Hermann Neuwalt

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hermann Neuwalt (also in the spelling Hermann Neuwaldt or Latinized Hermanus Neuwalt , Hermannus Neowaldus , Hermannus Neuwaldus ) (* 1550 in Lemgo , † 1611 in Stadthagen ) was a doctor and professor at the University of Helmstedt . He also appeared as a witch theorist and was an opponent of the water test . In addition to various medical writings, he has also written a prayer book for doctors. Despite the criticism of the water sample, part of the witch trial, Neuwalt was not an opponent of the witch hunt, otherwise he would not have held a professorship at the University of the Protestant witch distiller Heinrich Julius (Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel) .

Life

Neuwalt began his studies in Wittenberg in 1568 . From 1578 to 1586 he was a medical professor at the University of Helmstedt . On September 15, 1579 he married the widow Katharina Lantz, b. Goebel, who was a sister of Engel Bökel, the wife of his Helmstedt colleague Johann Bökel . In the 1590s he worked as a city doctor in Hildesheim and Bremen. 1598 position as the count's personal physician in Oldenburg. In 1608 he switched to the service of Count Ernst V. von Schaumburg, where he and others were commissioned to set up the academic high school in Stadthagen, where he taught physics until his death in 1611.

His most important work

Report of research / probing and knowledge of the sorceresses through cold water / in which Wilhelm Adolph Scribonij's opinion is reiterated / and of origin / nature and truth of this and other purgation is traded

His main work exegesis Purgationis sive Examinis Sagarum per Aquam frigidam , Helmstedt 1585, saw three editions in Latin and two editions in German.

Criticism of Scribonius

In his main work, Neuwalt criticized the witch theorist Wilhelm Adolf Scribonius , who dealt almost exclusively with the claim and evidence that the implementation of the old divine judgment of the water test , which was often referred to as the witch bath in connection with the witch hunt , was lawful and above all effective be. To this day, Scribonius is regarded as the most vehement defender of this witch trial , which received more official rejection than any other element of the witch trials . Almost all followers of the witch doctrine , to which Scribonius is also to be counted, rejected the legality of the water test. However, it enjoyed great popularity among the lower courts and among the people. Scribonius now wanted to give the whole thing a learned foundation, which he must have succeeded in considering how many scholars have argued against him. His Marburg colleague - and possibly also a friend - Rudolf Goclenius was one of the first to oppose him in a paper. Other authors followed later, such as B. also Johannes Ewich .

Works

  • Exegesis Purgationis immersive examinis sagarum super aquam frigidam proiectarum: In qua Refutata opinione Guilhelmi Adolphi Scribonii, de hujus purgationis & aliarum similium origine, natura, & veritate agitur: Omnibus ad Rerum gubernacula sedentibus maxim necessaria , Helmstedt 1584
  • Report of research / probing and knowledge of the sorceresses through cold water / in which Wilhelm Adolph Scribonij's opinion is reiterated / and of origin / nature and truth of this and other purgation is traded , Helmstedt 1584 ( diglib.hab.de )

literature

  • Claudia Kauertz: Science and belief in witches: the discussion of magic and witchcraft at the University of Helmstedt (1576–1626) . Bielefeld 2001, ISBN 3-89534-353-6 (here pp. 83–84)
  • Hans-Peter Kneubühler: Overcoming the witch madness and witch trial . Diss. Jur., Diessenhofen 1977, pp. 86-87
  • Joseph Machmer: The sickness of the city of Hildesheim up to the 17th century . Phil.Diss., Hildesheim 1907, p. 13.
  • Max Roth: The court physicians and personal physicians of the last Oldenburg counts Johann VII († 1603) and Anton Günther († 1667). A contribution to the history of the Oldenburg estate . In: Yearbook for the history of the Duchy of Oldenburg , 16, 1908, pp. 292–326, lb-oldenburg.de
  • Paul Zimmermann: Album Academiae Helmstadiensis , Volume 1: Students, professors etc. of the University of Helmstedt from 1574–1636; A list of the students and teachers of the Pedagogy Illustre in Gandersheim 1572–74 goes first. Hanover 1926, p. 409, lb-oldenburg.de
  • Joachim Lehrmann : Faith in witches and demons in the state of Braunschweig. The story of persecution from a regional perspective . Greatly expanded 2nd edition (432 pages). Lehrte 2009, ISBN 978-3-9803642-8-7 (here a.o. pp. 111f., 119, 356).
  • Catalogus Professorum Rintelensium, The Professors of the University of Rinteln and the Academic Gymnasium in Stadthagen 1610-1810, arr . by Willy Hansel, Rinteln 1971, p. 49, no. 83.

Web links

  • Claudia Kauertz: Neuwalt, Hermann . In: Gudrun Gersmann, Katrin Moeller, Jürgen-Michael Schmidt (eds.): Lexicon for the history of witch persecution . historicum.net

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Claudia Kauertz: Neuwalt, Hermann . In: Gudrun Gersmann, Katrin Moeller, Jürgen-Michael Schmidt (eds.): Lexicon for the history of witch persecution . historicum.net; Retrieved May 8, 2009
personal data
SURNAME Neuwalt, Hermann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Neuwaldt, Hermann; Neuwalt, Hermanus; Neowaldus, Hermanus (Latin)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Medic and university professor, witch theorist
DATE OF BIRTH 1550
PLACE OF BIRTH Lemgo
DATE OF DEATH 1611
Place of death Stadthagen