Cautio Criminalis

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Cautio Criminalis, Rinteln 1631.
Allegedly by an unknown Roman [Catholic] theologian.

Cautio criminalis seu de processibus contra Sagas Liber (German Cautio criminalis or legal concerns about the witch trials , literally legal reservation or book about the trials against witches ): With this Latin work, the Catholic poet and Jesuit Friedrich Spee opposed the practice of witch trials and supported it thus decisively contributing to the end of the witch madness in Germany. The book was printed in 1631 in the university printing house of Petrus Lucius in Rinteln an der Weser and initially appeared anonymously. A second edition revised by Spee appeared in 1632; it clearly sharpened the argument compared to the first. In 1647 Johann Seifert , a Protestant field preacher in the service of General Königsmarck , translated the “Cautio Criminalis” into German in Verden and dedicated the book to Queen Christina of Sweden . This made Queen Christina aware of the efforts of superintendent Heinrich Rimphoff to hunt witches and put a stop to him.

overview

Some publications on the same subject

The Hexenhammer (Malleus maleficarum) by Heinrich Kramer (Latinized Institoris ) was published in 1487 . This book was not the trigger for the persecution of alleged witches, but it made an enormous difference. On the other hand, there had been voices directed against the persecution of witches and torture since the publication of the "Witch's Hammer". These included the text "Thorough report of magic and sorcerers" by the Reformed theologian Anton Praetorius from 1598 and "Christian remembrance [...] the hideous vice of witchcraft" by the Lutheran theologian Johann Matthäus Meyfart from 1635.

situation

The witch hunts of the early modern period peaked in the early 17th century. The processes based mainly on through torture extorted confessions . Tens of thousands of people probably died as a result of such convictions.

During this time, Spee's writing turned against the practice of witch trials. Even the designation cautio (reservation) could suspect the author - as well as printer and publisher - of protecting witches and thus strengthening the party of Satan. Spee therefore made his writing appear anonymously. He did not question that with the help of the devil, people could have magical abilities. But the methods used in witch trials are not suitable for recognizing such witches and sorcerers in individual cases. With the physical agony of torture, anyone could be forced to make any confession. He polemicized rhetorically with the thought experiment that he should be called any fictional crime of whatever monstrous nature, plus a person arbitrarily accused of the crime, and with the help of torture he would always be able to prove guilt, otherwise he should be put at the stake himself burn.

Arguments

The Cautio criminalis combines astute argumentation with skillful rhetoric . Spee argues against torture and demands its abolition as follows:

27. Is torture an appropriate means of revealing the truth?
In torture everything is full of uncertainty and darkness [...]; an innocent man must endure the surest torments for an unsafe crime.
28. What is the evidence from those who immediately believe the confessions extracted from torture to be true?
All scholars based almost all of their witchcraft teachings on these confessions, and the world, it seems, believed them. The violence of pain enforces everything, including what is believed to be sin, such as lying and making others ill. Those who have then once started to testify against themselves under torture will later admit everything that is asked of them after the torture so that they are not drawn into inconstancy. [...] And the judges then believe these antics and encourage themselves in their actions. But I laugh at this simplicity. [...]
29: Must the dangerous torture be abolished?
I answer: either torture must be abolished entirely or it must be redesigned in such a way that it does not endanger innocent people with moral certainty. [...] You are not allowed to play with human blood, and our heads are not balls that you throw back and forth. If every idle word must be accounted for before the judgment of eternity, what about responsibility for the human blood that has been shed? [...]

(Quoted from Diel, Friedrich Spe , Freiburg 1901, pp. 90–92)

Movie

In 1974, ZDF produced and broadcast a 96-minute feature film Cautio Criminalis or The Witch's Attorney about crucial chapters in the life of Friedrich Spees based on a play Cautio criminalis or the extraordinary pilgrimage of Friedrich Spee von Langenfeld by Wolfgang Lohmeyer .

literature

Text output

  • Friedrich von Spee: Cautio Criminalis, Seu De Processibus Contra Sagas Liber , Rinteln 1631. VD17 7: 703659U , facsimile
  • Cautio criminalis seu de processibus contra sagas liber . Editio secunda. Johannes Gronaeus, Frankfurt 1632 (corrected edition " last hand ") ( digitized version of the Bavarian State Library)
  • Friedrich von Spee: Cautio Criminalis or legal concerns about the witch trials . Dtv, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-423-30782-X
  • Friedrich von Spee: Complete writings. Historical-critical edition . Francke, Tuebingen
  • (Translation) Johann Seifert : Conscience book: From Processen against the witches . Written to high authorities in Teudtschlandt without needy motifs ... Beginning without name in Latin language Outgoing, Jetzo In die Teudtsche Ubergesetzet, By Johan Sejferten von Ulm, currently Swedish field preacher. Köhler, Bremen 1647 ( digitized version of the Bavarian State Library in Munich)

Secondary literature

in order of appearance

  • JBM Diel SJ [= Johannes Baptista Diel 1843–1876]: Friedrich von Spee. A biographical and literary-historical sketch . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1872 ( collection of historical portraits , vol. 9). books.google
    • Johannes Diel: Friedrich Spe. 2nd revised edition by Bernhard Duhr . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1901.
  • Walter Nigg : Friedrich von Sree. A Jesuit fights against the witch craze . Bonifatius Druck und Verlag, Paderborn, 2nd edition 1991, ISBN 3-87088-654-4 .
  • Italo Michele Battafarano: Spees Cautio Criminalis. Critique of the witch trials and their reception. Università degli Studi di Trento, Facoltà di Lettere, Trento 1993 ( Ricerche di Germanistica , vol. 6).
  • Christian Feldmann : Friedrich Spee. Witch lawyer and prophet. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1993, ISBN 3-451-22854-8 .
  • Helmut Weber, Gunther Franz: Friedrich Spee (1591-1635). Life and work and his memory in Trier. Friedrich-Spee-Gesellschaft, Trier 1996, ISBN 3-87760-084-0 .
  • Bernhard Schneider : In the service of justice - Friedrich Spee's answer to the witch trials . In: Geist und Leben , Vol. 79 (2006), pp. 249-260.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "The printing was probably done in April and / or in the first half of May 1631, because the Paderborn Auxiliary Bishop Pelking reported indignantly about it on May 14", Werner Hessel / Heinz Finger (2008) p. 98 books.google . In his letter of May 14, 1631 to Cardinal Franz Wilhelm von Wartenberg , Johannes Pelcking described the book as “pestilentissimus liber a P. Friderico Spe conscriptus et Rinteliae ipso dirigente impressus sub titulo 'Cautio criminalis'”, publications from the Prussian State Archives , volume 68 , P. 497 No. 447 books.google . See also Navina Kleemann: Friedrich Spee: Cautio Criminalis (1631) origin, temporal background, effect (Master's thesis Münster 2008), p. <60> historicum.net
  2. ^ Italo Michele Battafarano: Spees Cautio criminalis: Reason and empiricism against auctoritates et loci communes . In: Doris Brockmann, Peter Eicher (ed.): The political theology of Friedrich von Spees . Fink, Munich 1991, SS 219–232.
  3. ↑ Cautio Criminalis in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  4. ^ Michael Embach : The scientific output of the Friedrich Spee commemorative year 1991 - a review . In: Trier theologische Zeitschrift , vol. 102 (1993), pp. 215-234, here p. 218.