The Vehmic courts, ''Vehmgericht'', holy vehme, or simply Vehm, also spelt ''Feme'', ''Vehmegericht'', ''Fehmgericht'', are names given to a "proto-
vigilante
Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without Right, legal authority.
A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a pers ...
" tribunal system of
Westphalia
Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants.
The territory of the regio ...
in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
active during the later
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, based on a fraternal organisation of lay judges called "free judges" (german: Freischöffen or french: francs-juges). The original seat of the courts was in
Dortmund
Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...
. Proceedings were sometimes secret, leading to the alternative titles of "secret courts" (german: heimliches Gericht), "silent courts" (german: Stillgericht), or "forbidden courts" (german: verbotene Gerichte). After the execution of a death sentence, the corpse could be hanged on a tree to advertise the fact and deter others.
The peak of activity of these courts was during the 14th to 15th centuries, with lesser activity attested for the 13th and 16th centuries, and scattered evidence establishing their continued existence during the 17th and 18th centuries. They were finally abolished by order of
Jérôme Bonaparte, king of Westphalia, in 1811.
The Vehmic courts were the regional courts of Westphalia which, in turn, were based on the county courts of
Franconia
Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch'').
The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper Fr ...
. They received their jurisdiction from the
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...
, from whom they also received the capacity to pronounce capital punishment (german:
Blutgericht
High, middle and low justices are notions dating from Western feudalism to indicate descending degrees of judicial power to administer justice by the maximal punishment the holders could inflict upon their subjects and other dependents.
Low ju ...
) which they exercised in his name. Everywhere else the power of life and death, originally reserved to the Emperor alone, had been usurped by the territorial nobles; only in Westphalia, called "the Red Earth" because here the imperial ''Blutbann'' (jurisdiction over life and death) was still valid, were capital sentences passed and executed by the Vehmic courts in the Emperor's name alone.
Etymology
The term's origin is uncertain, but seems to enter Middle High German from
Middle Low German
Middle Low German or Middle Saxon (autonym: ''Sassisch'', i.e. " Saxon", Standard High German: ', Modern Dutch: ') is a developmental stage of Low German. It developed from the Old Saxon language in the Middle Ages and has been documented i ...
. The word ''vëme'' first appears in the
Middle High German
Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. High ...
literature of the 13th century as a noun with the meaning of "punishment". A document dated to 1251 has the reference ''illud occultum judicium, quod vulgariter vehma seu vridinch appellari consuevit.'' ("It is hidden justice, that by common fashion is habitually referred to as ''vehma'' or ''vridinch''.")
The general meaning of "punishment" is unrelated to the special courts of Westphalia which were thus originally just named "courts of punishment". But as the word entered the Southern German dialects via Saxony and Westphalia, the word's meaning in
Early Modern German
Early New High German (ENHG) is a term for the period in the history of the German language generally defined, following Wilhelm Scherer, as the period 1350 to 1650.
The term is the standard translation of the German (Fnhd., Frnhd.), introduce ...
became attached to the activities of these courts specifically.
Jacob Grimm
Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm (4 January 1785 – 20 September 1863), also known as Ludwig Karl, was a German author, linguist, philologist, jurist, and folklorist. He is known as the discoverer of Grimm's law of linguistics, the co-author of th ...
thought that the word is identical in origin to a homophonous word for the raising of pigs on forest pastures (
Hutewald), just as the more familiar German ''Zucht'' can mean both breeding and discipline. Grimm considers the spelling with ''h'' unetymological in spite of its early occurrence in some 13th century documents, and hypothesizes a "lost root" "''fëmen''", connecting with Old Norse ''fimr'' and conjecturing a Gothic "''fiman, fam, fêmun?''".
During 18th to 19th century Romanticism, there were various misguided attempts to explain the obscure term, or to elevate it to the status of a remnant of
pagan
Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...
antiquity, scoffed at by Grimm's entry in his ''
Deutsches Wörterbuch''. An etymology suggested by
James Skene
James Skene of Rubislaw (1775–1864) was a Scottish lawyer and amateur artist, best known as a friend of Sir Walter Scott.
Life
The second son of George Skene (1736–1776) of Rubislaw, Aberdeen and his wife Jane (Jean) Moir of Stoneywood, ...
in 1824 derives the word from ''Baumgericht'' (Lit. "Tree law"), supposedly the remnant of a pagan "forest law" of the
Wild hunt
The Wild Hunt is a folklore motif (Motif E501 in Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature) that occurs in the folklore of various northern European cultures. Wild Hunts typically involve a chase led by a mythological figure escorted by ...
and pagan secret societies.
Origin
The Westphalian Vehmic courts developed from the High Medieval "free courts" (''
Freigerichte''), which had jurisdiction within a "free county" (german:
Freigrafschaft
The Free County of Burgundy or Franche-Comté (french: Franche Comté de Bourgogne; german: Freigrafschaft Burgund) was a medieval county (from 982 to 1678) of the Holy Roman Empire, predecessor to the modern region of Franche-Comté. The name ' ...
). As a result of the 14th century imperial reform of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
(
Golden Bull of 1356
The Golden Bull of 1356 (, , , , ) was a decree issued by the Imperial Diet at Nuremberg and Metz ( Diet of Metz, 1356/57) headed by the Emperor Charles IV which fixed, for a period of more than four hundred years, important aspects of the con ...
), the Landgraviates lost much of their power, and the ''Freigerichte'' disappeared, with the exception of Westphalia, where they retained their authority and transformed into the Vehmic court.
The seat of the Vehmic court (german: Freistuhl) was at first
Dortmund
Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...
, in a square between two
linden tree
''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Britain and Ireland they ...
s, one of which was known as the ''
Femelinde''. With the growing influence of
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
during the 15th century, the seat was moved to
Arnsberg
Arnsberg (; wep, Arensperg) is a town in the Hochsauerland county, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the location of the Regierungsbezirk Arnsberg administration and one of the three local administration offices of the Hoch ...
in 1437.
Membership and procedure
The sessions were often held in secret, whence the names of "secret court" (german: heimliches Gericht), "silent court" (german: Stillgericht), etc. Attendance of secret sessions was forbidden to the uninitiated, on pain of death, which led to the designation "forbidden courts" (german: verbotene Gerichte). A chairman (german: Stuhlherr) presided over the court, and lay judges (german: Freischöffen) passed judgment. The court also constituted a
Holy Order.
[McCall, Andrew ''The Medieval Underworld'' Sutton Publishing (2004) p110]
Any free man "of pure bred German stock"
and of good character could become a judge. The new candidate was given secret information and identification symbols. The "knowing one" (german: Wissende) had to keep his knowledge secret, even from his closest family ("vor Weib und Kind, vor Sand und Wind"). Lay judges had to give formal warnings to known troublemakers, issue warrants, and take part in executions.
The organization of the ''Fehme'' was elaborate. The centre of each jurisdiction was referred to as a "free seat" (german: Freistuhl), and its head or chairman (german: Stuhlherr) was often a secular or spiritual prince, sometimes a civic community, the
archbishop of Cologne
The Archbishop of Cologne is an archbishop governing the Archdiocese of Cologne of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and is also a historical state in the Rhine holding the birthplace of Beethoven and northern Rhineland-Palati ...
being supreme over all (german: Oberststuhlherren). The actual president of the court was the "free count" (german:
Freigraf
Freigraf is a title of Germany nobility. It is derived from the German words ''frei'' ("free") and the feudal title '' graf'' ("count"). It can be used in two different contexts:
#A feudal count with an unusually extended title (which may expres ...
), chosen for life by the ''Stuhlherr'' from among the ''Freischöffen'', who formed the great body of the initiated. Of these the lowest rank were the ''Fronboten'' or ''Freifronen'', charged with the maintenance of order in the courts and the duty of carrying out the commands of the ''Freigraf''. The immense development of the ''Fehme'' is explained by the privileges of the ''Freischöffen''; for they were subject to no jurisdiction but those of the Westphalian courts: whether as accused or accuser they had access to the secret sessions, and they shared in the discussions of the general chapter as to the policy of the society. At their initiation these swore to support the ''Fehme'' with all their powers, to guard its secrets, and to bring before its tribunal anything within its competence that they might discover. They were then initiated into the secret signs by which members recognized each other, and were presented with a rope and with a knife on which were engraved the mystic letters S.S.G.G., supposed to mean ''Stein, Strick, Gras, grün'' (stone, rope, grass, green).
![A summons to appear before the court was nailed to his door](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/A_summons_to_appear_before_the_court_was_nailed_to_his_door.svg)
The ''Freistuhl'' was the place of session, and was usually a hillock, or some other well-known and accessible spot. The ''Freigraf'' and the ''Schöffen'' (judges) occupied the bench, before which a table, with a sword and rope upon it, was placed. The court was held by day and, unless the session was declared secret, all freemen, whether initiated or not, were admitted. The accusation was in the old German form; but only a ''Freischöffe'' could act as accuser. If the offence came under the competence of the court, meaning it was punishable by death, a summons to the accused was issued under the seal of the ''Freigraf''. This was not usually served on him personally, but was nailed to his door, or to some convenient place where he was certain to pass. Six weeks and three days' grace were allowed, according to the old Saxon law, and the summons was thrice repeated. If the accused appeared, the accuser stated the case, and the investigation proceeded by the examination of witnesses as in an ordinary court of law. The judgment was put into execution on the spot if that was possible.
The secret court, from whose procedure the whole institution has acquired its evil reputation, was closed to all but the initiated, although these were so numerous as to secure quasi-publicity; any one not a member on being discovered was instantly put to death, and the members present were bound under the same penalty not to disclose what took place. Crimes of a serious nature, and especially those that were deemed unfit for ordinary judicial investigation, such as heresy and witchcraft, fell within its jurisdiction, as also did appeals by persons condemned in the open courts, and likewise the cases before those tribunals in which the accused had not appeared. The accused, if a member, could clear himself by his own oath, unless he had revealed the secrets of the ''Fehme''. If he were one of the uninitiated it was necessary for him to bring forward witnesses to his innocence from among the initiated, whose number varied according to the number on the side of the accuser, but twenty-one in favour of innocence necessarily secured an acquittal. The only punishment which the secret court could inflict was death. If the accused appeared, the sentence was carried into execution at once; if he did not appear, it was quickly made known to the whole body, and the ''Freischöffe'' who was the first to meet the condemned was bound to put him to death. This was usually done by hanging, the nearest tree serving for gallows. A knife with the mystic letters was left beside the corpse to show that the deed was not a murder.
It has been claimed that, in some cases, the condemned would be set free, given several hours' head start and then hunted down and put to death. So fearsome was the reputation of the ''Fehme'' and its reach that many thus released committed suicide rather than prolonging the inevitable. This practice could have been a holdover from the ancient Germanic legal concept of
outlawry
An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them ...
(''Acht'').
Legend and romance have combined to exaggerate the sinister reputation of the Fehmic courts; but modern historical research has largely discounted this, proving that they never employed torture, that their sittings were only sometimes secret, and that their meeting-places were always well known.
The spread of the Vehmic courts
The system, though ancient, came into wider use only after the division of the
duchy of Saxony
The Duchy of Saxony ( nds, Hartogdom Sassen, german: Herzogtum Sachsen) was originally the area settled by the Saxons in the late Early Middle Ages, when they were subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 772 and incorporated into the C ...
after the fall of
Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion (german: Heinrich der Löwe; 1129/1131 – 6 August 1195) was a member of the Welf dynasty who ruled as the duke of Saxony and Bavaria from 1142 and 1156, respectively, until 1180.
Henry was one of the most powerful German p ...
, when the archbishop of Cologne
Engelbert II of Berg
Count Engelbert II of Berg, also known as Saint Engelbert, Engelbert of Cologne, Engelbert I, Archbishop of Cologne or Engelbert I of Berg, Archbishop of Cologne (1185 or 1186, Schloss Burg – 7 November 1225, Gevelsberg) was archbishop of C ...
, (also duke of Westphalia from 1180) placed himself at the head of the Fehme as representative of the emperor.
The organization then spread rapidly. Every free man born in lawful wedlock and not excommunicated nor an outlaw was eligible for membership.
Princes and nobles were initiated; and in 1429 even the
Emperor Sigismund
Sigismund of Luxembourg (15 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was a monarch as King of Hungary and Croatia ('' jure uxoris'') from 1387, King of Germany from 1410, King of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 until his death in ...
himself became "a true and proper of the Holy Roman Empire." There is a manuscript in the Town Hall of the Westphalian town of
Soest, which consists of an original Vehmic Court Regulation document, along with illustrations.
By the middle of the 14th century these (Latin ), sworn associates of the Fehme, were scattered in thousands throughout the length and breadth of Germany, known to each other by secret signs and pass-words, and all of them pledged to serve the summons of the secret courts and to execute their judgment.
Decline and dissolution of the Courts
That an organization of this character should have outlived its usefulness and ushered in intolerable abuses, such as
corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
was inevitable; from the mid-fifteenth century protests were raised against the enormities of the court.
With the growing power of the territorial sovereigns and the gradual improvement of the ordinary process of justice, the functions of the Fehmic courts were superseded. By the action of the
Emperor Maximilian and of other German princes they were, in the 16th century, once more restricted to Westphalia, and here, too, they were brought under the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts, and finally confined to mere police duties. With these functions, however, but with the old forms long since robbed of their impressiveness, they survived into the 19th century. They were finally abolished by order of
Jérôme Bonaparte, king of Westphalia, in 1811. The last Freigraf died in 1835.
Modern use of the term
Following the abandonment of the Vehmic courts, the term acquired a connotation of
mob rule
Mob rule or ochlocracy ( el, ὀχλοκρατία, translit=okhlokratía; la, ochlocratia) is the rule of government by a mob or mass of people and the intimidation of legitimate authorities. Insofar as it represents a pejorative for majori ...
and
lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...
. In
Modern German
New High German (NHG; german: Neuhochdeutsch (Nhd.)) is the term used for the most recent period in the history of the German language, starting in the 17th century. It is a loan translation of the German (). The most important characteristic o ...
, the spelling of ''Feme'' is most common. Other variant forms are: Fehme, Feime, Veme. The verb ''verfemen'' is in current use and means "to ostracise", i.e. by public opinion rather than formal legal proceeding. A noun derived from this is ''Verfemter'' "outlaw, ostracised person".
In an 1856 lecture, philosopher
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
used the Vehmic courts as a metaphor to describe his predictions of the working-class revolution that would sweep Europe.
Within the politically heated turmoil of the early German
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...
after World War I, the media frequently used the term ''Fememord'' to refer to right-wing political homicides, e.g. the murder of Jewish politicians such as
Kurt Eisner
Kurt Eisner (; 14 May 1867 21 February 1919)"Kurt Eisner – Encyclopædia Britannica" (biography), ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2006, Britannica.com webpageBritannica-KurtEisner. was a German politician, revolutionary, journalist, and theatre c ...
(1919) or
Walther Rathenau
Walther Rathenau (29 September 1867 – 24 June 1922) was a German industrialist, writer and liberal politician.
During the First World War of 1914–1918 he was involved in the organization of the German war economy. After the war, Rathenau s ...
(1922) and other politicians including
Matthias Erzberger
Matthias Erzberger (20 September 1875 – 26 August 1921) was a German writer and politician (Centre Party), the minister of Finance from 1919 to 1920.
Prominent in the Catholic Centre Party, he spoke out against World War I from 1917 and as a ...
(1921) by right-wing groups such as
Organisation Consul
Organisation Consul (O.C.) was an ultra-nationalist and anti-Semitic terrorist organization that operated in the Weimar Republic from 1920 to 1922. It was formed by members of the disbanded Freikorps group Marine Brigade Ehrhardt and was respons ...
. In 1926, the 27th
''Reichstag'' commission officially differentiated the contemporarily common ''Fememorde'' from political assassination in that assassination was by definition exerted upon open political opponents, whereas a ''Fememord'' was a form of lethal vengeance committed upon former or current members of an organization that they had become a traitor to. This definition is also found in the common pseudo-archaic,
alliterating right-wing phrase, ''"Verräter verfallen der Feme!"'' ("Traitors shall be ostracized!", i. e. killed), as it was often quoted throughout the 1920s in mass media reports regarding violent acts of vengeance among the German Right.
[Hofmann, Ulrike C. (2000)]
''"Verräter verfallen der Feme!" Fememorde in Bayern in den zwanziger Jahren''
Cologne: Böhlau
The Vehmic courts in fiction
Vehmic courts play a key role in the novel ''
Anne of Geierstein
''Anne of Geierstein, or The Maiden of the Mist'' (1829) is one of the Waverley novels by Sir Walter Scott. It is set in Central Europe, mainly in Switzerland, shortly after the Yorkist victory at the Battle of Tewkesbury (1471). It covers the p ...
or, The Maiden of the Mist'' by
Sir Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...
in which Archibald von Hagenbach, the Duke of Burgundy's governor at Brisach (Switzerland), is condemned and executed by the Vehmgericht. Scott drew his inspiration from
Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...
's play ''
Goetz von Berlichingen'' which he had translated, incorrectly.
Hector Berlioz's first opera, ''
Les francs-juges'', was inspired by Scott's presentation of the Vehmic Courts. Though the work was never staged the overture survives as a concert piece. In the very first concert of Berlioz's work, on 26 May 1828, the overture was performed along with the Opus 1 ''
Waverley Waverley may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Waverley'' (novel), by Sir Walter Scott
** ''Waverley'' Overture, a work by Hector Berlioz inspired by Scott's novel
* Waverley Harrison, a character in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Stree ...
'' overture, a further indication of Berlioz's debt to Scott's fiction. The ''Les francs-juges'' overture later became the signature tune for ''
Face to Face'', the early series of British television interviews presented by
John Freeman.
In
William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel ''Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...
's novel ''
Vanity Fair'' "Was Rebecca guilty or not?" the Vehmgericht of the servants' hall had pronounced against her.
A character in the
Dorothy L. Sayers
Dorothy Leigh Sayers (; 13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime writer and poet. She was also a student of classical and modern languages.
She is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between th ...
novel ''
Murder Must Advertise
''Murder Must Advertise'' is a 1933 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, the eighth in her series featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. Most of the action of the novel takes place in an advertising agency, a setting with which Sayers was familiar as s ...
'' appears at a fancy-dress party as a member of the Vehmgericht, which allows him to wear a hooded costume to disguise his identity. People in Femgericht costumes also appear in
Arthur Schnitzler
Arthur Schnitzler (15 May 1862 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian author and dramatist.
Biography
Arthur Schnitzler was born at Praterstrasse 16, Leopoldstadt, Vienna, capital of the Austrian Empire (as of 1867, part of the dual monarchy ...
's 1926 novella ''
Dream Story
''Rhapsody: A Dream Novel'', also known as ''Dream Story'' (german: Traumnovelle), is a 1926 novella by the Austrian writer Arthur Schnitzler. The book deals with the thoughts and psychological transformations of Doctor Fridolin over a two-day p ...
''.
In ''
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety'', August 4, 1976, p. 6 ...
s ''
M'', the local criminals of an unnamed city (probably Berlin) capture a child murderer and hold a vigilante court.
In ''
The Illuminatus! Trilogy
''The Illuminatus! Trilogy'' is a series of three novels by American writers Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, first published in 1975.''Illuminatus!'' was written between 1969 and 1971, but not published until 1975 according to Robert Anto ...
'', the Vehmic courts are mentioned as being connected to
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
Werwolf
''Werwolf'' (, German for "werewolf") was a Nazi plan which began development in 1944, to create a resistance force which would operate behind enemy lines as the Allies advanced through Germany, in parallel with the ''Wehrmacht'' fighting in ...
commandos as well as the
Illuminati
The Illuminati (; plural of Latin ''illuminatus'', 'enlightened') is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on ...
.
In ''
A Study in Scarlet
''A Study in Scarlet'' is an 1887 detective novel by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The story marks the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, who would become the most famous detective duo in literature. The book's title der ...
'', a
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
novel by
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...
, a newspaper article mentions the Vehmgericht, stating that the features of a recent death are similar to the organization's killings.
The Vehmgericht also appear as antagonists in ''The Strong Arm'', an 1899 novel set in the Holy Roman Empire by British-Canadian author
Robert Barr.
Geoff Taylor's 1966 novel, ''Court Of Honor'', features the Fehme being revived by a German officer and
Martin Bormann in the dying days of the Third Reich.
Season 3, episode 12 of
''The Blacklist'', titled ''The Vehm'' is based on a group of vigilantes using medieval torture methods to kill paedophiles and money launderers.
Jack Mayer's 2015 historical fiction, ''Before the Court of Heaven'', depicts the Fehme, and 'Fehme justice' as part of the extreme right-wing conspiracy to bring down Germany's Weimar democracy.
See also
*
Feme murders
The Feme ('fā-mə) murders (German: ) were a series of politically motivated murders in Weimar Germany from 1919 to 1923 that were committed by elements of the German far right against political opponents they considered treasonous. The practice ...
References
* This work in turn cites:
**P. Wigand, ''Das Femgericht Westfalens'' (Hamm, 1825, 2nd ed., Halle, 1893)
**L. Tross, ''Sammlung merkwurdiger Urkunden für die Geschichte der Femgerichte'' (Hanover, 1826)
**F. P. Usener, ''Die frei- und heimlichen Gerichte Westfalens'' (Frankfort, 1832)
**K. G. von Wächter, ''Beiträge zur deutschen Geschichte, insbesondere des deutschen Strafrechts'' (Tübingen, 1845)
**O. Wächter, ''Femgerichte und Hexenprozesse in Deutschland'' (Stuttgart, 1882)
**T. Lindner, ''Die Feme'' (Munster and Paderborn, 1888)
**F. Thudichum, ''Femgericht und Inquisition'' (Giessen, 1889)
**T. Lindner, ''Der angebliche Ursprung der Femgerichte aus der Inquisition'' (Paderborn, 1890) This source combats T. Linder's theory concerning the origin of the Fehme.
**K.M. Langmaier: ''Wo finde ich mein Recht? Ulrich Erhart gegen Kloster, Herzog und Reichsstadt: der „arme Mann" in den Mühlen der Justiz. Ein bayerischer Beitrag zur westfälischen Femegerichtsbarkeit im 15. Jahrhundert.'' In: Westfälische Zeitschrift 170, 2020 37–68
**Dahlmann and Waitz, ''Quellenkunde'' (Leipzig, 1906), p. 401; also the supplementary vol. (1907), p. 78. Lists of works on individual aspects.
*
Daraul, Arkon, ''A History of Secret Societies'', London, Tandem, 1965. Has a chapter on the Holy Vehm; among other things, it describes the practice of "Free As a Bird".
*''This article (or an earlier version) contains text from the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
''
Brewer's Reader's Handbook'', published in 1898.''
Notes
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vehmic Court
Legal history of the Holy Roman Empire
Secret societies in Germany
Abuse of the legal system
1811 disestablishments in Germany