Balthasar Nut

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Balthasar Nuss (* around 1545; † in December 1618 in Bad Brückenau ) was Zentgraf in Hofbieber and Fulda and carried out the persecution of witches in the Fulda bishopric from 1603 to 1606.

Zentgraf von Hofbieber

Nuss was head forester and stable master at Bieberstein Castle , where the Prince Abbot of Fulda, Balthasar von Dernbach , who had been driven out of his territory, lived in exile. When he was able to return to Fulda in 1602, Nuss followed him and, as Dernbach's right-hand man, was initially appointed Count of Hofbieber near Fulda.

Witch persecution in the Fulda Monastery

In his second reign, Prince Abbot Balthasar von Dernbach had witch trials held and commissioned Nuss as master of maleficence to carry them out. The persecution of witches in the Fulda monastery from 1603 to 1606 fell victim to 250 people, mostly women, but also some men. The witch trial against Merga Bien , whose husband Blasius Bien successfully sued the conditions of her detention at the Reich Chamber of Commerce in Speyer , became particularly well known .

Balthasar Nuss violated the applicable provisions on many points in his litigation. During the torture, the "Maleficent Master" specifically asked for certain names, he came up with special atrocities in relation to the torture measures and enriched himself with the assets of the executed or their relatives.

The Fulda execution site, and thus one of the places where the “witch judge” worked, was located on a small hill east of the residence, at the time known as “Hexenküppel”, today known as “Waldschlößchen”. The underground passages there are largely unexplored. Interesting finds were recovered during the construction of the nearby Catholic St. Joseph Church.

End of life

After the prince abbot's death in 1606, Nuss was arrested and held for 13 years. Eventually he was tried for enrichment in connection with the witch trials. He was beheaded in 1618 on the basis of an expert opinion from the Ingolstadt Faculty of Law.

literature

  • Michael Mott : Catacombs under the "witch's crook". The “Waldschlößchen” and its “beer cellar” tell stories and pose puzzles. Field of activity for research , in: Fuldaer Zeitung, February 2, 1995, p. 11 (series: DENK-mal!).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Berthold Jäger: On the history of the witch trials in Fulda Abbey. State of research - criticism - perspectives , in: Fuldaer Geschichtsblätter 73 (1997), pp. 7–64.
  2. ↑ Names of the victims of the witch trials / witch persecution in the Hochstift Fulda under Balthasar Nuss (PDF; 243 kB; access = 2016-04-27)
  3. ↑ Paul Wigand: The Reich Chamber of Commerce and the witch trials . In: Wetzlar's contributions for history and legal antiquities , Volume 3, 1851, pp. 73–79.
  4. ^ Berthold Jäger: On the history of the witch trials in Fulda Abbey. State of research - criticism - perspectives , in: Fuldaer Geschichtsblätter 73 (1997).
personal data
SURNAME Nut, Balthasar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Zentgraf in Hofbieber and Fulda
DATE OF BIRTH around 1545
DATE OF DEATH December 1618
Place of death Bad Brueckenau