Man as Witch
Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic Series Editors: Jonathan Barry, Willem de Blécourt and Owen Davies Titles include: Edward Bever THE REALITIES OF WITCHCRAFT AND POPULAR MAGIC IN EARLY MODERN EUROPE Culture, Cognition and Everyday Life Julian Goodare, Lauren Martin and Joyce Miller WITCHCRAFT AND BELIEF IN EARLY MODERN SCOTLAND Jonathan Roper (editor) CHARMS, CHARMERS AND CHARMING Rolf Schulte MAN AS WITCH Male Witches in Central Europe Forthcoming: Johannes Dillinger MAGICAL TREASURE HUNTING IN EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA A History Soili-Maria Olli TALKING TO DEVILS AND ANGELS IN SCANDINAVIA, 1500 1800 Alison Rowlands WITCHCRAFT AND MASCULINITIES IN EARLY MODERN EUROPE Laura Stokes THE DEMONS OF URBAN REFORM The Rise of Witchcraft Prosecution, 1430 1530 Wanda Wyporska WITCHCRAFT IN EARLY MODERN POLAND, 1500 1800 Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic Series Standing Order ISBN 978 1403 99566 7 Hardback Series Standing Order ISBN 978 1403 99567 4 Paperback (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and one of the ISBNs quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England.
Man as Witch Male Witches in Central Europe Rolf Schulte Historian, University of Kiel, Germany Translated by Linda Froome-Döring
Rolf Schulte 2009 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2009 978-0-230-53702-6 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2009 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin's Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-35875-5 ISBN 978-0-230-24074-2 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230240742 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Schulte, Rolf, 1950 Man as witch: male witches in Central Europe / Rolf Schulte; translated by Linda Froome-Döring. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. 1. Witchcraft Holy Roman Empire. 2. Warlocks Holy Roman Empire. 3. Werewolves Holy Roman Empire. I. Title. BF1571.5.M45S35 2009 133.4 30810943 dc22 2008052860 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09
Contents List of Illustrations List of Tables, Figures and Map Series Foreword Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations vi vii ix x xi 1. The Trial of Peter Kleikamp or So Many Questions 1 2. The Persecution of Men as Werewolves in Burgundy 8 3. Male Witches on Trial: An Empirical Approach 36 4. Witch-hunts and the Male Witch: A Chronology 74 5. Men as Potential Witches in Demonological Treatises 92 6. Magic and Gender in Popular Culture 160 7. The Persecution of Male Witches in Holstein 174 8. Carinthia. Wanted: Beggar, Male 218 9. Male Witches, Feminized Men or Shamans? 246 10. The Power of the Witch Folk and the Rulers 257 Notes 263 Selected Bibliography 305 Index 321 v
List of Illustrations 2.1 A wolf, or perhaps a werewolf, attacks. Woodcut, Johann Geiler, De Emeis, 1516 28 3.1 Torturing an accused man. Copper engraving, Hermann Löher, Most Melancholy Complaint, Amsterdam 1676 from Alte Bibliothek, St. Michael s Grammar School, Bad Münstereifel 38 3.2 The Pappenheimer family at the stake. Drawing 1600, Stadtmuseum Munich, Grafiksammlung M I/532 53 3.3 Execution of Simon Altseer. Leaflet 1666, Stadtmuseum Munich, Grafiksammlung M I/320 54 3.4 Pronouncement of the death sentence on a male witch. Copper engraving, Löher, My Melancholy Complaint, 1676 59 3.5 Men in Finland or Lapland selling wind to mariners. Woodcut, Olaus Magnus, Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus, 1555 69 5.1 The Devil baptizes a male witch. Woodcut, Guazzo, Compendium Maleficarum, 1626 97 5.2 Male and female witches Sabbat. Woodcut, Guazzo, Compendium Maleficarum, 1626 122 5.3 Male and female witches dance. Woodcut, Guazzo, Compendium Maleficarum, 1626 133 7.1 Confession of the blacksmith Peter Goldbeck. Records of 1652, Landesarchiv Schleswig-Holstein 7/1758 197 7.2 A male witch signing the Devil s pact. Leaflet 1666, Stadtmuseum Munich, Grafiksammlung M I/320 206 8.1 A male witch in action. Leaflet 1666, Stadtmuseum Munich, Grafiksammlung M I/352 231 8.2 Execution of the parson Ruprecht Ramsauer 1575. Coloured drawing, collection of Johann Jacob Wick, Zentralbibliothek Zurich, Ms. F 24, 56 237 8.3 Male witches on the way to the stake. Drawing 1600, Stadtmuseum Munich, Grafiksammlung M I/532 243 9.1 A male witch invoking the Devil. Leaflet 1666, Stadtmuseum Munich, Grafiksammlung M I/320 248 9.2 Torture of Holger Lirtz. Copper engraving, Löher, My Melancholy Complaint, 1676 253 vi
List of Tables, Figures and Map Tables 3.1 Witch-hunts in the south-west: distribution men and women, 1530 1730 51 3.2 Witch persecution in the Holy Roman Empire: proportion of male witches, 1530 1730 65 3.3 Persecution of male witches and religious denomination (figures show proportion of men persecuted as a % of total persecutions) 67 3.4 Europe: witch persecution men and women 71 4.1 Proportion of male witches among the total number of people persecuted in the 16th and 17th centuries 75 Figures 2.1 Witchcraft trials with/without werewolf charges: Franche-Comté, 1520 1669 (%) 32 3.1 Finland, Karelia: witchcraft persecutions numbers of accused, 1624 98 70 4.1 Percentage of men in witchcraft trials: Würzburg, 1627 29 (group size proportion of men) 77 4.2 Westphalia: witchcraft persecutions by sex 1570 1699 81 4.3 Westphalia: witchcraft persecutions by sex proportion of men and women, 1570 1699 (%) 81 4.4 Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg: witchcraft persecutions by sex nos of men and women, 1612 1630 82 4.5 Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg: witchcraft persecutions by sex proportion of men and women, 1612 1630 (%) 82 4.6 Franche-Comté: witchcraft persecutions by sex nos of men and women, 1550 1669 83 4.7 Franche-Comté: witchcraft persecutions by sex proportion of men and women, 1550 1669 (%) 83 4.8 Lower/Upper Austria: witchcraft persecutions by sex nos of men and women, 1540 1769 84 4.9 Upper/Lower Austria: witchcraft persecutions by sex proportion of men and women, 1560 1729 (%) 84 vii
viii Tables, Figures and Map 4.10 County of Büdingen: witchcraft persecutions by sex nos of men and women, 1560 1679 86 4.11 County of Büdingen: witchcraft persecutions by sex proportion of men and women, 1560 1679 (%) 86 4.12 County of Schaumburg: proportion of men and women, 1550 1660 (%) 87 4.13 Bishopric of Osnabrück: witchcraft persecutions nos of men and women, 1530 1639 88 4.14 Bishopric of Osnabrück: witchcraft persecutions proportion of men and women, 1540 1629 (%) 88 4.15 Duchy of Holstein and Saxony-Lauenburg: witchcraft persecutions nos of men and women, 1530 1730 89 4.16 Duchy of Holstein and Saxony-Lauenburg: witchcraft persecutions proportions of men and women, 1540 1690 (%) 89 6.1 Proportions of people suspected of magic Schleswig and Holstein: men and women, 1580 1750 169 6.2 Schleswig and Holstein: accusations of magic in slander cases proportion of men and women, 1580 1750 169 6.3 Schleswig and Holstein: accusations of magic in slander cases % of men and women, 1580 1750 170 6.4 Schleswig and Holstein: classification of harmful magic in slander cases % of men and women, 1530 1780 172 8.1 Duchy of Carinthia: witchcraft persecutions numbers of men and women, 1540 1729 224 8.2 Duchy of Carinthia: witchcraft persecutions by sex % of men and women, 1540 172 225 Map 1 The Holy Roman Empire (1648) 43
Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic Series Foreword The history of European witchcraft and magic continues to fascinate and challenge students and scholars. There is certainly no shortage of books on the subject. Several general surveys of the witch trials and numerous regional and micro studies have been published for an English-speaking readership. While the quality of publications on witchcraft has been high, some regions and topics have received less attention over the years. The aim of this series is to help illuminate these lesser known or little studied aspects of the history of witchcraft and magic. It will also encourage the development of a broader corpus of work in other related areas of magic and the supernatural, such as angels, devils, spirits, ghosts, folk healing and divination. To help further our understanding and interest in this wider history of beliefs and practices, the series will include research that looks beyond the usual focus on Western Europe and that also explores their relevance and influence from the medieval to the modern period. ix
Acknowledgements The list of people I would like to thank for their help and advice is long. I am particularly grateful to Wolfgang Behringer (University of Saarbrücken), Heide Dienst (University of Vienna), Katrin Möller (University of Halle) and Olaf Mörke (University of Kiel) for their helpful suggestions. My thanks also go to Linda Froome-Döring for the care she took with the translation. But my greatest debt is to my wife, Christine, for her support and patience. x
List of Abbreviations AR AP ADD ADH AHL CCC HSA EOW ER KLA KA LAS Lg Sg StA Administrative accounts (Amtsrechnung) Administrative records (Amtsprotokoll) Archives du département Doubs/Besançon/France Archives du département Haute Saône/Vesoul/France Archiv der Hansestadt Lübeck/Germany Constitutio Criminalis Carolina (Caroline Code) Hamburger Staatsarchiv/Germany Encyclopedia of Witchcraft (see selected bibliography) Expert report Archiv des Landes Kärnten/Klagenfurt in Carinthia, Austria Church archives (Kirchenarchiv) Archiv des Landes Schleswig-Holstein/Schleswig/Germany Regional court (Landgericht) Town or city court (Stadtgericht) Town or city archives (Stadtarchiv) xi
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