Witch trials in Borchen

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Witch trials in Borchen were carried out from 1597 to around 1611 in the area of ​​today's Borchen municipality in North Rhine-Westphalia .

In the area of ​​jurisdiction of the cathedral chapter in the Hochstift Paderborn 13 people from Etteln were charged in witch trials. Nine people were burned for alleged sorcery. Three people were burned to death in the neighboring village of Atteln . The village of Henglarn was also affected.

Johann Moller, Syndic of the Paderborn Cathedral Monastery

The head of the witch hunt in the Paderborn bishopric was the syndic of the cathedral monastery, Licentiate Johann Moller. He was chairman of the cathedral capitular witches' court. Several cases on record bear witness to the abuse of power by the witch judge Moller and his colleagues.

Witches trial against Elisabeth Schaefer

family

Elisabeth Schaefer was born in Atteln around 1537 . Her father was a judge in Atteln, she was married. Her first husband had been Holzgreve ( Grebe ). Her son was named Hermann Meyer, her sister Margaretha Vogt .

Arrest and torture

Although she belonged to the upper class of the village, the 60-year-old Elisabeth Schaefer was involved in a witch trial in Etteln . In July 1597, the judge's daughter was accused of complicity. Several people told her under the torture that she allegedly attended the witches' dances.

Her family reacted immediately. Her husband and relatives hired a notary for defense, who wrote a petition to the prince-bishop. The lawyer was arrested. Another lawyer couldn't do anything either, and the trial continued.

Elisabeth was subjected to the water test. She was tortured several times in order to extort a confession.

execution

On the public court day in Etteln, on which the execution was to take place, relatives and friends stormed the place of execution under tumultuous circumstances and prevented the execution. They achieved that the case was presented to five lawyers from Paderborn . However, these lawyers confirmed the death sentence. Elisabeth was burned at the stake before October 1597. As a result, her sister Margaretha Vogt was arrested.

Proceedings due to legal costs

When the bereaved husband was supposed to pay the legal costs of 113 guilders, the son Hermann Meyer filed a lawsuit in 1598 against the procedure of the cathedral chapter and its judges for the execution of his mother Elisabeth Schaefer.

The fate of the notary who was arrested on suspicion of witchcraft is unknown.

Witch trial against Margaretha Vogt

family

Margaretha (Margareta) will have been at least 50 years old. Her father was a judge in Atteln, her sister was Elisabeth Schaefer . Her nephew was called Hermann Meyer.

arrest

Margaretha Vogt got involved in a witch trial in Etteln . She was arrested on November 14, 1597. Seven people who had been executed were reported under the torture of allegedly participating in the witch dances. The submission of her brother-in-law, with which he had complained to the prince-bishop in the prince-bishopric of Paderborn about the legal costs, probably also played a role .

Trial at the Reich Chamber of Commerce

Her sister's son, Hermann Meyer, applied to the Imperial Court of Justice in Speyer . On January 7, 1598, this prohibited her from being subjected to torture and water testing. Margaretha Vogt had previously been tortured, but she had not made a confession. Eventually she was released.

Witch trial against the "Josepsche" von Etteln

"The Josepsche" von Etteln was imprisoned in Lippspringe before 1611 on suspicion of witchcraft and subjected to torture. During the torture of the woman, the witch judge Johann Moller had seen how "beautiful of the body and well-formed she had become, that he often used to say of it that it would be a pity that one should burn such a beautiful woman".

Moller released the woman from custody and placed her in an apartment in Lippspringe . Moller left her out of jail "motu proprio (at her own discretion), entrusted her to one of the best chambers". He went to her every day and "stayed with her for several hours". When Moller's wife noticed and Moller got tired of "Josepschen", he sent her back to her house in Etteln. "If he finally left them out after having done things as they were smooth and well-trained, eadem authoritate propi (from the same power of their own)."

But the husband of the "Josepschen" got a bill and had to "kill a considerable sum of food money in front of them".

Witch trial against Gertraud Kneips

On November 21, 1611, Gertraud Kneips stated in a protocol that Syndikus Johann Moller had repeatedly forced her to fornicate “several years ago” in the forest between Etteln and Eggeringhausen by making threats and promises: “If she is compliant, it should be within magic matters Etteln will no longer be prosecuted against them. "

Moller had demanded that she should "mix carnal" with him. This is said to have resulted in a "four-time mixing". When Gertraud Kneips gave birth to a son, Moller threatened her "that he, Gertraud, wanted to prescribe her, persecute and burn her in every place," and she had to "appropriate the little son to an old poor man named Grothe".

In the “Denunciatio of the cathedral chapter against Moller” of December 2, 1611, it is stated that he repeatedly “mixed with pigeons who were obviously self-confessed in the woods and forks from evening to morning”.

Sources and literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rainer Decker: The witch hunt in the Hochstift Paderborn , in: Westfälische Zeitschrift. Journal of Patriotic History and Archeology, Vol. 128 (Regensburg 1978), p. 325
  2. ↑ Borchen municipality: The history of the Etteln district (May 31, 2015) ( Memento of the original from May 31, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.borchen.de
  3. ^ Thomas Reich: Trial files as a genealogical source. Genealogy in the Münster State Archives, Münster 2007, p. 51
  4. ^ Rainer Decker: The witch hunt in the Hochstift Paderborn , in: Westfälische Zeitschrift. Journal of Fatherland History and Archeology, Vol. 128 (Regensburg 1978), pp. 315–356.
  5. ^ Thomas Reich: Trial files as a genealogical source. Genealogy in the Münster State Archives, Münster 2007, pp. 51–53
  6. ↑ Borchen municipality: The history of the Etteln district (May 31, 2015) ( Memento of the original from May 31, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.borchen.de
  7. ^ Rainer Decker: The witch hunt in the Hochstift Paderborn , in: Westfälische Zeitschrift. Journal of Patriotic History and Archeology, Vol. 128 (Regensburg 1978), p. 329
  8. ^ Rainer Decker: The witch hunt in the Hochstift Paderborn , in: Westfälische Zeitschrift. Journal of Patriotic History and Archeology, Vol. 128 (Regensburg 1978), p. 329
  9. ↑ Helga Pregesbauer: Unreal sexualities? On the history of sexuality, body and gender in the European witch hunt , diploma thesis, Vienna, 2008, p. 54.