Johann Otto Tabor

Johann Otto Tabor (born September 3, 1604 in Budissin ; † December 12, 1674 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a German lawyer and professor .

Life

Born in a time of deep faith and the turmoil of the Reformation , Tabor first studied law in Leipzig , Jena , Strasbourg and Geneva . He later went on extensive educational trips through Silesia , Bohemia and Austria. In 1631 he finally received his doctorate in Strasbourg and was appointed full professor there. After a few years in Alsace, he worked as Chancellor in Güstrow from 1656 , from 1659 also as Chancellor of the Academy in Gießen and as Councilor in Hessen-Darmstadt . During his life he dealt with the legal assessment in witch trials . As Chancellor of Güstrow he was intensively involved in the organization of the denomination campaign in Mecklenburg-Güstrow , the centerpiece of which was the persecution of folk magic and witchcraft . In this context, he was actively involved in speaking out in witch trials and had intensive discussions with the spiritual ministry, the so-called consistory , about the design of the witch trial. Last but not least, the traces of these lively arguments about confrontation or torture can also be found in his legal work. Tabor left behind an extremely extensive set of documents and a large number of supervised dissertations that dealt not only with criminal law. His records are now an essential part of witch research in Germany.

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• Christian Gottlieb Jöcher , Allgemeines Gelehrten-Lexicon , Part 4, Leipzig 1751.
• Johann August Ritter von Eisenhart :  Tabor, Johann Otto . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 37, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1894, pp. 337-339.
• Katrin Moeller, that arbitrariness takes precedence over law. Hunting of witches in Mecklenburg in the 16th and 17th centuries , Bielefeld 2007.
• Friedrich Wilhelm Strieder a . a., Basis for a Hessian history of scholars and writers: since the Reformation up to the present day , 20 vols., Kassel 1780–1863.