The Wiesensteig witch trial took place in

Wiesensteig Wiesensteig is a town in the district of Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is located on the river Fils, 16 km south of Göppingen. Geography Geographical location Wiesensteig is located in the upper Fils valley ...

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 ...

in 1562–1563. It led to the execution of 67 women for sorcery. This has been described as the first of the great witch trials of Germany and the starting point of the continuing European witch hunt. The trial inspired to the popular book : ''Of the tricks of Demons'', which were printed in six expanded editions in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

between 1562 and 1583 and translated to French in 1565. It was recorded in 1563 in a pamphlet called "True and Horrifying Deeds of 63 Witches".

The trial

In the mid-16th century, Wiesensteig suffered from religious turmoil, war, severe

hail Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailstone. Ice pellets generally fal ...

storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmos ...

s and

epidemic An epidemic (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics ...

s. The ruler of the city, Count Ulrich von Helfenstein, started to blame the misfortunes of the city on witches. On August 3, 1562, a severe hailstorm hit the city and the damages were extensive. Within a couple of days, Helfenstein had several women arrested and accused of witchcraft, an action which appears to have been met with approval. Six of the arrested women were executed as witches. They were made to confess to sorcery through

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

. A number of these claimed to have seen citizens of Esslingen at their Sabbath. Three people were arrested in Esslingen, but later released. Helfenstein was appalled at the lenience in Esslingen. He executed another forty-one women from Wiesensteig. On December 2, 1562, he approved the additional execution of 20 more. This amounted to the total reported in a sensational

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a hard cover or binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' or it may consist of a ...

of 1563, which described as: ''the true and terrible acts and deeds of the sixty-three witches and sorceresses who were burned at Wiesensteig''. There have been debates of the religious convictions of Ulrich von Helfensten in regards to the witch hunt: he was originally Catholic, a Lutheran during the trial and converted to Catholicism in 1567, which thereby also turned the religion of the city. Wiesensteig experienced more witch trials in 1583 (25 dead), 1605 (14 dead), 1611 (5 dead).

References

External links

* http://www.shanmonster.com/witch/hunters/helfenstein.html {{Witch Hunt Witch trials in Germany 1562 in law 1563 in law 1562 in the Holy Roman Empire 1563 in the Holy Roman Empire Duchy of Württemberg

The trial

References

Further reading

External links