Devil's Subsidy
Compulsory devil means “marriage” and intimate (sexual) relationship with Satan . The word Teufelsbuhlschaft contains the out-of-fashion expression " Buhlschaft ", which can mean the beloved , or marriage , engagement and sexual relationship (courtier, boleren). The word “ rival ” is still in common use today .
The devil's participation in the early modern witch persecutions
In addition to the devil's pact , the flight of witches and the transformation into animals (e.g. werewolf ), participation in the witch's sabbath and the magic of damage, a central charge in the early modern witch trials . The basis for the persecution of witches was the imperial court order of Charles V of 1532 ( Constitutio Criminalis Carolina ), which threatened the accused with death by fire after confessing to witchcraft. The basis of the charges in the witch court proceedings were the accusations of guilt of the systematic witch doctrine , as they u. a. the witch's hammer of the Dominican Heinrich Kramer (lat.Henricus Institoris) from 1486 reproduces.
According to the early modern witch doctrine, the covenant of the devil's pact entered into with the devil was carried out in the form of a marriage (devil's bond ) and through sexual intercourse between witches or sorcerers with Satan.
Confessions of the devil's allegiance in the witch trials
These charges together made up the so-called cumulative offense "witchcraft". In every trial, the defendants were questioned about these four facts during interrogation and confessed to being threatened or subjected to torture .
In the early modern period it was common belief that witches had sexual relations with the devil, so that the interrogations asked in detail about the course of the devil's participation.
According to the statements of the defendants, the devil approached as a seducer. He came to women either in the form of a well-dressed stranger or an acquaintance. Accused men described that the devil appeared in the form of a beautiful woman. You would then have had sexual intercourse with the devil. The devil's genitals have been described as "unnatural" and "cold". The devil could - depending on his needs - take on the role of a man or a woman (he appeared as an incubus or a succubus ).
Example from a witch trial file
From a witch trial file, the allegation of the devil's courtship in connection with other charges of the witch doctrine (devil pact and witch dance) is reproduced below. It is the interrogation in the witch trial against the accused Christine Teipel from Oberkirchen , 9 years old, on Monday, March 18, 1630 .
1. Devil's pact
"Confessed good that Johan Bell ... before long, doesn't know how much jar, in Stephans bakehouse she learned the magic, ... (She) Hette also promised the devil, what the devil in a brave young figure, ... come to ir, ... said to ir whether she wanted to also stand [to him]. In the druff she replied: yes, to whom he would do something good for us, whatever he promised to do to us. "
2. Witches dance on the Witches' Sabbath
"His boel (Teufelsbuhle) hett mit ir danced ... The dance hette woll weret two hours"
3. Devil's partnership
"Confessing that the bol (devil's bite) had a thing flesh so that you could be in ir shamb etc., had no pleasure in it, were there when wens wood was; and whenever she was drawn to the dance, he would have come to her first come and boliret [= have sexual intercourse], and if they didn't want to suffer, he would have dared to hit ir "[= threatened].
See also
swell
- ^ Alfred Bruns, Landesarchivdirektor Münster, from: Documentation for the exhibition "Witches. Jurisdiction in the Electoral Cologne Sauerland", published by the Schieferbergbau-Heimatmuseum Schmallenberg-Holthausen, 1984, p. 26ff
literature
- Georg Schwaiger (Ed.): Belief in the devil and witch trials. Beck'sche Reihe, Volume 337. Munich 1987, ISBN 3-406-32311-1 .
- Heinrich Kramer (Institoris): The witch hammer. Malleus maleficarum. 3rd revised edition. Dtv, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-423-30780-3 (commented new translation by Günter Jerouschek and Wolfgang Behringer).
- Ulrich Molitor : Of monsters and witches. Original edition 1489, newly translated into German by Nicolaus Equiamicus 2008. ISBN 978-3866080898 (source work. Contains two detailed chapters with dialogues 6 and 12, especially on the devil's bonds).
