Chonrad Stoeckhlin and the night crowd. A story from the early modern era

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Chonrad Stoeckhlin and the night crowd. A story from the early modern period is a micro- historical study by Wolfgang Behringer . It was published in 1994 by Piper Verlag , based in Munich . The English translation by HC Erik Midelfort was published in 1998 by the University of Virginia Press in Charlottesville . In addition, the book was published in the Czech language by Argo Verlag in 2018 .

The book is about the horse shepherd from Oberstdorf, Chonrad Stoecklin (1549–1587), who was charged with witchcraft and executed in 1587. His statements contained in the criminal case files, on which the work is based, triggered a witch hunt in the Allgäu .

Interest in knowledge and procedure

In his micro-historical study, Wolfgang Behringer analyzes the case of the horse shepherd Chonrad Stoeckhlin. Based on the central myth of the night crowd, Behringer explores the associated (religious) imagination of the rural milieu of the 16th century.

Wolfgang Behringer used the trial files (and in particular the interrogation protocols contained therein) of the Chonrad Stoeckhlin case, who was accused of witchcraft and executed by the Augsburg bishopric in 1586, as the source basis . The files with the protocols are in the Augsburg State Archives (formerly the Main State Archives Munich), Hochstift Augsburg.

content

Chonrad Stoeckhlin

Chonrad Stoeckhlin, modern spelling Konrad Stöcklin , was born in Oberstdorf in 1549. At the age of 18, Stoeckhlin took over his father's herd, as he became blind. At the age of 22, after his mother died in the famine year of 1571, he took over the family home where he lived with his wife Anna Berchtoldin and their two children.

During a conversation between Stoeckhlin and his friend Jacob Walch, the two made a pact: the one of them who first bless the temporal should appear to the other to tell him what it would be like in the afterlife. Eight days after this promise, Jacob Walch died unexpectedly. Soon after, he appeared to his friend. At his recommendation, Stoeckhlin changed his way of life, and a year later an angel regularly took him with him when he was fainted on trips (or journeys ).

Myths

Chonrad referred to these journeys as Nachtschar . The term is by far the earliest in use in 1586. Behringer leads here to the myths and ideas related to it. A connection can be made to the myth of the people of the dead , with the distinction that the night crowd was happy, with dancing and wonderful music. He goes into more detail on the notations of Night People and Angry Army ( Wuotas ), Wild Hunt , Ghost Army and Witches Dance and reports on components and connections such as the unearthly beautiful music and the stories of the bone miracle .

Night crowd

After his lifestyle, Chonrad worked as a healer and witch finder . During the trips he learned the names of the witches and how to deal with them and how to proceed. Here it is inserted that the activity of a witch doctor was highly condemned in canon law of the late Middle Ages . The Hexenhammer shares this view. In contrast, Roman law saw it as white magic and not a crime worthy of death.

After a series of damage in the village, Chonrad accuses the sixty-year-old Anna Enzensberger of witchcraft . With serious consequences. Not only was Enzensberger imprisoned, Stoeckhlin was also taken away. The Hochstift government wanted to investigate Chonrad's accusation. During the interrogations, Chonrad mentioned the night crowd , and the bishopric government learned on what basis Chonrad had supported his suspicions. The night crowd became the central subject of the survey. After several months, Chonrad confessed in December 1586, after the previous ordeal, which he almost did not survive, all of the acts of which he was charged. He was burned on January 23, 1587.

Witch hunt

Chonrad mentioned other names of alleged witches during interrogations . The witches imprisoned as a result made confessions under severe torture and disclosed the names of other witches , which led to further imprisonment, confessions and denunciations. Behringer expresses here that the witch persecution in Oberstdorf was started by Stoeckhlin and must be seen as the initial spark for further persecutions. The city of Dillingen tried in vain in July 1587 to counteract the witch panic by prohibiting witch scolding . However, Wolfgang Behringer was able to infer from the court council minutes - which was probably kept more meticulously than usual due to the importance of the matter - that around 25 people were executed by fire or died of the torture in prison during the Oberstdorf witch trial. The sources fail for 1588; the reason for this is not known. Apparently the witch trials ended in 1588, since the minutes of 1589 only deal with the questions of the estate of those executed in Rettenberg. The last time there was persecution was in Rettenberg-Sonthofen in 1592 . Only the plague in the same year could the persecution put an end to it. At the center of the wave of persecution was Bishop Marquard II of the mountain . With the trial of Chonrad Stoeckhlin as a prelude can give him Pfleggericht Oberdorf (now Marktoberdorf ) the greatest pursuit attributed with most victims (68) between the Danube and the Alps. The fact that 95 percent of those burned were women, but the first victim, Chonrad Stoeckhlin, is a man, seems almost ironic.

Bricolage

Behringer explores the question of how Stoeckhlin got his story with the night crowd. Stories that were told at the time were lived contemporary realities, practiced knowledge that was updated. In the predominantly oral culture, they were legends and experience reports at the same time. A vision arose, for example, from materials from newspaper clippings about angel apparitions, rain of blood, monster births and the like. The French ethnologist Claude Lévi-Strauss called such practices intellectual tinkering, as bricolage . According to Lévi-Strauss , the bricoleur rearranges mythical fragments of knowledge depending on the purpose.

Where did Stoeckhlin get his material from? The ideas of the horse herder were unknown north of the Alps, explains Behringer. However, the shepherd came into contact with the Walser culture through the immigrant settlement farmers. Stoeckhlin's wife was a Walser and his friend Jacob Walch also came from a Walser family. The night crowd and night people conception was particularly pronounced among the Walsers of Vorarlberg. Behringer thinks Stoeckhlin the positive connotations of Nachtschar and night people over and they have combined with passable for people of faith elements (such penance) had. This gave Stoeckhlin the necessary legitimation within the magical folk culture. Stoeckhlins Nachtschar is a skilful bricolage with links to central legends of folk tradition.

reception

In a written interview for zeitenblicke in 2002, Behringer said about his book:

“In contrast to the 'witch hunt in Bavaria ' , things were in my micro-study 'Chonrad Stoeckhlin and the night crowd ' (1994). In Germany there were reviews by journalists in the SZ, the FAZ, et cetera, but not a single review in a trade journal. Since the American translation 'Chonrad Stoeckhlin and the Phantoms of the Night ' (1998), however, I can no longer complain about the lack of feedback. The reviews are coming and they are enthusiastic because, as is well known, we don't have that many legible micro-stories yet and so far each ( Ginzburg , Davis , Sabean, Brown, Brucker , Roper) has shed light on a completely different aspect of past reality. "

praise

The British historian Peter Burke has consistently positive reviews for the book. It would illuminate modern life in rural Germany in a lively and dramatic way, including the historical context, from folklore to the Counter-Reformation.

And Thomas A. Brady, Jr., University of California , Berkeley , said that it was even better than Carlo Ginzburg's famous work The Cheese and the Worms in terms of documentation, sophistication of interpretation, and narration .

Often Chonrad Stoeckhlin and the night crowd with Carlo Ginzburg works Sabbath or The Benandanti compared with which it also give overlaps. In contrast to Ginzburg, Behringer would not only focus on one interpretation, but also consider other origins. The central theme of the mythical Archeology remember coven, Behringer is however aware of the pitfalls of the subject and would not follow the hochhypothetischen origins of the myth of the night people are looking for. In addition, Ginzburg's controversial thesis regarding the Friulian peasants and their representation in the mythical, pan-European consciousness would be modified in Behringer's work.

Pamela H. Smith believes that Behringer's research provides wonderful insights into cultural constructions and beliefs. Brian P. Levack praised it as a fascinating study of popular belief in witches of the late 16th century and deserves a wide audience. It is also well constructed and accessible to a wide audience, including laypeople, says Georg Modestin.

In addition, Chonrad Stoeckhlin and the Nachtschar were often brought up in French, English and American publications on modern European history, witches and their persecution and popular beliefs.

Günter Jerouschek said in 2009:

“The early modern historian Wolfgang Behringer (Munich / Bonn) has an opusculum that is also remarkable from a criminal law perspective with his book 'Conrad Stoeckhlin und die Nachtschar. A story from the early modern period '. As is to be expected with the author's talent for writing, it is stylistically dignified, sometimes written suggestively and, moreover, composed so successfully that it reads like a novella at times. Accordingly, linguistic lapses such as 'the Ludus' are rare. "

criticism

A critical remark by Albrecht Burkardt follows regarding the use of folk materials from the 19th and 20th centuries. Behringer would have reconstructed the belief in the night folk based on these materials and contradicts his own hypothesis insofar as these beliefs in their entirety were only found in the present, but according to Behringer were almost exterminated at the end of the 16th century.

Trevor Johnson and Georg Modestin would have liked further explanations and discussions about certain aspects (for example about life and death) or about problems mentioned by Behringer, but this was due to the format of the series.

Chonrad Stoeckhlin und die Nachtschar is also mentioned in the What is Microhistory? discussed by Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon and István M. Szijártó . According to Szijártó, Behringer tries to uncover the roots of popular belief through a detailed analysis of the life of the shepherd Stoeckhlin. The relationship between micro-investigation and interest in the great historical question - what ultimately constitutes micro-history - harbors the problem of representativeness. Szijártó plays on the representativeness of the case Stoeckhlin extent of one shepherd to the big picture can be closed. Szijártó is thinking in particular of the shepherd's bricolage , which represents something very individual and can only be presented by Chonrad himself.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ see literature
  2. ↑ Wolfgang Behringer: Chonrad Stoeckhlin and the night crowd ... p. 141
  3. ↑ Manfred Tschaikner: Witch persecutions in Toggenburg Toggenburger Blätter für Heimatkunde Volume 44, Toggenburger Verlag 2010, p. 42
  4. ↑ Announcement: Witch Trials in the Allgäu Website of the Heimatmuseum Oberstdorf , accessed on August 8, 2019
  5. ↑ Wolfgang Behringer: Chonrad Stoeckhlin and the night crowd …, pp. 7-14
  6. ↑ Wolfgang Behringer: Chonrad Stoeckhlin and the night crowd …, pp. 15-17
  7. ↑ Wolfgang Behringer: Chonrad Stoeckhlin and the night crowd …, pp. 18–22
  8. ↑ Wolfgang Behringer: Chonrad Stoeckhlin and the night crowd …, pp. 23-27
  9. ↑ Wolfgang Behringer: Chonrad Stoeckhlin and the night crowd …, pp. 28–31
  10. ↑ Wolfgang Behringer: Chonrad Stoeckhlin and the night crowd ..., pp. 32–88
  11. ↑ Wolfgang Behringer: Chonrad Stoeckhlin and the night crowd …, pp. 89–96
  12. ↑ Wolfgang Behringer: Chonrad Stoeckhlin and the night crowd ..., pp. 97-106
  13. ↑ Wolfgang Behringer: Chonrad Stoeckhlin and the night crowd …, pp. 107–112
  14. ↑ Wolfgang Behringer: Chonrad Stoeckhlin and the night crowd …, pp. 113–125
  15. ↑ Wolfgang Behringer: Chonrad Stoeckhlin and the night crowd …, pp. 155–160
  16. ^ Wolfgang Behringer: Witch hunt in Bavaria: Folk magic, zeal for faith and reasons of state in the early modern period. Oldenbourg, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-486-53901-9 (also: Munich, University, dissertation, 1985)
  17. ^ Klaus Graf: Status and perspectives of witch research. A virtual conversation with Wolfgang Behringer. (PDF) In: Zeitblicke. Gudrun Gersmann, Michael Kaiser, Hubertus Kohlen, Matthias Schnettger, 2002, accessed on July 30, 2019 .
  18. ↑ a b Shaman of Oberstdorf . 2017, ISBN 978-0-8139-1853-2 ( virginia.edu [accessed August 22, 2019]).
  19. ↑ a b c Pamela H. Smith : Review of Shaman of Oberstdorf: Chonrad Stoecklin and the Phantoms of the Night . In: Central European History . tape 33 , no. 3 , 2000, ISSN  0008-9389 , p. 425-426 , JSTOR : 4546989 .
  20. ^ A b Trevor Johnson: Review of Shaman of Oberstdorf: Chonrad Stoeckhlin and the Phantoms of the Night . In: The American Historical Review . tape 106 , no. 2 , 2001, ISSN  0002-8762 , p. 664-665 , doi : 10.2307 / 2651764 , JSTOR : 2651764 .
  21. ↑ a b c Georg Modestin: Review of Witches: Faith, Persecution, Marketing,; Shaman of Oberstdorf: Chonrad Stoeckhlin and the Phantoms of the Night, Wolfgang Behringer . In: The Sixteenth Century Journal . tape 31 , no. 2 , 2000, ISSN  0361-0160 , p. 483-485 , doi : 10.2307 / 2671633 , JSTOR : 2671633 .
  22. ^ A b Brian P. Levack: Review of Shaman of Oberstdorf: Chonrad Stoeckhlin and the Phantoms of the Night . In: Church History . tape 69 , no. 3 , 2000, ISSN  0009-6407 , p. 666-668 , doi : 10.2307 / 3169422 , JSTOR : 3169422 .
  23. ↑ cf. for example Lara Apps, Andrew Gow: Secondary Targets? Male Witches on Trial , in: Male Witches in early modern Europe , Manchester University Press 2003. Download PDF; Open Access Manchester University Press, Open Access Content (English)
  24. ↑ LITERATURE REPORT . In: Journal for the entire field of criminal law . tape 108 , no. 1 , 2009, p. 167-188 , doi : 10.1515 / zstw.1996.108.1.167 ( degruyter.com [accessed on July 30, 2019]).
  25. ^ Albrecht Burkardt: Review of Chonrad Stoeckhlin and the night crowd. A story from the early modern era . In: Revue d'histoire moderne et contemporaine (1954-) . tape 44 , no. 2 , 1997, ISSN  0048-8003 , p. 360-362 , JSTOR : 20530255 .
  26. ↑ István M. Szíjártó, Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon: What is microhistory? Theory and Practice . Routledge, London 2013, ISBN 978-0-415-69208-3 , pp. 36 .
  27. ↑ István M. Szíjártó, Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon: What is microhistory? Theory and Practice . Routledge, London 2013, ISBN 978-0-415-69208-3 , pp. 4 .