across Italy John Tedeschi and Anne Tedeschi. London: Routledge.
could partly explain why certain places had few witchcraft Marcaccioli Castiglioni, Anna. 1999. Streghe e roghi nel Ducato di
trials, or none at all. Many areas of southern Italy seem Milano. Processi per stregoneria a Vengono superiore nel 1520.
to be cases in point. How far did Counter-Reformation Milan: Thélema Edizioni.
zeal permeate southern peasant villages? Everywhere in Martin, Ruth. 1989.Witchcraft and the Inquisition in Venice,
1550–1650.Oxford: Blackwell.
It a l y, parish priests reading inquisitorial edicts against
Mazzali, Tiziana. 1988. Il martirio delle streghe. Una nuova dram-
magical healers and witches acted as potential “triggers”
matica testimonianza dell’inquisizione laica del Seicento.Milan:
to activate a mechanism of confession/denunciation/
Xenia.
trial. But did the South, the land where “Christ
Monter,William. 2002. “Witchcraft Trials in Continental Europe
Stopped at Eboli,” have a post-Tridentine clergy able
1560–1660.” Pp. 1–52 in Witchcraft and Magic in Europe:The
or willing to stimulate their flock to re p o rt cases of Period of the Great Witch Trials.Edited by Bengt Ankarloo and
superstition? Stuart Clark. Philadelphpia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
———, and John Tedeschi. 1986. “Towards a Statistical Profile of
OSCAR DI SIMPLICIO
the Italian Inquisitions, Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries.”
See also: BENANDANTI;BENEVENTO,WALNUTTREEOF;BERNARDI- Pp. 130–157 in The Inquisitions in Early Modern Europe.
NOOFSIENA;BORROMEO,ST.CARLO;CARPI,POSSESSIONINA Studies in Sources and Methods.Edited by Gustav Henningsen
POORCLAIRE’SCONVENT;CHRONOLOGYOFWITCHCRAFT and John Tedeschi. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press.
TRIALS;COURTS,ECCLESIASTICAL;COURTS,INQUISITORIAL; Nannipieri, Silvia. 1999. Caterina e il diavolo. Una storia di streghe
COURTS,SECULAR;CUNNINGFOLK;DRAMA,ITALIAN;EXORCISM; e inquisitori nella campagna pisana del Seicento.Pisa: ETS.
GRILLANDO(GRILLANDUS), PAOLO(PAULUS); INQUISITION, Portone, Paolo. 1990. Il noce di Benevento. La stregoneria e l’Italia
ROMAN;INQUISITION,VENETIAN;INQUISITORIALPROCEDURE; del Sud.Milan: Xenia.
LITTLEICEAGE;LOVEMAGIC;MENGHI,GIROLAMO;MILAN; Romeo, Giovanni. 1990. Inquisitori, esorcisti e streghe nell’Italia
MODENA;MOUNTAINSANDTHEORIGINSOFWITCHCRAFT; della Controriforma.Florence: Sansoni.
NAPLES,KINGDOMOF;PICODELLAMIRANDOLA,GIAN- ———. 1994. “I processi di stregoneria.” Pp. 189–209 in Storia
FRANCESCO;PIEDMONT;ROMANCATHOLICCHURCH;RURAL dell’Italia religiosa.Edited by Gabriele de Rosa and Tullio
WITCHCRAFT;SIENESENEWSTATE;SPINA,BARTOLOMEODELLA; Gregory.Vol. 2. Rome and Bari: Laterza.
TODI,WITCHOF;TRIALS;TYROL,COUNTYOF;URBAN Tedeschi, John. 1990. “Inquisitorial Law and the Witch.”
WITCHCRAFT;WEATHERMAGIC;WITCHHUNTS. Pp. 83–118 in Early Modern European Witchcraft: Centres and
References and further reading: Peripheries.Edited by Bengt Ankarloo and Gustav Henningsen.
Antonelli, Vittorio. 1996. “La stregoneria a Lucca.” Pp. 409–425 Oxford: Clarendon.
in Stregoneria e streghe nell’Europa moderna.Convegno inter- ———. 1991. The Prosecution of Heresy. Collected Studies on the
nazionale di studi (Pisa, 24–26 marzo 1994). Edited by Inquisition in Early Modern Italy.Binghamton, NY: Center for
Giovanna Bosco and Patrizia Castelli. Pisa: Pacini Editore. Medieval and Early Renaissance Studies.
Bertolini, Claudia. 1990. La stupenda inquisizione d’Anaunia. We ye r, Johann. 1998. De praestigiis daemonum.Edited by Ge o r g e
Processo del 1611–1615.Trent: U. C. T. Mora. Tempe, AR: Me d i e val and Renaissance Texts and St u d i e s .
Italy 579 |
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J
Jacquier, Nicolas (ca. 1400–1472) Episcopi and the issue of the reality of witches’ flight
Jacquier was a Dominican theologian and inquisitor, (transvection) to the Sabbat.
known especially for the Flagellum haereticorum fasci- Jacquier’s “scourge” was, he said, both Scripture and
nariorum (Scourge of Heretical Witches, as called by the teachings of the saints. The Flagellumbegins with a
Jacquier and others “Waldensians”) in 1458. Probably discussion of the nature of demonic illusions, part i c u-
born in Dijon, he attended the Council of Basel larly those sent in sleep, especially to women. He then
(1430–1440), where he was instrumental in urging the cited the Canon Episcopias an example of such illusions.
deposition of Pope Eugenius IV, served as ambassador But to Ja c q u i e r, as to others, the Canon Ep i s c o p i
from Philip the Good of Burgundy to the emperor addressed only illusions, and ignored the material reali-
Frederick III in Vienna in 1451, and was the ty of the new sect of heretical and diabolical sorc e re r s
Dominican proctor in the canonization process of St. and witches. It did not apply, therefore, to the witches
Catherine of Siena (1460–1461). He functioned as and sorc e rers of Ja c q u i e r’s day. Jacquier cited a case of
inquisitor in Artois (1459), Lille (1464), To u r n a i 1453 in which Guillaume Adeline, a convicted sorcerer
(1465), and Ghent, as inquisitor against the Hussites in whom Jacquier knew personally, confessed to the mate-
Bohemia 1466–1468, and as inquisitor again in Lille rial reality of the accusations made against the new sect
from 1468 until his death in Ghent in 1472. His con- of witches. In chapter 7, Jacquier distinguished categor-
temporary Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini, later Pope Pius ically between the modern sect of witches and the
II, described Jacquier as a small man with an energetic deluded old women described in the Canon Ep i s c o p i .
mind and relentless determination, possessing unusual Jacquier observed that the physical fatigue of modern
talents. He authored a number of sermons, a conciliar witches was evidence of the reality of their flight and
tract, and a report on his Vienna legation concerning rituals. He pointed out that modern witches do not
proposals for a crusade against the Ottoman Turks. His mention Diana, the goddess re f e r red to in the Ca n o n
most important works were a treatise on demonology, Ep i s c o p i , but rather the Devil himself. Nor did the
De calcatione daemonum (On the Tramping-Down of Canon Ep i s c o p i mention the apostasy and idolatry to
Demons) in 1452 and, of course, the Flagellum haereti- which modern witches have confessed.
corum fascinariorum. Jacquier’s work, based primarily Fu rt h e r, Jacquier correctly doubted the authority of
on his experience as inquisitor of heretical depravity in the Council of Ancyra, which supposedly produced the
the southern Low Countries, provides important testi- Canon Ep i s c o p i , discussed Scriptural evidence, and
mony from a key period in the development of the the- relied heavily on St. Au g u s t i n e’s demonology. He also
ory of diabolical witchcraft in the early fifteenth centu- relied heavily on recent trials and the contents of the
ry. Jacquier attacked skeptics whose criticisms impeded confessions of convicted witches, including Gilles de
the work of inquisitors and made a powerful argument Rais. He directed his arguments against skeptics, espe-
that the strictures of the Canon Episcopi (the key canon- cially those who cited the Canon Ep i s c o p i to argue
law text treating witchcraft as a superstitious illusion) against more recent theories of witchcraft. Throughout
did not apply to the new sect of witches, identified by the work, Jacquier used evidence from recent confes-
Pope Alexander V in 1409. Here Jacquier followed and sions to emphasize the corporeal consequences of the
developed the slightly earlier arguments of Jean Vinet pact with Satan: desecration of the host, infanticide, the
(1450) and Johann Hartlieb (1456). The Flagellumsur- ingestion of human semen, enchanted poisons, and the
vives in seven manuscripts; it was first printed at magical infliction of impotence and infertility.
Frankfurt in 1581 as a supplement to an edition of the All this, howe ver greatly it displayed the power of
Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of Witches), the demons, was done only with Go d’s permission, for which
most widely used guide for witch hunters. T h e Jacquier accounted at great length in chapters 20–26. He
Flagellum played a role both in the witchcraft trials at then turned to the heretical nature of the witches’ activi-
Arras in 1459–1461 and in the prolonged debates ties, as described by Nicolas Eymeric and others, and to
t h rough the seventeenth century over the Ca n o n the legal pro c e d u res, including punishment, appro p r i a t e
Jacquier, Nicolas 581 |
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for such offenses, which Jacquier insisted could only be about 1617 in Eichstätt included a weaver and a tailor.
d e a t h . The wives and children of professional jailers
u n d e rtook much of the daily care of prisoners. T h e y
EDWARD PETERS
cooked and cleaned for the suspects, sometimes care d
See also: ARRAS;AUGUSTINE,ST.; CANONEPISCOPI;DIANA for the wounds inflicted on them during tort u re, and
(ARTEMIS); ERRORESGAZARIORUM;EUGENIUSIV,POPE;EYMERIC, nursed them through the illnesses pre valent in early
NICOLAS;FLIGHTOFWITCHES;HARTLIEB,JOHANN;HERESY;HUS-
modern jails.
SITES;IDOLATRY;INQUISITION,MEDIEVAL;ORIGINSOFTHE
Despite the close proximity of jailers to their charges,
WITCHHUNTS;RAIS,GILLESDE;VAUDOIS(WALDENSIANS); VINET,
we know relatively little about their dealings with and
JEAN(VINETI,JOHANNES).
opinions about suspected witches. Some jailers, like the
References and further reading:
Ironmaster of Mu n i c h’s Fa l k e n t u rm , re p o rted on the
Kors, Alan Charles, and Edward Peters, eds. 2001. Pp. 169–171
in Witchcraft in Europe, 400–1700: A Documentary History,2d prisoners’ words and actions when they were away from
ed. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. the interrogation chamber. Under investigation for
Lea, Henry Charles. 1939. rprt. 1957. Materials Toward a History abusing their positions, several jailers in Eichstätt con-
of Witchcraft.Edited by Arthur C. Howland. 3 vols. NewYork fessed to abusing suspected witches physically and sexu-
and London: Thomas Yoseloff.Vol. I: 276–285. ally, profiting from the fees paid to cover the provision-
Piccolominus, Aeneas Sylvius (Pius II). 1967. rprt. 1992. De Gestis ing of the prisoners, and smuggling in one suspect’s
Concilii Basiliensis Commentariorum Livri II.Edited and trans-
husband in an attempt to get her pregnant. Jo h a n n e s
lated by Denys Hay and W. K. Smith. Oxford: Clarendon.
Junius, a Bamberg witch suspect, famously persuaded a
jailer to pass his farewell letter to his daughter Veronica;
Jailers and the Ironmaster’s wife may have helped at least one
The primary role of the early modern jailer was to take Ba varian prisoner to commit suicide. Later, a Boston
care of criminal suspects from the moment of arrest to jailer and his wife testified to the good behavior of two
the day of punishment. As imprisonment was not a of the New England witch suspects in their care.
common feature of early modern justice, jailers tended Jailers did these things despite the potential dangers
not to guard convicted criminals. The jailer ensured to which they exposed themselves: harm by imprisoned
that each suspect was fed and clothed as well as his or suspects, being accused of witchcraft themselves, and
her resources would allow, and guarded against any punishment by their superiors. The jailers in Eichstätt
escape attempts. lost their jobs; Junius was concerned that his jailer
The pro file of the early modern jailer depended on might lose his head. Although such items as “w i t c h -
the judicial system that employed him and the size of forks,” used by jailers to hold suspected witches at a dis-
the territory it served. Large bureaucratic institutions, tance, have survived, it appears that they were ambiva-
like the duchy of Ba varia or the Spanish In q u i s i t i o n , lent about the threats to their persons and livelihoods.
had networks of prisons and employed pro f e s s i o n a l , Sexual gratification, neighborliness, or respect seem to
full-time wardens. For example, a jailer known as the have motivated some jailers to act in favor of the witch
“ Iro n m a s t e r” and his family ran the Fa l k e n t u rm suspects in their care. Their main motivation to take
( “ Falcon Towe r”) in Munich, where Ba varian witch greater risks, however, appears to have been money.The
suspects we re held from 1600. The Ironmaster was Eichstätt jailers who conspired to get a witch suspect
a u t h o r i zed to tort u re the suspects, but had no other p regnant we re certainly bribed, and it is likely that
p rofessional obligations associated with his post. In Junius’s jailer was also.This is hardly surprising, because
contrast, a caretaker and his wife managed the tow n the dishonor associated with their contact with crimi-
hall of the small prince-bishopric of Eichstätt, where nals meant that jailers endured poor working condi-
local felons were incarcerated. They were inexperienced tions and re c e i ved meager wages that we re not always
in caring for prisoners on a regular basis, being occu- paid on time. In 1693, one Salem jailer petitioned for
pied mainly with the upkeep of a building normally nine years’ back pay at £5 per year.
used for council meetings. In England, a parish consta- The abuses committed by jailers against their
ble might sometimes have to guard felons until they charges, together with the general conditions in which
could be transferred to jail, where a professional jailer prisoners we re held, fig u red among other criticisms of
supervised them until they were tried by an assize court. witcraft trials made by Anton Prätorius and Fr i e d r i c h
As witch persecutions escalated in the late sixteenth Spee, among others.
and early seventeenth centuries, some places found it
necessary to employ additional jailers to cope with the JONATHAN DURRANT
i n c reasing number of prisoners, sometimes building
See also: BAMBERG,PRINCE-BISHOPRICOF;BAVARIA,DUCHYOF;
n ew prisons such as the He xe n h a u s (witch house) in
EICHSTÄTT,PRINCE-BISHOPRICOF;EXECUTIONERS;INQUISITION,
Bamberg (built 1627). These jailers tended to be tem- SPANISH;JUNIUS,JOHANNES;PRÄTORIUS,ANTON;SPEE,
p o r a ry and part time; the new jailers employed fro m FRIEDRICH;TORTURE.
582 Jailers |
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References and further reading: James thought that monarchs enjoyed a divine
Barstow, Anne Llewellyn. 1994. Witchcraze: A New History of the right to exe rcise supreme authority over churc h e s ,
European Witch Hunts.San Francisco and London: Pandora. nobles, and people. He tamed a feuding nobility and
Behringer,Wolfgang. 1997. Witchcraft Persecutions in Bavaria:
curbed the religious autonomy of the Kirk thro u g h
Popular Magic, Religious Zealotry and Reason of State in Early
episcopacy—this obsession with political authority
Modern Europe.Translated by J.C. Grayson and David Lederer.
p a rtly explains his interest in witchcraft. In a polity
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
w h e re the “g reat chain of being” connected Go d’s
Briggs, Robin. 2002. Witches and Neighbours: The Social and
authority dow n w a rd through the social order to the
Cultural Context of European Witchcraft.2d ed. Oxford:
Blackwell. meanest household, witches also re p resented political
Hill, Frances. 1997. A Delusion of Satan: The Full Story of the i n s u b o rdination, even rebellion and treason. This was
Salem Witch Trials.London: Penguin. why along with eve ry political treatise on which he
Kunze, Michael. 1987. Highroad to the Stake: A Tale of Witchcraft. could lay his hands, after 1590 James came to re a d
Translated byWilliam E. Yuill. Chicago and London: the major works concerned with witchcraft, an intere s t
University of Chicago Press. e n t i rely in keeping with the broader concerns of a
Renaissance prince.
James VI and I, King of Scotland Witchcraft was just one of many criminal and moral
and England (1566–1625) offenses proscribed and punished in the interests of
King James was a monarch widely associated with the godly state building. It was, howe ve r, a peculiarly
intensification of witch hunting in the British Isles in heinous crime because it symbolized the ultimate
the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries whose offense to God and man, and for this reason the Kirk
influence has been exaggerated. clamored for more rigorous enforcement of the law in
In Scotland, James VI inherited a kingdom where the 1570s and 1580s with a series of protests by its
belief in witches was endemic, and trials were occasion- General Assembly to the royal court. We have no evi-
ally conducted under an existing witchcraft statute. As dence that he met their demands; indeed, he may even
king, his attitude in such matters was bound to be h a ve blocked them, given his general hostility to the
i n fluential. In the 1590s, James became personally Kirk. But a shift in his thinking occurred. Although it is
i n vo l ved in trials and developed an interest in misleading to characterize James as a dedicated witch
d e m o n o l o g y. He read widely on the theory of witch- hunter in the 1590s, the prosecution of witches in
craft, recording his opinions on the subject. In 1603, he Scotland reached new heights then, especially in the
became King James I of England as well, and ove r s a w lowlands and across the eastern seaboard, regions where
the passing of a new statute that made witchcraft a the Kirk controlled the administration of justice. At
more serious offense. By this time, however, his passion least where witches we re concerned, the interests of
for burning witches had already cooled, and his reign in church and state did seem to converge.
England was actually marked by declining levels of For a generation after the passage of the 1563
p rosecution in both kingdoms. Like many jurists and Witchcraft Act, no more than a few cases came to trial
clerics, King James became uneasy about standards of each ye a r, and demonic pacts never featured in the
evidence used to convict witches, and his personal charges. In 1590 the pattern was broken when Ja m e s
i n t e rventions during the two decades when he ru l e d became invo l ved in a series of prosecutions in No rt h
England served more often to defend accused witches Berwick, where at least seventy suspects confessed to a
rather than accelerate their progress to the gallows. t reasonable plot. In the previous ye a r, with a view to
James was born in 1566 to Ma ry, Queen of Scots. s t rengthening the Protestant succession, James had
Her kingdom had passed a Witchcraft Act in 1563— agreed to marry Princess Anne of Denmark and he then
the same year that Elizabeth I introduced a parallel brought her to Scotland. On the journey, her ship was
m e a s u re in England. James became king as an infant nearly lost in fierce storms and was forced into harbor
when his mother was forced from the throne, but he in No rway for several weeks until the we a t h e r
did not assume power until 1585. He had grown into improved. James traveled to collect her, and once more
a bookish and insular young man who, under care f u l storms blew up. The royal passengers counted them-
t u t o r s h i p, rejected his mother’s Roman Catholicism selves lucky to be alive as they docked on the Scottish
while also rejecting the Pre s byterian notions of his coast in the spring of 1590. News arrived from North
teachers about a godly contract between monarch and Be rwick that the accusation and tort u re of a healer,
people. Relations with England we re uncertain, and, Geillie Duncan, had exposed a network of witches who,
like other nascent Protestant states, feelings of insecu- under orders from the Devil dressed in a black cloak,
rity in religion we re strong. Do m e s t i c a l l y, feuds had conspired to kill the king and his bride by raising
b e t ween Scottish noble clans we re endemic, and the storms. Venom was extracted from a toad, it was said,
Calvinist Church, the Kirk, claimed Go d’s dire c t and curses we re directed at an image of the king. T h e
m a n d a t e . accusations spread across East Lothian, Ross-shire, and
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Ab e rd e e n s h i re, and implicated a range of people fro m
the most humble serving girl to James’s cousin, the earl
of Bothwell. Indeed, fearsome Bothwell, an extre m e
Protestant dissident, should be seen as the political tar-
get of these trials.
James insisted on questioning the No rth Be rw i c k
suspects himself, and yet his attitude seems ambivalent.
He called them “e x t reme liars,” but did not deny that
their master was the Devil, and so authorized their tor-
ture to get at the truth. It was said that he was horrified
that the witches appeared to know about private con-
versations between himself and his bride on their wed-
ding night. Regardless of whether the suspects’ actions
were treasonable, their words certainly were, and so the
old-style political trial involving charges of sorcery was
rearranged to fit the style of a Eu ropean witch craze .
From this point, it was clear that the crime of witchcraft
became less an exc l u s i vely ecclesiastical concern, and
that Ja m e s’s academic appetite to understand it had
been whetted. Triumphant in the public eye over Satan
(and Bothwell, who fled to Norway), he became an avid
reader of continental demonologists. In consequence,
he devised counterarguments to skeptical Pro t e s t a n t
voices, especially the German physician Johann Weyer
and the English gentleman Reginald Scot, whose
D i s c overie of Wi t c h c ra f t had been published in 1584.
Ja m e s’s ideas we re deriva t i ve rather than original; but
they we re sincerely held and proved deeply influ e n t i a l
on the legal, religious, and political contexts in which
witches were tried in Scotland in the closing years of the
sixteenth century.
The level of prosecutions tailed off after 1591, but
this marked a pause rather than a decline. The continu-
Title page of Daemonologie, 1597, by James VI of Scotland, the only
ance of the war against the agents of Satan was ensured
monarch to have ever written a witchcraft treatise. (Fortean Picture
by the Privy Council’s passing a general commission for Library)
examining witches in October 1591, which not only
d e vo l ved specific powers across Scotland but empha-
s i zed the importance of tort u re for extracting confes- by witchcraft, and there f o re should be seen alongside
sions. In addition, as an issue of national security, and other works that he wrote around the same time,
even as a diplomatic concern, James did not allow the principally his defense of divine right, Ba s i l i k o n
matter of Bothwell and his alleged coven of witches to Do ro n (1598).
drop. James encouraged Elizabeth I to extradite witches The symmetry between the idea that kings we re
seeking refuge beyond the bord e r, reminding her that o rderly images of God and the idea that witches we re
she too was at risk from their malevolent powers. In d i s o rderly images of Satan had a powe rful ideological
1597, James published Da e m o n o l o g i e in Edinburgh, a resonance. Da e m o n o l o g i e may not have caused the
s h o rt treatise that advanced many opinions, among f resh wave of witch hunts that Scotland experienced in
them that all but the elect (to whom Go d’s grace had 1597, but, alongside the Bible, it served as the textual
been restored) were tainted by original sin and therefore j u s t i fication and guide to their orchestration. Earlier in
prone to impiety.The greatest impiety was the worship the ye a r, fresh antagonism emerged between crow n
of the Devil, and the belief in witchcraft followed natu- and Kirk over the treatment of witches, the former
r a l l y. James also asserted that, in an inversion of the concerned that the innocent we re being punished, the
covenant Protestants formed with God, witches sealed a latter that the guilty we re walking free. By summer,
pact with Satan; female witches outnumbered males h owe ve r, a craze began that sucked in between 200 and
twenty to one; and clients of cunning folk were as guilty 300 suspects, all spreading from the confession and
as the magical practitioners. Mo re bro a d l y, the work accusations of a single woman known as “the gre a t
united his ideas about kingship with the threat posed witch of Ba l we a ry.” Although once again Ja m e s
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became personally invo l ved in the examinations (at St . them gentry affected by the infamous witches of
A n d rews, for example), overall, it is possible that sec- Wa r b oys in Hu n t i n g d o n s h i re in 1593.
ond thoughts about the bloodletting explain why By the time the new Act was passed, the king’s com-
James decided to re voke the general commission. By mitment to prosecuting witches had subsided.
ye a r’s end, the prosecution of witches had been Sh a k e s p e a re’s Ma c b e t h , written and performed for the
b rought back under central authority. From this time royal court in around 1605, may well have entertained
on, James decreed, anyone trying witches without spe- the king, but perhaps less for its relationship with the
cial license from the crown would be punished. As a reality of witchcraft than the idea it advanced that the
result, witchcraft cases became scarce in Scotland De v i l’s influence over witches was not to empowe r
b e t ween 1597 and 1621, when their numbers cre p t them but to delude them into thinking they were pow-
s l owly upw a rd until Ja m e s’s death, without re a c h i n g erful. This delusion, James argued, was no less of a sin,
the peaks of the 1590s. because it stemmed from moral weakness and deviation
James was crowned king of England in 1603. Unlike from God, and was therefore deserving of punishment.
his Catholic mother, James was a devout and re l i a b l e Therefore James could appear to be increasingly skepti-
Protestant in whose hands, it was felt, England would cal while at the same time still send a reputed witch and
be safe. In 1586, an agreement had been made with the healer from Huntingdonshire to be interrogated by the
English queen, Elizabeth I (who would permit the exe- Lord Chief Justice for making prophecies. This he did
cution of James’s mother soon afterward) acknowledg- in 1605. Like many other skeptics, he became persuad-
ing his right to succeed if Elizabeth died without an ed that although witchcraft could theoretically exist as a
heir. In 1603, the English queen died and James lost lit- logical extension of the De v i l’s existence, it seemed
tle time in traveling south to join his two kingdoms, i m p robable that the poor wretches routinely paraded
financially and spiritually. Despite meeting stiff opposi- b e f o re the courts could really be his acolytes. Ja m e s’s
tion from a suspicious Parliament, interest in England’s reputation as a witch hunter may well have been
n ew king was considerable. Anglicized versions of d e s e rved north of the bord e r, especially before he
Basilikon Do ro n and Da e m o n o l o g i e , published in a c q u i red the English crown, but in England his inter-
London in 1603, were widely read. Tradition also has it ventions were almost invariably forthright challenges to
that James ord e red that copies of Scot’s D i s c overie of accusations.
Wi t c h c ra f t be publicly burned, although there is no Indeed, in his day James was known not so much as
direct evidence that this happened. But the really sym- the scourge of witches than as a diligent and shrewd
bolic change seemed to be with the statutory provisions i n vestigator and discove rer of imposture. In the early
against witchcraft, dissatisfaction with which was years of his reign, allegations of bewitchment and dia-
shared by elements in England and Scotland. bolic possession in Cambridge and Berkshire attracted
In the following ye a r, 1604, the English Pa r l i a m e n t his attention, as did a case involving six girls in
passed a new Witchcraft Act, the bill having been C a e r n a rvo n s h i re in 1611. He spent the afternoon of
examined by a panel of prominent judges, bishops, January 20, 1605, on the Cambridge case, and instruct-
and other peers. Essentially it was based on the ed doctors from the university to examine women sup-
Elizabethan statute, but imposed more draconian posed to be bewitched. Re g a rding the incident in
terms in keeping with Scots’ law and the king’s Be rk s h i re, James became personally invo l ved in ques-
e x p ressed opinions: a first offense of causing harm tioning a girl, Anne Gunter, whose fits and accusations
with witchcraft, which formerly carried a sentence of a damned several women until she admitted that her
ye a r’s imprisonment and exposure in the pillory, was father had put her up to it; because the Court of St a r
n ow deemed to deserve death; and second offenses of Chamber in London heard the case, it remains proba-
all types of witchcraft we re similarly punished. bly the best documented witchcraft case in English his-
L i k ewise, invoking evil spirits, with or without malef- t o ry. The king ord e red investigations in other cases.
icent intent, became a capital crime, a change that Guilty ve rdicts admitted at the Leicester assizes in
re flected continental influence and shifted the techni- 1616, which once might have received James’s support,
cal status of witchcraft as an offense away from an now brought royal censure upon the judges. Nine peo-
antisocial felony and tow a rd here s y. In 1607, perhaps ple had been hanged, largely on the evidence of a thir-
i n s p i red partly by the devilish designs of the gunpow- teen-year-old boy, whom James ordered be brought to
der plotters two years earlier, the Witchcraft Act was London where he was examined by the archbishop of
extended to allow its use in cases of treason. Contrary Canterbury. After his exposure as a fraud, suspects still
to historical myth, howe ve r, these statutory changes a l i ve in jail awaiting trial on the boy’s evidence we re
seem less significant when one examines the old 1563 released. James did continue to act against those rebel-
p rovisions, nor was James primarily re s p o n s i b l e . lious subjects suspected of using magic to influ e n c e
L e g i s l a t i ve impetus came from interested parties active him; in 1620, a schoolmaster called Peacock was tor-
in Parliament around the turn of the century, some of tured in the Tower of London on the king’s orders for
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just such an offense. Yet his predominant judicial influ- References and further reading:
ence from this time was to cause circumspection and Clark, Stuart. 1977. “King James’sDaemonologie:Witchcraft and
restraint. This can be seen in the caution exe rcised at Kingship.” Pp. 156–181 in The Damned Art: Essays in the
Literature of Witchcraft.Edited by Sydney Anglo. London,
the trial of six women at York in 1622, when the judges
Henley and Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
we re evidently determined that the mistakes at
Craigie, James, ed. 1982. Minor Prose Works of King James VI and
Leicester six years earlier would not be repeated.
I.Edinburgh: Scottish Text Society.
Ja m e s’s succession to the English throne ushered in
Goodare, Julian, ed. 2002. The Scottish Witch-Hunt in Context.
no new era of witch hunting. Overall, what is striking
Manchester and NewYork: Manchester University Press.
about his reign is the way that indictments for witch- Kittredge, George Lyman. 1929. Witchcraft in Old and New
craft as a whole declined. The influence of England.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Daemonologie cannot be doubted; Scottish indictments Larner, Christina. 1973. “James VI and I and Witchcraft.” Pp.
and petitions continued to cite it throughout the seven- 74–90 in The Reign of James VI and I.Edited by Alan G.R.
teenth century, and it ran to many reprints and new Smith. London: Macmillan.
editions, including French, Dutch, and Latin transla- ———. 1981. Enemies of God: The Witch-Hunt in Scotland.
London: Chatto and Windus.
tions. In England, too, its impact can be detected. In
Levack, Brian P., ed. 1992. Witchcraft in Scotland.Vol. 7 of Articles
the decade after its publication there, more witchcraft
on Witchcraft, Magic, and Demonology: A Twelve-Volume
accusations acquired a continental fla vor of witches
Anthology of Scholarly Articles. Edited by Brian P. Levack. 12
communing with diabolical spirits, if not Satan himself.
vols. NewYork and London: Garland.
Use of the swimming test, of which James approve d ,
———. 1996. “State-Building and Witch Hunting in Early
was first recorded in 1612, the same year that the Devil Modern Europe.” Pp. 96–115 in Witchcraft in Early Modern
made a personal appearance in the stories of the famous Europe: Studies in Culture and Belief. Edited by Jonathan Barry,
L a n c a s h i re witchcraft trials. If accusations sometimes Marianne Hester, and Gareth Roberts. Cambridge: Cambridge
became more wild and cruel, they also became rare r. University Press.
The busiest period of English witchcraft pro s e c u t i o n Maxwell-Stuart, P.G. 1997. “The Fear of the King Is Death:
had occurred between the 1570s and 1590s, the climax James VI and the Witches of East Lothian.” Pp. 209–225 in
Fear in Early Modern Society.Edited byWilliam G. Naphy and
coinciding with the No rth Be rwick craze in which
Penny Roberts. Manchester and NewYork: Manchester
James participated in Scotland. In southeastern
University Press.
England, there was now less than one-fourth of the
Newes from Scotland: Declaring the Damnable Life of Doctor Fian, a
indictments that had been presented in the 1570s, and
Notable Sorcerer(1591). London: Shakespeare Press, 1816.
during the 1620s a mere twenty cases came to light.
Normand, Lawrence, and Gareth Roberts, eds. 2000. Witchcraft in
By the time James died in 1625, prosecutions in Early Modern Scotland: James VI’s Demonology and the North
England we re at their lowest level since the passing of Berwick Witches.Exeter: University of Exeter Press.
the Elizabethan Act in 1563. Although Scotland had Patterson, W. B. 1997. King James VI and I and the Reunion of
another surge between 1628 and 1630, the dow n w a rd Christendom.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
t rend persisted during the reign of Ja m e s’s son, Charles Paul, Henry Neill. 1950. The Royal Play of Macbeth.NewYork:
I, and it took the peculiar social, political, and legal con- Macmillan.
Sharpe, James. 1999. The Bewitching of Anne Gunter.London:
ditions of the civil war and In t e r regnum for suspected
Profile Books.
witches to be arraigned for trial in significant numbers.
Willson, D. Harris. 1956. James VI and I.London: Jonathan Cape.
Close examination of Ja m e s’s reign in relation to witch-
craft re veals him to have been, for the most part, a
re m a rkably fair-minded, discriminating, even rather Jesuits (Society of Jesus)
p ro g re s s i ve monarch, despite his peevishness, ove r b e a r- The most successful early modern Catholic order, the
ing manners, and conceited posturing re g a rding the ele- Society of Jesus, was officially recognized by the pope in
vated status of kingship. Yet the legacy of the No rt h 1540, and, because the Jesuits’ dynamic growth coin-
Be rwick interrogations, the endurance of Da e m o n o l o g i e cided with the peak phase of Europe’s witchcraft trials,
as a canonical work, and the increased severity of the Jesuits were necessarily involved with them in various
1604 statute, together ensured that he would be re m e m- ways. However, no systematic modern study of the role
b e red as a bigoted and bloodthirsty witch hunter. of the Society of Jesus in the context of the European
witch persecution has yet been undertaken.
MALCOLM J. GASKILL The Society of Jesuits grew rapidly; by the time its
cofounder, Ignatius Loyola, died in 1556, it had around
See also: BEWITCHMENT;DEMONOLOGY;ENGLAND;GUNTER,
1,000 members in Europe (in Portugal, Spain, the Holy
ANNE;LANCASHIREWITCHES;LAWSONWITCHCRAFT(EARLY
Roman Em p i re, It a l y, and France) and overseas (in
MODERN); NORTHBERWICKWITCHES;PROTESTANTREFORMA-
Brazil, Japan, India, Central America, and soon in
TION;SCOT,REGINALD;SCOTLAND;SHAKESPEARE,WILLIAM;
SWIMMINGTEST;WARBOYS,WITCHESOF;WEYER,JOHANN; China). The Society regarded its main task as mission-
WITCHCRAZE. a ry work among non-Christians. Its other principal
586 Jesuits (Society of Jesus) |
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a reas of activity we re teaching in schools and unive r s i t i e s , annuae.The leadership constantly reminded individual
training priests, and catechizing the post-Tr i d e n t i n e authors to refrain from boastfulness, exaggeration, or
laity. By 1650, there were about 15,000 Jesuits (at the distorting the truth in their accounts. Collected by the
time of its temporary dissolution in 1773, the So c i e t y p rovincial leadership of the Ord e r, these re p o rts we re
boasted around 23,000 members). then censored, rew o rked, and shortened before being
Jesuits we re especially active in serving the published. Although the information contained in the
Counter-Reformation in the Holy Roman Empire and l i t t e rae annuae must there f o re be examined critically,
the Spanish Netherlands; in both places, Jesuits we re they remained important channels of communication
also extensively associated with the phenomenon of linking the various provinces of the Jesuit Ord e r,
witch persecution. Although the Society never present- through which ideas about possession, exorcism, fear of
ed a unified opinion on the issue of witchcraft, Jesuits the Devil, witchcraft and witchcraft trials were spread.
d e c i s i vely influenced Eu ropean debates about witch- Once printed, they were also accessible to readers out-
craft through the publications of such Jesuits as Martín side the Jesuit Order.
Del Rio and Adam Contzen, who favored persecution,
or Adam Ta n n e r, Paul Laymann, and Friedrich Sp e e , Jesuit Opposition to Popular
who criticized it. Generally speaking, most Je s u i t Magic, Bewitchment, and
authors appear to have preached and written in favor of Demons
persecution during the sixteenth century. After 1602, Champions of the Counter-Reformation, the Jesuits
h owe ve r, Jesuits increasingly adopted a skeptical—and fought on a broad front against every sort of heresy and
sometimes downright critical—stance against witch deviation from orthodox Catholic belief. In their opin-
hunting. In part i c u l a r, their role as confessors of ion the Devil was responsible for spreading false reli-
accused witches brought many Jesuits to oppose witch gious ideas (that is, for Protestantism), as well as for
hunts by forcing them to confront the many horrors of improper religious practices and so-called “supersti-
the trials firsthand. tion.” The moral code propagated in Jesuit sermons,
In addition to their role as the confessors of alleged tracts, catechism commentaries, and missionary activi-
witches, Jesuits also figured prominently after 1600 in ties branded sexual sins, and religious deviation in par-
e xo rcising allegedly possessed people, an activity that ticular, as mortal sins resulting from seduction by the
could trigger witchcraft trials. Already prime targets of Devil; their catalog of moral failings could be interpret-
hostility and suspicion from their Protestant enemies, ed as evidence of witchcraft. When catechizing and
Jesuit critics of witchcraft trials we re also openly slan- teaching the lower social groups of Europe, Jesuits vig-
dered as alleged “sorcerers” by those favoring the perse- o rously opposed soothsaying, the recitation of
cution of witches. Another form of Jesuit involvement quasi-Christian blessings, magical forms of healing, and
in witchcraft trials derived from their role as teachers; in other types of popular magic for countering disease and
the late 1620s, several pupils at Jesuit schools in the coping with the exigencies of everyday life. In place of
prince-bishoprics of Franconia fell under suspicion of such practices, Jesuits advocated the efficacy of prayer,
witchcraft and some were executed. confession, and communion, as well as the use of
In addition to texts written by Jesuits for and against objects (such as the Agnus Dei, or Lamb of God
the hunting of witches, the l i t t e ra e a n n u a e— a n n u a l amulet) sanctioned by the Church as protection against
reports that each Jesuit theological college had to send demons and witches.
to its provincial superior—offer our most import a n t In this context, the l i t t e rae annuae often re p o rt e d
source for research on Jesuit involvement in early mod- allegedly successful expulsions of demons from the bod-
ern witch persecution. Written for propaganda purpos- ies of possessed individuals. Children or adolescents
es, these re p o rts intended to glorify the Catholic who had been possessed or seduced by the Devil playe d
Church by reporting the successful results of missionary a particularly prominent role in such accounts: they
w o rk and of hostilities ove rcome by the Je s u i t s . we re taken into Je s u i t - run institutions to be cared for
Competing with Protestants, with older Catholic and we re sometimes exo rc i zed there. A case from Vi e n n a
o rders, and with other Jesuit colleges, the writers of in 1583, in which Jesuits drove 12,652 demons from a
these reports strove to emphasize the splendid achieve- possessed girl after weeks of exo rcism, caused a sensation
ments of their own establishments. As triumphs ove r t h roughout the entire Ord e r. This happened, howe ve r,
the De v i l’s machinations constituted a major form of only after the girl’s grandmother—who had allegedly
Christian achievement, the Devil became an important handed her over to the Devil—had been burned at the
topic of discussion in the litterae annuae. As the Jesuit stake as a witch. Similar cases also occurred in In g o l s t a d t
order’s leadership noted at the end of the sixteenth and in 1582 and in the rural environs of Trier between 1586
the beginning of the seventeenth century, the authors of and 1596. The first German Jesuit, St. Peter Canisius,
the re p o rts willingly bent the truth or disre g a rded the a d vocated exo rcism in the mid-sixteenth century and
s e c recy of the confessional when writing their l i t t e ra e later had a significant influence on the witchcraft trials
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in the prince-bishopric of Augsburg. Exo rcisms by persuade them to make the necessary confessions of
Jesuits also brought suspicions of witchcraft in their witchcraft. On the other hand, the confessional also
wake elsew h e re in Eu ro p e . g a ve Jesuits an opportunity to lessen the spiritual
Although by the seventeenth century the Ord e r’s anguish of suspects forced through tort u re to make
leaders generally advised that exorcisms be avoided alto- unfounded judicial confessions—that is, to commit
g e t h e r, six French Jesuits we re invo l ved as exo rcists in perjury—and thus to commit a mortal sin. In his com-
the famous affair of Urban Grandier and the possessed mentary on the catechism for Luxembourg in 1623, the
nuns of Loudon in the 1630s. Even after accusations of Jesuit Nicolaus Cusanus recommended that confessors
witchcraft had largely disappeared from courts of law, not tell the secular authorities when an alleged witch
Jesuits were occasionally active as exorcists, for example, retracted a confession, in order to prevent the renewed
offering their help against alleged bewitchment in torture that usually followed such retractions.
Luxembourg ca. 1680.
Jesuit Opposition to Witch
Jesuits as Advocates of Witch Persecution
Persecution Until 1600, the dominant voices within the Society of
Many examples showed that Jesuit priests—acting as Jesus (in Ge r m a n y, if not in Rome) lent unqualified sup-
confessors of secular and ecclesiastical princes, as pro- p o rt to the persecution of witches. After 1602, howe ve r,
fessors at universities and theological faculties, or as outright criticisms of witchcraft trials began to emerge in
preachers in urban churches—actively helped encour- the Holy Roman Em p i re in the writings of Adam Ta n n e r
age the persecution of witches. Particularly in the Holy and Paul Laymann. After 1602, it was generally re c o g-
Roman Empire, some Jesuits pressed adamantly for the n i zed that Jesuits we re more likely to oppose than to sup-
pursuit of witchcraft trials. For example, in the 1590s, p o rt the persecution of witches. As a result, officials in
Jesuit preachers called for persecution in Trier, stopping electoral Cologne demanded that Jesuits no longer be
only after repeated and severe reprimands from the permitted to act as confessors to accused witches there .
Order’s leaders and participating in witchcraft trials The Witch Commissioner (He xe n k o m m i s s a r) He i n r i c h
afterward only as confessors. von Schultheiss even wanted to arrest the Jesuit Ad a m
The publication in 1599/1600 of Ma rtín Del Rio’s Tanner for witchcraft because of Ta n n e r’s criticisms of
Disquisitionum magicarum libri sex ( Six Books on w i t c h-hunting methods.
Investigations into Magic) constituted the high point of After 1620, Nicolaus Cusanus, who had experienced
Jesuit arguments in favor of witch persecution. It quick- witchcraft trials firsthand in several places (Tr i e r, the
ly became the standard work of Catholic demonology Eifel region, Luxembourg, and Lorraine), also expressed
and was reprinted in twenty subsequent editions. In serious doubts about the correctness of witchcraft trial
Munich and Ingolstadt, two Jesuits, Gre g o ry of procedures. Both Tanner and Cusanus emphasized the
Valencia and Peter St ew a rt, significantly influ e n c e d false denunciations of accomplices forced from alleged
i m p o rtant statements of Catholic demonology that witches in custody, and judged tort u re unreliable for
d e fined any criticism of witchcraft beliefs (part i c u l a r l y establishing truth in witchcraft cases. Like other Jesuit
by Protestants) as here s y. In Ba varia, Jesuits such as opponents of witchcraft trials (or Me d i t e r r a n e a n
Jacob Gretser, Adam Contzen, and Georg Stengel advo- inquisitors), they placed great emphasis on the re p e n-
cated severe witch persecution along the lines suggested tance of alleged witches, and on the general importance
by Del Rio. During the Bavarian debates about witch- of Christian education and discipline for eve ryo n e .
craft in the 1620s, Contzen led the Jesuit faction advo- Meanwhile, Jesuits in such areas as Paderborn and
cating a hard-line position on the question of witch Bamberg also tried to exert a moderating influence on
persecution. witchcraft trials. Father Kaspar Hell publicly criticized
Jesuits were also often involved in witchcraft trials as the seve re hunts at Eichstätt in 1629, although other
confessors to accused witches. A Jesuit cathedral local Jesuits eagerly participated in them. At the Jesuit
p re a c h e r, Lukas Ellenz, accompanied more than 200 College in Rome, Father Johannes Spies devoted him-
alleged witches from the rural environs of Trier to the self to caring for two suspected witches who had fle d
stake, while Father Petrus Kircher acted as confessor to Bamberg, advocating less severe torture and less reliance
400 individuals condemned as witches during the mass on denunciations as evidence in witchcraft trials. Father
trials in Bamberg. But the question of how individual Spies had previous firsthand experience of witchcraft
Jesuits conducted themselves as confessors must remain trials, acting as a confessor to alleged witches tried in
open, because Friedrich Spee was probably also Lu xembourg and the Spanish Netherlands. Howe ve r,
involved in this role in witchcraft trials. In some cases, no Jesuit denied that witches existed; not even the most
Jesuits collaborated completely with the secular court s brilliant Jesuit criticism of witchcraft trials, Fr i e d r i c h
t rying accused witches, demoralizing suspects with Sp e e’s Cautio Criminalis (A Warning on Cr i m i n a l
images of eternal damnation, and thus helping Justice, 1631), dared go this far.
588 Jesuits (Society of Jesus) |
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Pupils of Jesuit Schools der Hexenprozesse aus dem Jesuitenorden.” Spee-Jahrbuch7:
Accused of Witchcraft 31–58.
At several places (Tr i e r, W ü rzburg, Eichstätt, and Duhr, Bernhard. 1900. Die Stellung der Jesuiten in den deutschen
Hildesheim), suspicions of witchcraft we re raised Hexenprozessen.Cologne: Bachem.
against boys attending schools run by Jesuits, often ———. 1907–1921.Geschichte der Jesuiten in den Ländern
deutscher Zunge.3 vols. Munich and Regensburg: Herder.
after the Jesuits had taken so-called “w i t c h - b oy s” (usu-
Heiss, Gernot. 1990/1991. “Konfessionelle Propaganda und kirch-
ally self-confessed boy witches) into their schools to
liche Magie. Berichte der Jesuiten über den Teufel aus der Zeit
question, exo rcise, and instruct them. In W ü rzburg, a
der Gegenreformation in den mitteleuropäischen Ländern der
f ew pupils at Jesuit schools we re even executed for
Habsburger.” Römische Historische Mitteilungen32/33:
witchcraft in the late 1620s. Suspicions of witchcraft
103–152.
and examinations of boys as alleged witches at Je s u i t Voltmer, Rita. 2001. “Zwischen Herrschaftskrise,
schools reached a point where the Ord e r’s leadership Wirtschaftsdepression und Jesuitenpropaganda:
issued a special instruction in the mid-s e ve n t e e n t h Hexenverfolgungen in der Stadt Trier (15. – 17. Jahrhundert).”
c e n t u ry to pre vent further escalation of the pro b l e m . Jahrbuch für westdeutsche Landesgeschichte27: 37–107.
RITA VOLTMER;
Jesus
TRANSLATED BY ALISON ROWLAND There are two main components in the life of Jesus as
told by the Gospels that link him to the domains of
See also: BAMBERG,PRINCE-BISHOPRICOF;BAVARIANWAROFTHE
WITCHES;CANISIUS,ST.PETER;CONFESSORS;CONTZEN,ADAM, magic and sorcery. One concerns the interpretation of
SJ;DELRIO,MARTÍN;DUHR,BERNHARD,SJ;EXORCISM;GREGORY his miracles, the other lies in the field of astrology.
OFVALENCIA;GRETSER,JACOB,SJ;LAYMANN,PAUL;LOUDUN In the New Testament, Jesus accomplishes miracles,
NUNS;PADERBORN,BISHOPRICOF;POSSESSION,DEMONIC; most of which consist of healing, for example, in Mark
SCHULTHEISS,HEINRICHVON;SPEE,FRIEDRICH;SUPERSTITION; (1:30–34), where we find a brief re p o rt about a sick
TANNER,ADAM;WÜRZBURG,PRINCE-BISHOPRICOF. woman, the mother-in-law of Simon Peter, who regains
References and further reading:
her health after the intervention of Jesus: “3 0 : Now
Behringer,Wolfgang. 1992. “Zur Haltung Adam Tanners in der
Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever, and imme-
Hexenfrage. Die Entstehung einer Argumentationstrategie in
diately they told him of her.31:And he came and took
ihrem gesellschaftlichen Kontext.” Pp. 161–185 in Vom Unfug
her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her;
der Hexenprozesse. Gegner der Hexenverfolgung von Johann Weyer
and she served them.” The same episode is told by
bis Friedrich von Spee.Edited by Hartmut Lehmann and Otto
Ulbricht.Wiesbaden: Harrossowitz. Ma t t h ew (8:14–17) and Luke (4:38–44). But Ma rk’s
———. 1993. “Von Adam Tanner zu Friedrich Spee. Die account is particularly interesting, for he adds: “3 2 :
Entwicklung einer Argumentationsstrategie (1590–1630) vor That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who
dem Hintergrund zeitgenössischer gesellschaftlicher Konflikte.” were sick or possessed with demons. 33:And the whole
Pp. 154–175 in Friedrich Spee (1591–1635). Düsseldorfer city was gathered together about the door. 34: And he
Symposion zum 400. Geburtstag. Neue Ergebnisse der healed many who we re sick with various diseases, and
Spee-Forschung.Edited byTheo G.M. van Oorschot. Bielefeld:
cast out many demons; and he would not permit the
Aisthesis.
demons to speak, because they knew him.” It is a para-
———. 1995. “Der ‘Bayerische Hexenkrieg’. Die Debatte am
graph where the power of Jesus as an exorcist is clearly
Ende der Hexenprozesse in Deutschland.” Pp. 287–313 in Das
stated, although the demons’ knowledge about his true
Ende der Hexenverfolgung.Edited by Sönke Lorenz and Dieter
nature and mission establishes some kind of connection
R. Bauer.Stuttgart: Franz Steiner.
———. 1997. Hexenverfolgung in Bayern. Volksmagie, between him and them.
Glaubenseifer und Staatsräson in der Frühen Neuzeit.3d ed. Mo re ove r, here Ma rks h ows the link between disease
Munich: R. Oldenbourg. and demonic possession with lucidity. He b rew culture ,
Bireley, Robert. 2003. The Jesuits and the Thirty Years War: Kings, though struggling constantly against the idolatry of the
Courts, and Confessors. Cambridge, UK; NewYork: Cambridge populations that interacted with it and sometimes tar-
University Press. nished its monotheism, knew forms of practical magic
Bischöfliches Dom- und Diözesanmuseum Trier and Bibliothek
for both healing and exo rcising. The most influential (as
des Bischöflichen Priesterseminars Trier. 1991. Für Gott und die
well as confrontational) tradition was the Ba bylonian, as
Menschen. Die Gesellschaft Jesu und ihr Wirken im Erzbistum
s h own in Daniel 1–2, where the young prophet, who
Trier.Mainz: Verlag der Gesellschaft für Mittelrheinische
has been given special gifts by God, defeats “the magi-
Kirchengeschichte.
cians, the enchanters, the sorc e rers, and the Chaldaeans”
Clark, Stuart. 1997. Thinking with Demons. The Idea of Witchcraft
in Early Modern Europe.Oxford: Clarendon. (2, 2) by interpreting Ne b u c a d rez z a r’s dream corre c t l y.
Dillinger, Johannes. 1999. “Böse Leute.” Hexenverfolgungen in Among the Jews, many forms of sickness and insanity
Schwäbisch-Österreich und Kurtrier im Vergleich.Trier: we re considered as provoked by demonic possession;
Paulinus. healing and exo rcising we re thus ve ry close.
———. 2000. “Friedrich Spee und Adam Tanner: Zwei Gegner Other episodes in the life of Jesus seem to prove the
Jesus 589 |
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healer Apollonius of Ty a n a .
Though the Christian exegetical tradition has strug-
gled to elevate Je s u s’s prodigies beyond the domain of
“magic,” usually by referring to them as s i g n a ( s i g n s )
rather than miracula (miracles), it seems a hard task to
separate the two completely. It is significant that the
very earliest Christian traditions, as shown in Acts and
in many of the Ap o c ryphal Gospels, hugely expanded
the sphere of miracles, which became one of the main
components in their narrative texture and influ e n c e d
heavily the centuries to come. Some of the arguments
alleged in order to separate Je s u s’s prodigies from the
field of “m a g i c” invo l ve the fact that his actions—
unlike the “p a g a n” tradition—do not invo l ve rituals
and are not associated with sanctuaries or cult places.
But the Gospels are complex and seem to allow miracles
of many kinds. It is hard not to see “operational” magic
in Je s u s’s healing of the man blind since birth (Jo h n
9:6–7), when he mixes saliva with mud and puts it on
the man’s eyes: “6 : As he said this, he spat on the
g round and made clay of the spittle and anointed the
man’s eyes with the clay, 7:saying to him, ‘Go, wash in
the pool of Siloam.’ So he went and washed and came
back seeing” (John 9:6–7). The mention of the pool of
Siloam is also significant: it was situated outside the
The Devil tempts Jesus (late fifteenth-century painting). (The British
present walls of Jerusalem, and was supplied with water
Library/Topham-HIP/The Image Works)
by the river Gihon, where Solomon had been declared
king by the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan (1
centrality of his healing miracles as forms of exo rc i s m . Kings 1:33–34) and where King Hezekiah had built a
The most significant is told, slightly differe n t l y, in canal to bring water to the city (2 Kings 20:20). Back
t h ree of the four Gospels: Ma t t h ew (12:22–30), Ma rk then it was clearly an important place for Jewish re l i-
(3:22–27), and Luke (11:14–20). Jesus is casting a gious tradition. Although the probable meaning of the
demon out of a blind and dumb man: the miracle name “Si l o a m” (the “m e s s e n g e r” or, better, “the one
a l l ows the man to see and hear again. But part of the who has been sent,” from the verb s a l a h , “to send” )
s u r rounding crowd is doubtful and accuses him of makes us believe that Jesus chose it as a symbolic
operating with the help of Be e l zebul (Be e l zebub), com- reminder of the significance of his presence in the
manding the demons by the power of their lord. Je s u s world, it must have been difficult for pagans (or the
a n s wers this accusation by arguing that it makes no newly converted) not to perceive it as a sacred, “power-
sense for Satan to defeat himself; but it is of the utmost f u l” place. The same thing would happen at the rive r
i m p o rtance to note what Luke adds as a conclusion to Jo rdan, where Jesus had been baptized, and where for
Je s u s’s words: “1 9 : And if I cast out demons by centuries to come innumerable Christian pilgrims
Be e l zebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? would go to bathe, hoping to preserve their bodies from
T h e re f o re they shall be your judges. 2 0 : But if it is by any sickness.
the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the Others among Je s u s’s prodigies also evoke scenes
kingdom of God has come upon you.” The mention of from the Hebrew Bible. The miracle at the marriage at
the ezbah El o h i m (the finger of God) is a clear Cana in Galilee (John 2:1–11), or the one at the Sea of
reminder of Exodus (6:6), where God speaks to Mo s e s , Tiberias that provides the crowd of his followers with
announcing the coming days of freedom for Israel and b read (Ma t t h ew 14:13–21 and 15:29–39; Ma rk
the end of their slave ry under the Egyptians: a pro m i s e 6:31–44 and 8:1–10; Luke 9:10–17; John 6:1–15),
that will be accomplished, according to the He b rew recall other, more ancient episodes when God sent pro-
Bible, through many prodigies. Luke's words are eve n visions and water to his people in need through the
m o re effective, considering that he is writing for a i n t e rcession of several prophets, for example, Mo s e s
Hellenistic audience unfamiliar with Jewish tradition, (Exodus 16:14–35), Elijah (1 Kings 17:1–16), or Elisha
but was probably inclined to pay attention to miracles, (2 Kings 4:1–7; 7:42–44). In latter days, this kind of
which we re common in their tradition and caused p rodigy became commonplace in Christian literature
many Greeks to connect Jesus with the pro d i g i o u s and can be put in the domain of white magic: for
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instance, in some novels the Holy Grail had the power magic underlines clearly how the incarnation won over
to make food miraculously appear at table. all forms of paganism and idolatry when, during the
Unlike these prodigies, others lie in more controver- flight to Egypt, the ve ry presence of the infant Je s u s
sial fields. The control that Jesus exe rcises on nature , brings down and destroys all pagan idols.
shown when walking on the water (Matthew 14:22–36; Another controversial side of the life of Jesus concerns
Ma rk 6:45–56; John 6:16–21) or calming a storm the domain of astrology and pro p h e c y. A medieval leg-
(Matthew 8:18, 23–27; Luke 8:22–25; Mark 4:35–41), end relates that the Ti b u rtine Si byl—a priestess of
could be easily perc e i ved as weather magic, with its Apollo with the gift of prophecy—had announced to
many implications. But the most astonishing accounts the Roman Em p e ror Octavius Augustus that a mightier
a re those related to the miracles of the re s u r rection of e m p e ror than he was about to be born; this tale was
dead people: Ja i ru s’s daughter (Ma t t h ew 9:18–26; included in the Golden Legend (VI, 2.1.3) and in other
Mark 5:21–43; Luke 8:40–56); the young son of a wid- collections of Christian miracles, and was also made
ow at the Gates of Nain (Luke 7:11–17, quoting 1 famous by many iconographical re p resentations. Like
Kings 17:17–24 and 2 Kings 4:23–37); and Lazaru s the Si byl to Augustus, some m a g o iannounced the birt h
(John 11:1–46). While the first two episodes are short of Jesus to He rod. Ma t t h ew (2:1–12) tells how a star
stories where Jesus operates shortly after the death of announced the birth of Jesus. In this way, prophecies in
c h i l d ren, Lazaru s’s re s u r rection scarily transgresses the the He b rew Bible about the coming of the Me s s i a h
b o u n d a ry between the realm of the living and that of ( Isaiah 60:6; Psalms 72:10; Numbers 24:17) seemed to
the dead: Lazarus has been lying in his sepulchre for h a ve been confirmed first by pagan priests skilled in
four days: “3 9 : Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ a s t ro l o g y. Ma t t h ew’s account gives no further explana-
Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, tions about them: we re they meant to be Pe r s i a n
by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead a s t rologers, perhaps Ma zdeans? Or less impre s s i ve magi-
four days.’ ( . . .) 4 3 : When he had said this, he cried cians like Simon Magus or Ba r - Jesus, whom we meet in
with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out.’ 4 4 : The dead Acts (8:9–11 and 13:6–8)? Re g a rdless, Christians have
man came out, his hands and feet bound with ban- commonly read their homage to the newborn Jesus as a
dages, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to sign of submission of other religions. But the ambiguity
them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’” Even if late about their status was not easy to forget; between the
antiquity and medieval traditions offer many miracles fifth and sixth centuries, the m a g o i began to be identi-
of re s u r rection operated by saints, the realism of the fied with eastern kings. This new condition—together
scene depicted in the Gospel of John, the body coming with the development of legends that tended to defin e
out of his grave as a walking corpse and brought back to their number, their names, their ages—aimed to obliter-
life by Jesus’s words, resemble—if only in a barely for- ate gradually that of m a g o i , d a n g e rously linked to for-
mal way—an act of necromancy. bidden practices of astro l o g y.
From the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus comes The stars remained in Christian symbolic tradition
the account of the Descent of Christ into the Limbo of as an announcement of Je s u s’s coming, while the sun
the Fathers. This legend was already thought to be hint- represented Jesus himself. A depiction of Jesus as Helios
ed at by the Acts of the Apostles (2:25–32), but it had a (the Sun), an image linked to the prophecy of Malachi
f u rther development in this apocryphal Gospel and then (4:2) about the coming of a messiah defined as S o l
in medieval iconography. The legend says that, while his i u s t i t i a e (the sun of justice), became common in
body was in the tomb, Je s u s’s spirit went to Limbo Roman and Gothic miniatures during the Middle Ages.
w h e re dwelled the souls of the Just of the Ancient This association was re i n f o rced since the third and
L a w — f rom Adam to Dismas, the Good T h i e f, and f o u rth centuries by celebrating Je s u s’s alleged birt h d a y
including, among many others, Abel, Abraham, Mo s e s , on the Latin feast for the Sol invictus (invincible sun).
David, Solomon, and John the Baptist—who we re wait- The tie between Jesus and the stars took another turn
ing to be released. Jesus kicked down the gates of hell after the twelfth century, when the diffusion of astro-
and brought them out. Then his soul rejoined his body logical lore in western Europe brought many astrologers
in the sepulchre, to await the day of re s u r re c t i o n . to question the prohibition against determining Jesus’s
Other tales from the apocryphal Infancy Go s p e l s horoscope: if Jesus was not just the son of God, but also
deal with an entirely different pattern of miraculous a human being, he should also have been subject like
acts: the Book of James, the Gospel of Thomas the other humans to the laws of nature. The Italian poet
Israelite, and the later, but soon-to-be famous Gospel of and astrologer Cecco d’Ascoli was tried and con-
the Ps e u d o - Ma t t h ew, fill up the lack of know l e d g e demned to death in 1327 for his attempt to push his
about Jesus’s early years with many miracles and magic research this far (Pompeo Faracovi 2000).
tricks, many of which entered the western medieval tra-
dition. The same apocryphal Gospels that had a part in MARINA MONTESANO
establishing Jesus’s fame as a performer of miracles and
See also: ASTROLOGY;BIBLE;EXORCISM;JEWS,WITCHCRAFT,AND
Jesus 591 |
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MAGIC;MAGIC,POPULAR;MIRACLES;MOSES;NECROMANCY;POS- divination, re p resent the biblical view of local
SESSION,DEMONIC;PRODIGIES;SIMONMAGUS;WEATHERMAGIC. p re-Israelite religion, and are forbidden as abhorre n t .
References and further reading: The ancient rabbinic metonym for forbidden magical
Aland, Kurt, ed. 1996.Synopsis of the Four Gospel: Greek-English
practices and beliefs would, in a similar spirit, become
Edition of the Synopsis Quattuor Evangeliorium.15th ed.
“the ways of the Amorites” (d a rkei ha-emori) (Ve l t r i
Stuttgart: German Bible Society.
1998–1999; most of the rabbinic material is in Tosefta
Brown, Raymond Edward. 1977. An Introduction to the New
Shabbat[6–7], a collection of rabbinic teachings redact-
Testament.NewYork: Doubleday.
ed in the third century).
Evans, Craig Alan. 1996. Life of Jesus Research. An Annotated
Bibliography.2d ed. Leiden: Brill. Yet not all divination contravened cultic statutes.
Kee, Howard Clark. 1986. Medicine, Miracle, and Magic in New Licit methods of divination are prescribed in ve r s e s
Testament Times.Cambridge and NewYork: Cambridge 15–22 of Deuteronomy 18, immediately after the pro-
University Press. hibitions of verses 9–14. A good example of a biblically
Léon-Dufour, Xavier, ed. 1977. Les miracles de Jésus,Paris: Seuil. a p p roved divinatory device is the “Breastplate of
Leroy, Herbert. 1999. Jesus.Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Judgment” or “Urimand Thummim” worn by the high
Buchgesellschaft.
priest. It was only after the divinatory channels provid-
Maclachlan, Lewis. 1968. Miracles of Healing: Studies of the
ed by the Jewish cult, including this breastplate, failed,
Healing Miracles in the New Testament.Evesham:James.
that King Saul made his famous forbidden visit to the
Pompeo Faracovi, Ornella. 2000. Gli oroscopi di Cristo.Venice:
n e c romancer (I Samuel 28). On a routine basis, eve ry
Marsilio.
Jew re c e i ved biblical assurance that proper enactment
Schelkle, Karl Hermann. 1968–1976. Theologie des Neuen
Testaments. I–IV. Düsseldorf: Patmos. of the Torah would assure the flow of sustenance,
Stroker,William D. 1989. Extracanonical Sayings of Jesus.Atlanta, expressed primarily as rain (Deut. 11:13). The assump-
GA: Scholars. tion that by fulfilling the Torah the Jewish people
Theissen, Gerd. 1983. The Miracle Stories of the Early Christian could—among other things—re veal Go d’s will, gain
Tradition.Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark. access to the divine realm, effect the remission of their
sins, and secure rainfall, indicates some basic structural
Jews, Witchcraft, and Magic characteristics of Jewish religiosity. It is “performative”
Jews have always had a complex relation to magic. The and predicated on the belief that if one carries out cer-
Hebrew Bible condemns both witchcraft and magic. tain actions properly, the desired results will surely fol-
Yet in asserting that precise ritual behavior sustains the low. It has been suggested (Idel 1997) that the ease with
world, the Bible and later classical Jewish texts express which Judaism assimilated foreign magical traditions
what might easily be construed as magical worldviews. t h roughout its history may be ascribed to this basic
Moreover, Jewish authorities frequently ruled leniently structural parallel.
when called upon to assess the legality of a wide range If the normative observance by all Jews had magical
of quasi-magical practices. Many of the most revered e f fic a c y, re ve red Talmudic sages we re also described as
fig u res in Jewish history we re established wonder engaging in magical activity alongside their legal,
workers and magical savants. Even those who were not exegetical, and homiletical pursuits. R. Hanina and R.
often became so in Jewish hagiography, indicating the Oshaya, Palestinian rabbis of the third century, are por-
esteem given to magical prowess by Jewish society.The t r a yed admiringly as having employed the “Laws of
f requent association between Jews and magic in Cre a t i o n” to create mouth-watering calves on Fr i d a y
non-Jewish literature thus was not pure invention; if afternoon just in time for Sabbath dinner. Rava, a
there was a “legend of Jewish sorcery” there was also f o u rt h - c e n t u ry Ba bylonian sage, re p o rtedly created a
“t ruth behind the legend” (Trachtenberg 1939). g o l e m-style anthropoid, but his colleague R. Ze r a
However, the magic imputed to the Jews was often returned it to dust upon realizing that it could not
v i ewed as pernicious, its purpose being to harm speak, and was thus surely “a creature of the magicians”
Christians (Ginzburg 1991). ( Ba bylonian Talmud, Sa n h e d r i n 6 5 b, 67b; on
The Bible rejects magic and witchcraft unequivocal- g o l e m-making in Judaism, see Idel 1990). Honi ha-
ly, as evinced by the terse dictate of Exodus 22:17/18: Me’aggel (“drawer of circles”) was a famous rainmaker,
“You shall not suffer a witch to live.” The prescriptive though his powe rful magic was attributed to his close
core of the antimagical legislation of the Hebrew Bible, relationship with the Almighty. While the rabbinic
however, is Deuteronomy 18:9–14. It contains a litany leader of fir s t - c e n t u ry B.C.E. Jew ry in the Land of
of religious practices condemned as the “abominations Israel, Shimon ben Shetah, objected in principle to
of those nations” that live in the soon-to-be-conquered Honi’s standing in his magic circle demanding rain, his
land of Canaan. The Israelites may not practice child hands we re tied. “What can I do,” the Talmud re l a t e s
sacrifice, nor may they tolerate among them soothsay- Shimon saying in exasperation to Honi, “seeing that
ers, enchanters, witches, charmers, mediums, wizard s , you ingratiate yourself with the Om n i p resent and He
or necromancers. Such practices, most of them forms of p e rforms your desires! And you are like a son who
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ingratiates himself with a father who performs his s t rued as the primary dimension of such cere m o n i e s .
desires” (Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 19a). Elsewhere The only consistently forbidden forms of magic we re
in the Talmud, however, this same Shimon ben Shetah silent, voodoo-like rituals.
is re p o rted—perhaps apocryphally—to have ord e re d Language, particularly the use of names, thus formed
eighty witches hanged on a single day (Ba by l o n i a n the quintessential core of Jewish magic. Ad j u r a t i o n s ,
Talmud, Sanhedrin45b). incantations, amulets, and magical bowls from antiqui-
These Talmudic discussions largely defined the para- ty to the present attest to this. This forte of Jewish mag-
meters of magical activity in subsequent rabbinic dis- ic was re c o g n i zed in antiquity, with non-Jews like
course. Just as the precise definition of the labors pro- Origen commenting on the special strength of Jew i s h
hibited on the Sabbath clarified those labors permissible invocations. “Their names are so powerful when linked
on the Sabbath, the rabbinic insistence that biblical with the name of God,” he wrote, “that the formula ‘the
terms be precisely defined made it possible to distin- God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
guish prohibited from permissible magical activities. Jacob’ is used not only by members of the Jewish nation
Thus rather than a blanket condemnation of any activ- in their prayers to God and when they exo rcise dae-
ity that might be considered magical, Deuteronomy 18 mons, but also by almost all those who deal in magic
came to be seen as a list of specific techniques (and con- and spells” (Origen 1965, 209).
texts) that were to be avoided amid a wide range of oth- Or i g e n’s comments are especially perc e p t i ve in not-
er permissible techniques—including the magical cre- ing that Jews used identical liturgical formulas in “nor-
ation of calves and anthropoids. According to rabbinic mative” and magical settings. In addition to the liturgi-
s o u rces, even forbidden magical techniques could be cal formulas found in synagogue prayers and exorcism
studied and practiced by rabbis if their goal was to ceremonies, such items as sacred scrolls in everyday use,
understand the practices academically and acquaint for example, m e z z u zo t (doorpost scrolls, p l .) t e fil l i n
t h e m s e l ves with material they might encounter in a (phylacteries, or head and arm scro l l s ) , and To r a h
judicial context. scrolls (the Pentateuch), had prominent magical dimen-
Although the parameters of acceptable magical activ- sions (Bar-Ilan 1985). All had to be written by scribes
ity we re subject to rabbinic debate over the centuries, who followed strict standards of purity, taking a ritual
“w o rd - m a g i c” was widely considered permissible. bath regularly, often before each inscription of a divine
Me d i e val rabbis accepted all forms of name-based name. Mo re ove r, eve ry aspect of the written text was
incantations to angels; many regarded those to demons carefully regulated, from the ingredients in the ink and
as no less acceptable. R. Eliezer of Metz (12th c.) ruled the animal skin on which the sacred texts we re to be
that “invoking the demons to do one’s will is permitted written, to the formatting and design of the text, down
f rom the outset, for what difference is there betwe e n to the ve ry shape of the letters. If a single calligraphic
i n voking demons or angels?” On the other hand, R. c rown of a letter was missing, the scroll became unfit
El i ezer ruled that manipulating objects or other ritual for use. The magical significance of the visual dimen-
p e rformances constituted forbidden magic, for “a n sion of the written text in Judaism should thus not be
action may not be characterized as ‘magic’ unless it con- overlooked (Wolfson 2001).
sists of taking hold of a thing and manipulating it, that Me z z u zo t we re scrolls of De u t e ronomy 6:4–9, fixe d
is, if it is the performance of a deed . . . but invo k i n g upon critical liminal spaces, the doorposts of Jew i s h
demons is permitted ab initio” (Trachtenberg 1939, houses. Additional magical formulas were added to the
20). The condemnation of ritual magic—the inve rt e d mezuzah (sg.) in the course of the Middle Ages to aug-
reflection of Jewish religious behavior—may well reflect ment its apotropaic powers. A standard m e z u z a h s t i l l
the classical Jewish construction of forbidden magic as a retains two such medieval vestiges on its re verse: the
form of ‘avodah zarah(lit., alien worship; idolatry). name SHADDAI(understood as the acrostic of Shomer
If Jewish legal sources enable us to frame a descrip- Delatot Israel,“guardian of the doors of Israel”) and the
tion of licit Jewish magic, it would be naive to think ostensible gibberish KOZU BEMOCHSAZ KO Z U .
that Jewish authorities kept scrupulously within these The latter was a transposition of the three core words of
imposed limits. It was common for Jewish magical trea- De u t e ronomy 6:4 (“Hear Israel, Y H V H ( o u r ) Go d ,
tises to prescribe ritual performances, manipulations of YHVH(is) one), with which the obverse side begins. By
objects, concoctions of foul substances, and whateve r replacing each letter by the one following it in the
else magical tradition suggested might be effic a c i o u s . Hebrew alphabet (one of many techniques of temurah
Jews availed themselves of much in the gentile magi- or letter recombination that could be used hermeneuti-
cian’s arsenal of formulas, from blood, saliva, feces, and cally or to produce new divine names), a formula was
hair, to herbs, gemstones, and salt; they deployed them created that was both more mysterious and more pow-
much like their non-Jewish neighbors did. Such behav- e rful than the unmodified, familiar text. Me d i e va l
ior could be sanctioned by rabbis, who often stre s s e d Jewish literature pre s e rves cases of Gentile interest in
their secondary relationship to the word-magic, con- acquiring these potent amulets that adorned eve ry
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Jewish home, alongside cases of vandalism that d e vour the living. Sefer Ha s i d i m , the seminal work of
e x p ressed the fear and loathing that accompanied the the twe l f t h / t h i rt e e n t h - c e n t u ry pietists, relates that at
a we-inspiring image of the Jewish magus. While Jew s the moment of their vigilante-style executions (not by
could not re m ove the biblically mandated m e z u z a h t o the Ha s i d i m t h e m s e l ves!), such cannibalistic witches
p rotect themselves from Gentile misunderstandings, might be offered an opportunity for atonement in
c u s t o m a ry practices could be curtailed if they encour- exchange for knowledge of techniques that would ren-
aged suspicions of m a l e ficia (evil acts). T h u s , der them harmless after death. Driving a stake through
s i x t e e n t h-c e n t u ry Jewish legal authorities warned Jew s their mouths clear through to the ground beneath was
not to search their homes by candlelight for leave n e d recommended by one “witch”; another suggested filling
products the night before Passover, because of the dan- the mouths of her dead cohorts with gravel.
ger of witchcraft accusations (Shulhan Arukh, Ore k h While not active participants in the early modern
HayyimPassover §433, 7). Eu ropean witch hunts, contemporary Jewish writers
Because Jewish magic was grounded in complex tex- occasionally commented on the events of their day.
tual traditions, it remained a largely masculine affair: One leading fig u re, R. Menasseh ben Is r a e l
learned rabbis we re best able to engage in a magic of (1604–1657), who had been Sp i n o z a’s childhood
s a c red names learned from arcane manuscripts of t e a c h e r, endorsed the entire complex of learned witch
Kabbalah Ma’asit ( “ Practical Kabbalah”). Rabbis had beliefs, going so far as to justify the executions of
the ideal background to decode a magical literature witches. Menasseh was aware of the critique of the
consisting largely of names permutated from classical witch hunt voiced by such sixteenth-century
Jewish sources by means of complex exegetical tech- Christians as Johann We yer or Reginald Scot. Against
niques. Licit Jewish magic, more ove r, presumed the their critiques of the witch hunt, howe ve r, Me n a s s e h
saintliness of the practitioner; indeed, magical prowess (like most Dutch Calvinist pastors of his day) empha-
was an indicator of saintliness: “the righteous man s i zed the insurmountable significance of the demonic
d e c rees, and the Holy One, blessed be He, obeys.” pact, a feature of witchcraft more significant than m a l-
Although in contemporary Christian sources, usage e fic i a in nearly all Protestant demonology (Chajes
determined whether magic was “w h i t e” or “black,” 2003, 119–138).
Jewish discussions of magic rarely dwell on its intended It is also striking to note that after a millennium
uses. Assuming the practitioner to be a saintly rabbi during which no He b rew accounts of spirit possession
who knew that a n y harmful action was forbidden, we re written (or at least have surv i ved), such accounts
Jewish authors considered the illegality of maleficia as a proliferate from the mid-sixteenth century immediately
moot point. Instead, their discussions focused almost prior to the ve ry period that historians have re f e r red to
exclusively on questions of technique, as we have noted as “the golden age of the demoniac” (Monter 1976,
(Trachtenberg 1939, 22). 60). Jewish accounts have much in common with their
Jewish magic, however, was not practiced exclusively Christian counterparts, with one significant differe n c e :
by learned male elites. Sources from responsa to hagiog- early modern Jewish authorities re g a rded ghosts (called
raphy and autobiography pre s e rve ample evidence of d y b b u k i m since the seventeenth century) as the most
Jewish women’s invo l vement in magical arts. Wo m e n common unwelcome bodily invaders. As a result of
were consulted as healers, diviners, dream interpreters, this alternate etiology, Jewish exo rcism became a tre a t-
and mediums. While some were described as enjoying ment for both parties: exo rcists we re re q u i red to tre a t
natural gifts of clairvoyance and preternatural senses, the possessor with nearly as much care as the possessed.
many women were clearly expert practitioners of man- This augmented responsibility was re flected in the
tic techniques and “folk” medicine. Their expertise was m o d i fication of exo rcism techniques prescribed by the
such that even leading rabbis turned to them for assis- f o remost sixteenth-century Jewish mystic, R. Is a a c
tance in cases of illness, loss, or from sheer curiosity. Luria (1534–1572). Re g a rding the possessing spirit as
Female mediums also enabled rabbis to communicate a soul in limbo, R. Luria instructed exo rcists to con-
with the dead and delive red messages of the utmost duct the expulsion while incorporating techniques to
urgency to communities in danger. Nu m e rous exam- smooth the soul’s transition to Gehenna and, ultimate-
ples exist, for example, in an early seventeenth-century l y, to its next incarnation. Luria and his circle active l y
autobiography (Chajes 2003, 97–118). practiced grave-incubation techniques designed to pro-
Alongside such benign views, medieval Jew i s h mote their own possession by benign spirits. Po s s e s s i o n
s o u rces also pre s e rve some threatening images of the by spirits, be they benevolent or malevolent, may thus
female witch. German-Jewish Hasidim (pietists) shared be re g a rded as a prominent feature of early modern
the same pronounced fear of vampiristic witches as Jewish re l i g i o s i t y.
their contemporary Christian neighbors. The most Jewish intellectuals in Renaissance Italy created a siz-
heinous accusation leveled against these women was able body of magical literature akin to works by such
that they ate children, and, even in death, continued to we l l - k n own fig u res as Marsilio Ficino and Gi ova n n i
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Pico della Mirandola. Their rabbinic contemporaries, Cambridge and London: Harvard University Press.
sharing their view of these Christians that magic was ———. 1990. Golem: Jewish Magical and Mystical Traditions on
the highest actualization of human potential, construed the Artificial Anthropoid.Translated by M. Kallus et al. Edited
by M. Fishbane, R. Goldenberg, and A. Green. Albany: State
Judaism as a system of perfected magical words and her-
University of NewYork Press.
metic vessels. In fact, they had close personal contact
———. 1995. Hasidism: Between Ecstasy and Magic.Albany:
with one another. Pico’s “tutor” in Kabbalah was Rabbi
State University of NewYork Press.
Johannan Alemanno (1435/1438–ca. 1510), who
———. 1997. “On Judaism, Jewish Mysticism and Magic.” Pp.
argued that the study and mastery of magic constituted
195–214 in Envisioning Magic.Edited by P. Schäfer and H. G.
the final stage of one’s intellectual and spiritual educa- Kippenberg. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
tion. This contact, initiated as a result of Christian Jeffers, Ann. 1996. Magic and Divination in Ancient Palestine and
i n t e rest in probing the ancient wisdom hidden in Syria.Leiden; NewYork: E. J. Brill.
Jewish mystical sources, resulted in unpre c e d e n t e d Kanarfogel, Ephraim. 1999. Peering Through the Lattices: Mystical,
c ro s s - f e rtilization between Jewish and Christian Magical, and Pietistic Dimensions in the Tosafist Period.Detroit,
Renaissance thought (Idel 1983). MI: Wayne State University Press.
Monter, E. William. 1976. Witchcraft in France and Switzerland:
Building on these precedents, the eighteenth-century
The Borderlands During the Reformation.Ithaca, NY: Cornell
eastern European Jewish pietistic movement known as
University Press.
Hasidism took the figure of the magus and made him
Naveh, Joseph, and Shaul Shaked. 1987. Amulets and Magic
the center of religious society. Its founder, Rabbi Israel
Bowls: Aramaic Incantations of Late Antiquity.Second corrected
Ba’al Shem Tov(lit. “master of the good Name”), was an
ed. Jerusalem: Magnes.
accomplished magical healer as well as a profound mys- ———. 1993. Magic Spells and Formulae: Aramaic Incantations of
tical thinker. He is portrayed in Hasidic hagiography as Late Antiquity.Jerusalem: Magnes.
a shaman par excellence, regularly ascending to heaven, Origen. 1965. Contra Celsum.Translated by H. Chadwick.
privy to the secrets of the universe, and conversant in Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
the languages of all cre a t u res. Its subsequent leaders, Ruderman, David B. 1988. Kabbalah, Magic, and Science: The
called z a d d i k i m or “righteous ones,” we re re g a rded by Cultural Universe of a Sixteenth-Century Jewish Physician.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
their communities as conduits for blessing and suste-
Swartz, Michael D. 1997. Scholastic Magic: Ritual and Revelation
nance (Idel 1995). The blessing of a zaddik could heal
in Early Jewish Mysticism.Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
the sick, fructify the barren, and free the captive. A
Press.
master of magical devices—though never depicted as
Trachtenberg, Joshua. 1939. Jewish Magic and Superstition: A
slavishly beholden to technique—the zaddikcould also
Study in Folk Religion.NewYork: Behrman’s Jewish Book
travel from place to place through the axis mundishort- House.
cut, crossing great expanses in a moment (Verman and Veltri, Giuseppe. 1998–1999. “The ‘Other’ Physicians; the
Adler 1993/1994). Less exposed to the secularizing Amorites of the Rabbis and the Magi of Pliny.” Korot13:
t rends of Eu ropean society, the magical practices and 37–54.
beliefs of some No rth African and Middle Eastern Verman, Mark, and Shulamit H. Adler. 1993/1994. “Path
Jewish communities remain prominent features of their Jumping in the Jewish Magical Tradition.” Jewish Studies
Quarterly1: 131–148.
religiosity to this day, including traditions of venerating
Wolfson, Elliott R. 2001. “Phantasmagoria: the Image of the
their rabbis as wonder-working saints (Bilu 2000).
Image in Jewish Magic from Late Antiquity to the Early
Middle Ages.” Review of Rabbinic Judaism4, no. 1: 78–120.
J. H. CHAJES
Zimmels, H. J. 1952. Magicians, Theologians, and Doctors: Studies
See also: AMULETANDTALISMAN;ANGELS;BIBLE;BIBLIOMANCY; in Folk-Medicine and Folk-Lore as Reflected in Rabbinical
DEMONS;DIVINATION;ENDOR,WITCHOF;EXODUS22:18 Responsa (12th–19th Centuries).NewYork: Feldheim.
(22:17); EXORCISM;GHOSTS;IDOLATRY;INVOCATIONS;ISLAMIC Recommended Web sites for additional bibliography on Jewish magic:
WITCHCRAFTANDMAGIC;KABBALAH;MAGIC,LEARNED;NECRO- http://faculty.biu.ac.il/~barilm/bibmagic.html (The Web pages
MANCY;SCOT,REGINALD;WEYER,JOHANN;WORDS,POWEROF. of Prof. Meir Bar-Ilan)
References and further reading: http://faculty.washington.edu/snoegel/jmbtoc.htm (Jewish
Bar-Ilan, Meir. 1985. “Writing a Sefer Torah, Tefilin, and Mezuzah Magic Online Bibliography)
on Deer Skin.” Beit Mikrah30, no. 102: 375–381.
Bilu, Yoram. 2000. Without Bounds: The Life and Death of Rabbi Joan of Arc (ca. 1412–1431)
Ya’aqovWazana.Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press.
Mystic, soldier, martyr, and saint, Joan of Arc was also
Chajes, J. H. 2003. Between Worlds: Dybbuks, Exorcists, and Early
accused of being a witch at her trial for heresy in
Modern Judaism.Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Rouen, France. In the late stages of the Hundred Years’
Ginzburg, Carlo. 1991. Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches’ Sabbath.
Translated by R. Rosenthal. NewYork: Pantheon. War with France (1337–1453), the English and their
Idel, Moshe. 1983. “The Magical and Neoplatonic Interpretations collaborators were keen to destroy Joan, who had suc-
of the Kabbalah in the Renaissance.” Pp. 186–242 in Jewish ceeded in rallying French troops and leading them to a
Thought in the Sixteenth Century.Edited by B. D. Cooperman. key victory at Orléans in 1429. Less than a year later,
Joan of Arc 595 |
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enemy forces captured her. Eventually tried before a tion even in England.
special court headed by Pierre Cauchon, bishop of In the later half of the twentieth century, rapidly
Beauvais, Joan was condemned to death, handed over g rowing interest in women’s history has served once
to the secular authorities, and burned at the stake on again to re n ew interest in Joan. Contemporary studies of
May 30, 1431. Joan have tended to downplay the political context of
From 1425 on, the young Joan had claimed to hear her trial and execution, and to emphasize how Joan was
voices and see lights that she identified as Sa i n t s a casualty of late medieval misogyny and its fear of inde-
Michael, Catherine, and Ma r g a ret. T h e y, she said, pendent women who not only blurred gender bound-
re vealed her mission to come to the aid of Fr a n c e . aries by taking the role and even dress of men, but who
Dressed as a male soldier, Joan took up what she con- also falsely claimed divine inspiration for their activities,
s i d e red a mission from heaven. After her victory at and who, as witches, did the work of the De v i l .
Orléans, she also accomplished her goal of having King
THOMAS WORCESTER
Charles VII crowned at Reims—an act in defiance of
English pretensions to the French throne. Taken pris- See also: BASEL,COUNCILOF;CLERGY;ENGLAND;EXECUTIONS;
oner at Compiègne by Burgundian troops in Ma y FRANCE;GENDER;HERESY;MICHELET,JULES.
References and further reading:
1430, Joan was sold to the English and later bro u g h t
Barrett, W.P., ed. 1931. The Trial of Jeanne d’Arc.London:
b e f o re Cauchon’s tribunal. A recent study considere d
Routledge.
h ow the subsequent legal proceeding may be consid-
Barstow, Anne Llewellyn. 1986. Joan of Arc: Heretic, Mystic,
ered “the first of the great witchcraft trials,” and asserts
Shaman.Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen.
that in Joan’s era the “fear of witches . . . was connected
Gordon, Mary. 2000.Joan of Arc.NewYork: Viking.
to anxieties about class and particularly gender mobili- Krumeich, Gerd. 1989. Jeanne d’Arc in der Geschichte:
ty” (Gordon 2000, 109). Joan’s activities and crossdress- Historiographie—Politik—Kultur.Sigmaringen: Thorbecke.
ing stoked those anxieties, and her claims of direct con- Pernoud, Régine. 1955. The Retrial of Joan of Arc. NewYork:
tact with the saints in heaven provided ammunition for Harcourt Brace.
accusations of heresy. Sullivan, Karen. 1999. The Interrogation of Joan of Arc.
Joan’s visions were declared false and diabolical. She Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Warner, Marina, ed. 1996. The Trial of Joan of Arc.Evesham:
then seems to have recanted at least some of her claims
Arthur James.
about those visions, but, on May 29, 1431, after resum-
ing male dress—which she had agreed to abandon—
she was condemned as a relapsed heretic. In the fin a l John of Salisbury (cA. 1115–1180)
sentence, read publicly before her execution, Joan was Student of Peter Abelard and others at the schools of
said to have fallen into “e r rors and crimes of schism, Paris and Chartres, later a theologian, papal servant,
i d o l a t ry, invocation of demons, and many other mis- historian, political theorist, and moralist, John of
deeds” (Barrett 1931, 328). Though witchcraft was not Sa l i s b u ry, in two places in the Po l i c ra t i c u s (T h e
mentioned by name, Joan was stated to have invo k e d Statesman, 1159), a highly original work of political
demons and to have been “seduced” by the “author of theory, discussed several aspects of contemporary beliefs
schism and heresy,” evidently the Devil (Barrett 1931, and practices concerning divination and sorcery.
329). News of her heresies and death soon reached the John traveled widely both in his student life and
Council of Basel, a cro s s roads where many strands of afterward in service to several popes. He became secre-
European witchcraft doctrine were aired in the 1430s. t a ry to two successive archbishops of Canterbury,
In the centuries since her death, Joan has more often including Thomas Becket, whose murder he witnessed
been praised than blamed. When the French had finally in 1170. In 1176, King Louis VII of France appointed
expelled the English, a court appointed by Po p e him bishop of Chartres. John’s chief works also includ-
Callistus III reopened Joan’s case, and in 1456 declared ed the Metalogicon (1159), a defense of the liberal arts;
her to have been unjustly condemned. While the story the Historia Pontificalis (The Papal History, ca. 1154), a
of Joan faded from public consciousness after her reha- well-informed and opinionated history of the
bilitation, nineteenth-century French nationalists re v i- mid-twelfth-century papacy; and a great many letters.
t a l i zed it. Anticlerical, republican voices, such as Ju l e s The Policraticuswas not only a major work of politi-
Michelet, remembered her as a patriotic daughter of the cal philosophy, but also a book of vices and virtues for
people, and as a victim of an intolerant Churc h ; rulers and courtiers. In this respect, the Policraticuswas
right-wing monarchists praised her a champion of tra- similar to, but more systematically organized than the
ditional monarchy and as a exe m p l a ry foe of fore i g n w o rks of Walter Map and Ge rvase of Ti l b u ry, written
interference in France. Catholics saw her as a saint and around the same time or shortly after. Book I deals with
martyr for her unshakable fidelity to a divinely appoint- the vices unique to courtiers: fear of fortune, impropri-
ed mission. Canonized as a saint in 1920, Joan had by ety, hunting, gambling, music, actors, mimes, jugglers,
then reached international status, the object of devo- and illusionists. From his discussion of illusionists in
596 John of Salisbury |
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Book I, chapter 9, John turned to magic, omens, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
d reams, divination, and other forms of vice touching Pike, Joseph B. 1938. Frivolities of Courtiers and Footprints of
on the preternatural that courtiers must avoid, conclud- Philosophers: Being a Translation of the First, Second, and Third
Books and Selections from the Seventh and Eighth Books of the
ing his discussion at the end of Book II. Thus Jo h n’s
Policraticus of John of Salisbury.Minneapolis and London:
work provided not only a window on the newly emerg-
University of Minnesota Press (the only English translation of
ing life of the court but also an analysis of the insecuri-
the key texts in Books I and II).
ties of that world, based on many years of shrewd obser-
Wilks, Michael J., ed. 1994. The World of John of Salisbury:
vation and a profound moral concern.
Oxford: Boydell and Brewer.
In his discussion of the magical arts, John drew wide-
ly on his extensive reading of classical Latin literature , John XXII, Pope (ruled 1316–1334)
the Bible, the encyclopedic work of Is i d o re of Se v i l l e , Throughout his pontificate, John XXII exhibited a
and the Church Fathers, particularly St. Augustine. Jo h n marked concern over matters of sorcery, divination, and
c o n s i d e red all of his sources and authorities to be dis- demonic invocation. The pope feared magical assaults
cussing the same phenomenon, and some scholars have and assassination attempts on his own person, and he
dismissed these sections of the Po l i c ra t i c u s as simply a used charges of heresy, sorcery, and idolatry as political
parade of recondite learning. But John was genuinely weapons against his enemies. He also promoted the
alarmed at the pre valence of magic, particularly in the more general persecution of sorcery by ordering papal
form of fortunetelling, divination, and forbidden forms inquisitors to take action against sorcerers and by issu-
of astro l o g y. He had firsthand experience of its appeal to ing a sentence of automatic excommunication against
many courtiers (including Becket), and he possessed a all those who practiced any form of demonic invocation
p rofound awareness of the dangers it posed to unwit- that entailed the supplication or worship of demons.
ting, ambitious, unlearned courtiers who needed both His bull on this matter, Super illius specula (Upon His
i n s t ruction about its true nature and a body of authori- Watchtower), remained an important part of the legal
t a t i ve evidence to justify Jo h n’s warnings. apparatus against practitioners of sorc e ry for the
John even included some autobiographical details in remainder of the Middle Ages.
Book II, 28, telling of his own youthful experience in John XXII was born Jacques Duèse in Cahors, Fr a n c e ,
which a priest tried to use him as a medium in a proce- in 1244. He was educated by the Dominican Ord e r, and
dure of crystal gazing. At the end of Book II, 17, John studied theology and law at Montpellier and Paris. He
refers to the general belief in night-riding women and became a ve ry prominent canon lawye r, a professor of
infant cannibalism that was found in the Ca n o n both civil and canon law, and rose through the ranks of
Episcopi, as well as in the work of Burchard of Worms. the Church to become bishop of Fréjus, then of Av i g n o n ,
John stated that, with divine permission because of and then cardinal-bishop of Po rt o. He came to the papal
human sin, demons may cause humans to suffer only in t h rone as the final choice in a long and hotly contested
the spirit things that they believed happen in the flesh. election (the papacy had been vacant for nearly two
John brusquely dismissed the idea that such assemblies years). Jo h n’s reign was eventful to say the least. He
actually occurred, and insisted that the entire belief was w o rked diligently to re a s s e rt papal powe r, especially
the result of the illusions created by sporting demons, financial powe r, in the wake of the recent move of the
affecting only poor old women and simpleminded papal curia from Rome to Avignon; he invo l ved himself
men. In this regard, John firmly asserted the power of in the dispute over the proper nature of religious pove rt y
proper religious and moral instruction as the only legit- taking place within the Franciscan Ord e r, fie rcely oppos-
imate means of combating the powers of demons, ing the so-called Spiritual Franciscans and their position
which operated only on the spirit and not in the mater- of absolute pove rty; he took issue with leading theolo-
ial world. Jo h n’s work was an important example of gians such as William of Ockham and Marsilius of
twelfth-century humanist moral skepticism. Padua; and he enmeshed himself in a protracted political
EDWARD PETERS contest with the Holy Roman emperor Louis IV.
Jo h n’s invo l vement with matters of sorc e ry began
See also: ASTROLOGY;AUGUSTINEST.; BURCHARDOFWORMS; almost as soon as he assumed the papacy. In 1317, he
CANONEPISCOPI;DIVINATION;FLIGHTOFWITCHES;HOLDA;
had Hugues Géraud, bishop of Cahors, arrested on
ISIDOREOFSEVILLE,ST.; LAMIA;SABBAT;SKEPTICISM;
charges of attempting to kill him through sorc e ry.
SORCERY.
Further charges of sorcery, demonic invocation, poison-
References and further reading:
ing, and attempted assassination soon followed, leveled
John of Salisbury. 1990. Policraticus: Of the Frivolities of Courtiers
at various members of the papal court, prelates of the
and the Footprints of Philosophers.Edited and translated by Cary
J. Nederman. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Church, and political enemies of the pope. In 1318, for
Liebeschütz, Hans. 1950. Mediaeval Humanism in the Life and example, the archbishop of Aix, Robert Mauvoisin, was
Writings of John of Salisbury.London: The Warburg Institute. charged with performing certain illicit magical
Peters, Edward. 1978. The Magician, the Witch, and the Law. practices, although he escaped condemnation. In 1319,
John XXII, Pope 597 |
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the Franciscan Bernard Délicieux was tried at Toulouse Translated by Janet Love. Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson.
for possession of books of sorc e ry. In 1320, Ma t t e o Peters, Edward. 1978. The Magician, the Witch, and the Law.
Visconti, the ruler of Milan, and his son Ga l e a z zo , Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
p owe rful opponents of John in It a l y, we re accused of
plotting to murder the pope with sorc e ry, and fro m Jonctys, Daniel (1611–1654)
1320 to 1325, numerous charges of heresy and demon A physician, Jonctys offers a good example of the dra-
worship we re brought against Jo h n’s political enemies matic turnabout some academically trained people
in the Mark of Ancona. made in their views regarding witchcraft. Born in
In using accusations of heresy, sorcery, and demonic Dordrecht, he began his medical studies in Leiden in
i n vocation for clear political purposes, Pope John was 1630, graduating five years later, followed by a Grand
h a rdly alone in the early fourteenth century. Ma n y Tour during which he visited France, Germany, and
individuals during this period found they could use Italy. In 1638, he published Verhandelingh der Toover-
such charges to eliminate or at least discredit rivals at sieckten (Treatise on Witchcraft Diseases), a translation
c o u rt, or to augment or secure their own positions. of De morbis a fascino et incantatione ac veneficiis induc-
Fa m o u s l y, servants of the French King Philip IV t i s , a 1633 work by the German physician and
b rought numerous charges of heresy and idolatry Wittenberg professor Daniel Sennert (1572–1637). In
against the Knights Te m p l a r, undermining the ord e r, opposition to Johann Weyer, this moderate Paracelsian
leading to its dissolution in 1314, and allowing the claimed that witches concluded pacts with the Devil
French crown to seize much of the Templar pro p e rt y with the deliberate aim of harming other people. This
and wealth. Philip had also used charges of heresy and alone was sufficient to sentence them to death, even
s o rc e ry in his political struggle with Pope Boniface though the pact could not have given them the power
VIII. Yet, just because such charges we re politically to realize their nefarious aims. Jonctys hoped that this
expedient and often clearly employed without real con- translation would contribute to the debate about the
viction, this does not mean that the belief in sorc e ry, reality of witchcraft. He emphasized that he did not
the fear of possible magical assault, and the conviction believe that witches could change the course of nature,
that demonic invocation re p resented a terrible evil in but also that they deserved punishment because of the
the world we re not ve ry real for John XXII. In 1320, pact.
t h rough a letter from William, Cardinal of Sa n t a In 1641, he published a long poem that, among oth-
Sabina, he ord e red the inquisitors of Toulouse and er things, criticizes the attitude of the Re f o r m e d
C a rcassonne in southern France to take action against C h u rch tow a rd modern science. In reprisal, the
any sorcerer who invoked demons, offered sacrifices to Do rd recht church-council banned him, pro m p t i n g
them, or otherwise worshiped them. Later, in 1326, he Jonctys to move to Ro t t e rdam, where the local
issued the bull Super illius specula,in which he declared Reformed Church was known to be less heavy handed.
a sentence of automatic excommunication on anyo n e In his new domicile, he was soon allowed to participate
who engaged in demonic invocation, offered sacrific e s again in church services. He also joined the local secular
to demons to pro c u re supernatural services, or wor- elite, being elected to a one-year term as alderman in
shiped demons in any way.The pope was compelled to 1648. In Rotterdam, his tendency to give a liberal inter-
act, so he wrote, because such practices we re drawing pretation to Calvinism seems to have increased, judging
many Christians into grave error, sin, and heresy. Later from his 1651 attack on the use of tortureDe pyn-bank
papal decrees continued to spur inquisitors and other we d e r s p roken en bematigd (The Rack Opposed and
C h u rch officials to act against sorc e ry and demonic Restrained). Its first two parts are a translation of a trea-
i n vocation, and Jo h n’s rulings would form an impor- tise that the Arminian minister Johann Gre ve
tant legal basis for the prosecution of cases of sorc e ry, (1584–1624) had published three decades earlier
and later of witchcraft, in ecclesiastical courts. against the brutal treatment he had experienced after
MICHAEL D. BAILEY his imprisonment by orthodox Calvinists.
Gre ve had been born around 1584 in the duchy of
See also: GUI,BERNARD;INQUISITION,MEDIEVAL;INVOCATIONS; Cleves in a well-to-do, patrician family. After studying
ORIGINSOFTHEWITCHHUNTS;PAPACYANDPAPALBULLS;TEM-
t h e o l o g y, he became a minister of the Re f o r m e d
PLARS.
C h u rch where he joined the more liberal faction. In
References and further reading:
1610, he was called to a small town in Holland. In
Cohn, Norman. 1993. Europe’s Inner Demons: The Demonization
1618, the conflict inside the Dutch Reformed Church
of Christians in Medieval Christendom.Rev. ed. London:
b e t ween Arminian Remonstrants and ort h o d ox
Pimlico.
Kors, Alan, and Edward Peters, eds. 2001. Witchcraft in Europe C o u n t e r - Remonstrants reached its zenith when
400–1700: A Documentary History.2d ed. Philadelphia: Maurice of Orange used these troubles to justify his
University of Pennsylvania Press. coup d’état. Gre ve was deposed, and on his refusal to
Mollat, Guillaume. 1963. The Popes at Avignon 1305–1378. step down was formally banished from the territory of
598 Jonctys, Daniel |
Wicca | Richard M.Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Western Tradition | 636 | 46049 Golden Chap.J av First Pages 08/25/2005 p.599 Application File
the United Provinces. However, he repeatedly returned which made a veiled attack on the proof of the Devil’s
in secrecy to assist the now clandestine Re m o n s t r a n t mark, or stigma, in witchcraft trials. The torturer who
c o n g regations. Dutch authorities had him kidnapped searched the naked and blindfolded body of the cap-
f rom Cleves territory and imprisoned in Amsterd a m tured “witch” for conspicuous marks, into which he
where he was severely tortured. In 1621, he was released pricked a needle, executed the proof. If no blood
and again forced to leave the country.Three years later appeared, the mark became an indicator that the sus-
he published his Tribunal Re f o rm a t u m in Ha m b u r g , pect was a witch.
which strongly attacked the use of judicial torture as a Little is known of Jo rd a n a e u s’s life. In 1610, he
completely unreliable and highly un-Christian expedi- obtained his bachelor’s degree at the Gy m n a s i u m
ent to extract confessions and information from sup- Tr i c o ro n a t u m , a Jesuit college in Cologne. He later
posed criminals. studied theology, receiving a doctorate in theology from
Although the first two parts of Jo n c t y s’s tre a t i s e the University of Cologne. In 1623, he entered the col-
about the use of tort u re we re a translation of this legiate church of St. Cassius in Bonn. His canonicate
Tribunal Re f o rm a t u m , he wrote the third part himself. was incorporated in the large parish of St. Remigius. He
It was particularly in this section that he re p e a t e d l y resigned in 1641, but did not die until 1650, when he
referred to witchcraft trials as examples of the ignomin- made a bequest of 500 books to the Jesuit college at
ious effects torture could have. Unlike in his translation Bonn.
of Se n n e rt’s book, Jonctys now explicitly accepted While Jo rdanaeus was a parish priest in Bonn, the
Reginald Scot’s view that witchcraft was impossible and first witchcraft trials began in 1628. In his role as priest
that the pact was nothing but a chimera. In the thirteen and confessor, and because of his close contacts with
years that had elapsed between these two publications, the Jesuits, Jordanaeus must have been well aware of the
his views concerning witchcraft and especially concern- witchcraft trials in his city. But was he against them or
ing the demonic pact had made a full swing. T h i s was he a supporter of the persecution? Jo s e p h
reflected a development experienced by most academi- Ha rtzheim, author of the Bibliotheca Coloniensis
cally trained Dutch in this period. Whereas lawyers and (Cologne, 1747), saw Jo rdanaeus as the author of the
physicians had formerly held to the belief that the pact Processus iuridicus contra sagas et ve n e fic o s ( L e g a l
was in principle not impossible, they now saw it as pure Pro c e d u res Against Witches and Poisoners) published
f a n t a s y. Jo n c t y s’s book had considerable influ e n c e , at Cologne in 1629 under the name of the famous
being quoted continuously until the late eighteenth Jesuit theologian Paul Laymann, who was not the
century by Dutch opponents of the belief in witchcraft author. If Jordanaeus wrote them instead, he must have
and the use of legal torture. been a ve ry committed persecutor of witches at that
time. However, we know that in 1630 Jordanaeus pub-
HANS DE WAARDT
lished a book in his own name, the Disputatio bre v i s .,
See also: NETHERLANDS,NORTHERN;PACTWITHTHEDEVIL; which criticized witchcraft trials. It was a reply to the
PARACELSUS,THEOPHRASTUSBOMBASTUSVONHOHENHEIM; Commentarius iuridicus ad l. stigmata, c. de fabricensi-
PROTESTANTREFORMATION;SCOT,REGINALD;SKEPTICISM;
bus,published in 1629 by Peter Ostermann, a professor
TORTURE;WEYER,JOHANN.
at the University of Cologne. Ostermann tried to prove
References and further reading:
that the Devil’s mark was the best type of circumstantial
Gijswijt-Hofstra, Marijke, and Willem Frijhoff, eds. 1991.
evidence (indicium indicioru m) to convict someone of
Witchcraft in the Netherlands from the Fourteenth to the
witchcraft. Jo rdanaeus used a threefold argument to
Twentieth Century.Rotterdam: Universitaire Pers Rotterdam.
Lieburg, M. J. van. 1979. “De dichter-medicus Daniël Jonctys counter Ostermann: that the stigma-as-proof was not
(1611–1654), zijn strijd tegen het bijgeloof en zijn relatie tot part of canon law, that the Devil could press his mark
Johan van Beverwijck, William Harvey en Daniël Sennert.” on an innocent person, and that an unbleeding mark
Gewina2: 137–167. could be attributed to natural reasons. T h e re f o re, in a
Stronks, G. J. 1992. “Die Ärzte Sennert und Jonctys über Weyers charge as serious as witchcraft, the courts could not
De praestigiis daemonum. Einige Bemerkungen über Weyers legally rely on such an insecure method to prove a per-
Einfluss in der Republik der Vereinigten Niederlande.” Pp. 89–97
son’s guilt.
in Vom Unfug des Hexen-Processes: Gegner der Hexenverfolgung
Now h e re in his book did Jo rdanaeus deny the exis-
von Johann Weyer bis Friedrich Spee.Edited by Hartmut
tence of witches and the necessity of prosecuting and
Lehmann and Otto Ulbricht. Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz.
condemning them. Jo rd a n a e u s’s argument against the
p roof by needle is directed only against a cert a i n
Jordanaeus, Johannes (d.1650) method within established procedures in witchcraft tri-
Parish priest of the church of St. Remigius in Bonn, als, not against witchcraft trials as such. But the needle
Jo rdanaeus published a book in 1630 entitled p roof was an important element of witcraft trials, as
Disputatio brevis et categorica de proba stigmatica (Brief Elector Fe rdinand of Cologne’s guidelines asserted in
and Categorical Argument about the Devil’s Mark), 1607 and again when they were renewed in 1628. It is
Jordanaeus, Johannes 599 |
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t h e re f o re possible, as has been argued (Schormann defense. Mo re part i c u l a r l y, the case was re m a rk a b l e
1991, 38), that opposition to the needle proof substi- because the prosecution and the defense alike drew on
tuted for opposition to witch hunts in general. W h e n medical evidence: both alleging and denying Ja c k s o n’s
we consider that Jo rdanaeus was a priest in a large guilt had sought opinions from the College of
parish where many trials we re pending, and that the Physicians. The actual trial was marked by an exchange
commissioner who led these trials was the fanatic and b e t ween Jo rden and the presiding judge, Sir Ed m u n d
m e rciless Dr. Franz Buirmann (who used the needle Anderson, who was apparently one of the ve ry few
proof whenever he investigated a witch case), it is very a s s i ze judges who actively favo red witch hunting.
likely that Jordanaeus chose this avenue to counter the Anderson refused to accept Jo rd e n’s admittedly rather
f renzy surrounding him without endangering himself. equivocal opinion that Mary Glover was suffering from
Ostermann and others wrote sharp and polemical hysteria, and harangued the jury on the reality of witch-
replies, but neither those writers nor any witch persecu- craft and the need to extirpate it. Jackson was convict-
tors could inflict any harm on Jordanaeus. On the oth- ed, although for noncapital witchcraft, and it is possible
er hand, he did not succeed in re m oving the needle that she was subsequently re p r i e ved. The experience
proof as an important method for establishing proof in prompted Jorden to publish his A Briefe Discourse of a
witchcraft, either in the courts of the electorate of Disease Called the Suffocation of the Mo t h e r in 1603.
Cologne or in neighboring territories. This was a tract of some importance in medical history,
arguing that hysteria was caused by disorders of the
THOMAS P. BECKER
mind rather than the uterus. It also argued, as its
See also: BUIRMANN,FRANZ;COLOGNE;DEVIL’SMARK;EVIDENCE; extended title informed us, that “divers strange actions
FERDINANDOFCOLOGNE;LAYMANN,PAUL;PRICKINGOFSUS- and passions of the body of man” had “t rue naturall
PECTEDWITCHES;PROOF,PROBLEMOF.
causes,” and should not be attributed to “possesion of
References and further reading:
an evill spirit, or some such like supernaturall power.”
Jordanaeus, Johannes. 1630. Disputatio brevis et categorica de proba
A few years later, Jorden was involved in another case
stigmatica, utrum scilicet ea licita sit, necne, in qua pars negative
alleging the bewitchment of a young woman (in this
propugnatur una cum refutatione commentarii juridici, hac
instance aged twenty or so), Anne Gu n t e r. Her father
eadem super re a Clariss.Cologne.
Schormann, Gerhard. 1991. Der Krieg gegen die Hexen. Das had sought the intercession of King James I in his
Ausrottungsprogramm des Kurfürsten von Köln.Göttingen: d a u g h t e r’s case, but James had handed her over to a
Vandenhoek and Ruprecht. team headed, once again, by Richard Ba n c roft, now
a rchbishop of Canterbury. Ba n c roft put Anne in the
Jorden, Edward (1569–1632) custody of his chaplain, Samuel Harsnett, who had a
A medical doctor who became invo l ved in two re c o rd of skepticism in matters of witchcraft and pos-
well-documented witchcraft trials at the beginning of session going back to the John Da r rell affair. On c e
the seventeenth century, Jorden’s importance lay in his again, Jorden gave somewhat equivocal evidence, which
being one of the first physicians to be asked to give is pre s e rved in the re l e vant Star Chamber dossier,
expert medical evidence in witchcraft trials. His input, although he recounted that while in his house she had
and reactions to it, demonstrated how contested such not voided pins, and that her fits and trances had end-
evidence remained at that time. ed. Jo rd e n’s wife, Lu c y, also gave evidence to St a r
Born in Kent, he studied at Oxford and Cambridge Chamber, confirming what her husband had said. This
b e f o re traveling on the Continent and earning his MD documentation suggested a different story from that
at the Un i versity of Padua, one of Eu ro p e’s most pre s t i- p rovided by Thomas Guidott, another doctor who
gious medical schools. Returning to England, he p refaced the 1667 edition of Jo rd e n’s A Discourse of
became a Fe l l ow of the Royal College of Physicians in Natural Bathes and Mineral Waters with a short biogra-
1597, developed some useful contacts, and appare n t l y phy of its author. According to Guidott, Jorden rigged
established a successful practice. He later settled in Ba t h , his treatment in such a way as to demonstrate that
w h e re he lived and practiced medicine until his death. Anne Gunter was counterfeiting, a conclusion con-
Ap p ro p r i a t e l y, his best-known work was A Discourse of firmed when he re p o rted to James I that the yo u n g
Na t u ral Baths and Mi n e ral Wa t e r s , first published in woman went into fits when the Lord’s Prayer was read
1631 and reprinted in 1632, 1633, 1669, and 1673. to her in English, but not in Latin, a language she did
Jorden’s first known involvement in witchcraft came not understand.
in 1602, when Mary Glover, a girl of fourteen from a
solid and well-connected London merchant family, JAMES SHARPE
alleged that a woman named Elizabeth Jackson had
See also:B EW I TC H M E N T;D A R R E L L, J O H N;E N G LA N D; G U N T E R,
b ewitched her. The accusation was fie rcely contested, A N N E; LO R D’SP R AY E R; M E D I C I N EA N DM E D I C A LT H E O RY; M E N TA L
with Richard Bancroft, bishop of London and a skeptic I L L N E S S.
in witchcraft matters, playing an active part in Jackson’s References and further reading:
600 Jorden, Edward |
Wicca | Richard M.Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Western Tradition | 638 | 46049 Golden Chap.J av First Pages 08/25/2005 p.601 Application File
Macdonald, Michael. 1991. Witchcraft and Hysteria in Elizabethan m e rely a rhetorical device for the uninitiated.
London: Edward Jorden and the Mary Glover Case.London: No physical Devil implied no witchcraft; Joris also
Routledge. a s s e rted that believers should not fear harm by witch-
Sharpe, James. 1999. The Bewitching of Anne Gunter: AHorrible
craft. His position, comparable to Reginald Scot’s ,
and True Story of Football, Witchcraft, Murder, and the King of
helped shape the opposition to witch hunting among
England.London: Profile Books.
nonconformists within spiritualist and liberal
Mennonite circles, and he was in touch with such spiri-
Joris, David (ca. 1501–1556) tualistically minded intellectuals as Sebastian Castellio
Perhaps the most notorious heretic of the sixteenth cen- and possibly also Johann Weyer, author of the famous
tury, the Anabaptist David Joris denied the essential De praestigiis daemonum (On the Tricks of Devils), who
reality of the Devil and so complemented his unpopu- shared his promotion of religious tolerance and abhor-
lar promotion of religious tolerance. A skilled glass rence of state-mandated persecution.
painter in Delft, Holland, Joris was exiled for three To counteract such pernicious opinions, Joris’s many
years in 1528 for his iconoclastic speeches and joined adversaries demonized him, calling him an atheist and
the Anabaptists when they controlled the Westphalian “the devil of Delft,” and spread rumors that he pos-
city of Münster (1533–1535). After the fall of their sessed sinister magical powers. After the public disclo-
kingdom in 1535, Joris became the major Anabaptist sure of his identity in 1559, rumors circulated that Joris
leader of the Low Countries because of his visionary had blasphemously predicted his own resurrection and
and charismatic authority. Joris became a thorough that his followers venerated his preserved remains. One
spiritualist, denouncing all confessions and doctrinal story, told by a Genevan Calvinist, even claimed that a
squabbling as inimical to true, internal Christian faith. Dutch noblewoman, “persuaded by stories of demonic
He emphasized the dichotomy between spirit and flesh, incubi,” had visited Basel hoping to have sexual re l a-
relying heavily on an immediate experience with the tions with the pro p h e t’s corpse and thus re c e i ve the
“inner Word” for religious authority. When necessary, Holy Spirit.
Joris permitted his followers to practice Nicodemism, Despite such tales, the internalization of the De v i l
o u t w a rdly conforming to approved religious cere- p romoted by Joris and fellow spiritualists became
monies so as to conceal their true beliefs. remarkably popular in the Dutch Republic, helping to
Pursued energetically by the authorities, Jo r i s shape its singular position of relative religious toleration
escaped the flames through the devotion of his follow- and early rejection of witch persecution. In the swirl of
ers, many of whom died protecting his whereabouts. A polemics surrounding the publication of Ba l t h a s a r
s e c ret network of supporters disseminated his letters Be k k e r’s De Be t ove rde We e reld (The World Bew i t c h e d )
and publications throughout Europe. For the last dozen in 1691–1693, some opponents sought to discre d i t
years of his life, he resided in Basel under an assumed i t s skeptical ideas by comparing them to those of
name. His death ended neither his influence nor the David Joris.
antagonism of his opponents; when his true identity
was re vealed three years afterw a rd, a posthumous trial GARY K. WAITE
condemned his corpse to the stake in 1559.
One of Jo r i s’s most radical ideas was to repudiate the
See also: ANABAPTISTS;ANTICHRIST;BEKKER,BALTHASAR;DEVIL;
FAMILYOFLOVE;MENNONITES;NETHERLANDS,NORTHERN;
notion that the Devil existed outside of the human
PROTESTANTREFORMATION;SCOT,REGINALD;SKEPTICISM;
mind. He argued instead that Satan originated only
WEYER,JOHANN.
after the fall of Adam and Eve as the evil, fallen nature
References and further reading:
of humans. Resisting the Devil re q u i red neither sacra- van Veen, Mirjam G. K. 2002. “Spiritualism in the Netherlands:
ments nor exo rcism, but merely re m oving the pride From David Joris to Dirck Volckertsz Coornhert.” Sixteenth
that interf e red with attaining humility. Joris fir s t Century Journal33: 129–150.
e x p ressed this view in a tract published c. 1540 entitled Waite, Gary K. 1990. David Joris and Dutch Anabaptism,
Behold, the Book of Life Is Opened to Me (Neemt Wa e r. 1524–1543.Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
Dat boeck des leuens/ is mi gheopenbaert), reprinted in ———. 1995. “‘Man Is a Devil to Himself’: David Joris and the
Rise of a Sceptical Tradition Towards the Devil in the Early
1616 as A Brief and In s t ructional Tract W h e rein Is
Modern Netherlands, 1540–1600.” Nederlands Archief voor
Handled the Meaning of the Wo rd De v i l (Een Cort ende
Kerkgeschiedenis / Dutch Review of Church History75: 1–30.
L e e rlijck Tractaat: waer in ve rhandelt we rt/ wat dat
———. 2002. “Radical Religion and the Medical Profession: The
w o o rt Duyvel sy). In the second, 1551 edition of his
Spiritualist David Joris and the Brothers Weyer (Wier).”
magnum opus, The Wonder Book (Tw o n d e r - b o e c k), Jo r i s
Pp. 167–185 in Radikalität und Dissent im 16. Jahrhundert /
challenged the Devil to show himself if real; without Radicalism and Dissent in the Sixteenth Century.Edited by
such a demonstration, Joris pledged to maintain his Hans-Jürgen Goertz and James M. Stayer. Berlin: Duncker and
u n o rt h o d ox opinion. His continued use of traditional Humblot.
terminology re g a rding the Devil and antichrist was
Joris, David 601 |
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Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor As Holy Roman emperor, Joseph II also took steps to
(1741–1790; ruled 1765–1790) suppress the prosecution of accused witches throughout
An embodiment of the ideals of the Enlightenment, Ge r m a n y. Fo l l owing the so-called War of the Wi t c h e s
Joseph II decriminalized witchcraft and worked ardent- among Catholic proponents and opponents of witch-
ly to curtail superstition (including beliefs in witchcraft craft trials in Bavaria between 1766 and 1770 (in which
and the demonic) and the Catholic Church. the enlightened views of reform Catholicism ultimately
Heir to the Habsburg here d i t a ry lands, archduke of prevailed), the emperor intervened in a newly emerging
Austria, king of Bohemia and Hu n g a ry, the oldest son of controversy involving the Catholic faith healer Johann
Em p e ror Francis I and Em p ress Maria T h e resa, Jo s e p h Joseph Ga s s n e r. Exploiting the belief (still widespre a d
II initially ruled as coregent with his mother from 1765 in southern Germany) that illness resulted from the
until her death in 1780, then ruled alone until his death actions of demons and witches rather than natural caus-
ten years later. A highly controversial fig u re, condemned es, Gassner found followers among both the lower and
by clerical and aristocratic elites but celebrated by the upper social orders by the mid-1770s. Along with the
populace, Joseph II attempted a thorough re o r g a n i z a- Ba varian elector and numerous ecclesiastical authori-
tion of Habsburg politics and society following the ties, including Pope Pius VI, Joseph attempted to halt
Enlightenment values of reason, pragmatism, and the influence of Gassner and his adherents. He prohib-
natural law, emblematic of late eighteenth-c e n t u ry ited the prince-bishop of Regensburg from supporting
“enlightened despotism.” the pre a c h e r’s activities, particularly his frequent and
Joseph II vigorously continued reform pro g r a m s public exorcisms of the afflicted.
begun as coregent, transforming them after his mother’s Jo s e p h’s action in the Gassner affair typified his
death into relentless attacks on hereditary and ecclesias- we l l-k n own suspicions of superstition and re l i g i o u s
tical privilege throughout the Austrian hereditary lands, zeal. Taught by an early tutor that “bigotry and super-
as well as his Bohemian and Hungarian kingdoms. He stition, astro l o g y, soothsaying and witchcraft are the
wished to establish a we l l - o rd e red, centralized state in enemies of God’s honor” (Beales 1987, 60), Joseph sub-
which loyalty and merit mattered more than birt h . sequently sought to curb not only the credulity of igno-
Most of his far-reaching and lofty goals proved to be rant and superstitious people, but also the excesses of
well beyond his reach. Nonetheless, his efforts led to o rt h o d ox religious practice. Deeply familiar with the
the overhaul of both civil and criminal law, eliminating works of eighteenth-century rationalist authors, he sur-
both tort u re and the death penalty from the Au s t r i a n rounded himself with like-minded advisors and tried to
penal code. In addition, by 1781, Joseph II abolished implement their ideas by reforming Habsburg politics
serfdom and provided a large measure of religious liber- and society.
ty with the Patent of Toleration. EDMUND M. KERN
As a direct result of Joseph II’s reform of Au s t r i a n
criminal law, witchcraft ceased to exist as a crime in See also: AU S T R I A; B AVA R I A, D U C H YO F; B AVA R I A NWA RO FT H E
Habsburg territories. His 1787 penal code (Al l g e m e i n e W I TC H E S; B O H E M I A; D E C L I N EO FT H EW I TC HH U N TS; E N L I G H T E N-
Gesetzbuch über Ve r b rechen und deren Be s t ra f u n g— M E N T; G A S S N E R, J O H A N NJ O S E PH; H O LYRO M A NE M PI R E;
H U N G A RY; M A R I AT H E R E S A, H O LYRO M A NE M P R E S S; S U PE R S T I T I O N.
Un i versal Law Code on Crimes and Their Pu n i s h m e n t s )
References and further reading:
and his 1788 court ordnance (Allgemeine Kriminal-
Beales, Derek. 1987. Joseph II.Vol. I. In the Shadow of Maria
g e r i c h t s o rd n u n g—U n i versal Ordnance for Cr i m i n a l
Theresa.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
C o u rts) simply omitted sorc e ry, witchcraft, or other
Behringer,Wolfgang. 1997. Witchcraft Persecutions in Bavaria:
magical activities as punishable offenses. W h e reas Ma r i a Popular Magic, Religious Zealotry and Reason of State in Early
T h e re s a’s 1766 attempt to suppress trials for witchcraft Modern Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
still maintained that diabolical witchcraft remained a Byloff, Fritz. 1934. Hexenglaube und Hexenverfolgung in den
possibility (although extremely unlikely), Jo s e p h’s österreichischen Alpenländern. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
reforms simply dispensed with this fantasy all together, Kern, Edmund M. 1999. “An End to Witch Trials in Austria:
along with tort u re and the death penalty (which had Reconsidering the Enlightened State.” Austrian History
Yearbook30: 159–185.
been moderated, but maintained, in his mother’s exten-
s i ve reformulation of the penal code). The number of tri-
Junius, Johannes (1573–1628)
als for witchcraft had been declining in the Au s t r i a n
h e re d i t a ry lands since at least 1700, and in the Bohemian Mayor of Bamberg, born in Niedermaisch, Wetterau,
and Hungarian crown lands since Maria T h e re s a’s and burned for witchcraft in 1628 in Bamberg, Junius
n u m e rous interventions in the 1750s. Ne ve rt h e l e s s , ranks among the best-known victims of German witch-
because magical beliefs remained extremely widespre a d craft trials, thanks to the unique documentation he left
t h roughout the Habsburg territories, they continued to behind. Shortly before his execution, Junius wrote his
i n fluence legal testimony until Jo s e p h’s actions pre ve n t e d d a u g h t e r, Ve ronica, a moving farewell letter fro m
judicial action on the basis of such testimony. prison. Because it was intercepted by the prison staff
602 Junius, Johannes |
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and added to his prozessakte(trial record), we are excep- notion that the only primary sources available we re left
tionally well informed about his trial. by those who prosecuted witches. Victims also spoke,
Bamberg’s chancellor, Dr. Georg Haan, and his son, often in complaints filed by persecuted families to appel-
both also imprisoned for witchcraft, were among those late courts like the Re i c h s k a m m e r g e r i c h t(imperial cham-
testifying that Junius had taken part in the witches’ ber court) and the Re i c h s h o f ra t (imperial aulic court ) .
Sabbat. When confronted with the witnesses against Second, Ju n i u s’s detailed chronicle of his trial re ve a l e d
him, Junius denied eve rything and demanded that his contradictions with pre s c r i p t i ve trial pro c e d u res of his
denouncers be compelled to swear an oath. The judges time, which exceeded ord i n a ry guidelines of criminal
refused. The witnesses later told him that they had been codes through the theory of crimen exceptum ( t h e
c o e rced into providing incriminating testimony. e xcepted crime).Just two weeks before Ju n i u s’s trial, the
Because he refused to cooperate with the judges, Junius imperial chamber court had strongly recommended to
was now tort u red, beginning with the thumbscrew s . Bamberg that orderly trial guidelines be maintained
He was then stripped of his clothes and hoisted up ( St a a t s a rchiv Bamberg B 68 II no. 1, f. 140v). Fi n a l l y,
eight times on the strappado. Despite enormous pain Ju n i u s’s trial (like Ba m b e r g’s entire persecution wave
and bleeding hands, he made no confession. According b e t ween 1623 and 1630) offered important proof of
to ord i n a ry criminal pro c e d u re (particularly the 1507 h ow, at the apex of a witch hunt, even such ve ry pro m i-
Constitutio Criminalis Bambergensis [ Penal Code of nent people as mayors and chancellors could become
Bamberg], still valid in the prince-bishopric of victims. Such extreme situations produced a simultane-
Bamberg), Junius had cleansed himself of the accusa- ously dreadful and democratic equality before the law
tions against him by surviving his ordeal. ( Behringer 2000, 274). The disappearance of socioeco-
His enemies, howe ve r, told the mayor that the nomic boundaries became one reason to end witch
p r i n c e - b i s h o p, Johann Georg II (ruled 1623–1633), hunts: when denunciations affected the governing class,
wanted to make an example of him: Junius was to be the trials often ended. The trial of Johann Junius exe m-
t o rt u red until he confessed. The prison staff advised p l i fies the fact that witchcraft trials cannot be reduced to
Junius to make a false confession to avoid this thre a t . a process directed against lower-class people.
Junius requested clerical advice and one day to think it
ove r. Junius was granted only the latter, and made a PETER OESTMANN;
confession on July 1, 1628, containing the usual ele-
TRANSLATED BY JONATHAN STICKNEY
ments of fully elaborated witchcraft. Howe ve r, the
c o u rt was not satisfied and told him to make furt h e r See also: BAMBERG,PRINCE-BISHOPRICOF;CRIMENEXCEPTUM;
denunciations against other inhabitants of Ba m b e r g . DECLINEOFTHEWITCHHUNTS;GERMANY,SOUTHWESTERN;
When he refused, the names of other witches and sor- LAWSONWITCHCRAFT(EARLYMODERN); REICHSHOFRAT(IMPERI-
c e rers, listed by streets, we re offered to him—another
ALAULICCOURT); REICHSKAMMERGERICHT(IMPERIALCHAMBER
clear violation of contemporary criminal law, which
COURT); TORTURE;TRIALS.
References and further reading:
prohibited suggestive questioning.
Behringer,Wolfgang. 2000. Hexen und Hexenprozesse in
Su r p r i s i n g l y, Junius was not immediately exe c u t e d
Deutschland.4th ed. Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuch.
after his forced confession. Instead, he remained incar-
Diefenbach, Johann. 1886. Der Hexenwahn vor und nach der
cerated for several more weeks. By July 24, 1628, his Glaubensspaltung in Deutschland.Mainz: Franz Kirchheim.
hands had healed enough to allow him to write—with Gehm, Britta. 2000. Die Hexenverfolgung im Hochstift Bamberg
some difficulty—a letter to his daughter informing her und dasEingreifen des Reichshofrates zu ihrer Beendigung.
of his ordeal. He could hardly have written it without Hildesheim: Georg Olms.
some collusion from the prison staff. Junius feared that Parriger, Harald. 1992. “‘Ich sterbe als ein rechter Märtyrer’: Der
the guards would lose their heads if someone learned Brief des Bamberger Bürgermeisters Johannes Junius aus dem
Hexengefängnis von 24. Juli 1628.” Geschichte in Wissenschaft
about his letter. He advised his daughter to leave
und Unterricht43: 157–168.
Bamberg for at least six months, and she probably did
Soldan, Wilhelm Gottlieb, Heinrich Heppe, and Max Bauer.
flee. Junius had clearly realized that, at the high point of
1911. Geschichte der Hexenprozesse.3d ed. Munich: Müller,
Bamberg’s persecution wave, social position offered no
Vol. II.
protection against accusations of witchcraft.
Walinski-Kiehl, Robert. 2004. “Males, ‘Masculine Honor,’ and
Ju n i u s’s case interests re s e a rchers in the history of Witch Hunting in Seventeenth-Century Germany.” Men and
witchcraft for many reasons. First, it contradicts the Masculinities6: 254–271.
Junius, Johannes 603 |
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K
Kabbalah divinely human image is androgynous. T h e re f o re ,
By the late Middle Ages, the occult tradition of Ju d a i s m Kabbalists portray the unity of God in the explicitly
was re f e r red to most frequently by the generic term e rotic language of heterosexual coupling. In the Se f e r
“Kabbalah,” literally, “that which has been re c e i ved.” T h e h a - Zo h a r (Book of Sp l e n d o r, the major re p o s i t o ry of
term re flects the universally accepted attitude among Kabbalistic writings attributed to the mystical fraternity
Kabbalists that their teachings form part of the rabbini- headed by Simeon bar Yohai of second-century
cally sanctioned oral Torah, which complements the Palestine, but actually composed in thirteenth- and
written Torah. Kabbalah is not monolithic, but compris- f o u rt e e n t h - c e n t u ry Castile), the coupling of male and
es a collage of disparate doctrines and practices cultiva t- female is the mystery of faith (raza di-meheimanuta).
ed by elite circles within medieval rabbinic society. Complex as Kabbalistic symbolism can be, it view s
C o n t e m p o r a ry scholarship ordinarily distinguishes gender very simply: the potency to overflow is mascu-
two major typological trends within the history of line and the capacity to withhold feminine. Ad o p t i n g
m e d i e val Jewish mysticism: prophetic and theosophic an earlier rabbinic tradition, Kabbalists further link the
Kabbalah. Prophetic Kabbalah, as expounded by male and female potencies, respectively, with the attrib-
Abraham Abulafia (thirteenth century) cultivates medi- utes of mercy and judgment, and their designated
t a t i ve practices centered on the permutation of letters names YHWHand Elohim.Kabbalists interpret the tra-
(tseruf ha-otiyyot) of the Hebrew alphabet to attain ritu- ditional religious obligation to unify the God of Israel
al and moral purity.These exercises attempt to unfetter as the harnessing of male and female, a pairing of the
the rational soul from the body and facilitate its con- will to bestow and the desire to contain.
junction (devequt) with the divine intellect, a state also One must not oversimplify. Careful textual scrutiny
re f e r red to as cleaving to the Name, that is, Y H W H , indicates both that Kabbalists identified as “theosophic”
which was thought to be the one true reality that had ecstatic experiences of union, and that Kabbalists
encompassed all the other letters. Mo re ove r, follow i n g labeled “ecstatic” presumed that esoteric gnosis impart-
Maimonides, Abulafia and his disciples viewed this uni- ed theosophic wisdom. He re, we shall concentrate on
tive state as the true meaning of prophecy; for them the the convergence of the ecstatic and theurgic aspects of
goal of Kabbalah was to ove rcome differentiation and the experience of enlightenment cultivated by the
be incorporated into the divine Name, which is the so-called theosophic Kabbalists.
spiritual essence of the messianic ideal and the tru e The Kabbalist’s goal—what justifies calling him a
meaning of the eschatological world-to-come. Kabbalist—is to receive the secret of the Name; that is,
Theosophic Kabbalah, by contrast, is concerned pri- to cleave to Y H W H , the archaic De u t e ro n o m i s t i c
marily with the visual contemplation of ten luminous injunction interpreted by Kabbalists (in a manner very
emanations that collectively represent the configuration close to twe l f t h - c e n t u ry Andalucian Ne o p l a t o n i s t
of Ein Sof, the infinite Godhead beyond all linguistic philosopher-poets) as conjunction of thought (devequt
and iconic re p resentation. The most emblematic term ha-mahshavah), the true mystical intent (kawwanah) of
for these emanations was s e firo t , initially employed in liturgical worship, and Torah study. In another crucial
the first section of an older anthology of cosmological w a y, this Kabbalistic ideal betrays crucial affinities to
speculation, Sefer Ye s i rah (Book of Formation). Ove r views in Islamic and other Jewish philosophical sources.
time, Kabbalists developed allegedly new and more Twelfth- and thirt e e n t h - c e n t u ry Kabbalists, like later
intricate images, based at least in part on principles generations, understood this conjunction of intellectual
f rom earlier sources, including, most import a n t l y, the and imaginative components as an expression of
idea that the s e firo t a re comprised within the p ro p h e c y. Howe ve r, in their case, the contemplative
Tetragrammaton and thus are the name by which the ascent is emphatically a personal experience of u n i o
nameless is called. Ad d i t i o n a l l y, the s e firo t assume the m y s t i c a , a more deeply expressed existential sense that
form of an anthropos in the human imagination; the fragmented soul can attain wholeness by being rein-
because Adam was created male and female, this corporated into the Godhead. Union with the divine
Kabbalah 605 |
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Name is a psychic transport (after having cleared mun- to the enigmatic nature of the mystery, the doubling of
dane matters from the mind) that in turn facilitates the secrecy engendered by the fact that, to remain secret, it
theurgical unification of the divine potencies signifie d can be divulged only if it is concealed in its disclosure.
by letters of the Name. This orientation, probably inherent in the esoteric tex-
Although the mystical conjunction facilitates the t u re of Kabbalah, was enunciated explicitly by six-
theurgical task, it seems preferable to imagine a core t e e n t h - c e n t u ry Kabbalists in Safed, utilizing a maxim
experience of ecstasy with two facets, reintegration of taken from the Muslim philosopher Avicenna, “disclo-
the soul in the divine and fusion of the sefirotic poten- s u re is the cause of concealment and concealment the
cies. It is tempting to align these two phases in causal cause of disclosure” (Wolfson 2002, 113–114).
sequence, the former occasioning the latter. Howe ve r, Kabbalistic sources often justify secrecy with the bib-
v i ewed morphologically, as opposed to typologically, lical verse, “To investigate the matter is the glory of
that is, under the semblance of form rather than type, kings, but to conceal the matter is the glory of Go d”
ecstasy and theurgy become two manifestations of the ( Ps. 25:2). It is no exaggeration to say that Ps a l m i s t’s
same phenomenon. text served as an oracle posted on the walls of the small
The consonance of these two elements, too sharply elitist circles, where specific secrets concerning both
bifurcated in dominant critical studies of Jewish mysti- symbols and rites have been transmitted orally and in
cism, is necessitated by the ontological assumption writing, although the eventual proliferation of the latter
re g a rding the divine/angelic status of the Jewish soul. usually posed a challenge to the explicit injunction
This idea assumes that the righteous or holy ones of against disclosing secrets publicly. Of course, not every
Israel have been endowed with an angelomorphic written exposition of occult knowledge defies this
nature, a conception that evolved in late-second temple injunction; some Kabbalists mastered the art of con-
Judaism, probably based on still older ancient cealing secrets by re vealing them. One might say that
n e a r-eastern forms of angelic or divine kingship. the form of esoteric writing—to conceal in the exposi-
Me d i e val Kabbalists presumed that, because God and tion and expose in the concealment—is the hermeneu-
Israel are circumscribed within a monopsychic unity tical method that allowed Kabbalists to explicate their
that flattens the difference between cause and effect, it esoteric knowledge. As Ab u l a fia elegantly expressed it,
follows that mystical union and theurgic unification are “My intention is to hide and to reveal, to reveal and to
concurrent processes that have been artificially separat- hide, for the truth is deep for the enlightened and how
ed for extraneous reasons. In the final analysis, the two much more so for the ignorant!” (Si t rei Torah, MS
schools of Kabbalah shared many features: traditions Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale 774, fol. 149a).
about the secret names of God, particularly the most The same principle characterizes Zoharic literature .
sacred name, YHWH;the unique status of Hebrew, the Mysteries of Torah are disclosed through being hidden,
one language considered “natural” rather than conven- an exegetical pattern perceptible in the Torah. Its exo-
tional; the understanding of sefirotic potencies as the teric and esoteric layers of meaning are distinguishable,
means to attain mystical communion; and the theurgi- but the latter can only be expressed through the former.
cal interpretation of ritual as the way to maintain the The initiated in the mystical teaching sees the secre t
unity of multiple potencies within God. through the garment of the text, rather than discarding
One of the most significant elements shared by all it to behold the naked truth. The greatest of veils would
Kabbalists is their inordinate emphasis on secre c y. be for one to think that one could see the face of God
Kabbalah is usually studied as a form of mysticism, but a unveiled; the final veil to remove, therefore, is the veil
far better term to capture its nature may be esotericism, of thinking it possible to see without any veil. Fo r
although the two terms are not easily differe n t i a t e d , Kabbalists, the ultimate veil is the Tetragrammaton, the
especially with Kabbalistic material. Kabbalah’s mystical name that is the Torah in its mystical essence.
dimensions are embedded within a hermeneutical The minds of Kabbalists, again without distinguish-
f r a m ew o rk of esotericism, and its esoteric dimensions ing between theosophic and prophetic camps, reveal an
within a phenomenological framew o rk of mysticism. intricate nexus between esotericism and ero t i c i s m .
With respect to secrecy, Kabbalists embrace a funda- Indeed, it would be no exaggeration to say that one
mental paradox also found in other religious culture s , enters the heart of Kabbalah by marking the pre c i s e
but expressed in ways that reflect different theological, spot where the erotic and the esoteric intersect—a spot
a n t h ropological, and cosmological assumptions. p roviding entry into the garden of mystical secre t s .
Although truth is transmitted from generation to gen- From the Kabbalists’ vantage point, the ecstatic experi-
eration in a continuous chain—hence the term ence of enlightenment facilitates knowing the eros of
“ K a b b a l a h”—it is a secret truth that cannot be dis- mystery wrapped in the exposé of the mystery of eros.
closed in its entirety.These restrictions are not based on
ELLIOT R. WOLFSON
any need to hide the truth from those unworthy to
receive it, a stance affirmed by Kabbalists, but are due See also:BIBLE;JEWS,WITCHCRAFT,ANDMAGIC;OCCULT.
606 Kabbalah |
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References and further reading: records, torture was not used in her trial. The criminal
Hallamish, Moshe. 1999. An Introduction to the Kabbalah. court of the prince-abbey dealt with her case from
Translated by Ruth Bar-Ilan and Ora Wiskind-Elper. Albany: February 20. Because she maintained her stories of dev-
State University of NewYork Press.
ilish possession, a Devil’s pact, and apostasy, the high
Idel, Moshe. 1988a. Kabbalah: New Perspectives.New Haven and
judge came to the conclusion that she had to be con-
London: Yale University Press.
victed according to criminal law, although she denied
_____. 1988b.The Mystical Experience in Abraham Abulafia.
harmful magic. The prince-abbot, Honorius Roth von
Translated by Jonathan Chipman. Albany: State University of
Schreckenstein (ruled 1760–1785), signed the death
NewYork Press.
Scholem, Gershom. 1954. Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism.New sentence on April 11, adding the words: fiat iustitia(let
York: Schocken Books. justice be done)! This is exactly what one could expect
_____. 1969. On the Kabbalah and Its Symbolism.Translated by from a prince-abbot who in 1774 had invited the con-
Ralph Manheim. NewYork: Schocken Books. troversial exorcist Johann Joseph Gassner, notorious for
_____. 1987. Origins of the Kabbalah.Edited by R.J. Zwi claiming that all diseases were caused by witchcraft.
Werblowsky.Translated by Allan Arkush. Princeton, NJ: Gassner’s booklet on how to fight the Devil effectively,
Princeton University Press.
Nützlicher Unterricht wider den Teufel zu streiten (Useful
_____. 1991. On the Mystical Shape of the Godhead: Basic Concepts
Instruction on How to Struggle Against the Devil), was
in the Kabbalah.Translated by Joachim Neugroschel, edited
first printed at Kempten in 1774.
and revised by Jonathan Chipman. NewYork: Schocken Books.
Although no newspaper re p o rted her exe c u t i o n ,
Wolfson, Elliot. 1994. Through a Speculum That Shines: Vision and
there seemed little doubt that it actually took place. A
Imagination in Medieval Jewish Mysticism.Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press. local lawyer even published a booklet on the case in the
_____. 2000. Abraham Abulafia—Kabbalist and Prophet: early 1890s, amplifying the whole story with more
Hermeneutics, Theosophy, and Theurgy.Los Angeles: Cherub. details. Howe ve r, a local archivist recently started dig-
_____. 2002. “Divine Suffering and the Hermeneutics of ging deeper in local sources and found that her death
Reading: Philosophical Reflections on Lurianic Mythology.” sentence was never carried out. Although a conservative
Pp. 101–162 in Suffering Religion.Edited by Robert Gibbs and faction within the government supported the convic-
Elliot R. Wolfson. London and NewYork: Routledge.
tion, another faction fie rcely denied the possibility of
witchcraft and the legality of the trial, even if witchcraft
Kempten, Prince-Abbey of remained in the law codes. But in the decade after the
The imperial abbey (F ü r s t a b t e i or F ü r s t s t i f t) of Ba varian War of the Witches, under the rule of the
Kempten is famous for a very late execution, usually enlightened emperor Joseph II, even Be n e d i c t i n e
labeled the last legal execution of a witch in the Holy monks we re able to attack witchcraft publicly. T h e
Roman Empire. The case was mentioned already in the a l ready convicted witch, Maria Anna Schwägelin
mid-nineteenth century (Haas 1865) and widely popu- (1734–1781), was imprisoned and died six years later.
l a r i zed by Soldan and He p p e’s history of witchcraft trials Hers was a witchcraft trial, but can no longer exemplify
(Soldan and Heppe 1880). In 1892, Von Wachter reli- the final execution in the Holy Roman Empire. In his
ably paraphrased the surviving contemporary copy of a legal opinion, the high judge, named Tre i c h l i n g e r,
legal opinion—still in place in the Kempten archive in re f e r red to an earlier execution of a witch in 1755, in
the late 1980s, but which seems to have disappeared which he had participated, as a precedent within the
recently. According to the document, a death sentence p r i n c e - a b b e y. Even if this case cannot yet be ve r i fie d
was issued in 1775. This legal opinion referred to the from other sources (and no other local case was referred
prehistory of the case in much detail and described the to in this legal opinion), it implied that the
entire life story of a mentally disturbed woman of about prince-abbey of Kempten shared the experience of late
f o rt y, who had suffered considerable hard s h i p s executions with a few other southern German ecclesias-
(orphanage, leprosy, lameness), and had converted, tical territories, but also that they must have been
hoping to marry a Protestant lover, who abandoned her extremely rare events.
soon afterward. She gained the impression that he This surprising turn enables us to tell a completely
might have been a diabolical seducer, and felt great guilt d i f f e rent story of witchcraft trials in the prince-abbey,
for renouncing the saints, and the Virgin Mary in par- setting the events of 1775 in perspective. A thousand
ticular. Because of her incapacities, she was put in a years earlier, in 772, the Benedictine abbot of St. Gallen
w o rkhouse at Langenegg, where she incited other founded a monastery at Kempten, near the ruins of an
female inmates with her fantasies. At some stage she ancient Roman town, which had succeeded a Celtic set-
was accused by a possessed five-year-old girl and beaten tlement. The Carolingians used the monastery as a
by other female inmates. The director of the workhouse bridgehead in an Alemannic region. In 1062, the Holy
tried to calm the tumult, but in consequence of their Roman Emperor Henry IV made Kempten an imperial
shared fantasies, one of the female inmates eventually abbey; in 1360, Emperor Charles IV elevated it to the
delivered her to the authorities. If we can trust the status of a prince-abbey. Its prince-abbots managed a
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territory of about 50,000 inhabitants, making Kempten Bodman had already gained deep insights into the
one of the largest monastic lands within the Ho l y t reatment of witchcraft. When Count Fe rdinand Carl
Roman Em p i re. Howe ve r, its road to state formation Franz von Hohenems resumed massive persecution
was ro c k y. By 1289, the town of Kempten became an b e t ween 1677–1680, burning large numbers of sub-
imperial city and escaped the abbot’s rule. After 1525, jects within the county of Vaduz, the imperial adminis-
this imperial city of just about 4,000 inhabitants tration of Leopold I (ruled 1658–1705) intervened and
became Protestant. Likewise, the local nobility man- appointed Pr i n c e - Abbot Bodman to investigate. He
aged to become independent, and joined the Im p e r i a l condemned the lack of circumstantial evidence, the
Knighthood of Swabia. The abbacy was thus reduced to “unchristian torture,” and the obvious financial interest
s e ven market towns and eighty-five villages. And the count had taken in his persecutions. Bodman took
because other estates we re lacking, peasants sat in the on not just the responsibility of inquiring the case and
parliament (L a n d s c h a f t) of this extraord i n a ry territory. suggesting an appropriate sentence, but even took care
These peasants we re particularly self-confident and that this severe sentence was indeed enacted.
challenged their feudal ove r l o rds in numerous re b e l- After convicting the count in the Reichshofrat (impe-
lions, including the great peasant war in 1524/1525. rial aulic court), the emperor commissioned the
Through the activities of capable local historians and prince-abbot of Kempten to lead a Habsburg army that
an interested local public, Ke m p t e n’s history has been e ventually captured Count von Hohenems in 1681.
p a rticularly well explored. Ex t e n s i ve publications on The emperor stripped the count of Vaduz of his rights
the history of the imperial city and the imperial abbey in 1684, and had him imprisoned in the prince-abbot’s
re vealed few incidents of sorc e ry or witchcraft, and dungeon, where he died after years of confin e m e n t .
almost no executions for witchcraft. In an early case of From 1681 to 1712, the Benedictine abbot of Kempten
1484, presumably linked to the activities of He i n r i c h a d m i n i s t e red the count’s territories, before they we re
K r a m e r, author of the Malleus Ma l e fic a rum (T h e a w a rded to the princes of Liechtenstein, who still ru l e
Hammer of Wi t c h e s , 1486), in the region, an it. Rich and noble as the Kempten Benedictines we re ,
accuser—not the witch—was punished in the mark e t at least this abbot did not hesitate to convict another
t own of Un t e rthingau. In 1549, a village collective l y rich and noble ruler for his crimes, and to enforce the
accused a woman of damaging their crops by making most drastic treatment of an aristocratic witch hunter
hailstorms. The local lord, Veit We rdenstein vo n a n y w h e re in the history of the Holy Roman Em p i re .
Eberspach, tried to convince the witch to retract her Possibly Bodman was the most qualified of all
spells, but the peasant woman ridiculed him publicly. Kempten’s abbots: he had studied at the universities of
The nobleman and his villagers appealed to the Strasbourg, Salzburg, and Padua, and spoke flu e n t
p r i n c e-a b b o t’s government. The Kempten high court French, Italian, and Spanish in addition to Latin and
scrutinized the case, but concluded that it was impossi- German.
ble to substantiate the accusation and open a formal The prince-abbey of Kempten, formerly stigmatized
criminal trial. Under Abbot Wolfgang von Grünenstein for its late executions, can now serve as an example for
( ruled 1535–1557), the prince-abbey’s gove r n m e n t ecclesiastical territories that carefully avoided witch
withstood repeated attempts by villagers to imprison or hunts. If we look for explanations, we find a striking
to punish this alleged witch, because there was no con- absence of religious zeal during the period of the
vincing circumstantial evidence; it eventually thre a t- C o u n t e r - Reformation and the T h i rty Ye a r s’ Wa r. T h e
ened the villagers with seve re punishment if they did Benedictines we re certainly Catholic, but they clearly
not stop harassing her. When witch hunting peaked in did not share the austerity that characterized Catholic
the region around 1590, the prince-abbey did not par- piety elsew h e re in this period. For instance, all
ticipate in the persecutions. When the prince-bishop of p r i n c e-abbots of Kempten had concubines and
Augsburg tried to extend his persecution into c h i l d ren, as the chroniclers in the neighboring
Ke m p t e n’s territory, Pr i n c e - Abbot Johann Er h a rd Protestant imperial city of Kempten meticulously and
Blarer von Wartensee (ruled 1587–1594) was prepared maliciously recorded. In 1594, papal visitors lamented
to offer military resistance to invasions by fore i g n that the Benedictines of Kempten all lived in priva t e
troops. houses instead of cells, that they wore secular clothes
In 1673, we hear for the first time that a woman was with rich jewe l ry, and that they spent their time on
burned for witchcraft within the prince-abbey, at drinking, hunting, gambling, and women. The abbots
Martinszell. A few years later, in 1687, after witchcraft of this wealthy sinecure we re usually not re l i g i o u s
trials had shaken the imperial city for the second time zealots, and their attitude toward sin, like their attitude
since 1664–1665, Prince-Abbot Rupert Bodman (ruled t ow a rd women, seems noticeably more re l a xed than
1678–1728) denied the extradition of a peasant those of most Counter-Reformation bishops. Although
woman, because his government considered the cir- Abbot Bodman was more serious in his religious atti-
cumstantial evidence against her insufficient. By then, tude, his government seems to have been characterized
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by a re l a xed attitude, because he granted his subjects Mästlin (1550–1631) aroused his enthusiasm for
the pleasure of smoking and founded new brewe r i e s . a s t ronomy and mathematics, and, after graduating in
Furthermore, he improved his territory by commission- 1594, Kepler was hired as a professor of mathematics
ing water pipelines and bridges, postal services, and by the estates of Inner Austria at Graz, a Habsburg ter-
fishing ponds; he replaced feudal services by taxes, reg- r i t o ry with Protestant nobility and close links to
ulated social relationships within his territories by Tübingen. T h e re Kepler published his My s t e r i u m
means of contracts, and introduced professional health C o s m o g ra p h i c u m ( My s t e ry of the Cosmos, 1596),
service and firefighters in his prince-abbey. attempting to combine the Copernican system with
Neoplatonic ideas. Under the impact of the
WOLFGANG BEHRINGER
C o u n t e r-Re f o r m a t i o n — Ma rtín Del Rio was teaching
See also:B AVA R I A NWA RO FT H EW I TC H E S; E C C L E S I A S T I C A LT E R R I TO- at the Jesuit College in Gr a z — Kepler was exiled.
R I E S(H O LYRO M A NE M PI R E); E X E C U T I O N S; G A S S N E R, J O H A N N Su p p o rted by the Ba varian chancellor Johann Ge o r g
J O S E PH; H I S TO R I O G R A PH Y; H O LYRO M A NE M PI R E; J O S E PHI I, H O LY Herwarth von Hohenburg, a long-standing correspon-
RO M A NE M PE RO R; K R A M E R, H E I N R I C H; VA D U Z, C O U N TYO F. dent, Kepler managed to succeed Tycho Brahe as impe-
References and further reading:
rial court astronomer in Prague. In this position, Kepler
Behringer,Wolfgang. 1997. Witchcraft Persecutions in Bavaria.
suggested that God spoke in the language of mathemat-
Popular Magic, Religious Zealotry and Reason of State in Early
ics and interpreted the movements of the planets in
Modern Europe.Translated by J. C. Grayson and David Lederer.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. mathematical equations (Ke p l e r’s Laws), one of the
Haas, Carl. 1865. Die Hexenprozesse. Ein culturhistorischer Versuch major achievements of the Scientific Re volution. He
nebst Dokumenten.Tübingen: H. Laupp’schen Buchhandlung. published some important books on Copernican cos-
Petz, Wolfgang. 1998. “Das Schicksal der Maria Anna Schwegele mology, the Astronomia Nova (New Astronomy, 1609),
[...],” Pp. 225–227 in “Bürgerfleiss und Fürstenglanz.” a D i s s e rtatio cum Nuncio Si d e re o ( Discussion of the
Reichsstadt und Fürstabtei Kempten.Edited byWolfgang Jahn. St a r ry Me s s e n g e r, 1610), and D i o p t r i c e , a book about
Augsburg: Haus der bayrischen Geschichte.
optics (1611). During this period, Kepler invited
Soldan, Wilhelm Georg, and Heinrich Heppe. 1880. Geschichte
Galileo to settle in Germany, where everybody was free
der Hexenprozesse.Stuttgart: Cotta.
to think and publish whatever he wished. Howe ve r,
Wachter, Georg Friedrich von. 1892. “Der letzte Hexenprozess des
Ke p l e r’s situation deteriorated sooner than Ga l i l e o’s .
Stifts Kempten.” Allgäuer Geschichtsfreund,NF, 5: 8–63.
After the death of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II
(ruled 1576–1612), his position as imperial astronomer
Kepler, Johannes (1571–1630) was confirmed by Em p e ror Mathias I (ru l e d
One of the most intriguing episodes of the Scientific 1612–1619), and even by Fe rdinand II (ru l e d
Revolution was Galileo Galilei’s trial before the Roman 1619–1637), who had exiled him from Graz. Bu t
Inquisition, but hardly less significant was the fate of Kepler preferred to settle at Linz, where the Protestant
Johannes Ke p l e r, who had to flee the Catholic estates of Lower Austria employed him as professor of
Counter-Reformation at several places, was exiled from mathematics.
his Lutheran homeland Württemberg for refusing to In 1615, his sister Ma r g a retha informed him that
sign the Formula of Concord, and eventually became their mother was involved in a bitter feud with neigh-
entangled in an endless witchcraft trial against his bors at Leonberg, who had accused her of witchcraft.
mother, Katharina Kepler. T h e re we re no extensive witch hunts in the duchy of
His father Heinrich Kepler (1547–1590) owned the W ü rttemberg, but precisely in 1615 a number of
tavern Zum Engelin the tiny imperial free city Weil der women we re burned at Leonberg. When a neighbor,
Stadt; his mother Katharina (1551–1621) was the Ursula Reinbold, accused his mother of witchcraft,
daughter of an innkeeper and village judge at Eltingen, Christoph Kepler sued her for slander. However, the lit-
Melchior Guldenmann. Ke p l e r’s parents settled in igation was delayed, since the Reinbold family found an
Leonberg, a W ü rttemberg town, but family life was ally in the district judge, Luther Einhorn, who had
strained, and Heinrich left in 1589, leaving behind been rejected by Katharina Kepler as a husband for her
Katharina and four children. In 1608, Margaretha, the d a u g h t e r. Another ally was a local doctor who had
lone daughter, married a Protestant theologian, Ge o r g become court physician to Prince Achilles Friedrich of
Bi n d e r, who became pastor in nearby He u m a d e n Württemberg. The Reinbold faction began threatening
(today a suburb of St u t t g a rt). One son, Christoph, Katharina Kepler physically, and eventually claimed
became an artisan, married a woman from El t i n g e n , material damages for the harm done to their childre n
and settled in Leonberg. Another son, He i n r i c h , t h rough her maleficent witchcraft. In autumn 1616,
became a soldier and died young, after returning to his Johannes Kepler brought his mother to Linz. However,
mother’s house. the stubborn lady returned to Heumaden in
Their brother Johannes was allowed to study at the W ü rttemberg, where the quarrels continued. Ke p l e r
Un i versity of Tübingen. The astronomer Mi c h a e l tried to protect his mother by intensifying his contacts
Kepler, Johannes 609 |
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with W ü rt t e m b e r g’s ruling elite. The famous lawyer fate, although he admitted openly that, like many old
Dr. Christoph Besold (1577–1638) and the theologian people, she was indeed quarrelsome, difficult, and stub-
Wilhelm Bidembach served as informants and support- born. It is striking that his own stubbornness caused
ers. Howe ve r, because Kepler had refused to sign the him enormous difficulties, since the Lutheran superin-
Formula of Concord, the duchy’s orthodox Lutherans, tendent of Linz, a W ü rt t e m b e r g e r, suspected him of
including his former teacher Mathias Ha f e n re f f e r, being Calvinist while simultaneously conspiring with
emphasized Kepler’s dissidence. the Jesuits. These accusations provoked fie rce debate
At this point, Johannes Kepler traveled to within the parliament of Lower Austria before a pre c a r i-
W ü rttemberg, attempting to influence the decision of ous favorable decision saved his position at Linz.
its Hofgericht (high court). Besold urged Kepler to take About the same time, Kepler published his
his mother back to Linz, and in November 1617, Ke p l e r Ha rmonice Mundi Li b r i Qu i n q u e ( Fi ve Books of the
obtained official assurance that her depart u re did not Harmony of the World, 1619), dedicated to King
constitute “flight,” providing circumstantial evidence James I of England, a Neoplatonic interpretation of the
for her guilt. Howe ve r, Katharina Kepler decided to universe as inspired by eternal harmony. His claim that
stay in W ü rttemberg, even returning to her house at God spoke in the language of mathematics implied that
Leonberg in June 1618. Besold kept warning Johannes o rt h o d ox (but mathematically illiterate) theologians
Kepler about the machinations of Judge Ei n h o r n . were unable to understand God’s word. By Easter 1626,
Seeking her estate, the Reinbold family commissioned a the Counter-Reformation in Lower Austria drove
l a w ye r, Dr. Philipp Jacob We y h e n m a ye r, to compile Kepler from Linz. He re t i red to the imperial city of
evidence of Katherina Ke p l e r’s witchcraft. In Au g u s t Ulm, where he published the Tabulae Ru d o l p h i n a e
1619, he presented fifty-two articles, and a formal ( Rudolphine Tables, 1627), then to Regensburg, both
inquisition into her case was started in winter Protestant towns. In 1628, Imperial Ge n e r a l i s s i m o
1619–1620, hearing numerous witnesses, while Ju d g e A l b recht von Wallenstein employed Ke p l e r, and he
Einhorn delayed the Kepler family’s countersuit for m oved to Sagan in Silesia. In autumn 1630, Ke p l e r
slander. decided to return to Austria, but died en route.
On July 24, 1620, the W ü rttemberg aulic council Four years later his son Ludwig Kepler (1607–1663)
decided to imprison Katharina Ke p l e r, and on Au g u s t published a manuscript that had played a role in his
7, 1620, she was jailed at Leonberg. Christoph Kepler g r a n d m o t h e r’s witchcraft trial. After the invention of
immediately protested and succeeded in having her the telescope, Johannes Kepler had written his
t r a n s f e r red to a prison in Güglingen. Johannes Ke p l e r Somnium seu As t ronomia lunari ( Dream, or Lu n a r
tried to intervene through Christoph Besold, before Astronomy, 1634). Influenced by Plutarch and Lucian,
reaching Güglingen himself in September 1620. He Kepler invented a literary framework for descriptions of
commissioned a formal defense, presumably supported the moon, where the possibilities of getting there were
or authored by Besold and/or Bidembach, which was discussed iro n i c a l l y. Ac c o rding to Aristotelian physics,
submitted to the Hofgerichton May 7, 1621, The ducal dry and thin Spaniards were likely to be attracted by the
vice-chancellor, Dr. Sebastian Faber, arranged that this moon, but Kepler pre f e r red employing an old hag to
case reached the court’s agenda within a few we e k s . beam his hero up—and in this story the hero calls his
Councilor Hieronymus Gabelkover gave his opinion by mother a witch. In 1611, Kepler sent copies of this
July 14, and the case went to the legal faculty of the manuscript to Tübingen and other places, where they
University of Tübingen (to which Besold belonged) in we re recopied and circulated. Kepler suspected that
August 1621. On September 10, 1621, they ruled that readers identified him with the hero of his story and
Katharina Kepler was to be tortured at the lowest grade, that his intellectual joke had played a role in the witch-
the t e r r i t i o,which in practice meant that the instru- craft trial against his mother.
ments of tort u re we re shown to her before a formal
WOLFGANG BEHRINGER
interrogation. Their very precise decision explicitly for-
bade the hangman to touch her, or even bind her. See also:AUSTRIA;FERDINANDII,HOLYROMANEMPEROR;RUDOLF
Under these circumstances, Katharina Kepler would II,HOLYROMANEMPEROR;SCIENCEANDMAGIC;WÜRTTEMBERG,
not confess, and on October 3, 1621, Duke Jo h a n n DUCHYOF.
Friedrich von W ü rttemberg (ruled 1608–1628) References and further reading:
Baumgardt, Carola. 1951. Johannes Kepler. Life and Letters.
ordered her set free. When the local court finally com-
Introduction by Albert Einstein. NewYork: Philosophical
plied some days later, Katharina Kepler had been
Library.
imprisoned for 405 days. She died six months later, in
Caspar, Max. 1993. Kepler.Translated by Owen Gingerich. New
April 1622.
York: Dover.
Like many contemporaries, Johannes Kepler was
Conner, James A. 2004. Kepler’sWitch: An Astronomer’s Discovery
acutely aware of freedom of conscience and suppre s s i o n . of Cosmic Order Amid Religious War, Political Intrigue, and the
He must have been deeply impressed by his mother’s Heresy Trial of His Mother.NewYork: HarperCollins.
610 Kepler, Johannes |
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Hemleben, Johannes. 1971. Johannes Kepler.Hamburg: Rowohlt. his followers kissed him on the anus, genitals, or feet.
Kepler, Johannes. 1634. Somnium seu Opus posthumum de The kiss had its origins in Roman propaganda against
Astronomia Lunari.Frankfurt/Main. Jews, conspirators, and early Christians. Christian
———. 1929. Astronomia Nova.Edited by Max Caspar. Berlin:
authorities later used the kiss against medieval heretics.
R. Oldenbourg.
It appeared in depictions of the witches’ Sabbat used to
———. 1937–1959. Gesammelte Werke.Edited by Max Caspar.
illustrate early modern demonological texts, and in
20 vols. Munich: C. H. Beck.
medieval and early modern literature, notably Geoffrey
———. 1965. Kepler’s Dream.With the full text and notes of
Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale (late fourteenth century) and
Somnium, sive Astronomia lunaris Joannis Kepleri.Edited by
John Lear.Translated by Patricia Frueh Kirkwood. Berkeley, Hans (Johann) Jakob Christoph von Grimmelshausen’s
CA: University of California Press. Si m p l i c i s s i m u s (The Ad ve n t u res of Si m p l i c i u s
———. 1997. TheHarmony of the World.Edited by E. J. Aiton, Simplicissimus, 1669). The kiss of shame had several
A. M. Duncan, and J.V. Field. Philadelphia: American functions: as a parody of the kiss of peace in the
Philosophical Society. Christian Eucharist; an act of fealty; an act of illicit sex-
Sutter, Berthold. 1979. Der Hexenprozess gegen Katharina Kepler. ual activity (premarital fornication, adultery, or bestial-
Weil der Stadt: Scharpf.
ity); a humiliation; and a means of denoting the dis-
honor of the performer.
Kiss of Shame In his Octavius(late second century), Minucius Felix,
The kiss of shame, also known as the osculum infameor a Christian apologist, re c o rded the rumor that
the obscene kiss, was believed to be an act of worship Christians worshipped the head of a donkey and rever-
performed at the witches’ Sabbat. The Devil appeared enced the genitals of their priests. He separated the two
to the witches in the form of a goat or other animal and essential elements of the kiss of shame, which were later
Witches at a Sabbat offer the kiss of shame to the Devil’s anus. (Art Archive/Dagli Orti)
Kiss of Shame 611 |
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c o n flated: worship of an animal considered to be i n c u r red personal dishonor, social exclusion, and the
abject in the dominant culture; and adoration of an punishment of exile or death.
unclean part of the body. The English cleric Wa l t e r
JONATHAN DURRANT
Map in the late twelfth century and Pope Gre g o ry IX
in 1233 both claimed that contemporary heretics wor- See also: BLACKMASS;CATS;GOAT;GREGORYIX,POPE;NORTH
shipped a large black cat by kissing it on the feet, BERWICKWITCHES;PAMPHLETSANDNEWSPAPERS;PRÄTORIUS,
under the tail, or on the genitals. The Wa l d e n s i a n s ,
JOHANNES;SABBAT;TEMPLARS;TINCTOR,JOHANN;VAUDOIS
Gre g o ry stated, had also to kiss a huge toad (or a goose
(WALDENSIANS).
References and further reading:
or a duck) on the behind or the mouth, and afterw a rd
Chaucer, Geoffrey. 1971. The CanterburyTales.Harmondsworth:
a mysterious pale, ice-cold being. The notion that
Penguin.
Waldensians worshipped the Devil in the form of an
Cohn, Norman. 1975. Europe’s Inner Demons: An Enquiry Inspired
animal persisted into the fifteenth century. by the Great Witch-Hunt.NewYork: Basic Books.
Illustrations to Johann Ti n c t o r’s (Johannes Ti n c t o r i s ; Gregory IX. 2001. “Vox in Rama (1233).”Pp. 114–116 in
Jean Ta i n c t u re) C o n t ra sectam Va l d e n s i u m(Against the Witchcraft in Europe 400–1700. A Documentary History.2d ed.
Waldensian Sect, ca. 1460) depicted a heretic about to Edited by Alan Charles Kors and Edward Peters. Revised by
kiss a goat on the anus. King Philip IV of France used Edward Peters. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
this propaganda in his attack on the Knights Te m p l a r Grimmelshausen, Johann Jakob Christoffel von. 1999.
Simplicissimus.Translated by Mike Mitchell. Sawtry: Dedalus.
in 1307. He accused the knights of re vering a Sa t a n i c
Russell, Jeffrey Burton. 1972.Witchcraft in the Middle Ages.Ithaca,
cat by re m oving their hats, bowing to it, and kissing it
NY: Cornell University Press.
on the anus.
Although the kiss of shame cannot be found in the
Malleus Ma l e fic a ru m (The Hammer of Wi t c h e s , Kramer (Institoris),
1486), at the height of the witch persecutions it was Heinrich (ca. 1430–1505)
incorporated into later demonological texts, pamphlet Kramer (in Latin, Institoris), a Dominican friar and
accounts of trials, and images depicting the here t i c a l inquisitor, achieved a dubious kind of immortality by
w i t c h e s’ Sabbat. For example, the kiss appeared in a publishing the first comprehensive handbook for witch
c o l o red woodcut in a news-sheet re p o rting the witch- hunters, the Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of
craft trials in Ge n e va in 1570, now in the Zürich col- Witches, 1486), which not only described the crime
lection known as the Wi c k i a n a , and a century later it luridly but gave detailed instructions to help lay judges
was still the central image of an illustration for as well as inquisitors conduct witchcraft trials and also
Johannes Pr ä t o r i u s’s Bl o c k e s - Berges Ve r r i c h t u n g did much to associate the crime of witchcraft with
( Pe rformance at the Blocksberg, 1668). In these women. His career as a witch-hunting inquisitor, how-
images, the kiss of shame (clearly a parody of the kiss ever, suggests a pattern of failure and frustration.
of peace) illustrated the fealty of the witch heretic to Born in Sélestat (Schlettstadt), an imperial city in
the Devil, and there f o re her abandonment of God and Alsace, Kramer’s father may have been a retailer, as his
the inversion of spiritual norms. It also indicated her German name suggests. That Institoris is the Latin
sexual promiscuity and lack of chastity: if single, she form of his original German name is proved by the
could not marry the Devil; if married, she was com- N ü rnberger He xe n h a m m e r ( Nu remberg Wi t c h e s’
mitting adultery with him. The pamphlet Ne wes fro m Hammer), a secular witch hunt instruction from 1491
S c o t l a n d(1591) introduced English readers to a differ- written in his own hand, where he named himself
ent version of the kiss of shame. It re p o rted that the Heinrich Kramer. He probably entered the Dominican
No rth Be rwick witches we re forced to kiss the De v i l’s monastery of his native city about the age of fifteen, ris-
buttocks as a humiliating penance because they had ing through the order and becoming master of theology
“tarried ove r l o n g” in performing their evil duties. by 1474. Being well suited for this profession, he was
Both Chaucer and Grimmelshausen also used the kiss also appointed inquisitor that same ye a r. By 1475, he
as a gesture of humiliation in their works. In T h e was involved in gathering evidence about earlier Jewish
Mi l l e r’s Ta l e , Alison granted her suitor Absalon a kiss, ritual murders in south Germany to help with the
but he ended up kissing her “naked arse.” In famous Jew-baiting ritual murder case of the
Si m p l i c i s s i m u s , some soldiers we re forced to kiss the “child-saint” Simon at Trent (the capital of the prince-
backsides of the peasants who had captured them bishopric of Trent, now Trento in Italy). In 1478, he
b e f o re being shot. In a further episode, an imperson- was promoted to inquisitor of upper (i.e., southern)
ator of the eponymous hero refused a duel and was Germany.
f o rced instead to kiss the backsides of the sheep he had K r a m e r’s first experiences with witchcraft trials date
intended to steal. The duel provided an honorable f rom the 1480s in the Rhineland, mainly in his home-
means of resolving conflict; kissing sheep, or goats in land, Alsace. Encountering some opposition, he went to
the case of witches, was an act of bestiality that Rome and obtained the famous bull Su m m i sd e s i d e ra n t e s
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( Desiring with Su p reme Ardor) from the new Po p e trials. He died in Olomouc in 1505, but his grave has
Innocent VIII in December 1484, directed at the bishop not yet been found.
of Strasbourg. Afterw a rd, named papal inquisitor in
GÜNTER JEROUSCHEK
upper Ge r m a n y, he moved to the diocese of Constance,
which cove red the greater part of southern Sw a b i a . See also:GOLSER,GEORG;INNOCENTVIII,POPE;INNSBRUCK;
Howe ve r, his attempted persecutions of witches in the MALLEUSMALEFICARUM;MORAVIA;RITUALMURDER.
References and further reading:
imperial city of Ravensburg, and especially the Ty ro l e a n
Broedel, Hans Peter. 2003. The Malleus Maleficarumand the
capital In n s b ruck, miscarried dramatically.
Construction of Witchcraft: Theology and Popular Belief.
St a rting in July 1485, Kramer’s inquisition at
Manchester and NewYork: Manchester University Press.
Innsbruck was conducted through intimidation, limit-
Jerouschek, Günter, ed. 1992. Malleus Maleficarum.Zürich,
less tort u re, denial of legal defense, and distort e d
Hildesheim, and NewYork: Olms.
re p o rts. Not just the re l a t i ves of the accused, but also ———. 1992. Nürnberger Hexenhammer.Zürich, Hildesheim,
the citizens of the capital, the clergy, and the Tyrolean and NewYork: Olms.
nobility protested against Kramer’s pro c e d u res. T h e ———. 2003. “Heinrich Kramer—Zur Psychologie des
bishop of Br i xen, Georg Go l s e r, appointed a commis- Hexenjägers.” Pp. 113–137 in Gewalt und ihre Legitimation im
sion to investigate his inquisition, which interro g a t e d Mittelalter.Edited by Guenther Mensching. Würzburg:
seven imprisoned women on October 4. Over Kramer’s Koenigshausen and Neumann.
Kramer (Institoris), Heinrich. 2003. Malleus Maleficarum.
desperate resistance, the bishop stopped the persecution
KommentierteNeübersetzung[new German translation from
on October 29, nullified its results, and, with the
Latin]. Edited byWolfgang Behringer, Günter Jerouschek, and
Ty rolean arc h d u k e’s approval, liberated all the impris-
Werner Tschacher. Introduction byWolfgang Behringer and
oned women on November 2. Nine days later, the bish-
Günter Jerouschek. 3d ed. Munich: DTV.
op formally requested the inquisitor to leave his dio-
Segl, Peter, ed. 1988. Der Hexenhammer. Entstehung und Umfeld
cese; by February 1486, Golser threatened to use force des Malleus Maleficarum.Cologne and Vienna: Bohlau.
if Kramer did not leave Tyrol immediately. Stephens, Walter. 2002.Demon Lovers: Witchcraft, Sex, and the
Kramer sought re venge for such bitter defeats by Crisis of Belief.Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
composing his notorious treatise Malleus Maleficarum,
published in 1486, with a second edition in 1487 that Kyteler, Alice
included the 1484 papal bull. The formerly assumed (ca. 1260/1265–after 1324)
coauthorship of Jacob Sp renger has been convincingly The trial of Alice Kyteler for heresy and sorcery in 1324
refuted, and the notarial document giving approva l is the only such case known from medieval Ireland. It
f rom the theological faculty of the Un i versity of was significant for three reasons. First, it was one of the
Cologne was a forgery. earliest trials in European history to link sorcery with
T h e re was evidence of pathological elements in heresy. Second, it was the first to treat the defendants as
K r a m e r’s personality; Bishop Golser thought he was members of an organized group.Third, it was the first
mad. Eve ry w h e re he picked quarrels and became dis- to accuse a woman of having acquired the power of sor-
liked; soon the wandering inquisitor departed, some- cery by means of sexual intercourse with a demon. Our
times exiled. Kramer’s misogyny was extreme even for a information about the trial derives from a single manu-
medieval monk, and his sadism was mixed with pruri- script, generally referred to as the Narrative because of
ence; he was accused of illegally investigating sexual the title (A Narrative of the Proceedings Against Dame
affairs of women. In his Nu remberg Wi t c h e s’ Ha m m e r, Alice Kyteler) given to it byThomas Wright in his edi-
Kramer approved a “re s e rve d” use of tort u re to avo i d tion of 1843. Although the Narrative is unsigned, it is
releasing women who did not confess after undergoing clear from internal evidence that its author was Alice
it. Kramer’s boasts of having burned 200 women at the Kyteler’s accuser, Richard Ledrede, bishop of Ossory
stake in 1491 seem greatly exaggerated. At first, popes (1317–ca. 1360).
protected him, but the jurists at the Roman Curia did We know little about Alice. William Outlaw, the son
not share his opinions and hindered his activities with of her first marriage was appointed “sovereign” (equiva-
uncomfortable bulls. lent to mayor) of Kilkenny in 1305, suggesting that she
In 1500, Pope Alexander VI, at the instigation of the was born ca. 1260–1265. Her family was Flemish. In
bishop of Olomouc, Stanislav T h u rzo, named Kramer 1277, William le Kyteler of Ieper (Ypres) was granted a
papal inquisitor to Moravia and Bohemia. He moved to safe conduct to trade in Ireland. He settled there and,
Olomouc (Olmütz), which boasted an import a n t by 1303, had become sheriff of the liberty of Kilkenny.
Dominican monastery, and devoted himself to literary Joseph de Ketteler (perhaps Wi l l i a m’s son or bro t h e r )
polemics. In April 1501, he published two tracts at died in 1286/1287 and was buried at Kilkenny. Alice
Olomouc against Czech heresies, but never began any was presumably the daughter of one of these men. She
inquisitorial trials against them; and so far as we know, married William Ou t l a w, a wealthy Kilkenny money
he made no further attempt to conduct witchcraft lender and merchant, ca. 1280. Their son, also called
Kyteler, Alice 613 |
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William Outlaw, inherited the family business after his totally emaciated, his nails had fallen out, and there was
f a t h e r’s death, which had occurred by 1303. By then no hair on any part of his body. (7) Alice had a demon
Alice had married again, this time to another we a l t h y incubus, called “son of Art” or “Robin son of Art,” who
man, Adam le Blund. In 1307, Blund’s heirs renounced had sexual intercourse with her. He appeared some-
all claims on their inheritance in favor of Wi l l i a m times in the form of a cat, other times as a shaggy black
Outlaw. By 1309, Blund was dead and Alice had mar- dog, or as a black man with two companions. She had
ried a third husband, Richard de Valle, the owner of six given herself and all her possessions to this incubus, and
manors in the neighboring county of Ti p p e r a ry. she acknowledged that she had re c e i ved all her we a l t h
William Outlaw was appointed to look after de Valle’s and eve rything that she possessed from him. One of
business interests, but his heirs refused to surre n d e r Alice’s accomplices, Petronilla of Meath, later confessed
their inheritance. On de Va l l e’s death ca. 1316, Alice that, with her own eyes, in full daylight, she had seen
was forced to take legal proceedings against her stepson, Robin materialize in the form of three black men bear-
R i c h a rd de Valle junior, in order to gain her widow’s ing iron rods in their hands and had watched the
dower of a third part of the estate. Sometime between apparition, thus armed, having sexual intercourse with
1316 and 1324 she married a fourth husband, Sir John Alice. Indeed, she added that she had dried the place
le Po e r, a member of a prominent Anglo-Irish aristo- with a bedcover after their departure.
cratic family. By 1324 Lady (or Dame) Alice, as she had The local bishop, Richard Ledrede, an En g l i s h
become, was a very wealthy woman. She also had influ- Franciscan schooled at Avignon and a personal
ential connections. Roger Ou t l a w, a kinsman of her appointee of Pope John XXII, formulated the charges.
first husband, was the chancellor of Ireland. Wi l l i a m L e d rede requested the chancellor of Ireland to arre s t
Douce, mayor of Dublin, was a close friend, while Alice because of the public accusation of heresy and sor-
Walter de Islip, the treasurer of Ireland, and Arnold le cery. But the chancellor was her relation, Roger Outlaw,
Poer, the seneschal (and, therefore, chief legal officer) of and he replied by urging the bishop to drop the case.
the liberties of Kilkenny and Carlow, we re her son’s When Ledrede persisted and summoned her to appear
trusted friends. b e f o re his own ecclesiastical court, his summons was
In 1324, Alice and five other women were accused of i g n o red. A second date was set; but Alice, using her
being heretical sorc e resses. T h e re we re seven charges. i n fluence with the seneschal, Arnold le Po e r, had the
These alleged that (1) they denied the Christian faith bishop arrested instead and committed to prison in
for a month or a year, depending on the scale of what Kilkenny Castle. If they hoped that a spell in prison
they desired to attain through sorcery; during this time would cool the bishop’s ardor, it had precisely the oppo-
they neither heard mass, nor received communion, nor site effect. He appealed in person at the seneschal’s
entered any church. (2) They sacrificed to “son of Art,” court, reading out the papal bulls that required the sec-
one of the inferior demons of hell, at a crossroads near ular power to pursue heretics. Ledrede was told bluntly
K i l k e n n y, using live animals that they dismembere d to “go to the church and preach there” (Davidson and
and scattered there. (3) They asked advice and sought Ward 1993, 46)
responses from demons through sorc e ry. (4) T h e y The case appeared to be lost but, by chance, Jo h n
usurped the authority and jurisdiction of the Churc h Da rc y, the justiciar (chief governor) of Ireland, passed
by excommunicating their husbands at nightly gather- through Kilkenny in July 1324 and Ledrede succeeded
ings. Using lighted candles, they named, spat on, and in having the issue brought before him. Guilty verdicts
cursed each part of their husband’s bodies, extinguish- were returned, but Alice managed to slip away. Her son,
ing their candles at the end with the words: “fi, fi, fi William Outlaw, publicly renounced his heresy, accept-
[perhaps a manuscript abbreviation of fiat, “let it be”], ed penance, and promised to atone by prov i d i n g
“amen” (Davidson and Ward 1993, 28). (5) They made monies for the repair of the cathedral. Pe t ronilla of
p owders, ointments, potions, and candles, which they Meath confessed to all the charges after she had been
used to arouse love and hate, to maim, and to kill. They flogged six times and tort u red until she was senseless.
p re p a red these from a stew that consisted of a thief’s Refusing to accept penance or abjure her heresies, she
decapitated head, dismembered cockerels, dead men’s was paraded through the streets of Kilkenny and
nails, pubic hair, spiders, disfigured worms, milfoil, and burned alive on November 2, 1324.
the brains and clothing [perhaps the caul] of boys who Although some commentators detected political
had died unbaptized. (6) The sons and daughters of her m o t i ves behind Ledre d e’s actions, there can be little
four husbands had commenced litigation at the bishop’s doubt but that he was endeavoring to introduce the
court. They openly accused Alice of using sorcery to kill In q u i s i t i o n’s methods into the judicial practice of
some of their fathers and infatuate others to such an Ireland and England, where convictions on the basis of
extent that they gave all their possessions to her and to confession alone we re prohibited. The charges, which
William Outlaw. Her present husband, Sir John le Poer, h a ve many similarities with those placed against the
had been reduced by sorcery to such a state that he was Templars seventeen years earlier, originated because of a
614 Kyteler, Alice |
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combination of disaffected stepchildren and a religious References and further reading:
zealot. The description of John le Poer’s body as emaci- Cohn, Norman. 1993. Europe’s Inner Demons: The Demonization
ated and devoid of body hair fits the symptoms of of Christians in Medieval Christendom.Revised edition.
London: Pimlico.
arsenic poisoning. Together with the allegation that
Colledge, Edmund, ed. 1974. The Latin Poems of Richard Ledrede,
Alice had killed her previous husbands, her stepchildren
O.F.M., Bishop of Ossory, 1317–1360.Toronto: Pontifical
suspected that she was slowly murdering the curre n t
Institute of Medieval Studies.
one. The property and wealth of heretics did not pass to
Davidson, L.S., and Ward, J. O., eds. 1993. The SorceryTrial of
their blood heirs but reverted to the family’s next of kin.
Alice Kyteler.Binghamton, NY: State University Press. [A trans-
Because both Alice and her son, William Ou t l a w, lation of the Latin text, with an excellent introduction and
would have been dispossessed by her conviction, Jo h n notes together with appendices of the relevant papal decretals
le Poer would have inherited her property and wealth. and contemporary historical documents.]
Instead, Ledrede was forced to flee from his diocese Massey, Eithne. 2000. Prior Roger Outlaw of Kilmainham.Dublin:
in 1327. He sheltered at Avignon, returning only in Irish Academic.
1349 when he again started to pursue here t i c s . Neary, Anne. 1983. “The Origins and Character of the Kilkenny
Witchcraft Case of 1324.” Proceedings of the Royal Irish
Subsequently he was accused of trumping-up charges
Academy83, sect. C, 333–350.
against the “decent, simple, faithful people” as a means
Williams, Bernadette. 2000. “‘She Was Usually Placed with
of extorting money (Colledge 1974, xxxi). Ledrede sur-
the Great Men and Leaders of the Land in Public
vived the accusations, however, and died of old age in
Assemblies’—Alice Kyteler: A Woman of Considerable
1360 or 1361. We have no idea what happened to Alice
Power.” Pp. 67–83 in Women in Renaissance and Early
Kyteler after 1324. Modern Europe.Edited by Christine Meek. Dublin: Four
Courts.
JOHN BRADLEY
Wright, Thomas. 1843. A Contemporary Narrative of the
See also:COURTS,ECCLESIASTICAL;CROSSROADS;HERESY;INCUBUS Proceedings Against Dame Alice Kyteler Prosecuted for Sorcery in
ANDSUCCUBUS;INQUISITION,MEDIEVAL;IRELAND;JOHNXXII, 1324, by Richard de Ledrede, Bishop of Ossory.London: Camden
POPE;PAPACYANDPAPALBULLS;POTIONS;TEMPLARS. Society. [The only edition of the Latin text.]
Kyteler, Alice 615 |
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Wicca | Richard M.Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Western Tradition | 654 | 46049 Golden Chap.L av First Pages 08/25/2005 p.617 Application File
L
Lambe, Dr. John (ca. 1545–1628) scandal, suggesting that he used magic to pro c u re
Lambe was a notorious English conjuro r, magician, and women for Buckingham. Meanwhile, rumors abound-
a s t rologer who in the 1620s became an adviser to the ed that Bu c k i n g h a m’s mother had consulted Lambe
k i n g’s favorite, Sir George Villiers, first duke of about her son’s fate, and even that Lambe was responsi-
Buckingham. The fortunes of the two men became inter- ble when Lady Purbeck faced charges not only of adul-
twined, their ambition and vanity spread murd e ro u s tery but also of witchcraft after the discovery of a wax
h a t red among political elites and common people alike. image of Buckingham. In 1627, Lambe was examined
Lambe began working as a tutor to the sons of the by the Royal College of Physicians and found ignorant
g e n t ry but turned to medicine and was licensed by the of the principles of astrology.
bishop of Durham. Lambe used sorc e ry, conjurations, In June 1628, a mob spotted Lambe leaving a
and cunning magic. His career ended in 1608 after he London theater. Reviling him as “witch,” “devil,” and
was prosecuted at Wo rcester for bewitching T h o m a s “the duke’s conjuror,” they chased him and beat him so
L o rd Wi n d s o r. He was also charged with invo k i n g s e ve rely that he died the next day. News of his death
spirits. Although found guilty on both counts, he caused popular rejoicing and inspired ballads. Ma rt i n
escaped execution. Initially held in Wo rcester Castle, Parker, in his ballad, The Tragedy of Doctor Lambe, the
he was moved to London after some participants in the great suposed Conjurer, damned Lambe as “the Devill of
trial died. He remained in the King’s Bench Pr i s o n our Nation,” hated not just for his magic but also for
until June 1623, styling himself “Do c t o r” and contin- his greed (his last meal had been half a suckling pig).
uing to practice magic for wealthy clients. In 1622, the The final verses treat Lambe’s death as an act of provi-
duke of Buckingham accompanied his mother at a dential deliverance from tre a c h e ry, corruption, and
consultation session with Lambe to determine whether immorality. A popular pamphlet ridiculed Lambe in his
s o rc e ry had caused his brother Jo h n’s insanity. ribboned knee-points (that hold stockings up), striped
Buckingham became Lambe’s patron, quashing his silks, and deep lace ruff, pathetically trying to repel his
conviction for raping an eleve n - year-old girl while in assailants with the sword he carried to affect the appear-
jail. Sh o rtly before he was to be hanged, Lambe told ance of a gentleman. London’s authorities made little
the Lord Chief Justice, in an interv i ew arranged by e f f o rt to trace Lambe’s killers, earning them a re b u k e
Buckingham, that he had important information and a fine from King Charles I.
about the gunpowder plot. The attorney general was Mocking verses circulated in the London crowd that
i n s t ructed to issue a pard o n . Bu c k i n g h a m’s authority was bound up with Lambe’s
How close Lambe became to Buckingham is unclear. magic and that Buckingham would soon share his
A letter of 1624 from the duke to the king at least pre- much-loathed magician’s fate. Buckingham was assassi-
tended to mock him. In 1625, Lady Purbeck, who had nated in August of the same ye a r. The link betwe e n
been forced by her father to marry the insane Jo h n Buckingham and Lambe, and their association with
Villiers, re p o rtedly visited Lambe accompanied by her witchcraft, was re v i ved in the 1650s during the
l over Sir Ro b e rt How a rd. Upon hearing a rumor of we l l - p u b l i c i zed witchcraft trial of Anne Bodenham,
this, Buckingham tried to compel Lambe to divulge who claimed to have been Lambe’s servant.
what had been said in order to prove that her infant son MALCOLM J. GASKILL
was a bastard. Nevertheless, Lambe became a symbol of
malign influence when the duke’s popularity waned. In
See also: ASTROLOGY;CUNNINGFOLK;ENGLAND;JAMESVIANDI,
June 1626, before the king dissolved Parliament for try-
KINGOFSCOTLANDANDENGLAND;MALEWITCHES;PAMPHLETS
ANDNEWSPAPERS;SORCERY.
ing to impeach Buckingham, a terrible storm bro k e
References and further reading:
over the River Thames. Gossip spread that
A Briefe Description of the Notorious Life of John Lambe, otherwise
“ Bu c k i n g h a m’s Wi z a rd” had caused it. In 1626–1628,
called Doctor Lambe. Together with his Ignominious Death.
tension over parliamentary subsidies accompanied bal- Amsterdam (London), 1628. Facsimile reprint, Amsterdam:
lads attacking Lambe for both witchcraft and sexual Theatrum Orbis Terrarum.
Lambe, Dr. John 617 |
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Goldstein, Leba M. 1979. “The Life and Death of John Lambe.” centuries later, the title page of Ulrich Molitor’s treatise
Guildhall Studies in London History4: 19–32. on witches, De laniis et phitonicis mulieribus
Parker, Martin. [1628?]. “The Tragedy of Doctor Lambe, the great (Concerning Witches and Fortune-tellers, 1489), con-
suposed Conjurer.” Pp. 278–282 in A Pepysian Garland: Black-
tained an interesting misprint, since lamiis ( w i t c h e s )
Letter Broadside Ballads for the Years 1595–1639, Chiefly from
there appears as laniis (butchers), a variation corrected
the Collection of Samuel Pepys.Edited by Hyder E. Rollins.
in later editions.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1922.
Lamiae was picked up by later writers on magic and
Lamia witchcraft, who tried, not altogether successfully, to use
According to late Greek tradition, Lamia was a very it as a technical rather than a general term for “witch.”
beautiful Libyan queen. Zeus, king of the gods, fell in Johann Weyer, for example, offered to explain lamiato
love with her, but his wife, Hera, full of jealousy, his readers, only to identify it with strigaand saga (two
robbed her of her children. In despair, Lamia began to w o rds with ve ry different histories and implications),
steal other people’s children and murder them, and this b e f o re saying that he is going to use it to refer to a
appalling behavior warped her face and made her woman who enters into a pact with an evil spirit and
extremely ugly. Accordingly, she became the bogey- t h e reafter worked maleficent magic with his help
woman of the nursery. Horace, for example, suggests (We ye r, De praestigiis daemonum [ On the Tricks of
that a poet should not ask his audience to believe Devils], book 3, chap. 1). His contemporary, Jo h a n n
impossibilities such as drawing a child still alive from Georg Goedelmann, went somewhat furt h e r, describ-
Lamia’s stomach (Horace, Ars Poetica, 340). Other late ing l a m i a e as ignorant old women who, unlike magi-
Greek and Roman authors, such as Philostratus, con- cians (magi) and workers of poisonous magic (venefici),
c e i ved l a m i a e as nonhuman females who seduced did not learn their magical techniques from books but
young men so that they could eat their flesh and drink we re cozened by the Devil into believing they could
their blood—hence their development, in modern w o rk wonders (Goedelmann, De magis, ve n e ficis, et
Greek folklore, to beautiful women with monstrous lamiis [On Sorcerers, Poisoners, and Witches], book 1,
feet or half-woman, half-fish creatures who drown peo- chap. 2). The Jesuit Martín Del Rio, however, mocked
ple who go swimming in the sea. Weyer’s claim to distinguish among the various names
Lamiaquickly became a term used insultingly about given to workers of harmful magic on the grounds that
female magical operators. Apuleius of Madaura (second what was important about such people were their deeds
c e n t u ry C.E.) has the hero of his Me t a m o r p h o s e s and not their names, By now, he asserted, it had
describe how two elderly women entered the room as become accepted custom to lump together the various
he lay in bed, drenched him with urine, and tore out his magical practitioners, re g a rdless of what they we re
traveling companion’s heart. And in his famous story of called, and to treat them as though there were no differ-
Ps yche and Cupid, Ps yc h e’s two sisters, cre a t u re s ences among them (Del Rio, Disquisitiones Ma g i c a e
endowed, according to the tale, with more than natural Libri Sex [Six Books on Investigations into Magic] book
envy and malice, are called “w i c k e d” and “t re a c h e ro u s 5, section 16). This is the position adopted by many,
little wolves,” as well as lamiae(Apuleius, 5.11). These, perhaps most, early modern authors writing on magic
then, are the associations that the word l a m i a c a r r i e d and witchcraft.
forward into later times, deriving in part, perhaps, from P. G. MAXWELL-STUART
m e n’s memories of elderly women in the family who
dominated their childhood and played a pro m i n e n t See also:APULEIUSOFMADAURA;DELRIO,MARTIN;FAIRIES;
role in the magical rituals attending almost every act of
GOEDELMANN,JOHANNGEORG;ISIDOREOFSEVILLE;MOLITOR,
consequence in family life.
ULRICH;STRIX,STRIGA,STRIA.
References and further reading:
Is i d o re of Seville made a greater impression on the
Burriss, E. E. 1936. “The Terminology of Witchcraft.” Classical
Middle Ages by deriving the word lamia from a Latin
Philology31: 137–145.
ve r b, l a n i a re , meaning “to tear, savage, mutilate” —
Henderson, J. 1987. “Older Women in Attic Old Comedy.”
ingenious but inaccurate: The term is originally Greek. Transactions of the American Philological Association117:
But Is i d o re’s mistaken derivation became popular; 105–130.
Ge rvase of Ti l b u ry repeated it. A thousand years after
Apuleius, Gervase knewlamiae as a type of mischievous Lamothe-Langon, Etienne-Léon
f a i ry, describing them as “women who run about all de (1786–1852)
over the place, never still for a moment, looking for a An impoverished nobleman from Toulouse, whose
way to get into people’s houses. Once in, they empty father had been killed in 1794 during the “Terror” of
jars, baskets, and dishes, and peer into pots. They drag the French Revolution, Etienne-Léon de Lamothe per-
babies out of their cradles, light candles or tapers, and petrated the most spectacular hoax in the historiogra-
often hit people while they are asleep” (Ge rvase of phy of witchcraft. Lacking formal schooling, he earned
Ti l b u ry, De otiis imperialibus p a rt 3, chap. 87). A few his living as a freelance author and Romantic novelist
618 Lamia |
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with “a marked taste for the sinister, the mysterious, Lamothe specialized in forging sources, and he fabricat-
and the melodramatic” (Cohn 1975, 132), becoming ed (among many others) the memoirs of Louis XVIII
one of the most productive French writers of this peri- and Napoleon Bonaparte. Fu rt h e r m o re, Lamothe’s
od. He began writing at three o’clock in the morning fraud demonstrated the efficacy of traditional sourc e
and managed to publish no fewer than 400 books (or criticism: In a masterful intellectual exe rcise, No r m a n
1,500 volumes in manuscript) in fifty years. Cohn suggested that Lamothe had simply copied his
His work includes a celebrated thre e - volume Hi s t o i re account of the witches’ Sabbat from a seventeenth-cen-
de l’ Inquisition en Fra n c e ( Hi s t o ry of the Fre n c h tury French demonologist, Pierre de Lancre.
Inquisition) of 1829, presumably inspired by Ju a n
WOLFGANG BEHRINGER
Antonio Llore n t e’s Hi s t o i re critique de l’ In q u i s i t i o n
d’ Espagne ( Critical Hi s t o ry of the Spanish In q u i s i t i o n , See also:FRANCE;HANSEN,JOSEPH;HISTORIOGRAPHY;
1817–1818), a best seller throughout Eu rope. Lamothe INQUISITION,MEDIEVAL;JOHNXXII,POPE;LANCRE,PIERREDE;
allegedly wrote his history from arc h i val sourc e s .
ORIGINSOFTHEWITCHHUNTS;SOLDAN,WILHELMGOTTLIEB.
References and further reading:
Howe ve r, Lamothe had no time for arc h i val re s e a rch. In
Behringer,Wolfgang. 2004. “Geschichte der Hexenforschung.”
1829 alone, he published twenty-two volumes, includ-
Pp. 485–680 in Wider alle Zauberei und Teufelswerk: Die
ing novels like La Va m p i re ou la Vierge de Hongrie (T h e
europäische Hexenverfolgung und ihre Auswirkung auf
Va m p i re, or The Virgin of Hu n g a ry), and he had no
Südwestdeutschland.Edited by Sönke Lorenz and Jürgen
training in paleography. Only recently has it become Michael Schmidt. Ostfildern: Jan Thorbecke.
clear that he not only amplified his own name into Cohn, Norman. 1975. Europe’s Inner Demons: An Enquiry Inspired
“ L a m o t h e - Ho u d a n c o u rt” (from 1815–1817) and by the Great Witch-Hunt. NewYork: Basic Books.
“ Ba ron de Lamothe-Langon” (after 1817) but also Hansen, Joseph. 1900. Zauberwahn, Inquisition und Hexenprozess
i n vented his “s o u rces.” They included the earliest im Mittelalter und die Entstehung der grossen Hexenverfolgung.
re p o rts about the witches’ Sabbat, allegedly from 1275, Munich: R. Oldenbourg.
———. 1901. Quellen und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des
as well as the earliest re p o rts of a large-scale witch hunt,
Hexenwahns und der Hexenverfolgung im Mittelalter.Bonn: C.
allegedly conducted between 1300 and 1350. Hi s
Georgi. Reprint, Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1963.
accounts of mass persecutions seemed plausible, because
Kieckhefer, Richard. 1976. European Witch Trials: Their
Pope John XXII in a bull of 1320 had indeed empow-
Foundations in Popular and Learned Culture, 1300–1500.
e red the Inquisitions of Toulouse and Carcassonne to
Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
p roceed against practitioners of certain kinds of magic. Lamothe-Langon, Etienne Léon de. 1829. Histoire de l’Inquisition
Lamothe’s forgeries became universally accepted after en France.3 vols. Paris.
Wilhelm Gottlieb Soldan quoted them in his authorita- Soldan, Wilhelm Gottlieb. 1843. Geschichte der Hexenprozesse.
t i ve Geschichte der He xe n p ro ze s s e ( Hi s t o ry of Wi t c h Stuttgart and Tübingen.
Trials, 1843), and even more so after Joseph Ha n s e n Switzer, Richard. 1962. Etienne-Léon de Lamothe-Langon et le
quoted them fully in both his history of witchcraft in roman populaire français de 1800 à 1830.Toulouse: Privat.
t h e Middle Ages (1900) and in his source collection
(1901). T h e re a f t e r, scholars universally took the Lancashire Witches
authenticity of these sources for granted. It was only in The term Lancashire witches (sometimes called the
the mid-1970s that two historians (Cohn 1975, Pendle witches) usually refers to a group of sixteen
126–146; Kieckhefer 1976, 16–20) independently alleged witches from the Pendle region of Lancashire
demolished Lamothe’s allegations. Neither Lamothe’s who were tried at the Lancaster assizes August 18–19,
alleged inquisitors of Carcassonne and Toulouse nor 1612. This Lancashire outbreak was, at the time, the
their witch hunts could be substantiated from any sur- most serious witch hunt yet experienced in England.
viving sources. Lamothe had simply fabricated the vic- Ten of the accused were executed, and another was sen-
tims and their confessions in order to sell his publica- tenced to a year’s imprisonment punctuated by four ses-
tions and perhaps in order to amplify the importance of sions on the pillory. Another woman associated with
France in the history of witchcraft. But even Pope John this group, Jennet Preston, had been tried and executed
XXII had withdrawn his authorization in 1330, and in the neighboring county of Yorkshire three weeks pre-
t h e re a f t e r, inquisitors we re no longer responsible for viously.
sorcery trials in France. With Lamothe’s forgeries elimi- Thomas Potts, the clerk of the court that tried the
nated, it became clear that it was only circa 1400–1430 witches, soon re c o rded the Lancashire outbreak in a
that different aspects of witchcraft and heresy we re lengthy tract, published in 1613. This tract, which
assembled into a specifically Eu ropean “c u m u l a t i ve” re p roduced the examinations of the witches and of
concept of witchcraft, which allowed witch hunts of those giving witness against them, is a major sourc e
unprecedented severity.The case of Lamothe remains a for the events of 1612. Unusual for an English case,
warning to historians not to accept “s o u rc e s” just the 1612 Lancashire trials have passed into local leg-
because they appear to be plausible. After 1835, end, and their memory endures in the local tourist
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Ten witches from Pendle in Lancashire were hanged in what was England’s largest witch hunt up to that time. The witch on the left may be the
octogenarian Elizabeth Southerns (“Old Demdike”), while the fear that a Sabbat had taken place was represented by the female witch, male witch,
and devil riding on broomsticks to the witches’ gathering. (TopFoto.co.uk)
and heritage industries. This probably owes much to the peace, Roger Nowell, took depositions from Alizon
The Lancashire Wi t c h e s , a novel based on the 1612 Device, her mother Elizabeth, and her brother Ja m e s
trials, published in 1849 by William Ha r r i s o n and from John Law’s son, Abraham. T h ree days later,
A i n s w o rth, one of the most popular Victorian writers, Nowell examined Elizabeth Device’s mother, the octo-
and still in print. Ro b e rt Neill in 1951 published genarian Elizabeth Southerns (alias “Old De m d i k e” ) ,
another novel based on the 1612 Lancashire witches, Anne Whittle (alias “Chattox”), and three witnesses.
Mist over Pe n d l e . On April 4, Nowell committed Alizon Device, Ol d
The train of events behind the Lancashire witch scare Demdike, Chattox, and Chattox’s daughter, Anne
began on Ma rch 21, 1612, when a woman named Redferne, to the jail at Lancaster Castle to await trial for
A l i zon Device met a peddler called John Law. De v i c e witchcraft. Rumors of witchcraft continued to burgeon,
asked to see some of the goods in his pack and grew especially after a group of suspects met together at the
a n g ry when he refused her. Law instantly went into Malkin Tower, apparently to discuss tactics in the face
what was re g a rded as a witchcraft-induced illness (to of the developing witch craze and also to plot blowing
the modern re a d e r, his affliction looks much like a up Lancaster Castle in order to release their friends.
s t roke), and he and his re l a t i ves decided to re p o rt the News of this meeting, which looked very like a Sabbat
matter to the authorities. On March 30, the justice of to contemporaries, convinced Nowell and his fellow
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justices of the peace that they were confronting a major re f e r red to in Po t t s’s tract). They we re pro s e c u t e d
o u t b reak of witchcraft, and investigations intensifie d . t h rough evidence given by Grace Sowerbutts, who
Sir Edward Bromley and Sir James Altham, experienced accused them of offering her various forms of physical
judges who had been responsible for convicting Jennet abuse, of tempting her to commit suicide, of killing a
Preston in Yo rk s h i re, presided over the trials. Both child whose body they later exhumed and ate, and of
judges had been well briefed by the Lancashire authori- t r a n s p o rting her to the River Ribble to participate in
ties, and the trials, notable particularly for an unusual what was in effect a Sabbat, where she and the thre e
dependence on child witnesses, we re heavily we i g h t e d alleged witches danced with “f o u re black things” and
against the accused. then had sexual intercourse with them after the danc-
Because the Lancashire trials were the largest yet seen ing. The Pendle witches were tried and, in the relevant
in England, contemporaries regarded them as notewor- instances, convicted of standard malefic witchcraft, but
thy and possibly controversial: Po t t s’s tract was appar- Sowe r b u t t s’s evidence was ve ry different from that
ently written at the request of the judges and can be o f f e red by witnesses in the main series of trials. T h e
read as a justification of their conduct of the trial. c o u rt, which was in the process of sentencing ten
Although, as we have noted, the trials have continued alleged witches to death, totally rejected Sowe r b u t t s’s
to attract considerable attention, they have not become allegations and acquitted the three women she named.
the subject of a full-scale scholarly investigation, despite The judges would not countenance allegations of this
some useful studies by local historians (for example, type, especially after they learned that a Jesuit priest had
Lu m by 1995) and an important recent collection of schooled Sowerbutts in her witchcraft beliefs. In 1612
essays (Poole 2002). Many questions about the trials Lancashire, malefic witches were dangerous, but popish
remain unanswe red. Most import a n t l y, it is ve ry delusions about the Sabbat and cannibalistic witches
unclear why such a large-scale outbreak of witchcraft were superstitions.
occurred in this place at a time when witchcraft cases in After the 1612 trials, rumors of witchcraft evidently
other parts of England we re in decline. This pro b l e m continued in the Pendle area, and reentered the histori-
awaits investigation, but the answer probably lies in the cal re c o rd in a less-we l l - k n own witch scare of
peculiar state of religious affairs in the county. 1633–1634. At the center of this episode lay an eleven-
L a n c a s h i re was one of the strongholds of Catholicism year-old boy named Edmund Robinson, who claimed
in England, but it also had an active Protestant county that shape-changing witches had taken him to the
elite, who we re anxious both to check popery and to Sabbat and that he there saw a large number of local
impose greater godliness on the population at large. T h e people whom he recognized. The 1633–1634 outbreak
parish of W h a l l e y, within which Pendle lay, was typical was badly documented, but one source suggested that
of upland England, being large and full of scattered set- sixty people we re suspected. Cert a i n l y, a large-scale
tlements, the kind of area to which it was difficult to witch panic threatened, with Robinson and his father
bring the message of the Reformation. Much re s p o n s i- touring settlements in the area offering their services as
bility for the development of this witch craze rests with witch hunters. But there was to be no replay of 1612.
Nowell, who seems to have played an important part in The judge presiding over the trials, clearly worried by
o rchestrating the examination of the suspected witches. what was happening, contacted the central government
Nowell was an experienced local administrator, aged six- at Westminster. Apparently no trials were held, and the
ty-two at the time, who was not only a justice of the bishop of Chester, within whose diocese Pendle lay, was
peace but had also served as sheriff of Lancashire . sent in to investigate. Robinson and his father we re
T h rough his family connections, Nowell also had con- taken to London, along with five of the suspected
tacts with advanced Protestantism. He was related to witches, who we re given medical examinations.
another gentry family, the St a rkies of Clew o rth, whose Robinson withdrew his evidence, claiming that he had
household had been in 1595 the center of one of the made everything up because he was late getting the cat-
typical demonic possession-cum-witchcraft cases of the tle home and feared being chastised by his mother.The
period. He was also close to the Lister family, one of incident demonstrated both the persistence of witch
whose members was victim of Jennet Preston, the beliefs in rural England in the 1630s and a grow i n g
Yo rk s h i re witch executed in 1612. In Nowell, we have reluctance among British authorities to countenance
an unusual local justice of the peace who had a stro n g witch hunting, in stark contrast to the situation in 1612.
animus against witches and whose influence was ve ry
JAMES SHARPE
m a rked, both in the pretrial investigations of the 1612
witches and on the assize judges.
See also:CHILDREN;ENGLAND;PANICS;RURALWITCHCRAFT.
Although it was the Pendle witches who passed into
References and further reading:
legend after the 1612 trials, three more women fro m
Lumby, Jonathan. 1995. The LancashireWitch-Craze: Jennet
the nearby village of Salmesbury were also tried at the Preston and the LancashireWitches, 1612.Preston, Lancashire:
Lancaster assizes in 1612 (hence the nineteen witches Carnegie.
Lancashire Witches 621 |
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Poole, Robert, ed. 2002. The LancashireWitches: Histories and Jean d’Espaignet, to conduct a four-month judicial
Stories.Manchester: Manchester University Press. mission to the Labourd to investigate the problem and
Potts, Thomas. 1613. The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the to conduct trials as they saw fit. They had full powers to
Countie of Lancaster.With the Arraignment and Triall of nine-
convict and execute anyone they found guilty of the
teene notorious Witches, at the Assizes and Generall Gaole
heinous crime of witchcraft. Both judges found wide-
Deliverie, holden at the Castle of Lancaster, upon Munday, the
s p read belief that huge witches’ Sabbats we re taking
seventeenth of August last, 1612.London.
place, and they heard hundreds of confessions, appar-
ently without tort u re, from people who claimed they
Lancre, Pierre de (1533–1630) had attended these diabolical gatherings. Meanwhile, as
In 1609, Pierre de Lancre conducted trials that resulted suspected witches fled for safety across the bord e r, the
in dozens of executions for witchcraft—the largest mass Spanish Inquisition re c e i ved similar complaints and
witchcraft trial in early modern France, until the began investigating the problem in the Spanish Basque
Languedoc-Ardennes panic of the 1640s. Frustrated by areas.
the persistent skepticism of his colleagues at the For four months, Lancre and d’Espaignet trave l e d
Pa rlement ( s ove reign judicial court) of Bord e a u x , t h roughout the region. As they interrogated people,
Lancre then wrote three lengthy treatises on the subject, their goal was to distinguish the witches who had
defending his actions and arguing that witchcraft was renounced Christianity and to offer clemency to the
real, that witches constituted a dangerous heretical sect, women and children who had merely attended Sabbats,
and that the sect had to be stamped out with severity. using their testimony to identify the ringleaders and
L a n c re was born around 1533 to an influ e n t i a l o r g a n i zers who we re seen to be active members of a
Bordeaux family. He was related by birth and marriage demonic sect. The existence of the Devil’s heretical sect
to several we l l - k n own Bordeaux authors, including became Lancre’s obsession, inspiring his subsequent
Florimond de Raemond and Michel de Montaigne. On writings on witches. The two judges conducted interro-
the way to his long legal care e r, Lancre attended the gations and trials and carried out executions with speed
Jesuit collègeof Clermont in Paris in the early 1570s. He and effic i e n c y. They seem to have executed betwe e n
(and Ma rtín Del Rio) probably heard Ju a n fifty and eighty witches, although we cannot be certain
Ma l d o n a d o’s influential lectures on witches in 1571. of more than two dozen, including at least three “ring-
Throughout his life, Lancre was inspired by the intense leader priests.” When the judges’ commission expire d
Catholic spirituality encouraged by the Jesuits. in November 1609, those whom Lancre thought were
In 1579, Lancre re c e i ved his doctorate of law. He guilty but whom he had not been able to deal with were
joined the Parlement of Bordeaux in 1582. In the early sent to Bordeaux for trial by the parlement.Lancre’s ver-
s e venteenth century, when he was in his fifties, he dicts were based on his perception that the real problem
began a prolific writing career that lasted almost up to in the Labourd was the sect of Devil worshipers. He
his death in 1630. In 1607, he published a long work of based his findings on testimony and confessions about
neostoicist philosophy. He devoted about a third of this participation in Sabbats. But the Parlementof Bordeaux
book to the exalted role of judges in the grave, almost n e ver adopted his views and discounted his evidence.
divine, function of dispensing justice. He opposed Applying its normal criminal pro c e d u res and uphold-
c ruelty and the too-easy recourse to tort u re he had ing its traditions about suspected witches (which
o b s e rved among some of his colleagues. He fir m l y Michel de Montaigne, a former Bordeaux judge, had
supported the French legal tradition of trials being con- eloquently expressed), the judges insisted on evidence
ducted by groups of judges to avoid abuses that could of actual crimes (maleficia) committed by the accused.
occur if one person held the power of life and death. On this basis, the court convicted a few of Lancre’s
Such judicial caution was an especially powe rf u l witches and released many others.
tradition among his parlementary colleagues at L a n c re’s colleagues’ professional re b u f f, which
B o rdeaux, who we re apparently the last appellate tri- showed they were unwilling to take seriously testimony
bunal in France to approve an execution for witchcraft. on Sabbats and to see it as proof of the existence of a
Another central theme of this work was the we a k n e s s demonic sect threatening godly society, motiva t e d
and inconstancy of women. He described women as L a n c re to write his best-known book, Tableau de
dishonorable, licentious, and, following the example of l’Inconstance des mauvais anges et demons(Description of
Eve, inclined by nature to follow the Devil. the Inconstancy of Evil Angels and Demons, 1612). He
The following year brought the judicial assignment put great energy into trying to convince his readers that
that made Lancre famous. In late 1608 or early 1609, “t h e re was no way to cast doubt on [the reality] of
complaints from the Labourd region, a Basque are a witchcraft and that the Devil actually and bodily trans-
south of Bordeaux, reached King Henry IV, stating that p o rts witches to Sa b b a t s . . . . Sixty or eighty cert a i n
witchcraft was out of control in the region. The king witches and five hundred witnesses . . . have stated that
named two special commissioners, Pierre de Lancre and Satan had done this” (Lancre 1982, 2). Lancre was
622 Lancre, Pierre de |
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concerned that if judges did not take these matters Pa rl e m e n t s , all judges and other important people
seriously, their blindness and weakness would help the might have . . . who sustain that there is no truth in
Devil’s power grow. what is said of witches and witchcraft but that it is only
Central to this book, and to Lancre’s concept of an illusion” (Lancre 1622, 4). This work was ve ry
witchcraft, was the Sabbat. For Lancre, basing his argu- defensive in tone. He reiterated the main arguments of
ments on Martín Del Rio’s recent synthesis, the Devil’s his earlier work, referring often to his experiences as a
transportation of people to Sabbats, in body or in spir- judge.
it, was real. Belief in this idea was re q u i red of In 1627, Lancre wrote his final book on witchcraft:
Christians. The details of what happened at the Sabbats Du sortilege ( About Witchcraft). But no matter how
we re shocking. All the attendees practiced unnatural many books he published, Lancre remained a voice cry-
sexual acts and committed horrible blasphemies. Lancre ing in a French judicial wilderness. It is clear that
stated, “I can say of the women and girls of the Labourd French parlementsseldom prosecuted witchcraft severe-
who have gone to Sabbats, that instead of being quiet ly or paid much attention to testimony about Sa b b a t s
about this damnable coupling [with demons], or of after 1610. Between 1610 and 1625, although most of
blushing or crying about it, they tell the dirtiest and the thirteen people executed by the Pa rl e m e n t of Pa r i s
most immodest circumstances with such great freedom were charged with having been present at Sabbats, only
and gaiety that they glory in it and take pleasure talking one was put to death for attending a Sabbat. It is clear
about it” (Lancre 1982, 142). One even called the that the career and writings of Pierre de Lancre did lit-
Sabbat a “Paradise.” Of course, this fit in with Lancre’s tle to reverse a clearly visible trend in French jurispru-
view that women were inclined to witchcraft “because dence.
of their imbecilic nature” and basic inclination to evil.
JONATHAN L. PEARL
For Lancre, aspects of Basque society made the Labourd
region especially vulnerable to the Devil’s work. He saw See also:BASQUECOUNTRY;BODIN,JEAN;CHILDREN;DELRIO,
these people as foreign, barely civilized, and poorly MARTÍN;FLIGHTOFWITCHES;FRANCE;INQUISITION,SPANISH;
educated as Christians. The fact that most adult men
MALDONADO,JUAN;METAMORPHOSIS;MONTAIGNE,MICHELDE;
were sailors meant that normal agricultural life was not
PARLEMENTOFPARIS;RÉMY,NICHOLAS;SABBAT.
References and further reading:
p resent there. Fu rt h e r m o re, it meant that the women
Houdard, Sophie. 1990. “Frontière et altérité dans le Tableau de
we re far too independent, so that the pro p e r, male-
l’inconstance des mauvais anges et démonsde Pierre de Lancre.”
dominated family life did not exist. “They are Eves,” he
Frénésie: Histoire, psychiatrie, psychanalyse9: 23–32.
w rote, “who easily seduce the children of Ad a m” ———. 1992. Les Sciences du diable: Quatre Discourses sur la sor-
( L a n c re 1982, 43). Although Lancre we l c o m e d cellerie, XVe–XVIIe siècle.Paris: Cerf.
testimony from children as part of gathering evidence, Lancre, Pierre de. 1622. L’incredulité et mescréance du sortilege.
he disagreed with Nicolas Rémy’s opinion that Paris.
prepubescent witches should be executed. ———. 1982. Tableau de l’inconstance des mauvais anges et
Lancre’s position on the Devil’s power, based on Del demons: ou il est amplement traité des sorciers et de la sorcellerie.
1612. Edited by Nicole Jacques-Chaquin. Paris: Aubier
Rio, was carefully ort h o d ox. Satan could not do any-
Montaigne.
thing really supernatural, such as transforming people
McGowan, Margaret. 1977. “Pierre de Lancre’sTableau des l’in-
into animals (in contrast to what Jean Bodin argued).
constance des mauvais anges et démons:The Sabbath
But he could create illusions of these sorts of changes.
Sensationalized.” Pp. 182–201 in The Damned Art: Essays in
For Lancre, witches who joined the Devil “have fallen
the Literature of Witchcraft. Edited by Sydney Anglo. London:
into heresy and apostasy” (Lancre 1982, 531). In the Routledge and Kegan Paul.
fight against them, judges had to be vigilant and severe. Pearl, Jonathan L. 1999. The Crime of Crimes: Demonology and
Although witchcraft and heresy we re closely re l a t e d , Politics in France, 1560–1620.Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfred
L a n c re held that witchcraft was more dangerous than Laurier University Press.
ordinary heresy because it was hidden in darkness and
because innocent people we re victims of witches’ evil Langton, Walter (D.–1321)
spells. He went to great length to argue that these evil- Treasurer (1295–1307) of King Edward I of England
doers should be put to death. and bishop of Coventry and Lichfield (1296–1321),
Because the parlementary judges at Bordeaux and Walter Langton was accused of sorcery, entering into a
Paris continued to ignore his opinions about witches pact with the Devil (frequently offering the kiss of
and witchcraft, Lancre published another long work on shame to Satan), murder, adultery, and simony and was
witchcraft in 1622, L’incredulité et mescréance du sorti- tried from 1301 to 1303. Pope Boniface VII suspended
l e g e ( In c redulity and Misbelief of Enchantment). T h i s Langton from his episcopal duties and ordered him
book was entirely devoted to the problem of judicial tried by an ecclesiastical court presided over by the
i n c redulity about witchcraft. He stated that he had a rchbishop of Canterbury, Winchelsea, Langton’s
written “to dislodge whatever incredulity the personal enemy. The case was soon transferred to
Langton, Walter 623 |
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Rome. Edward I wrote four letters to the pope in Re c o rded witchcraft trials in this province reach back to
Langton’s defense and charged that his accuser, Sir John the end of the Hu n d red Ye a r s’ Wa r. After an appare n t
Lovetot, had acted out of personal animosity. Lovetot pause, they resumed at the outbreak of the French Wa r s
believed Langton was responsible for his stepfather’s of Religion and peaked when Languedoc experienced
murder and that he had maintained an adulterous affair the single largest re c o rded witch craze in France in the
with Lovetot’s stepmother, subsequently keeping her as 1640s. Howe ve r, from the mid-fifteenth century until
his mistress after her husband’s strangulation. The the age of Louis XIV, the Pa rl e m e n tof Toulouse, Fr a n c e’s
Roman Curia found Langton innocent in June 1303, second-oldest and second-largest appellate court, consis-
owing in part to his thirty-seven compurgators. tently played a major role in reducing the severity of
After his acquittal, Langton returned to En g l a n d , punishments of accused witches.
w h e re he became Ed w a rd I’s principal adviser. But in Sh o rtly after its installation in 1443, the Pa rl e m e n to f
1307, as soon as Ed w a rd I was dead, his son King Toulouse investigated various irregularities committed
Ed w a rd II had Langton arrested, charging him with in some witchcraft trials at Millau. It cleared a plaintiff
malfeasance as royal treasurer. Langton was imprisoned, f rom Millau charged with witchcraft because the written
and his lands and wealth were confiscated. However, he evidence against her was obviously perjured. The p a r-
was released, became tre a s u rer again, and was subse- l e m e n t’s investigator discove red other irregularities in
quently excommunicated by the archbishop of this witch hunt as well: An accused witch who had died
C a n t e r b u ry. After the arc h b i s h o p’s death in 1315, under atrocious tort u res without confessing had been
Langton joined the royal council, until Pa r l i a m e n t illegally buried in profane ground; the judge ord e red a
called for his dismissal two years later, thus ending a stake put up for another witch before pronouncing sen-
tumultuous political career. tence against her. All told, at least three witches we re
Although Langton’s trial took place a century before burned at Millau in autumn of 1444, two others died
the emergence of the cumulative concept of witchcraft b e f o re sentence was pronounced, and at least three oth-
and fully developed witch hunts, it set precedents for a er women we re accused of attending Sabbats and killing
number of political witchcraft trials in the early babies. The episode re veals how quickly the new crime
fourteenth century in which members of the elite were of witchcraft had spread southwest from Dauphiné, and
targeted. It slightly preceded the notorious trial of the the p a rl e m e n t’s attitude anticipated the better-know n
Templars in France and occurred just two decades skepticism of their Parisian colleagues when inve s t i g a t-
before the most notorious of these trials in the British ing the Va u d e r i eof Arras in 1491.
Isles, that of Alice Kyteler in Ireland. But the parlement could not prevent other burnings
of accused witches in Languedoc. Around 1490, a
RICHARD M. GOLDEN
woman was burned for sorc e ry and diabolism in
See also:KISSOFSHAME;KYTELER,ALICE;ORIGINSOFTHE Vivarais. Shortly afterward, we catch glimpses in notar-
TEMPLARSWITCHHUNTS. ial re c o rds of three women burned as witches by
References and further reading:
seigneurial courts near Nîmes and of two other women
Beardwood, Alice. 1964. The Trial of Walter Langton, Bishop of
burned in the same region in 1493 (Gi r a rd 1995).
Lichfield, 1307–1312.Philadelphia: American Philosophical
Then comes a long silence, finally broken in 1555
Society.
when the seneschal of Bi g o r re, in the Py renees, asked
———, ed. 1969. Records of the Trial of Walter Langeton, Bishop of
the Toulouse parlement to send commissioners to judge
Coventry and Lichfield, 1307–1312.London: Royal Historical
Society. s e veral prisoners charged with witchcraft “in order to
Ewen, Cecil L’Estrange. 1933. Witchcraft and Demonianism: A extirpate such scandalous and pernicious people fro m
Concise Account Derived from Sworn Depositions and Confessions this re g i o n” (ADHG, B 3408). The court bru s q u e l y
Obtained in the Courts of England and Wales.London: Heath dismissed his request, on the grounds that people who
Cranton. “fell into such diabolical errors and illusions” had been
Kieckhefer, Richard. 1976. European Witch Trials: Their i m p roperly educated, and turned the whole business
Foundations in Popular and Learned Culture, 1300–1500.
over to their local parish priests.
Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Only seven years later, the Toulouse p a rl e m e n t t o o k
Kittredge, George Lyman. 1929. Witchcraft in Old and New
witchcraft accusations seriously enough to uphold some
England.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
death sentences for this crime from Py re n e a n
Languedoc Languedoc. In the spring and summer of 1562, amid
The French province of Languedoc, the heart of south- the turmoil surrounding the first French War of
ern France, was once believed to be the site of Eu ro p e’s Religion, it approved at least three burnings for witch-
earliest witches’ Sabbats, in the mid-fourteenth century, craft (Le Nail 1976). Howe ve r, the p a rl e m e n t s o o n
until the “d o c u m e n t” on which this opinion rested was re ve rted to its previous practice and decreed lesser
s h own to be a forgery (Cohn 1975, 126–138). Ac t u a l l y, punishments for the next thirty women from this
witch hunting in Languedoc has a ve ry different history. region also accused of witchcraft.
624 Languedoc |
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A f t e rw a rd, more executions certainly occurred in a Cohn, Norman. 1975. Europe’s Inner Demons: An Enquiry Inspired
region as large as Languedoc during the time when by the Great Witch-Hunt.London: Basic Books.
most witches we re burned elsew h e re in France (ro u g h- Girard, René de. 1995. Boucoiran au XVe siècle: Une sorcière;
Martiale Espaze.Montpellier: Mémoire d’Oc series, #44.
ly 1580–1625). Howe ve r, we cannot trace the
Le Nail, Jean-François. 1976. “Procédures contre des sorcières à
Toulouse p a rl e m e n t’s judgments in witchcraft trials
Seix en 1562.” Bulletinde la Société Ariégoise des Sciences, Lettres
because of the exceptional laconism of its criminal
et Arts 31: 155–232.
re c o rds. A “notable warlock” and five women witches
Mandrou, Robert. 1968. Magistrats et sorciers en France au XVIIe
we re executed in southern Languedoc in 1586, but the
siècle.Paris: Plon.
s ove reign court for the county of Foix had judged Vidal, Jacques. 1987. “Le Parlement de Toulouse et la répression
them. Howe ve r, at some unknown date, the Pa rl e m e n t de la sorcellerie au milieu du XVIIe siècle.” Pp. 511–527 in
of Toulouse copied the Parisian custom of requiring all Hommages à Gérard Boulvert.Nice: Université de Nice.
local judgments in witchcraft trials to be automatically
appealed to it. So when the greatest witch panic in Lapland
French history struck Languedoc in 1643, it left an L a p l a n d’s witches we re famous throughout early
enormous paper trail, and an ingenious study (Vi d a l modern Europe. From ancient times, the Lapland sor-
1987) examined its actions. cerers had a strong reputation for wind magic, shape
From spring of 1643 until spring of 1645, the shifting (metamorphosis), employment of familiars, the
Pa rl e m e n t of Toulouse judged at least 641 accused ability to move objects (such as small darts) across great
witches, only 8 percent of whom we re men. It distances, and for their wicked drum playing. Portrayals
b e h a ved much as it had in 1562. For several months, of the evil witches from Lapland became a favorite
it upheld many local decisions, and probably some motif in demonology, travel narratives, and literary
fifty or sixty witches we re burned. But by De c e m b e r fiction between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries.
1643, the p a rl e m e n t became aware of the activities of The expression Lapland witchesappeared in the work of
p rofessional witch finders in several parts of such renowned English writers as William Shakespeare,
Languedoc. It ord e red some of them arrested; by sum- John Milton, Daniel Defoe, Henry More, and Jonathan
mer of 1644, three men had been hanged for forging Swift. In 1796, the Swiss painter Johann Heinrich
commissions from the Privy Council or the p a rl e m e n t Füssli depicted them in a rather dismal painting, The
to hunt witches, and others had been sent to the gal- Night-Hag Visiting the Lapland Witches, illustrating
leys. At the same time, the p a rl e m e n t sharply re d u c e d some passages from Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667). By
almost all punishments for accused witches; extre m e l y the end of the eighteenth century, the mention of
f ew we re burned, over a hundred we re banished for Lapland witches had become a cliché.
periods of one to five years, and almost two-thirds of The concept “Lapland witches” refers to the
these 600 prisoners we re released, often because of indigenous people of northernmost Scandinavia and
i n s u f ficient evidence. Meanwhile, this witch hunt Russia, the Sami (formerly known as Laplanders or
e ven inspired a chapbook, the Historía mara vellosa del Lapps). To d a y, the Sami call their land Sa p m i , a n d
sabbat de las bru xes y bru xo t s (Wo n d rous Hi s t o ry of their whole area is often named the No rth Calotte.
the Witches Sabbat), supposedly translated fro m The notion of the far northern regions of Eu rope as
French and printed in 1645 at Ba rcelona (which was centers of witchcraft and idolatry reduced to the
then under French occupation). It described the question of Sami sorc e ry. “For practice of witchcraft
a d ve n t u res of “Señor Barbasta,” a mythical super- and sorc e ry, they pass all nations in the world”
h e roic Languedoc witch fin d e r, who had re p u t e d l y (Anderson 1958, 13), wrote the English ambassador
i d e n t i fied over 3,000 witches throughout the king- to Russia, Sir Giles Fl e t c h e r, in 1591, describing the
dom of France, including his own wife. life and manners of the “w i l d” Sami in nort h e r n
After this panic subsided, as late as 1680 the Russia. The Lapland witches and the knotted winds
Toulouse parlementwas still trying to investigate witch- had already become somewhat notorious by then,
craft cases in the Pyrenees (at Bigorre, the same region because authors like Olaus Magnus and Jean Bodin
affected in 1555). T h e re was an instance of demonic had already told Eu rope that the Sami we re immense-
possession in Toulouse in 1681–1682, but there was no ly dangerous magicians and sorc e rers. The conjuring
f u rther talk of burning witches in Languedoc of these Lapland witches was so great that people
(Mandrou 1968, 473–478). b e l i e ved they could use sorc e ry instead of we a p o n s
while in combat with their enemies. Rumors indicat-
WILLIAM MONTER
ing that the Swedes used the techniques of Sami sor-
See also:ARRAS;FRANCE;ORIGINSOFTHEWITCHHUNTS;PANICS;
c e ry in warf a re dogged Swedish military forc e s
WARSOFRELIGION(FRANCE); WITCHFINDERS.
t h roughout the seventeenth century. When they won
References and further reading:
Archives Départmentales de la Haute-Garonne (ADHG), s e veral significant battles and advanced deep into
Toulouse, B 3408, 3440–3444, 3658–3662. German territory during the T h i rty Ye a r s’ Wa r, it was
Lapland 625 |
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insinuated that their success was due to sorc e ry by n o rthern winds and could provoke illnesses among
Sami troops assisting them. people far to the south in Eu rope. “Shooting,” or the
conjuring of spells “on the wind,” was a we l l - k n ow n
m a l e fic i u m (harmful magic) across most of nort h e r n
Runebomme—The Magic Drum;
Scandinavia and was asserted with great conviction by
Shamanism
some leading Eu ropean intellectuals. Among others,
Educated Eu ropeans of the early modern age believe d
the famous French jurist and demonologist Je a n
that Sami witchcraft entailed three characteristics:
Bodin had much to say about the evil magic of
First, the Sami we re famous for their ability to tell for-
L a p l a n d’s witches. The g a n dwas imagined to be some-
tunes and predict future events. Ever since the re c o rd-
thing physical. “Lapp shots” we re perc e i ved as small
ing of the No rdic sagas, this feature of the indigenous
leaden darts, which the Sami could shoot across gre a t
populations of the far No rth was well known. In gen-
distances. In the mid-sixteenth century, Ol a u s
eral, Old Norse sources give the impression that all
Magnus described them as small leaden arrows. At the
Sami we re great sorc e rers. Ancient No rwegian laws for-
end of the seventeenth century, a No rwegian vicar,
bade people to travel to Fi n n m a rk’s Sami to have their
Petter Dass, later described the Sami spell as vile, dark
f o rtunes told. Closely associated with their powers of
blue flies, or “Be e l ze b u b’s flies.” Court re c o rds fro m
p rophecy we re their abilities to narrate events. By the
n o rthern No rwegian witchcraft trials offer explicit
use of a magic drum (ru n e b o m m e) and other rituals, a
descriptions and actual illustrations of the Sami g a n d .
Sami shaman (n o a i d i) would allow himself to fall into
One of the passages even mentions that the g a n d
some kind of a trance (ecstasis diabolica), at which time
resembles a mouse with heads at both front and re a r.
his spirit would be led far away. Upon awakening, he
What we today call shamanism among the Sami was
could describe events that had occurred at the places to
re g a rded by the Lutheran confessional church as the
which his spirit had traveled. Christians immersed in
worst type of superstition and witchcraft. A few
demonological concepts of shamanism believed that
witchcraft trials in No rwegian, Finnish, and Swe d i s h
Satan himself gave these drums to the Sami. T h e
Lapland contained elements of shamanism.
d rum, an instrument of the Devil, enabled a sorc e re r
to summon his demons, which we re believed to re s i d e
in it and we re re v i ved by striking it. In this manner,
Lapland Witches and the Witch Hunt
each drumbeat—to quote a Swedish missionary work-
As a collective group living in the borderlands, mov-
ing among the Sami whose discourse helped to “d i a b-
ing and trading within three countries at the same
o l i ze” them—was intended for Satan in hell. T h e
time, the Sami posed a threat to the territorial
singing among the Sami, called Jo i k , which accompa-
expansion of No rdic countries and their endeavo r s
nied the beating of the drum, was re g a rded as a dia-
to spread Christian civilization in the No rth. T h i s
bolical, monotonous cacophony.
was especially the case for the conflicts among
While under the spell of his satanic trance, a shaman
Russia, Sweden, and De n m a rk - No rway at a time of
communicated with his attendant demon that, because
territorial state formation. All of them considere d
of its tremendous acuity and faculty for moving swiftly,
the Sami as subjects in need of proper integration.
could divulge global events to its master. As a re s u l t ,
Fe a rful of Sami sorc e ry, the No rwegians, accord i n g
seventeenth-century Lutheran missionaries to the Sami
to re p o rts forw a rded to King Christian IV in 1608,
regions made arrangements to burn these drums and
d a red not inhabit the fjords of Fi n n m a rk that we re
thereby destroy the Sami pagan gods. The demonizing
populated by the “wild and wicked” Sami. In
of this pantheistic religion continued throughout the
response, the king in 1609 commanded the gove r-
seventeenth century, and Sami who believed they could
nors of his nort h e r n - No rwegian districts to hunt
p redict the future we re accused of being satanic
d own and eradicate all kinds of Sami sorc e ry. T h o s e
prophets.
who practiced it would be put to death. In the thre e
counties that comprise Arctic No rw a y, civil court s
Diabolicus Gandus held witchcraft trials for thirt y - s e ven individual
The ancient idea of “e l f - s h o t” (in Ge r m a n , Sami between 1593 and 1692 (Hagen 1999). Of
He xe n s c h u s s) was the third kind of sorc e ry attributed these, twenty men and eight women we re burned at
to the Sami. This kind of spell casting, or g a n d (d i a- the stake. Suspicion of sorc e ry was one of the
bolicus gandus, in Sami sorc e ry trials of the seve n- charges that arose eve ry time serious confli c t s
teenth century), was what pious No rwegians feare d emerged between the Sami and the Da n i s h -
most during the sixteenth century and the beginning No rwegian authorities during this period. But still,
of the seventeenth century. The witches of Lapland it should be pointed out that there we re many more
we re known to cast their evil spells across vast dis- No rwegian women invo l ved in the hunt than people
tances. Their spells could even be carried upon the f rom the indigenous gro u p.
626 Lapland |
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Table L-1 Witchcraft trials in Governors and Imperial Frontiers c. 1600–1800.Edited by A.
northern Norway Mackillop and Steve Murdoch. Boston and Leiden: Brill.
(Arctic Norway) 1593-1692 Moyer, Ernest J. 1981. Raising the Wind: The Legend of Lapland
and Finland Wizards in Literature, edited byWayne R. Kime.
Gender and Total Death
Newark: University of Delaware Press.
ethnicity sentences
Mundal, Else. 1996. “The Perception of the Saamis and Their
Female—Sami 11 8 Religion in Old Norse Sources.” Pp. 97–116 in Shamanism
Male—Sami 26 20 and Northern Ecology.Edited by Juha Pentikäinen. Berlin and
Female—Norwegian 120 87 NewYork: de Gruyter.
Male—Norwegian 14 5 Nenonen, Marko. 1993. “Envious Are All the People, Witches
Unknown 6 6 Watch at Every Gate: Finnish Witches and Witch Trials in the
Total 177 126 Seventeenth Century.” Scandinavian Journal of History18, no.
1: 77–92.
Rydving, Håkan. 1995.The End of Drum-Time: Religious Change
among the Lule Saami, 1670s–1740s. 2nd rev. ed. Uppsala:
Almqvist and Wiksell International.
Meanwhile, in Swedish regions of Lapland, seve n-
t y - t h ree Sami males and three Sami females we re Larner, Christina (1934–1983)
p rosecuted between 1639 and 1749 on charges of
A preeminent historian of the Scottish witch hunt.
using drums and practicing sacrificial rituals
Larner’s main book, Enemies of God(1981), is a beacon
( Granqvist 1998). Few of them re c e i ved death penal-
of methodological clarity that ranks among the most
ties, howe ve r.
i n fluential and widely cited regional studies of
In both Norway and Sweden, it was primarily Sami
European witch hunting.
men who we re accused of witchcraft. The notion of
L a r n e r, a sociologist at the Un i versity of Gl a s g ow,
witchcraft, with few exceptions, was primarily a male
taught not only in her own department but also in
phenomenon in Sami society. At the same time, in
those of history and politics, and she was appointed to a
small northern No rwegian coastal villages, witchcraft
personal chair shortly before her tragically early death.
was basically a crime committed by Norwegian women.
She wrote her PhD thesis (1962) on Scottish witch-
Legal sources thus confirm that Sami men we re the
craft, and in 1970 Norman Cohn encouraged her to
basic cultural bearers of their traditional ritual magic.
resume work on this. A new anthropological perspec-
And the witchcraft trials of the far north were distinc-
t i ve on village-level witchcraft was opening up, which
tive in a European context because of the simultaneous
Larner was well placed to exploit. Howe ve r, she fir s t
prosecutions of wives of seasonal Norwegian fishermen
studied an elite witch hunter and demonologist,
and of Sami shamans.
publishing “James VI and I and Witchcraft” in 1973 in
RUNE HAGEN; a volume edited by Gl a s g ow historian Alan Smith. (It
was republished, along with most of the rest of her arti-
TRANSLATED BY MARK LEDINGHAM
cles, in the 1984 collection, Wi t c h c raft and Re l i g i o n :
See also:BODIN,JEAN;CHRISTIANIV;DENMARK;FAMILIARS; The Politics of Popular Be l i e f .) Although her idea that
FINLAND;GENDER;MAGNUS,OLAUS;MALEWITCHES; James imported the demonic pact to Scotland fro m
METAMORPHOSIS;NORWAY;SHAMANISM;SORCERY;SPELLS;
De n m a rk in 1590 has been questioned, her art i c l e
SWEDEN;WINDKNOTS.
remains essential for the development of James’s views.
References and further reading:
Larner then obtained funding for a project to collect
Ahlbäck, Tore, and Jan Bergman, eds. 1991. The Saami Shaman
information on all re c o rded cases of witchcraft in
Drum.Åbo Scripta Instituti Donneriani Åboensis Series, 14.
Scotland. The results, published by her research team in
Anderson, M.S. 1958. Britain’s Discovery of Russia, 1553–1815.
London: MacMillan and NewYork: St. Martin’s. 1977, listed 3,069 witchcraft “c a s e s” with their place,
Granqvist, Karin. 1998. “‘Thou shalt have no other Gods before date, and trial status. Although an imperfect work
me’ (Exodus 20:3): Witchcraft and Superstition Trials in (riddled with miscitations, several hundred duplicate
Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Swedish Lapland.” Pp. cases, and other errors), it exploited hithert o - u n u s e d
13–29 in Kulturkonfrontation i Lappmarken,edited by P. Sköld manuscript sources and provided a firmer statistical
and K. Kram. Umeå: Kulturgräns Norr. basis for the Scottish witch hunt than had ever been
Hagen, Rune. 1999. “The Witch Hunt in Early Modern
a vailable before. The best estimates for numbers of
Finnmark.” Acta Borealia: A Norwegian Journal of Circumpolar
e xecutions had hitherto ranged between 3,000 and
Societies (Oslo: Novus Forlag) 16, no. 1: 43–62.
4,500; Larner pared away layers of speculation to show
———. 2002. “Early Modern Representations of the Far North:
that the number must have been much lowe r. Mo re
The 1670 Voyage of La Martinière.” ARV—Nordic Yearbook of
than half of these “c a s e s” (the exact pro p o rtion was
Folklore58: 19–42.
———. 2003. “At the Edge of Civilisation: John Cunningham, u n k n own) ended in acquittals or other noncapital
Lensmann of Finnmark, 1619–51.” Pp. 29–51 in Military outcomes, suggesting a fig u re of probably fewer than
Larner, Christina 627 |
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1,500 executions with a maximum of 2,000 (Larner i n t e rest in the belief system of preindustrial Eu ro p e ,
1984, 28). Mo re recent re s e a rch has explored furt h e r characterizing it as a “middle gro u n d” society, neither
sources and has tended to raise the numbers somewhat p r i m i t i ve nor dominated by belief in science and
but has also endorsed the soundness of Larner’s basic technology.
approach. After Enemies of God, Larner gave the 1982 Gifford
L a r n e r’s masterpiece, Enemies of Go d ,was also written Lectures, “Relativism and Ethnocentrism: Popular and
at this time. It combined statistics with a detailed re a d i n g Educated Belief in Pre - Industrial Cu l t u re.” These lec-
of individual cases. Many seminal works are character- t u res, by a sociologist intervening in a debate “a m o n g
i zed by a single penetrating idea, but Larner’s work stood philosophers and anthro p o l o g i s t s” (Larner 1984, 97),
out in its balanced use of complementary methodologies. are vital for historians of witchcraft, who need to decide
She re c o n s t ructed peasant networks of accusation with how to respond to beliefs that seem alien. She provided
the same ve rve that she brought to beliefs about the De v i l a powerful corrective, both to condescending accounts
or theories of social control. She confirmed the quarre l- of past “ignorance” and “s u p e r s t i t i o n” and to extre m e
someness of many accused witches while showing that relativist interpretations in which all beliefs are equally
Scotland did not fully fit the “T h o m a s - Ma c f a r l a n e” va l i d . L a r n e r’s clear, jargon-free prose sparkled with
model, where by English witches we re accused after a e rudite wit and humor. Arguing against re d u c t i o n i s t
denial of charity was followed by misfort u n e . explanations for witchcraft beliefs, she asked, “Was the
Distinguishing between “En g l i s h” and “c o n t i n e n t a l” pat- social stru c t u re of hell feudal or was it more likely
terns of witch hunting, she placed Scotland between the ‘ h yd r a u l i c’ (the term given by Karl Wittfogel to
t w o. Subsequent re s e a rch, although re fining the “c o n t i- despotic regimes organized in relation to permanent
n e n t a l” pattern, has not significantly modified Larner’s water shortage)?” (Larner 1981, 202). She not only
conclusion. She was alive to the hitherto-neglected issue k n ew her subject, she also knew how to communicate it.
of women as witches, but she resisted the tendency of
some feminist contemporaries to turn the witch hunt JULIAN GOODARE
into a “woman hunt.” See also:FEMINISM;GENDER;HISTORIOGRAPHY;JAMESVIANDI,
As well as peasant quarrelsomeness, Larner empha- KINGOFSCOTLANDANDENGLAND;SCOTLAND.
sized the responsibility of governmental authorities. She References and further reading:
came to believe that witch hunting was an apt term Goodare, Julian. 2002. “Introduction.” Pp. 1–15 in The Scottish
because witches did have to be sought out and labeled. Witch-Hunt in Context.Edited by Julian Goodare. Manchester:
She had not yet reached that point when she wrote in Manchester University Press.
Larner (née Ross), Christina. 1962. “Scottish Demonology in the
her 1962 thesis, “T h e re are those who claim that the
Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries and Its Theological
witchcraft persecution originated at the end of the
Background.” PhD diss., University of Edinburgh.
fifteenth century precisely because this was the era of
———. 1977. “Two Late Scottish Witchcraft Tracts: Witch-Craft
the creation of the modern state. . . . Yet most histori-
Provenand The Tryal of Witchcraft.” Pp. 227–245 in The
ans today would not give that importance to the late
Damned Art: Essays in the Literature of Witchcraft.Edited by
fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries in the creation of Sydney Anglo. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
fully developed administrative systems which writers of ———. 1981. Enemies of God: The Witch-Hunt in Scotland.
an earlier generation did.” But she later changed her London: Chatto and Windus.
mind, adding a pencil note in the margin: “But I think ———. 1984. Witchcraft and Religion: The Politics of Popular
I would now (1971) plus literacy” (Larner 1962, 15). Belief.Edited by Alan Macfarlane. Oxford: Blackwell.
She was, in fact, moving tow a rd what she called “t h e Larner (née Ross), Christina, Christopher H. Lee, and Hugh V.
McLachlan, comps. 1977. A Source-Book of Scottish Witchcraft.
Christianization of the people” (Larner 1981, chap.
Glasgow: Department of Sociology, University of Glasgow.
12), a process taken up by local elites seeking to
inculcate godly discipline; after the godly King Ja m e s
VI succeeded the godly state. A few of its details were Latvia
p roblematic—her much-quoted “general commission” Witchcraft trials occurred between 1548 and 1699 in
or “standing commissions” of the 1590s have prove d Latvia, which was partitioned and dominated by
i l l u s o ry—but later re s e a rch has borne out the general Poland, Sweden, and Russia in the early modern period.
soundness of her approach. Latvian folklore pre s e rves extremely rich evidence
What most distinguished Larner’s book was its about witches in its folktales, legends, stories, customs,
methodological sophistication. She was far more sayings, riddles, beliefs, incantations, and folk songs. In
familiar with social theory than most empiricist histori- folktales, the witch’s husband is the Devil. She herself
ans; she could write about the problems of “t re a t i n g eats people and kills her own daughters. Latvian witch-
s e ve n t e e n t h - c e n t u ry culture as an alien belief system” es live in strange houses with one leg, dance with devils
(Larner 1981, 134) from within the rich conceptual in hell, can change their form, and cast spells that turn
framework of the social sciences. She took a particular people into animals or objects. They have tails, which
628 Latvia |
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not eve ryone can see. Like sorc e rers, they do not die Latvian legal practice made extensive use of
e a s i l y. Folklorists have pre s e rved other traditions so-called ducking (also known as the swimming test or
concerning Latvian witches. Evil people turn into the water ordeal) to identify witches. It was men-
witches, having given up their souls to the De v i l . tioned in Latvia’s first documented witchcraft trial, in
Anyone can become a witch by putting drugs in a mor- 1548, when the master of the Livonian Ord e r,
tar and grinding them up while making an incantation; Hermann von Brüggenei, submitted a legal opinion
one must also wear appropriate clothes and walk in a re g a rding ducking to the Cçsis town council
c i rcle around the mort a r, until one flies away thro u g h ( Augstkalns 1938, 197). The method was as follow s :
the air. Or one can become a witch by smearing a spe- An executioner undressed the accused, tied her arms
cial ointment on the body, particularly in the armpits. and legs crosswise, and, holding her by a rope, sub-
On the Saturday of Whitsuntide, a woman can wash in merged her three times in cold water, repeating the
the bathhouse, wrap herself in a white cloth, and lie ducking in case of doubt. Ac c o rding to the re c o rd s ,
d own to sleep in the bushes on her stomach. An evil the accused usually “floated on the water like a duck”
force will fly down in the form of a bee, crawl into the or “like a blade of grass,” providing sufficient proof of
sleeping woman, and she will become a witch. By a guilt. Some sources also mentioned complaints that
single look, witches can harm newborn babies, often e xecutioners, by tugging on the rope or by va r i o u s
exchanging the children for their own. other means, had not allowed the accused to sink. If
Ac c o rding to folklore, milk witches we re especially during the ducking the accused died in the icy water,
widespread throughout Latvia. They milk cows belong- the court re c o rded that the Devil had killed the witch
ing to others and collect dew from fields to bew i t c h to pre vent him or her from betraying associates. In
their neighbors’ livestock, transferring the milk to Riga and the area that later became Courland,
t h e m s e l ves. Witches are particularly active on June 23 ducking was used rarely at first, beginning in the mid-
(Midsummer Night), but animals also need protection sixteenth century, because neither local custom nor
f rom them on other special nights. Milk witches have general German law envisaged this form of interro g a-
their own servants, the milk carriers, whom they feed tion. But by the first half of the seventeenth century,
and maintain. witch ducking was practiced throughout Latvia, being
Although Livonia was famous as a land of witches, abandoned only at the close of the century
sorcerers, and werewolves, its recorded witchcraft trials After 1621, Latvia was divided. In the west, the
only began in the mid-sixteenth century and neve r duchy of Courland and Semigallia made up a va s s a l
reached the scale seen in most Eu ropean countries. state of Poland; in the center, the lands on the right
Witches and sorc e resses we re well known in medieva l bank of the River Daugava along with Riga became the
Latvia, under the Livonian Order (a crusading ord e r ) . Swedish province of Livland; and the eastern part ,
Se veral of Latvia’s earliest law codes contained art i c l e s Latgale, belonged to Poland. These regions differed in
dealing with witches, and their punishment was that of their handling of witchcraft trials.
h e retics—burning—but no trials we re re c o rd e d . In Livland, the largest number of witchcraft trials
Regulations issued at Valmiera in 1537 charged territo- took place in the 1630s. Legends about covens and cor-
rial ove r l o rds and church authorities with pro h i b i t i n g porations of sorcerers and witches, who were thought to
and eradicating sorcery, superstition, and idolatry.The meet in a bog or on a hill and who could harm live-
death penalty for malignant sorcery was also envisaged stock, people, and crops with the aid of Satan, we re
in the Carolina Code (1532) of the Holy Ro m a n widespread in all sections of society. Pastors and judges
Empire, which became law in Livonia soon after being also believed in them. Hermann Samson (1579– 1643),
issued in 1532. We know about witchcraft trials fro m senior pastor of St. Peter’s Church in Riga and superin-
Cçsis in 1548 and from Courland in 1550 (Augstkalns tendent of Livland, demanded in his sermons that all
1938, 169). In 1559, the bailiff of Grobiòa ord e red a malignant witches be put to death. He also re p o rt e d
witch to be burned, the first such instance known in that in the course of church inspections, many people
Latvia (Arbusow 1910, 104). had complained to him about witches and sorc e re r s .
However, after the area came under Polish rule in the Evidence of frequent witchcraft trials can be found in
second half of the sixteenth century, witchcraft trials the re c o rds of Livland’s High Court, which show that
attained their typical form in Latvia, with an inquisito- f o rty such proceedings we re begun between 1630 and
rial pro c e d u re, examining witches, tort u re, and 1640; most of them ended with the burning of the
i r regular institution of proceedings. Much of our accused. Witchcraft trials also took place at almost
evidence comes from sources in Riga and the surround- e ve ry session of the Land Court. Often, the accused
ing area, where twe l ve sorc e rers and witches we re named her supposed associates, so the pro c e e d i n g s
burned between 1577 and 1590. Almost as many included groups of defendants. One case tried in 1646
victims we re re c o rded from the first decades of the at Riga’s Land Court invo l ved fifty accused witches
seventeenth century (Svelpis 1984, 182). (Arbusow 1910, 118).
Latvia 629 |
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In the second half of the seventeenth century, the maidservant to be flogged mercilessly for casting a spell
number of witchcraft trials in Livland fell, and the on the manor’s livestock and for keeping a “dragon” at
death penalty was seldom invoked. This resulted partly home. An 1848 issue of the newspaper Inlandexpressed
from Swedish royal decrees from 1665 and 1687 stating the opinion that witches existed and suggested that they
that the death penalty could only be applied for malig- should be stoned.
nant sorc e ry and a pact with Satan; divination, for-
PÂRSLA PÇTERSONE
tunetelling, quackery, and other superstitions we re
punishable only with fines and corporal punishments, See also:CAROLINACODE(CONSTITUTIOCRIMINALISCAROLINA);
along with public confession and putting in the stocks FOLKLORE;LYCANTHROPY;MILK;POLAND;RUSSIA;SWIMMING
during the church service. TEST;TRIALS.
After torture was forbidden in the courts of Livland References and further reading:
in 1686, the number of sorc e rers and witches fell Arbusow, Leonid. 1910. “Zauber- und Hexenwahn in den
baltischen Provinzen.” Pp. 101–126 in Rigascher Almanachfür
sharply. Courts in Livland often complained that they
1911.Riga.
could no longer force accused witches and sorcerers to
Augstkalns, Alvils. 1938. “Dapas 16. gadsimta Rîgas raganu un
confess and that the accused had to be acquitted or
burvju prâvas.” Pp. 167–197 in Tautas vçsturei. Riga: Ansis
punished for superstition with quite light, arbitrary
Gulbis.
penalties, which usually meant beating peasants with
Brastiò(cid:0)⁄, Ernests. 1963. Mûsu dievestîbu tûkst(cid:0)⁄gadîgâ apkar(cid:0)⁄ana.
ten or twenty blows from rods, followed by confession Chicago: Latvju Dievturu Draudze.
and being locked in the stocks or pillory. After 1686, Latvijas PSR Zinâtòu Akadçmijas Vçstures Institûts. 1978. Feodâlâ
Livland’s High Court imposed very few death penalties. Rîga.Riga: Zinâtne.
The last case of witch burning in Livland occurred in Samson, Hermann. 1626. Neun ausserlesen und wolgegründete
1692 and the last beheading of a witch in 1699 (Svelpis Hexen Predigt. Riga.
1984, 183). Straubergs, Kârlis. 1941. Latvie(cid:0)⁄u buramie vârdi. Riga: Latvju folk-
loras krâtuve.
By the eighteenth century, when Russia annexe d
Livland, belief in witches and sorc e ry had declined
Svelpis, Alnis. 1984. Latvie(cid:0)⁄u raganas un viòu tiesas. Pp. 180–183
in Dabas un vçstures kalendârs.Riga: Zinâtne.
s i g n i fic a n t l y. In the court re c o rds from before 1731, one
still finds a few such cases, but now the guilty we re pun-
Lausanne, Diocese of
ished only for superstition, and the most seve re penalty
(fifteenth century)
was a sentence of life imprisonment passed in 1724. In
The diocese of Lausanne, in the center of French
1731, the Senate, in order to eradicate the superstition
Switzerland, covered most of the present cantons of
of supposed sorc e rers, stated that such deceivers we re to
Vaud, Fribourg, Bern, and Neuchâtel. Together with
be burned alive, and those who requested help fro m
Dauphiné, the Valais, the Val d’Aosta, and the Bernese
witches and sorc e rers should be whipped seve rely or
Oberland (all in the western Alps), it became a center
e ven executed. Afterw a rd, trials connected with sorc e ry
for persecutions of the new heresy of witches and devil
and witches came to an end in Livland.
worshipers in the fifteenth century. Its first witchcraft
In the duchy of Courland and Semigallia, persecu-
trials took place in the 1430s, with many local witch
tion of witches, based on Article 209 of the Statute of
hunts following later in the century. Nearly fifty records
Courland and on the General German Law, continued
of fifteenth-century witchcraft trials are preserved from
unhindered throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth
the diocese of Lausanne. Many recent microanalyses
centuries. Court archives show witches being punished
and critical editions have helped clarify both the local
by burning, beheading, or banishment. Thus, for
and judicial implications of this phenomenon.
example, in the Sçlpils district alone, a total of thirt y -
Dominican inquisitors conducted these trials, using
one witchcraft trials were held at the Senior Castellan’s
inquisitorial procedure, that is, relying on denuncia-
Court between 1630 and 1720; fifteen executions took
tions and local rumor (fama) when arresting suspects,
place, the last witch being burned in 1718. At
making secret investigations, and employing torture.
Blankenfelde in Semigallia, two witches were burned as
An element specific to the fifteenth-century witchcraft
late as 1721 (Arbusow 1910, 117–119).
trials in the diocese of Lausanne is their detailed
T h e re is ve ry meager information about witchcraft
descriptions of the witches’ Sabbat, called the “syna-
trials in Latgale, the part of Latvia under direct Polish
gogue,” including secret gatherings of the sect around a
rule. Howe ve r, witchcraft trials may have been just as
demon, banquets, cannibalism of children, night flight
f requent there as elsew h e re. Poland only repealed the
on brooms or sticks, and evil ointments.
death penalty for witches in 1776, that is, after Latgale
had been annexed to Russia.
Belief in sorc e ry and witches long persisted in the Chronological Survey
popular mind, as Latvia’s rich folklore testifies. Thus, as The first well-documented witch hunt occurred in 1448
late as 1808, a noblewoman in Livland ord e red her near Ve ve y. The three trial re c o rds pre s e rved establish
630 Lausanne, Diocese of |
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that at least seven sorc e rers and witches we re con- Johannes Nider, a professor at the University of Vienna,
demned and that forty other persons we re denounced related facts of witchcraft that had taken place recently
and probably prosecuted (Os t o re ro 1995). T h i rty ye a r s in the diocese of Lausanne, that is to say, around
l a t e r, the same Riviera region of Lake Ge n e va experi- 1435–1438. Nider took most of his examples from tri-
enced a second witch craze, often involving the same als held in the diocese of Lausanne, mostly in the
families, in which at least a dozen victims we re con- Bernese territories. Unfortunately, no judicial evidence
demned to the stake (Maier 1996). Around 1460, a has been found yet (Chène 1999, 223–248). Martin Le
witch hunt affected some territories of the prince-bish- Franc, the secretary of the Savoyard antipope Felix V,
op of Lausanne, Georges de Saluces (Sa l u z zo), located in described the new crimes associated with witches in his
the eastern part of his diocese (He n n i ez, La Roche, and lengthy poem Le Champion des dames(The Defender of
Bulle). His persecution of devil worshipers formed part Ladies, 1440–1442). Although he referred to a valley in
of a larger movement of spiritual reform he initiated in Dauphiné (Valpute, Vallouise), Le Franc must also have
his diocese (Modestin 1999). known about the first witch hunts in the diocese of
The village of Do m m a rtin, north of Lausanne, Lausanne, because he was then provost of the chapter of
a p p e a red to be a nest of sorc e rers and witches. Re l a t i ve l y Lausanne. In a bull of 1440 against duke Amadeus VIII
i m p o rtant hunts happened here twice, in 1498 and of Savoy, elected by the Council of Basel as the
again around 1525—the first carried out by a antipope Felix V (1439–1449), Eugenius IV connected
Dominican inquisitor, the second by the are a’s local his rival’s pontificate with all the heresies and sorcery in
l a n d l o rds, the cathedral chapter of Lausanne. his lands. Therefore, from Vienna to Rome, the diocese
Mi c roanalyses have shown that the victims of of Lausanne (mostly a Savoyard possession), had the
Do m m a rt i n’s persecution we re mostly rich farmers, we l l dubious reputation of a land filled with devil wor-
integrated into their community but engaged in con- shipers as early as 1440.
flicts either with neighbors, with their own families ove r
inheritances, or with the local authorities. Ac c u s a t i o n s
Inquisition and Judicial Framework
of witchcraft re veal local tensions and conflicts that led
In the diocese of Lausanne, Dominican inquisitors con-
to unusually dramatic resolutions, that is, the inquisitors
ducted all trials in collaboration with the vicar of the
and the stake (Choffat 1989; Pfister 1997).
bishop of Lausanne. Their intervention began only
In the northern part of the diocese of Lausanne, the
upon request from local authorities, who were present
region of Neuchâtel experienced two witch hunts: first
in court. The local population played an important role
around 1439, then from 1480 to 1499 (Andenmatten
by denouncing suspects. Between 1450 and 1480,
and Utz Tremp 1992). In the east, around Fribourg, the
inquisitors conducted most of these trials in the castle
first witchcraft cases appeared between 1438 and 1442;
of Ouchy, in Lausanne, where suspects were brought.
it is the only situation in the diocese of Lausanne when
Their archives were conserved in this castle as the epis-
witches were judged not by the Inquisition but by local
copal Inquisition became increasingly effective.
secular authorities (Utz Tremp 1995, 42–47).
The longtime prince-bishop of Lausanne, Ge o r g e s
de Saluces (Saluzzo), began the first witch hunts in his
Contemporary Echoes of
diocese, after having done the same in the diocese of
the Witch Hunts
Aosta before moving to Lausanne. The struggle against
Apart from the judicial records, both the novelty of the
heretics was part of his program of spiritual reform. A
phenomenon and its importance in the diocese of
major regional power in the fifteenth century, he had
Lausanne were amply attested. In 1438, Aymonet
the favor of his close re l a t i ve, the Duke of Sa voy,
Maugetaz, a young man of the wine-growing village
Amadeus VIII, overlord of the Pays de Vaud.
Epesses, went “spontaneously” to the inquisitor Ulric
de Torrenté to confess that he belonged to a sect of
Devil worshipers who committed maleficia (harmful Men or Women?
magic). He told how witches stole ice from the moun- One particularity of the witchcraft phenomenon in
tains in order to make it fall on the crops as hail. This the diocese of Lausanne was the high rate of men
anecdote reappeared almost verbatim in a second ver- sentenced, amounting to 60 percent of all fif t e e n t h -
sion of the anonymous treatise Errores gazariorum c e n t u ry cases. The most frequent explanation offere d
(Errors of the Gazars or Gazarii [Cathars—a common is that in this region, the Inquisition was active l y
term for heretics and later witches]), first written pursuing Waldensians, both men and women, at the
around 1436 in the Val d’Aosta. That clue proved that beginning of this century. The image of the witch
this text, which contained one of the first descriptions and devil worshiper had been fashioned from the
of the witches’ Sabbat, was also used by inquisitors in fig u re of the heretic. For example, the persons
the diocese of Lausanne. In his Formicarius (The persecuted for witchcraft in 1448 at Ve vey we re
Anthill, 1437–1438), the Dominican theologian d e fined as “modern Waldensians here t i c s” ( h e re t i c i
Lausanne, Diocese of 631 |
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m o d e rni va l d e n s e s ) . Witchcraft implied a pact with Laws on Witchcraft (Ancient)
the Devil, making it a crime against God; there f o re , Laws against the practice of magic in the ancient world
the sorc e rer was above all a heretic. In the first phase were more numerous, specific, and punitive in Rome
of witch persecutions, this crime, like than in Greece.
Waldensianism, was often charged to men.
Greek Law
MARTINE OSTORERO Few traces remain of legislation of any kind against
magic by any Greek state. Indeed, it seems the Greeks
See also:ERRORESGAZARIORUM;BASEL,COUNCILOF;DAUPHINE;
n e ver outlawed (or defined) magic as a category,
DOMINICANORDER;EUGENIUSIV;GENDER;HERESY;
although it may have been possible to prosecute harm-
INQUISITIONMEDIEVAL;INQUISITORIALPROCEDURE;LEFRANC,
MARTIN;MALEWITCHES;MOUNTAINSANDTHEORIGINSOF ful acts of magic under more general laws. A common
WITCHCRAFT;NIDER,JOHANNES;ORIGINSOFTHEWITCH source of ambiguity in ancient law, for the ancients
HUNTS;SABBAT;SAVOY,DUCHYOF;VALAIS; VADAI(WALDEN- themselves and for modern interpreters alike, has been
SIANS)VAUD,PAYSDE;. equivocation of the Greek word pharmakon and its
References and further reading: Latin equivalent venenum between “poison,” “drug,”
Andenmatten, Bernard, and Kathrin Utz Tremp. 1992. “De and “spell.”
l’hérésie à la sorcellerie: l’inquisiteur Ulric de Torrenté OP
Shortly after 479 B.C.E., Teos in Asia Minor erected
(vers 1420–1445) et l’affermissement de l’inquisition en Suisee
an inscription known as the D i rae Te i o ru m ( Curses of
romande.” Revue d’histoire ecclésiastique suisse86: 69–119.
the Teians), which began with the imprecation “If any-
Blauert, Andreas. 1989.Frühe Hexenverfolgungen: Ketzer-,
one makes harmful spells/poisons [pharmaka dêlêtêria]
Zauberei- und Hexenprozesse des 15. Jahrhunderts.Hamburg:
against the Teian state or against individuals of it, he is
Sozialgeschichtliche Bibliothek bei Junius.
Chène, Catherine. 1999. “Johannes Nider, Formicarius (livre II, to die, himself and his family with him” (Meiggs and
chap. 4 et livreV, chaps. 3, 4 et 7).” Pp. 99–266 in L ewis 1969, no. 30). The fact that the state was
L’imaginaire du sabbat: Editions critique des textes les plus anciens contemplated as an object of possible attack guarantees
(1430–1440).”Edited by Martine Ostorero, Agostino that p h a rm a k a h e re included spells. The text generally
Paravicini Bagliani, Kathrin Utz, and Catherine Chene. resembled an early law code in style, layout, and phrase-
Lausanne: Cahiers lausannois d’historie medievale, 26. Section ology, and it may therefore have prescribed in trials. But
d’Historie, Faculte des Lettres.
the demand that the perpetrator’s family should also die
Choffat, Pierre-Han. 1989. La sorcellerie comme exutoire: Tensions
suggested rather the deterrent technique of a curse and
et conflits locaux, Dommartin 1524–1528.Cahiers lausannois
an ill-defined magical defense against an ill-defin e d
d’histoire médiévale 1. Lausanne: Section d’Histoire, Faculté
magical attack.
des Lettres.
It is sometimes speculated that one could seek redress
Maier, Eva. 1996. Trente ans avec le diable: Une deuxième chasse
aux sorciers sur la Riviera lémanique (1477–1484).Cahiers lau- against harmful magic in fifth- and fourt h - c e n t u ry
sannois d’histoire médiévale 17. Lausanne: Section d’Histoire, B.C.E. Athens through a “public prosecution for
Faculté des Lettres. d a m a g e” (dikê blabês). When, in that city, Ph i l o n e o s’s
Maier, Eva, Martine Ostorero, and Kathrin Utz Tremp. 1997. “Le concubine supposedly poisoned him accidentally in the
pouvoir de l’inquisition.” Pp. 247–258 in Les pays romands au belief that she was giving him a love potion, she was
Moyen Age.Edited by Agostino Paravicini Bagliani, Jean-Pierre charged with (and executed for) murd e r, pure and
Felber, Jean-Daniel Morerod, and Véronique Pasche. Lausanne:
simple, according to Antiphon. The circumstances of
Payot.
the condemnation and execution of the “witch” (phar-
Modestin, Georg. 1999.Le diable chez l’évêque: Chasse aux sorciers
makis)Theoris remain obscure, but the charge was one
dans le diocèse de Lausanne vers 1460.Cahiers lausannois d’his-
of impiety, as Demosthenes tells us.
toire médiévale 25. Lausanne: Section d’Histoire, Faculté des
In the first century B.C.E., the private rules of a
Lettres.
Ostorero, Martine. 1995.“Folâtrer avec les démons”: Sabbat et chas- religious cult in Philadelphia in Lydia re q u i red its
se aux sorciers à Vevey en 1448.Cahiers lausannois d’histoire members, among other things, to “swear an oath by all
médiévale 15. Lausanne: Section d’Histoire, Faculté des Lettres. the gods not to use trickery against men or women, not
Ostorero, Martine, Agostino Paravicini Bagliani, Kathrin Utz to devise or perform a wicked spell [pharmakon] against
Tremp, and Catherine Chène, eds. 1999.L’imaginaire du sab- people, nor wicked incantations [e p ô i d a i], nor a love
bat: Edition critique des textes les plus anciens (1430 c.–1440 c.). charm [philtron], nor an abortifacient, nor a contracep-
Lausanne: Cahiers lausannois d’histoire médiévale 26. Section
tive” (Dittenberger 1915–1924, no. 985).
d’Histoire, Faculté des Lettres.
Beyond this, we can only turn to the imaginary regu-
Pfister, Laurence. 1997.L’enfer sur terre: Sorcellerie à Dommartin
lations Plato composed for an ideal state in his Laws in
(1498).Cahiers lausannois d’histoire médiévale 20. Lausanne:
the fourth-century B.C.E. First he prescribed that those
Section d’Histoire, Faculté des Lettres.
found guilty of the evocation of the dead, of trying to
Utz Tremp, Kathrin. 1995. “Ist Glaubenssache Frauensache? Zu
den Anfängen der Hexenverfolgungen in Freiburg (um 1440).” bring compulsion upon the gods through sorc e ry
Freiburger Geschichtsblätter72: 9–50. (goêteia), or of trying to destroy families for money were
632 Laws on Witchcraft (Ancient) |
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to be jailed for life and deprived of contact with fre e The events of the so-called Bacchanalian conspiracy,
men; when they died, their bodies were to be cast out resulting in the Senatorial Decree on Bacchanals of 186
without burial. But then he prescribed execution for B.C.E., and the subsequent execution, supposedly, of
those found guilty of producing binding spells, charms, some 5,000 people for sorc e ry (according to Livy)
or incantations. It remains unclear whether these laws showed the Roman government for the first time link-
resembled any on the statute books of any Greek state ing magic, divination, and foreign cults and consider-
of Pl a t o’s day, but the philosopher does seem to have ing all alike to be threats to the state. Cassius Dio later
been particularly hostile to sorc e rers inasmuch as they imagines Agrippa explaining the relationship to the
were rival soul-technicians. new emperor Augustus:
It seems, however, that magic was much used in asso-
ciation with the law. Nu m e rous classical At h e n i a n You should hate and punish those who intro d u c e
“tongue-binding” curse-tablets, or defixiones, manufac- f o reign elements into our re l i g i o n... because men of
t u red against opponents in lawsuits have been discov- this sort, by importing new powers, persuade many
e red in the city’s civic center and its Ceramicus people to take up foreign customs, and from this are
C e m e t e ry. A number of pro t e c t i ve amulets for use in born conspiracies and gatherings and secret clubs,
lawsuits also survive from the wider ancient world. which are the last thing a monarchy needs. Do not
then permit people to be atheists or sorc e re r s
Roman Law [g o ê t e s]... it is proper that there should be no mages
Roman law is a more fertile area of study. The original [m a g e u t a i] whatsoeve r. For such men often incite
Roman law code of 451 B.C.E., the Twe l ve Ta b l e s , many to re volution, either by telling the truth, or, as
included laws against the singing of evil incantations m o re often, by telling lies. (Roman Hi s t o ry 5 2 . 3 6 . 1 – 2 )
(malum carm e n) and against the charming of cro p s
f rom one field into another (e xcantatio cultoru m), but Executions or expulsions from the city of individuals
we have no indication of the assigned penalties. T h e branded as “Chaldaeans,” “a s t rologers,” “s o rc e rers,” or
s p e c i fication here of “e v i l” suggests that harmless “mages,” together with burnings of their books, became
varieties of incantation we re permitted; certainly Cato f requent. Large groups we re again targeted under the
the Elder was able to publish a healing incantation in Republic in 139 B.C.E. and under the earlier empire in
his De agricultura of circa 160 B.C.E. In the fir s t - 33 B.C.E. (Augustus), 45 C.E. (Tiberius), 52 C.E.
c e n t u ry C.E., Pliny the Elder recounted an apocry p h a l ( Ne ro), and 69 C.E. (Vitellius). The emperors we re
tale about the unsuccessful prosecution of the honest p a rticularly sensitive to the conspiratorial implications
f reedman Cresimus for crop charming in his Na t u ra l of divinations made to individuals and divinations on
Hi s t o ry ( 7 7 ) . the subject of death, their own death in part i c u l a r.
The principal law against magic in the Late Republic Augustus, Tiberius, Nero, and Valens took special mea-
and after seems to have been Lucius Cornelius Sulla’s 81 sures to ban this.
B.C.E. Lex Cornelia de sicariis et ve n e fic i s (Law of Under the Christian empire (for the re l e vant laws of
Cornelius on Assassins and Poisoners/Sorcerers). Once which see the ninth book of the Theodosian Code),
again, the key Latin term is equivocal, but the later Constantine legislated in 319 C.E. against soothsaying
jurists leave us in no doubt about the law’s scope; they and magic, making special mention of magic to cre a t e
also specify that it outlawed, among other things, the e rotic attraction but excepting measures taken for heal-
selling, buying, possession, and administering of harm- ing or for agricultural weather control. In 357 C.E.,
ful drugs. It is usually believed that it was in reply to a Constantius II legislated against soothsayers, astro l o g e r s ,
p rosecution under this law that Apuleius of Ma d a u r a diviners, augurs, seers, Chaldaeans, mages, and evildoers
made his famous ironic Apology,or “defense speech,” on (m a l e fic i i) in general. The effects of Constantius’s legisla-
a capital charge at Sabratha in 158–159 C.E. Apuleius tion we re far-reaching. It resulted, Ammianus
had arrived in the North African town of Oea and per- Ma rcellinus tells us, in the execution of individuals
suaded its most desirable rich widow, Pudentilla, to m e rely for wearing amulets or for passing by graves at
marry him, to the chagrin of her family, who wished to night. Fu rther legislation followed under Va l e n t i n i a n
retain control of her money.They accordingly brought b e t ween 368 and 389 C.E. and under Honorius in 409.
him to trial, primarily on the grounds that he had used In his Ap o l o gy, Apuleius cleverly argued that there
erotic magic to seduce Pudentilla, but the case was built we re no circumstances under which a charge of magic
up with many further allegations of magical practice, should be brought: If a charge was false, it should not
such as the use of voodoo dolls and the infliction of be brought for that reason alone, but if it was tru e ,
trances upon boys for divination. A second-century then the accuser would fall victim to the magician’s
C.E. rhetorical exe rcise by Hadrian of Ty re may have terrible powe r, which was inevitably greater than that
indicated that it was usual to burn witches at the stake, of the court .
in a remarkable anticipation of more-modern ages. DANIEL OGDEN
Laws on Witchcraft (Ancient) 633 |
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See also:AMULETANDTALISMAN;APULEIUSOFMADAURA; We know similar laws from the Middle Assyrian
DEFIXIONE;DIVINATION;LOVEMAGIC;POISON;POTIONS; Empire, and one can assume that the death penalty was
ROMANLAW;SPELLS. imposed on both male and female witches throughout
References and further reading:
the ancient Middle East (Thomsen 2001, 25–26). The
Clerk, Jean-Benoît. 1995. Homines magici: Etude sur la sorcellerie
most compre h e n s i ve set of texts from the stru g g l e
et la magie dans la société romaine impériale.Berne: Lang.
against witchcraft, about 100 incantations and prayers
Collins, De rek. 2001. “Theoris of Lemnos and the Cr i m i n a l i z a t i o n
compiled during the rule of King Esarhaddon
of Magic in Fo u rt h - C e n t u ry Athens.” Classical Qu a rt e rl y5 1 :
(680–669 B.C.E.), bore a title significant for the treat-
4 7 7 – 4 9 3 .
Dittenberger,Wilhelm, ed. 1915–1924. Sylloge inscriptionum grae- ment of witches: Ma q l u , which literally means
carum.3rd ed. 4 vols. Leipzig: Hirzel. “ Burning.” The laws of the He b rews include the ru l e
Gordon, Richard L. 1999. “Imagining Greek and Roman Magic.” that witches (or poisoners) must be killed (Exo d .
Pp. 159–275 in Witchcraft and Magic in Europe: Ancient Greece 22:17), that those employing a spirit should be stoned
and Rome. Edited by Bengt Ankarloo and Stuart Clark. to death (Lev. 20:27), and generally that diviners and
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p rophets we re to be killed (Deut. 13:5). Biblical law
Graf, Fritz. 1997. Magic in the Ancient World.Cambridge, MA:
remained the most important legal source for witch-
Harvard University Press.
craft throughout the Christian history in Europe.
Hunink, Vincent, ed. 1997. Apuleius of Madauros: Pro se de magia
How much European perceptions of witchcraft were
(Apologia).2 vols. Amsterdam: Gieben.
also molded by long-standing secular law becomes per-
Kippenberg, Hans G. 1997. “Magic in Roman Civil Discourse:
fectly clear seen against the backdrop of ancient Rome.
Why Rituals Could Be Illegal.” Pp. 137–163 in Envisioning
Magic: A Princeton Seminar and Symposium.Edited by Peter From the earliest Roman law codes (ca. 450 B.C.E.) to
Schäfer and Hans G. Kippenberg. Studies in the History of late-imperial legislation, the possibility of magic was
Religions 75. Leiden: Brill. generally admitted and its misuse (m a l e fic i u m) penal-
Massoneau, Elaine. 1934. La magie dans l’antiquité romaine.Paris: ized (Luck 1990, 147–151). Witchcraft panics generat-
Recueil Sirey. ed a rising awareness in Roman law, starting with the
Meiggs, Russel, and David Lewis. 1969. A Selection of Greek Lex Cornelia de sicariis et veneficiis (Law of Cornelius on
Historical Inscriptions.Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Assassins and Po i s o n e r s / So rc e rers), promulgated by
Ogden, Daniel. 2002. Magic, Witchcraft and Ghosts in the Graeco-
Lucius Cornelius Sulla (138–178 B.C.E.), one of the
Roman World.NewYork: Oxford University Press.
most important sources of European laws on witchcraft
Pharr, Clyde. 1932. “The Interdiction of Magic in Roman Law.”
in the late medieval and early modern periods (Ferrary
Transactions of the American Philological Association63:
1991, 417–434).
269–295.
Phillips, C. R., III. 1991. “Nullum crimen sine lege:Socioreligious According to a decree of Emperor Diocletian (ruled
Sanctions on Magic.” Pp. 260–276 in Magika Hiera: Ancient 284–305 C.E.), harmful sorc e rers we re to be burned
Greek Magic and Religion.Edited by Christopher A. Faraone alive, but those who practiced beneficial magic were to
and Dirk Obbink. NewYork: Oxford University Press. remain unpunished. By the later fourth century, the
Xella, Paola, ed. 1976. Magia: Studi di storia delle religioni in equating of ve n e ficium (poisoning), m a l e fic i u m ( h a r m-
memoria di Rafaella Garosi.Rome: Bulzoni. ful magic), and divination paved the way for collective
actions against evildoers in the Roman Empire. In book
Laws on Witchcraft 16, chapter 8, Ammianus Ma rcellinus (330–ca. 395
(Early Modern) C.E.) in his Roman Hi s t o ry re p o rted a sorc e ry scare
Although it has recently been claimed that laws on f rom the reign of Em p e ror Constantius II (ru l e d
witchcraft constituted a “judicial re vo l u t i o n” in the 337–361 C.E.) during a period of famines and diseases:
early modern period (Ankarloo 2002, 63–64 ), this is “If anyone consulted a soothsayer . . . , or if he used an
clearly not the case. Witchcraft can be considered one old wives’ charm to relieve pain . . . , he was denounced
of the oldest crimes in the history of mankind, going t h rough some agency which he could not guess,
as far back in history as we can see. From the earliest brought to trial, and punished with death” (The Later
s u rviving law code (1792–1750 B.C.E.) of ancient Roman Empire, book 16, chapter 8).
Mesopotamia, literate societies with codified law have C o n t r a ry to the Gre c o - Roman distinction betwe e n
s e ve rely punished sorc e ry or witchcraft. The Code of bad and good magic or between black and white magic,
Hammurabi imposed a river ordeal (swimming test) if Christians questioned the efficacy of all magic, but they
such charges could not be proved by means of wit- considered any kind of sorcery as diabolical. During the
nesses. This offered an effective remedy against too era of Emperor Constantius II, magicians were labeled
f requent accusations: Ac c o rding to the principle of “enemies of mankind” (humani generis inimici), and the
talion, the accuser had to face the punishment the death penalty was imposed for black and white magic
accused would have suffered if the ordeal failed to alike in a series of laws from 357 (Lex Nemo; Lex Multi)
p rove the suspect’s guilt. In cases of witchcraft, this and 358 (Fögen 1997, 223–232). This paradigm shift
was the death penalty. soon had other consequences. When the synod of
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Zaragoza (380) condemned the scholar Priscillian as a their clergy and should make clear that these fli g h t s
heretic, he was also subjected to an imperial investiga- we re not real, but only dreams and devilish illusions.
tion. Found guilty of magical practices, he and six fol- The canon became part of the Corpus Juris Ca n o n i c i ,
lowers were sentenced to death formaleficium.The first the Church law of Latin Christendom, and prove d
convicted Christian heretic was thus actually punished i n fluential during the following centuries. The harsh
for magic and, against the protest of several bishops, implications of Mosaic law (Exod. 22:17: “Thou shalt
executed in 385. The consequences can also be seen in not suffer a witch to live”) we re re i n t e r p reted by such
such late Roman codes as the C o d e x T h e o d o s i a n us of C a rolingian theologians as Archbishop Rabanus
Theodosius I (ruled 379–395), or the Codex Justinianus Maurus of Mainz, who suggested as punishment mere
of Justinian I (ruled 527–565). With the reception of e xclusion from the community instead of physical
Roman law in medieval Europe, these imperial decrees extinction (Haustein 1990, 69). The idea that “the offi-
had a lasting legacy.Their impact was increased by the cial church stance re g a rding magic shifted from a
semiotic theory of magic developed by St. Au g u s t i n e demonic association with paganism to a demonic asso-
(Harmening 1979, 303–308). ciation with heresy” (Jolly 2002, 21) seems compelling.
Early medieval penal codes imposed severe penalties Of course, medieval reality was more complex.
for witchcraft, for example,the Salic law, “if a striashall Harmful magic was considered devilish: Ac c o rding to
d e vour a man and it shall be proved against her . . . ” St. Augustine, it implied a demonic pact, and according
( Hansen 1900, 58–59). Legislation remained contra- to Roman law, it deserved the death penalty. Both tra-
d i c t o ry, howe ver; Frankish, Lombard, and Alemannic ditions influenced the development of Eu ropean law.
laws all treated the subject differe n t l y. Alemannic law, For instance, the laws of Alfred the Great of We s s e x
compiled around 600 C.E., forbade burning s t r i g a e (ruled 871–899) clearly used the same biblical reference
(witches), which probably indicated that this was the as had Rabanus Maurus to impose the death penalty on
c u s t o m a ry pro c e d u re. Likewise, the Lombard king women who frequented sorc e rers or magicians: He re ,
Rothari decreed in 643 that Christians must not believe witchcraft was considered real. Nor does it sound like
that women devour a human being (“ut mulier “s k e p t i c i s m” when the Carolingian king Charles II
hominem vivum intrinsecus possit comedere”) and decreed in 873 that witches—men and women alike—
t h e re f o re supposed s t r i g a e must neither be killed nor had caused illness and death in different parts of his
convicted in court. A capitulary of Charlemagne (ruled realm and should there f o re be put to death, together
768–814) for the Sa xons in 787 imposed the death with their accomplices and supporters. Killing witches
penalty on and burned those who, like pagans, believed was obviously practiced among Germanic peoples. The
that someone could be a s t r i g a who devours humans. laws of the Franks, Os t rogoths, and Visigoths re j e c t e d
Around 800, an Irish synod likewise condemned belief only the belief in strigae, rarely questioning the danger
in witches, and particularly those who slandered people of harmful magic. “Carolingian skepticism” notwith-
for being l a m i a e (witches; “que interpretatur striga”) . standing, Charlemagne was quite clear about the pun-
C l e a r l y, there was an increase in official skepticism ishment of m a l e fic i u m . In his Admonitio Ge n e ra l i s
during the Carolingian period, even allowing for an ( General Warning) of 789, the future empero r, com-
increase in surviving sources. menting on several papal decrees from Hadrian I (ruled
The most important text on the subject was the 772–795), decreed that sorcerers and witches (maleficii,
CanonEpiscopi,officially attributed to a fourth-century i n c a n t a t o res, and i n c a n t a t r i c e s) must not be tolerated,
C h u rch council but in fact formulated and perhaps explicitly referring to Mosaic law; in later versions of
c o n c e i ved by Abbot Regino of Prüm in an early this list, tempestarii (witches who raise storms) we re
tenth-century penitentiary, which admonished bishops added (Hansen 1900, 63–64).
(episcopi) to proceed against sorcerers in their dioceses. In Frankish and Anglo-Sa xon law, harmful magic
It was later adopted by the most important contempo- was frequently placed together with murd e r, which
rary authorities, first by Bishop Burchard of Worms and makes perfect sense if we consider present-day African
then, around 1140, by Gratian of Bologna. Re g i n o’s ideas about witchcraft. Ac c o rding to the Lex Sa l i c a
canon was important not only for its rejection of the (Salic Law), those who could not pay for their magical
efficacy of sorcery but also for its denial of certain witch crimes should be burned (“c e rte ignem tra d a t u r” )
beliefs. After an introductory paragraph about the need ( Hansen 1900, 55–56). Nu m e rous decrees from the
to fight against sorc e rers, male as well as female, later Carolingian period implied the death penalty for
suggesting lenient sentences, Regino inserted a long harmful sorc e ry. Such sorc e rers we re liable to suffer
paragraph about women who believed that they capital punishment under Norman rule in En g l a n d
experienced nocturnal flights with the pagan goddess ( Ewen 1933, 26), as well as in Si c i l y. The Ve n e t i a n
Diana. He condemned believers in such fantastical tales Republic issued draconian laws against m a l e fic i u m i n
for implicitly accepting a supernatural power riva l i n g 1181, as did many Italian towns in the thirt e e n t h
God. Bishops should fight against these beliefs through century. Medieval German law codes imposed burning
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at the stake as the customary penalty for harmful mag- all kinds of real or false information, and mere fantasy or
ic. The S c h w a b e n s p i e g e l ( Swabian Legal Mi r ror; ca. p rojection led to the idea that dissidents belonged to a
1240), one of the most influential medieval compila- devilish sect and worshipped the De v i l .
tions of imperial law, suggested that sorc e ry implied Harmful magic and heresy were first fused into a new
apostasy and a pact with the Devil (Hansen 1900, 387). c u m u l a t i ve crime of witchcraft in Sa voy under Du k e
The author, probably a jurist close to the Franciscans at Amadeus VIII (ruled 1416–1451). This new state dom-
Augsburg, merely combined secular law with Christian inated the eastern Alps. When Duke Amadeus felt
t h e o l o g y. Demonic witchcraft was no new inve n t i o n b ewitched, the persecution of Jews, Waldensians, and
but re q u i red only basic knowledge of theology. In a witches gained momentum. It was in Sa voy that the
famous legal opinion of 1398, Jean Gerson and the fusion of heresy, anti-Judaism, and sorcery took place,
University of Paris came to exactly the same conclusion and the new cumulative crime of witchcraft was born.
(Hansen 1900, 283–284). Amadeus V I I I ’s ambitious law code of 1430, the
The decisive step toward mass persecutions of witch- St a t u t a Sa b a u d i e ( Statutes of Sa voy), emphasized the
es in Europe was the construction of a cumulative con- crime of sorcery, although still in traditional language.
cept of witchcraft during the late fourteenth and early Ten years later, witchcraft surfaced in a much more
fifteenth centuries, when the first large-scale witch p rominent form when Pope Eugenius IV (ru l e d
hunts and major persecutions we re launched in some 1431–1447) mentioned in a decree that Savoy bristled
Alpine valleys. Only around 1400 were different aspects with “s t regule vel stregones seu Wa u d e n s e s”—female and
of witchcraft and heresy assembled into the specific male witches, or Waldensians (Hansen 1900, 18–19).
Eu ropean concept of witchcraft, which allowed witch In Sa voy, trials of sorc e ry fueled heresy trials and
hunts of previously unprecedented seve r i t y. Ha r m f u l e ve n t u a l l y, by the late 1420s, produced large-scale
magic combined with the pact with the Devil to form witch hunts. The persecution in neighboring Dauphiné
the core of the new cumulative crime, the first aspect n e ver reached this massive level but was characterize d
crucial for secular law, the second for its qualification as by a steady flow of “small panic” trials. One explanation
a heresy. Around these crystallized a group of what were for this contrast could be the different judicial system.
even by medieval perceptions exotic accusations: apos- In Dauphiné, subject to France since 1349, only secular
t a s y, flying through the air to nocturnal gatherings at courts were responsible for witchcraft trials, with judges
remote places, the witches’ dance, sexual interc o u r s e referring mainly to secular law, to French jurists, or to
with demons, and adoration of the Devil. Roman law. T h e re f o re, they ignored both witches’
In legal practice, accusations of nocturnal fli g h t s flight and synagogues or Sabbats, which were still con-
turned out to be the most destructive, because suspects sidered to be devilish illusions. Several late medieval ter-
were asked to name their accomplices, whom they sup- ritories accepted the services of papal inquisitors, but,
posedly met at these gatherings. Combined with the with a few exceptions, they generally observed existing
use of tort u re, such questions could generate chain or customary laws on witchcraft. When Tyrol, an inde-
reactions, resulting in massive witch hunts, reminiscent pendent duchy of the Holy Roman Em p i re, suffere d
of similar events in Roman antiquity. In q u i s i t o r i a l Heinrich Kramer’s attempt to launch a major witch
procedure was a legacy of Roman law that had survived hunt in 1485, both government and parliament we re
within the Latin Church; first re v i ved for disciplining e x t remely reluctant to accept indictments for witch-
the higher clergy, it was later applied in heresy trials. At craft. “Wi t c h c r a f t” was in fact never mentioned in its
the Fo u rth Lateran Council (1215), the Ro m a n law codes, and when “s o rc e ry” was first mentioned in
Church accepted torture in trials run by inquisitors in the Ti ro l e r L a n d e s o rd n u n g (Ty rol government re g u l a-
order to obtain confessions from suspects, while forbid- tion) of 1544, it was classified as a form of fraud.
ding archaic rituals like ordeals by hot iron or cold L i k ewise, the imperial city of Nu remberg defin e d
water (the swimming test). Although subsequently ille- witchcraft as fraud as late as 1536.
gal, ordeals we re neve rtheless practiced in lynchings Spanish and German traditions merged in the
t h roughout northern and eastern Eu rope and we re legislation of the Holy Roman Em p e ror Charles V
occasionally even commissioned by lower courts. ( ruled 1519–1556), the leading ruler of his age. Hi s
Because legal tort u re aimed to achieve material tru t h criminal law of 1532, promulgated as C o n s t i t u t i o
rationally rather than through mystical intervention, as Criminalis Ca rolina (the Carolina Code), had been
in ordeals, it was initially considered an improvement to negotiated long before among the imperial estates. This
legal pro c e d u re. We must keep in mind that the mean- code, which remained virtually unchanged until the
ing of legal tort u re differed decisively from modern Holy Roman Em p i re collapsed in 1806, completely
p e rceptions. Although tort u re had been meant to i g n o red the cumulative crime of witchcraft as defin e d
replace ordeals, in practice judges sometimes used by the Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of Witches,
unlimited tort u re as if it we re an ordeal, particularly in 1486). It contained a paragraph against harmful magic
h e resy trials. A blend of physical coercion, systematizing ( p a r. 109), the treatment of which was re g u l a t e d
636 Laws on Witchcraft (Early Modern) |
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