When the last witch was burned. Why were witches burned? The story of the most brutal execution of the Middle Ages. Witch burning at the stake in Western Europe

WITCH-HUNT

The 16th and 17th centuries were a time of persecution of witches. In Germany, their trials began relatively later than in other countries, but in terms of the number of executed witches, it surpassed everyone else.

In almost every region of Germany, especially in those where Catholic influence predominated, the persecutors of witches literally went on a rampage.

In Elbing in 1590, 65 trials took place over eight months. In Brunswick during 1590-1600 there were days when 10-12 witches were burned per day.

The magistrate of the city of Neisse built a special furnace for burning witches, in which 22 women were burned in 1651; In the entire principality of Neisse, more than a thousand witches were burned over the course of nine years, including children aged from two to four years.

The free imperial city of Lindheim in 1631-1633, 1650-1653 and 1661 was notable for particularly brutal persecution of witches. Suspects were thrown into pits, “witch towers,” and, with no defense allowed, were tortured until they confessed.

Burning witches at the stake. Medieval miniature

In the Bishopric of Trier from 1587 to 1593, during the bishopric of John, 368 people were burned in 22 villages adjacent to Trier. In 1585, after one big trial in two villages, only two people survived.

The city of Legamo has acquired the name “nest of witches” due to the abundance of trials against witches.

In the Bishopric of Bamberg, from 1625 to 1630, more than 900 people were burned.

One work, published in 1659, says the following about the spread of witchcraft in the country: “Among the condemned were Chancellor Doctor Horn, his son, wife and daughters, also many noble gentlemen and some members of the Council, and even many persons who sat with the bishop for one meal. They all confessed that there were more than 1200 of them, connected among themselves by serving the devil, and that if their witchcraft and devilish art had not been discovered, they would have caused all the grain and all the wine to perish in the whole country within four years, so that people would eat each other out of hunger. Others confessed that they produced such violent storms that trees were uprooted and large buildings collapsed, and that they wanted to create even stronger storms to bring down the Bamberg Tower, etc. Among the witches were girls seven, eight, nine and ten years old; 22 girls were convicted and executed, cursing their mothers who taught them the devil's art. Witchcraft developed to such an extent that children on the street and in schools taught each other to cast magic.”

The processes took place surprisingly quickly, the legal proceedings were simplified as much as possible. The defendants were interrogated in groups of 8-10 people together, and their confessions were recorded in one protocol, and for the sake of brevity they were called not by name, but by numbers: No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 - and 8-10 people were burned at the same fire.

In the Bishopric of Würzburg many persons were subjected to the same persecution. From 1627 to 1629, more than 200 people were burned of different ages on charges of witchcraft. Among those executed were: the chancellor with his wife and daughters, a member of the City Council, the fattest citizen of Würzburg, two pages, the most beautiful girl in Würzburg, a student who spoke many languages and, moreover, was an excellent musician, a hospital director, two sons and a daughter, as well as his wife city councilor, three church regents, 14 clergy, one doctor of theology, one fat noblewoman, one blind girl, a girl of nine years old, her younger sister, their mother, etc.

In the Archbishopric of Cologne, from the second half of the 16th century, the persecution of witches penetrated all levels of society.

Especially many people were burned in Bonn. In one private letter we read: “We (in Bonn) have a strong burning sensation. There is no doubt that half the city will fall victim. Professors, candidates of law, pastors, canons, vicars and other clergy have already been burned here. The chancellor and his wife and the wife of the secret secretary were executed; on September 7, they burned a 19-year-old girl, the bishop’s favorite, who was considered the most beautiful, the most well-behaved in the whole city. Girls between three and four years old are already in contact with the devil. Many boys as young as nine years old were burned here.”

In April 1663, Agnes, the wife of Hans Gensche, a weaver, was arrested on suspicion of witchcraft and taken to Eslijgen. Once she was somewhere at a christening, a black cat suddenly jumped up on the table, and the woman, one of all the guests, was not afraid and even drank from her glass, into which the cat stuck her paw.

Under torture, Frau Gensche confessed that she had something to do with the elements of witchcraft attributed to her, thus hoping to see her husband and children as soon as possible. Then she renounced her words, endured all the highest levels of torture and was released on the condition that she would leave the country forever.

In Alsace, the fires of the Inquisition began to smoke in 1570. During the years 1572-1620, 136 witches were burned, but this was only the beginning of the mass persecution that followed after 1620.

During the years 1620-1635, 5,000 people died in the Strasbourg district alone.

Austria at the end of the 17th century was overflowing with witches.

In the archives of the city of Aisburg, protocols on cases of witchcraft have been preserved. Here is one of them: “On April 15, 1661, Anna surrendered body and soul to the devil, who appeared to her in the form of a man; on his orders, she denied the Holy Trinity, blasphemed and desecrated the Holy Sacrament; With the help of witchcraft, she killed a child and with the same means caused damage to another. For such grave and heinous crimes, it is decreed that she should be placed on a cart and taken to the place of execution to be burned at the stake, both shoulders first being cauterized with red-hot tongs, once each shoulder. But since she repented, it was decided to show her mercy and cut off her head with a sword and then burn her body - this is the sentence; given her poor health and advanced age, was even more mitigated, namely: she was freed from cauterization with red-hot forceps.”

In Salzburg in 1678, 97 people were burned.

In 1583, a 16-year-old girl suffering from convulsions was found to be possessed by a demon and handed over to the Jesuits for exorcism. The Holy Fathers energetically set to work, but the fight against the devil turned out to be very difficult. Finally, they overcame the tricks of the devil, and they managed to expel 12,655 little devils from the girl’s body. After this, her old, 70-year-old grandmother Elizaveta Plenakherin was tortured, who confessed that she had been in touch with the devil for many years and had been going to the Sabbath. She was convicted and dragged to the place of execution, tied with ropes to the tail of a horse, and burned alive.

In Vienna in 1601, two witches were convicted, one of whom committed suicide in prison, and the other died during torture. The latter's corpse was caulked in a barrel and thrown into the Danube, "so that she would be removed from the population of Vienna."

In Hungary in 1615, a huge number of witches died due to the assumption that they intended to cause strong hail and destroy crops with diabolical art. The chronicles tell the following about this incident: “One 12-year-old girl, walking with her father and listening to his complaints about the drought, told him that if he wanted, she could make it rain and hail. When he asked her who taught her this, she pointed to her mother.

At this time, a terrible thunderstorm with hail actually broke out. The father reported this, after which the mother and daughter were arrested and tortured. They confessed to their crime and incriminated many others who were also brought into the investigation.”

In France, during the reign of Henry IV, witches were mainly accused of werewolves.

One of the Jesuits of that time wrote in 1594: “Our prisons are overcrowded with witches and sorcerers. Not a day passes that our judges do not stain their hands with their blood, and that we, returning home, do not shudder with sad thoughts of the terrible, disgusting things that these witches confess to. But the devil is so skillful that we don't do enough a large number of send witches to the stake, as new witches arise from their ashes.”

In 1609, a commission was appointed to prosecute witches in the Basque country. In a short time, 600 people were burned there.

In Toulouse there were days when 400 witches a day were burned at the stake. The Inquisition raged throughout the south of France. De Lancre came up with the idea that the spread of witchcraft near Bordeaux was connected with big amount orchards, since “it is very well known that the devil has a special power over apples.”

In Spain, the persecution of witches lasted longer than in all other European countries. In 1527, based on the slander of two girls, nine and eleven years old, a huge number of witches were convicted, who were convicted of witchcraft thanks to a special sign seen by the inquisitors in their left eye. Back in 1810, on November 7 and 8, 11 people were burned.

In Sweden, a terrible process is known that took place in a small village in 1669, as a result of which a lot of children died. The process began due to the fact that many children in that area experienced strange convulsions, accompanied by fainting. During these attacks, the children said that they often fly with witches to the Sabbath and there Satan beats them, which is why this disease happened to them.

At the request of residents, the government appointed a special commission to investigate the matter. The commission interrogated about 300 children, who told monstrous details about the flights to the Sabbaths and the orgies that took place there. According to the children, Satan often beat the children at the Sabbaths, but sometimes, on the contrary, he was very kind to them, played the harp, loved the witches to look after him in every possible way during his illness and let him bleed. And once he even died for a short time.

The commission arrested many women who, under torture, confessed to all crimes. Of these, 84 women were sentenced to death, and along with them 15 children, the remaining children were subjected to various punishments, 56 of them received lashes.

The verdict was announced publicly, and the members of the commission, after executing the accused, returned home, showered with gratitude from the population. In the church for a long time after this, prayers were offered for the protection of the country from the devil in the future.

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The call to “Burn the Witch” used to be often heard in relation to young and beautiful women. Why did people prefer this method of execution for sorcerers? Let's consider how cruel and strong the persecution of witches was in different eras and in different countries peace.

In the article:

Medieval witch hunt

Inquisitors or witch hunters preferred to burn the witch because they were sure that people who practiced magic had concluded. Witches were sometimes hanged, beheaded, or drowned, but acquittals in witch trials were not uncommon.

The persecution of witches and sorcerers reached particular proportions in Western Europe in the 15th-17th centuries. The hunt for witches took place in Catholic countries. People with unusual abilities were persecuted before the 15th century, for example, during the Roman Empire and in the era of Ancient Mesopotamia.

Despite the abolition of the law on executions for witchcraft, in the history of Europe there were periodic incidents with the execution of witches and fortune-tellers (until the 19th century). The period of active persecution “for witchcraft” dates back about 300 years. According to historians, the total number of executed people is 40–50 thousand people, and the number of trials of those accused of conspiring with the Devil and witchcraft is about 100 thousand.

Witch burning at the stake in Western Europe

In 1494, the Pope issued a bull (a medieval document) aimed at combating witches. Convinced him to make a decree Heinrich Kramer, better known as Heinrich Institoris- an inquisitor who claimed to have sent several hundred witches to the stake. Henry became the author of "The Witches' Hammer" - a book that told and fought with the witch. The Witches' Hammer was not used by the Inquisitors and was banned by the Catholic Church in 1490.

The Pope's bull became the main reason for the centuries-long hunt for people with magical gifts in Christian countries of Europe. According to statistics from historians, the most people were executed for witchcraft and heresy in Germany, France, Scotland and Switzerland. The least hysteria associated with the danger of witches to society affected England, Italy and, despite the abundance of legends about Spanish inquisitors and instruments of torture, Spain.

Trials of magicians and other “accomplices of the Devil” became a widespread phenomenon in countries affected by the Reformation. In some Protestant countries, new laws appeared - more severe than Catholic ones. For example, a ban on reviewing cases of witchcraft. Thus, in Quedlinburg in the 16th century, 133 witches were burned in one day. In Silesia (now the territories of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic), a special oven for burning witches was erected in the 17th century. Over the course of a year, the device was used to execute 41 people, including children under five years of age.

Catholics were not too far behind Protestants. Letters from a priest from a German town addressed to Count von Salm have been preserved. The sheets date back to the 17th century. Description of the situation in his hometown in the midst of a witch hunt:

It seems that half the city is involved: professors, students, pastors, canons, vicars and monks have already been arrested and burned... The chancellor with his wife and his wife personal secretary captured and executed. At Christmas Holy Mother of God They executed a pupil of the prince-bishop, a nineteen-year-old girl, known for her piety and piety... Three-four-year-old children were declared lovers of the Devil. Students and boys of noble birth aged 9–14 were burned. In conclusion, I will say that things are in such a terrible state that no one knows who to talk to and cooperate with.

The Thirty Years' War became good example mass persecution of witches and accomplices of evil spirits. The warring parties accused each other of using witchcraft and powers given by the Devil. This is the most major war on religious grounds in Europe, and, judging by statistics, right up to our time.

Witch Searches and Burnings - Background

Witch hunts continue to be studied by modern historians. It is known why the Pope's witch bull and the ideas of Henry Institoris were approved by the people. There were prerequisites for the hunt for sorcerers and the burning of witches.

At the end of the 16th century, the number of trials and people sentenced to death by burning at the stake increased sharply. Scientists note other events: economic crisis, famine, social tension. Life was difficult - plague epidemics, wars, long-term climate deterioration and crop failure. There was a price revolution that temporarily lowered the standard of living of most people.

The real reasons for the events: an increase in the population in populated areas, climate deterioration, epidemics. The latter is easy to explain from a scientific point of view, but medieval medicine could neither cope with the disease nor find the cause of the disease. The medicine was invented only in the 20th century, and the only measure protecting against the plague was quarantine.

If today a person has sufficient knowledge to understand the causes of an epidemic, a bad harvest, climate change, a medieval resident did not have the knowledge. The panic that the events of those years generated prompted people to look for other causes of daily misfortune, hunger, and disease. It is impossible to explain the problems scientifically with that amount of knowledge, so mystical ideas were used, such as witches and sorcerers who spoil the harvest and send plague to please the Devil.

There are theories that try to explain the cases of witch burnings. For example, some believe that witches actually existed, as depicted in modern horror films. Some people prefer the version that says that most trials are a way to enrich themselves, because the property of those executed was given to the person who passed the sentence.

The last version can be proven. Trials of sorcerers have become a mass phenomenon where the government is weak, in provinces remote from the capitals. The verdict in some regions could depend on the mood of the local ruler, and personal gain cannot be ruled out. In states with a developed management system, fewer “accomplices of Satan” suffered, for example, in France.

Loyalty to witches in Eastern Europe and Russia

In eastern Europe, the persecution of witches did not take root. Residents of Orthodox countries practically did not experience the horror that people living in Western European countries experienced.

The number of witch trials in what is now Russia was about 250 for all 300 years of hunting on accomplices of evil spirits. The figure is impossible to compare with 100 thousand court cases in Western Europe .

There are many reasons. The Orthodox clergy were less concerned about the sinfulness of the flesh when compared with Catholics and Protestants. A woman as a being with a bodily shell frightened Orthodox Christians less. Most of those executed for witchcraft were female.

Orthodox sermons in Russia in the 15th–18th centuries carefully touched on topics; the clergy sought to avoid lynching, which was often practiced in the provinces of Europe. Another reason is the absence of crises and epidemics to the extent that residents of Germany, France, England and other Western European countries had to experience. The population did not search for the mystical causes of hunger and crop failure.

Burning of witches was practically not practiced in Russia, and was even prohibited by law.

The code of law of 1589 read: “And whores and vids of dishonor will receive money against their trades,” that is, a fine was imposed for their insult.

There was lynching when peasants set fire to the hut of a local “witch”, who died due to the fire. A witch on a bonfire built in the central square of the city, where the population of the city had gathered - such spectacles were not observed in an Orthodox country. Executions by burning alive were extremely rare; wooden frames were used: the public did not see the suffering of those convicted of witchcraft.

In Eastern Europe, those accused of witchcraft were tested with water. The suspect was drowned in a river or other local body of water. If the body floated up, the woman was accused of witchcraft: baptism is accepted with holy water, and if the water “does not accept” the person being drowned, it means that this is a sorcerer who has renounced the Christian faith. If the suspect drowned, she was declared innocent.

America was virtually untouched by witch hunts. However, several trials of sorcerers and witches have been recorded in the States. The events in Salem in the 17th century are known throughout the world, as a result of which 19 people were hanged, one resident was crushed by stone slabs, and about 200 people were sentenced to death. imprisonment. Events in Salem They have repeatedly tried to justify it from a scientific point of view: various versions have been put forward, each of which may turn out to be true - hysteria, poisoning or encephalitis in “possessed” children, and much more.

How they were punished for witchcraft in the ancient world

In Ancient Mesopotamia, laws on punishment for witchcraft were regulated by the Code of Hammurabi, named after the reigning king. The code dates from 1755 BC. This is the first source to mention the water test. True, in Mesopotamia they tested for witchcraft using a slightly different method.

If the accusation of witchcraft could not be proven, the accused was forced to plunge into the river. If the river took him away, they believed that the person was a sorcerer. The property of the deceased went to the accuser. If a person remained alive after immersion in water, he was declared innocent. The accuser was sentenced to death, and the accused received his property.

In the Roman Empire, punishments for witchcraft were treated like other crimes. The degree of harm was assessed, and if the victim was not compensated by the person accused of witchcraft, the witch was subject to similar harm.

Regulations for burning alive witches and heretics

Torture of the Inquisition.

Before sentencing an accomplice of the Devil to be burned alive, it was necessary to interrogate the accused so that the sorcerer would betray his accomplices. In the Middle Ages they believed in witches' sabbaths and believed that it was rarely possible to solve a problem with just one witch in a city or village.

Interrogations always involved torture. Now in every city with rich history You can find torture museums, exhibitions in castles and even the dungeons of monasteries. If the accused did not die during interrogation, the documents were handed over to the court.

The torture continued until the executioner managed to obtain a confession of committing the crime and until the suspect indicated the names of his accomplices. Recently, historians have studied the documents of the Inquisition. In fact, torture during interrogations of witches was strictly regulated.

For example, only one type of torture could be applied to one suspect in one court case. There were many techniques for obtaining testimony that were not considered torture. For example, psychological pressure. The executioner could begin his work by demonstrating torture devices and talking about their features. Judging by the documents of the Inquisition, this was often enough for a confession of witchcraft.

Deprivation of water or food was not considered torture. For example, those accused of witchcraft could be fed only salty food and not given water. Cold, water torture and some other methods were used to obtain confessions from the inquisitors. Sometimes prisoners were shown how other people were being tortured.

The time that can be spent interrogating one suspect in one case was regulated. Some torture instruments were not officially used. For example, Iron Maiden. There is no reliable information that the attribute was used for execution or torture.

Acquittals are not uncommon - their number was about half. If acquitted, the church could pay reparations to the person who was tortured.

If the executioner received a confession of witchcraft, and the court found the person guilty, most often the witch faced a death sentence. Despite a considerable number of acquittals, about half of the cases resulted in executions. Sometimes milder punishments were used, for example, expulsion, but closer to the 18th–19th centuries. As a special favor, the heretic could be strangled and his body burned at the stake in the square.

There were two methods of making a fire for burning alive, which were used during the witch hunts. The first method was especially loved by Spanish inquisitors and executioners, since the suffering of the person condemned to death was clearly visible through the flames and smoke. This was believed to put moral pressure on witches who had not yet been caught. They built a fire, tied the convict to a post, covered him with brushwood and firewood up to his waist or knees.

In a similar way, collective executions of groups of witches or heretics were carried out. A strong wind could blow out the fire, and the topic is still debated to this day. There were both pardons: “God sent the wind to save an innocent man,” and continuation of executions: “The wind is the machinations of Satan.”

The second method of burning witches at the stake is more humane. Those accused of witchcraft were dressed in a shirt soaked in sulfur. The woman was completely covered with firewood - the accused was not visible. A person burned at the stake managed to suffocate from the smoke before the fire began to burn the body. Sometimes a woman could burn alive - it depended on the wind, the amount of firewood, the degree of dampness and much more.

Burning at the stake gained popularity due to its entertainment value.. The execution in the city square attracted many spectators. After the residents went home, the servants continued to maintain the fire until the heretic's body turned to ash. The latter usually scattered outside the city so that nothing would remind of the machinations of the person executed at the witch’s fire. Only in the 18th century did the method of executing criminals begin to be considered inhumane.

The Last Witch Burning

Anna Geldi.

The first country to officially abolish prosecution for witchcraft was Great Britain. The corresponding law was issued in 1735. The maximum penalty for a sorcerer or heretic was one year in prison.

The rulers of other countries around this time established personal control over matters that concerned the persecution of witches. The measure severely limited prosecutors, and the number of trials decreased.

It is not known exactly when the last burning of a witch took place, since methods of execution gradually became more and more humane in all countries. It is known that the last person officially executed for witchcraft was a resident of Germany. The maid Anna Maria Schwegel was beheaded in 1775.

Anna Geldi from Switzerland is considered the last witch of Europe. The woman was executed in 1792, when the persecution of witches was banned. Officially, Anna Geldi was accused of poisoning. She was beheaded for mixing needles in her master's food - Anna Geldi is a servant. As a result of torture, the woman admitted to conspiring with the Devil. There were no official references to witchcraft in the case of Anna Geldi, but the accusation caused outrage and was perceived as a continuation of the witch hunt.

A fortune teller was hanged for poisoning in 1809. Her clients claimed that the woman had bewitched them. In 1836, a lynching was recorded in Poland, as a result of which a fisherman’s widow drowned after being tested by water. The most recent punishment for witchcraft was imposed in Spain in 1820 - 200 lashes and banishment for 6 years.

Inquisitors - arsonists or saviors of people

Thomas Torquemada.

The Holy Inquisition- the general name of a number of organizations of the Catholic Church. the main objective inquisitors - the fight against heresy. The Inquisition dealt with crimes related to religion that required a ecclesiastical court (only in the 16th–17th centuries did they begin to refer cases to a secular court), including witchcraft.

The organization was officially created by the Pope in the 13th century, and the concept of heresy appeared around the 2nd century. In the 15th century, the Inquisition began to detect witches and investigate cases related to witchcraft.

One of the most famous among those who burned witches was Thomas Torquemada from Spain. The man was distinguished by cruelty and supported the persecution of Jews in Spain. Torquemada sentenced more than two thousand people to death, and about half of those burned were straw effigies, which were used to replace people who died during interrogation or who disappeared from the sight of the inquisitor. Thomas believed he was purifying humanity, but towards the end of his life he began to suffer from insomnia and paranoia.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Inquisition was renamed the “Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.” The work of the organization has been reorganized in accordance with the laws that apply in each specific country. The congregation exists only in Catholic countries. Since the founding of the church body to this day, only Dominican friars have been elected to significant positions.

The inquisitors protected potentially innocent people from lynching - about half of the acquittals were made, and a crowd of fellow villagers with pitchforks would not listen to the agreed upon “accomplice of Satan” and would not demand to show evidence, as the witch hunters did.

Not all sentences were death sentences - the result depended on the severity of the crime. The punishment could be the obligation to go to a monastery to atone for sins, forced labor for the benefit of the church, reading a prayer several hundred times in a row, etc. Non-Christians were forced to accept baptism; if they refused, they would face more severe punishments.

The reason for denunciation to the Inquisition was often simple envy, and witch hunters tried to avoid the death of an innocent person at the stake. True, this did not mean that they would not find reasons to impose a “mild” punishment and would not use torture.

Why were witches burned at the stake?

Why were sorcerers burned at the stake and not executed in other ways? Those accused of witchcraft were executed by hanging or beheading, but such methods were used towards the end of the Witch War period. There are several reasons why burning was chosen as a method of execution.

The first reason is entertainment. Residents of medieval European cities gathered in squares to watch the execution. At the same time, the measure also served as a way of putting moral pressure on other sorcerers, intimidating citizens and strengthening the authority of the church and the Inquisition.

Burning at the stake was considered a bloodless method of killing, that is, “Christian”. This can be said about hanging, but the gallows did not look as spectacular as a witch at the stake in the city center. People believed that the fire would cleanse the soul of a woman who had entered into an agreement with the Evil One, and the spirit would be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Witches were credited with special abilities and were sometimes identified with vampires (in Serbia). In the past, it was believed that a witch killed in another way could rise from the grave and continue to harm with black witchcraft, drink the blood of the living and steal children.

Most of the accusations of witchcraft were not very different from the behavior of people even now - denunciation as a method of reprisal is still practiced today in some countries. The scale of the atrocities of the Inquisition is exaggerated to attract attention to new releases in the world of books, video games and films.

In Europe in the 13th century, witch trials became especially popular; they became the main enemy. It started to rain - yeah, see the red-haired beast nearby? One hundred percent she conjured! The sheep have become extinct - and there’s another beauty walking around. Clearly she is to blame!

And it doesn’t matter that it’s autumn outside, and the owner of the sheep hasn’t fed them for a week. Witches and evil sorcerers are to blame for everything. The madness continued until the 17th century.

Suspicion and Evidence

To suspect an unfortunate person of witchcraft, even an anonymous denunciation was quite enough. Then his fate, most likely, was tragic. The denunciations themselves could have arisen if it simply “seemed” or due to a random coincidence of circumstances.

Of course, it was impossible to provide any real evidence, and such a “working” accusation was used left and right.

I visited a healer, she said that I have a bad neighbor who will soon come to my house. And so it happened. My stomach starts to hurt every time I see her - the Inquisition could use such arguments as evidence that the woman is a witch.

As Reginald Scott writes in his book “Unmasking Witchcraft,” the accused had previously been beaten by her neighbors and scratched her face until she bled. Her fate is probably tragic. The woman still ended up in the hands of the Inquisition. There were even entire sets of rules that would seem simply absurd to a modern person. In terms of searching for witches, Matthew Hopkins is especially famous, at whose instigation more than 200 people were sent to death in the 17th century.

Signs that a Woman is a Witch (William Perkins, Discourse on the Accursed Art of Witchcraft, 1608):

persistent suspicions of people living with or near the accused;
if the other accused “turns you in”;
if after a “spell” or scolding someone casts, major trouble follows;
if misfortune follows a health threat;
if the suspect is the son, daughter, servant or companion of a witch who has already been convicted;
if a devil's mark is found on the suspect's body (this is a mole!);
if the suspect changes his testimony during interrogation.

One of the most resonant pieces of evidence was that used against Mrs. Julian Cox in 1663. The woman was caught and brought to the witch hunter (by the way, there was such a profession). According to him, the man was chasing a rabbit. Fluffy ran into the bushes. The hunter is after him. And there was only Mrs. Cox in the bushes. Later, at the trial, one witness recalled how a woman (a lady in the body, by the way) flew through the window on a broom. Well, after such irrefutable evidence, you can, in general, guess about her fate.

Torture or the search for the "devil's mark"

Witches were tortured until they admitted their guilt. The fact is that in Europe there was an opinion: a witch cannot be executed before she admits her guilt - there will be no effect. The beast will be reborn, and that’s all.

True, theologian Selvester Prieras generally came up with a theory according to which the “I confessed - let’s execute” scheme also does not work. According to his version, the witch must be tortured so that she experiences the torment that those who suffered from her atrocities had to experience.

Beautiful young women could be raped during this “phase.” This happened to the wife of the councilor of justice, Frau Peller, whose sister in 1631 rejected the advances of judge Franz Buirman. Well, like courtship - she simply refused to sleep with him. The executioner's assistant attacked Peller.

In 1643, a similar thing happened to Madeleine Bavan's sister, who was also accused of witchcraft. It was believed that the executioners were not tormenting the detained women, but were “looking for the mark of the devil.”

One of the tortures was called the “witch’s chair,” and after it the women were ready to confess to anything. This is a design that looks like an ordinary high chair. Only a lot of stakes stick out from it, which dig into the victim’s skin. If suddenly the ladies did not confess right away, they were “made more comfortable.”

During this same stage, the witches were given only salty food, even mixing salt into their drinks. That is, the person under torture was tormented by unbearable thirst.

The second stage is the rack. The victim was stretched out until she gave up her accomplices. They rented it out. Always. Often non-existent. The same stage provided for “additional torture for special types of crimes.” Among them are cutting off limbs, torture with tongs, and so on.

Sometimes this stage could still be canceled. So, in 1628, two 11-year-old girls who were suspected of making wax dolls to kill people were given a “special sentence” - they were burned without a second stage of torture.

Not everyone lived to see the third stage and the actual execution. In the protocols in such cases they wrote that “the devil broke the witch’s neck” or did something similar, no less terrible.

Many witches said before their death that they were outright lying. Thus, confessor Michael Stapirius recalled how in the 30s of the 15th century a woman told him before her death that she could not help but “start talking.”

I can't stand it if even a fly lands on my legs. It’s better to die 100 times than to endure such torment,” she explained.

Whether the so-called witch confessed to all mortal sins or not, she still faced execution. The authorities justified this as follows: “Execute in order to prevent the devil from overthrowing the divine world order.” The executioners were sure (or they assured the people) that this was how they were saving the doomed woman, since she would not sin even more.

Any judge who tried to recognize a “witch” as a woman who had nothing to do with witchcraft also faced the fire.

Before being burned, witches were first strangled with a noose or garrote. Many remained silent in the hope that the executioner would not notice and they would not be burned alive, but would be strangled. Demonology researcher Peter Bensfeld noted that the Inquisition was lenient towards “overzealous” executioners. It was believed that in this way the witch was saved from another sin - despair.

The survivors were sent to the stake. Legal expert Jean Bodin recommended burning witches over low heat. To do this, still wet branches were lit.

7 rules of a “real judge”

If the prisoner refuses to talk, you need to demonstrate other tortures to him.
The judge could promise to spare the witch's life. But in reality it was about eternal imprisonment on bread and water.
If the accused says he is unwell, pour boiling water into his armpits.
The judge should not waive the full severity of torture, even if he fears that the accused will die.
To prevent a prisoner from committing suicide, guards must be with him at all times.
You can show leniency towards young witches. In particular, it is possible to replace execution with eternal exile for a 9-12 year old girl. Or burn it, but bypassing some stages of torture.
Pregnant witches can have their execution delayed until the baby is born and is one month old.

There is a period in the history of European civilization that has earned itself a very bad reputation. The years between the decline of the Western and Eastern Roman Empires are called the “Dark Middle Ages.” Remember 🙂 - bonfires are blazing all over the city squares of Europe, heretics and witches are burning on them, and in gloomy dungeons Inquisition great scientists and artists are languishing... However, the prevalence of an opinion does not at all mean its truth, and by presenting the Middle Ages in such gloomy tones, we are most seriously mistaken.

Mmassive repressions began not during the years of the “dark Middle Ages”, but in the fifteenth century, that is, during the Renaissance, which is considered a time when the people who inhabited Europe were completely devoted to the arts, philosophy and, one and all, were convinced humanists. Alas, it was during the Renaissance that murder became familiar and everyday in Western Europe. The infamous " witch-hunt" blossomed immediately after the first edition of The Witches' Hammer in 1478. This book, written by the Dominican friar Heinrich Institoris and the dean of the University of Cologne Jacob Sprenger, contained a “scientific” interpretation of witchcraft, described methods for identifying witches, and proposed the most effective set of tortures recommended for use against those convicted of witchcraft.

What led to the mass insanity that led to witch hunt, hard to tell. Most likely, the reason was the unbridled decline in morality after the wars and plague epidemics that swept across Europe.

It is believed that the mass burnings of witches were “run” by the servants of the Inquisition, that is, ignorant fanatics and obscurantists. However, this is also a misconception. In 1610, in the city of Logroño, at one of the trials, the Jesuit inquisitor Alonso de Salazar so ardently argued that witches and demons do not exist that he was supported by the Archbishop of Toledo, the Grand Inquisitor Bernardo de Sandoval, and then by the High Council.

From this moment, according to the decision of the Inquisition, in Catholic countries " witch-hunt"was stopped, while where the Reformation was victorious, the burning of the unfortunate continued, and most Active participation It was not priests who took part in these processes, but lawyers, scientists and university professors.

It’s sad, but we didn’t stay away from “ witch hunt"and such iconic figures of the Renaissance as the famous physician Paracelsus and the no less famous religious reformer Martin Luther, who demanded that witches be identified and burned alive. Note that most prominent intellectuals, even in the 18th century, believed in demons and witches. Even in the age of the scientific revolution, hundreds of thousands of “witches” were sent to the stake. In the United States of America they were burned until the 18th century, and the judges were professors at Harvard University.

The modern historian F. Donovan adds: “If we mark on a map a dot for each established case of witch burning, then the greatest concentration of dots will be in the area where France, Germany and Switzerland border. Basel, Lyon, Geneva, Nuremberg and nearby cities would be hidden under many of these points. Solid spots of dots would form in Switzerland and from the Rhine to Amsterdam, as well as in the south of France, splashing England, Scotland and Scandinavian countries. It should be noted that, at least over the last century witch hunt, the areas of greatest concentration of points were centers of Protestantism. In fully Catholic countries - Italy, Spain and Ireland - there would be very few points; in Spain there is practically none.”

Another historian, Henry Charles Lee, who was the first to attempt to debunk the “black myth” of the Inquisition, notes in this regard: “There are no more terrible pages in European history than madness.” witch hunt for three centuries, from the XV to the XVIII. For a whole century Spain was threatened by the explosion of this contagious madness. The fact that it was stopped and reduced to relatively harmless proportions is due to the caution and firmness of the Inquisition... I would like to emphasize the contrast between the horror that reigned in Germany, France and England, and the comparative tolerance of the Inquisition.

The widespread belief that it was the Inquisition that organized the largest mass burning of witches is also untrue. Nothing like this. This is also a misconception. In this case, the Inquisition is attributed to a crime committed by Protestants. In 1589, by order of the diocesan court in the Saxon city of Quedlinburg, 133 people were burned alive during one execution. By that time, Saxony did not belong to the Catholic camp, since it broke away from it during the Reformation.

Let us add that the most terrible mass executions in the era “ witch hunt"were committed precisely by Protestant church courts. This is not surprising, since the most prominent figures of Protestantism, such as Luther, Calvin and Baxter, were fanatical persecutors of witches.

It should also be understood that even when it comes to the persecution of witches by Catholics, this does not at all mean participation in these dark affairs of the Inquisition. For example, in various publications, inquisitors are blamed for the monstrous witch hunt in the German lands in the 17th century. However, they have nothing to do with it. Bishoprics of Bamberg and Würzburg, where during 1625 - 1631. About 1,500 people were burned on charges of witchcraft; they were indeed Catholic, but there were no inquisitorial tribunals in these lands. The “witches” were sentenced by episcopal courts that had nothing to do with the Inquisition.

Several years ago, the Catholic Church, represented by the Pope himself, apologized for the crimes of the Inquisition. However, let us recall that the collective insanity that gripped Western Europe during the Renaissance was to blame not only and not so much for the Inquisition as for the ignorance and religious fanaticism of those who, it would seem, were supposed to resist them. Well, this is far from the only paradox in the history of mankind.

Fans of horror films know very well that dealing with evil spirits is not so easy. Someone can be stopped exclusively by a silver bullet or a cross cast from the same metal, someone only an aspen stake can calm someone down forever, preventing them from leaving the grave every night, but a witch can only be killed by the fire of a sacred fire. “The Witch at the stake”, yes, perhaps this is exactly the image that has been imprinted in the minds of many of us since childhood.

In the Slavic, and not only in the Slavic tradition, a lot of properties were and are attributed to Fire (one of the Primary Elements), some of them are actively used both in magic and against it. During the time of the Inquisition, witches were burned. Why? Why weren’t they, for example, drowned or beheaded? Why weren't they hanged or wheeled? However, even if such executions happened, the witch’s body was still put on fire.

Why were witches burned at the stake?

Let's figure it all out. In the hoary Middle Ages there was a lot of things that caused modern man literally your blood runs cold. Here you have the lack of basic hygiene, and constant civil strife, and, of course, the witch hunt, which lasted for centuries, literally mowing down thousands of the most beautiful women in Europe (and sometimes quite courageous men). Since modern Europeans (especially the female half), frankly speaking, are not distinguished by their beauty, we must (among other things) say “thank you” to the holy fathers of the Inquisition.

Witch trials happened so often, and so much recorded evidence has survived to this day, that the terrible event can be imagined down to the minute. There is no need to think out anything, no need to pump up the colors. Let us repeat - there is still a lot of evidence.

The “witches” (for the most part they were ordinary women, girls, and sometimes girls) were not always judged for what they really were. Someone decided to “snitch” on a neighbor and decided to move into her house, someone wanted to get rid of their rival, in a word, there were reasons for each. It would seem that the secular court (often this is where the trials took place) should have been guided by reason, but alas, it was unnecessary to rely on this. There was no talk of any reason in those days. And even in our times, many decisions made by the courts make us think about whether representatives of the judicial system have a brain. However, we are not talking about that now.

The secular court, where representatives of the Holy Church were obligatorily present, urgently asked the victim to confess everything herself, thereby mitigating her fate. The more obstinate ones had to be tortured. The victim understood that there was no point in dooming herself to unnecessary torment, because anyway she would be found guilty. So why prolong the agony?!

The trials ended with public burning at the stake. After all, “humane” Christians considered it cruel to shed blood, even the blood of a witch or sorcerer. But to put them on fire, and alive, is truly the apotheosis of humanity.

According to the canons established by the advent of Christianity, it was believed that only fire could prevent a sinful soul from reincarnating. But in the same paganism the situation is exactly the opposite! The pagans believed that “man came from nowhere and after the end of earthly life, he must go to nowhere.” And the sooner no trace remains of the earthly bodily shell, the sooner the soul can be reincarnated.

Most of the fires burned in what is now Germany, France and Spain. Not a single week went by without someone being “roasted” alive. Guilty or not guilty - what's the difference? There are “witnesses” who saw something there and can tell in all the details and details how “the witch communicated with the devil himself,” or how “the witch flew to the Sabbath,” or how “she turned into a cat or a pig.” . It is also noteworthy that very often such witnesses were close relatives of the convicted victim.

After “checking” the evidence, the court made a decision that enough “facts” had accumulated or, on the contrary - which was extremely rare - it said that something was missing. Even those who indulged in cards stomped on the fire.

In the year one thousand five hundred and thirty-two, sending to the stake was enshrined in law. The then code of laws was called “Carolina”. Its author and ideological inspirer was the well-known Charles the Fifth. In “Carolina” it was written as follows: “Anyone who has caused harm and loss to people through his divination must be punished by death, and this punishment must be inflicted by fire.”

Witches have always been burned publicly. There is probably no need to explain why this was done. The best motivator is fear! So, they say, look what will happen to those who dared to be at least a millimeter different from everyone else! The fire awaits everyone who...

For local residents, oddly enough, such actions were a real show. When can you still go to the village? How else can you entertain yourself during the Middle Ages? Of course, to the village square to see with your own eyes how the witch will burn! For such an occasion, it wouldn’t hurt to even dress up!

The local “beau monde” in the person of all kinds of bishops, holy fathers from the church, judges and others looked with pleasure as the executioner, with an unwavering hand, sent witches and sorcerers to fiery hell. Chained with heavy chains to pillars, they died a terrible, painful death, often to the loud cheers of the crowd. After only a pile of ashes remained from the victim, the executioners considered their duty fulfilled. The ashes scattered and now one could relax, because the burned witch would never be able to incarnate again.