Analyses and articles on the witch hunts in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (15th–18th centuries, peak: 1550 to 1650)
In the dark chapters of witch hunts, the accusation of “Maleficium” (harmful magic) was the ultimate weapon of the judiciary. It allowed misfortune, illness, or economic failure to be attributed to an unpopular person—without ever…
The witch hunts of the early modern period were not evenly distributed across Europe but showed significant strongholds. Certain territories became notorious as veritable centers of persecution, where thousands of people – predominantly women –…
Katharina Henot (c. 1570–1627) is one of the most famous victims of the witch hunts in Germany. Her fate serves as a prime example of how political ambition, economic envy, and religious fanaticism converged to…
The term sounds like a relic from a dark era, yet the “hochnotpeinliche Befragung” (extraordinary painful interrogation) was a fixed, legally codified component of the German judicial system for centuries. Under the pretext of seeking…
The witch trials that swept through the Holy Roman Empire between the 15th and 18th centuries are often remembered as a burst of superstitious hysteria. However, a closer look reveals a more sinister truth: they…