The Renaissance woman

The Renaissance woman in the higher social circles in Rome was held in nearly the same regard as her male counterparts, and importantly, she was normally given an equal standard of education. The Italians of the Renaissance saw no reason to prevent sons and daughters from receiving the same literary and even philological schooling. The so-called New Antique was looked upon as life's greatest blessing and therefore girls too were allowed to indulge in it. It was important to acquire knowledge about the Antique, since this subject dominated the conversation, together with the subject of Italian poetry. There is ample evidence of women's education, and many noblewomen were well able to speak and write in Latin. Following Cassandra Fedele (late 15th century), several women even became famous as writers of canzonas and sonnets. Alongside education, women developed their character almost as freely as men. Prior to the Reformation, very few women stood out as individuals, but in Rome a lady of distinction aimed at being just as accomplished and complete as a gentleman. These women were not aiming to reach a large audience, but simply to equal and impress important men. The finest compliment one could give to a Renaissance woman was to say that her mind and soul were masculine.

Benevento

Benevento is the Italian form of Beneventum (Latin for "good wind"), which had earlier been called Maluentum ("bad wind"). Situated in southern Italy (Campania), it is the main town in the province of the same name. After Rome, Benevento has the highest number of ancient monuments. One of these is the so-called Golden Gate, originally a triumphal archway built in the year 114 for the Roman Emperor Trajan. In 568 the Lombards arrived in Italy, and soon the whole of northern Italy was in their hands. The Lombards (“longbearded”) were a Germanic tribe from the time of the migrations, and there is much to suggest that these people came from Scandinavia. Their success further south was not so complete, and only the duchies Benevento and Spoleto remained Lombardian. Myths about witches survive to this day in Benevento; stories about the fair-haired Lombards dancing and singing under an oak or a walnut tree. However, the town has never in its history seen a trial for witchcraft, as the witches in Benevento were seen as benevolent.

Pope Paul III (Alessandro Farnese)

Born in Camino, Feb. 29th 1468; died in Rome, Nov. 10th 1549. The last of the Renaissance popes. He reigned from October 13th 1534 until his death. He was formerly known as “The Petticoat Cardinal” because his sister, Giulia “La Bella”, was the mistress of Pope Alexander VI, and was most influential when Alessandro was appointed cardinal in 1493. In contrast to earlier Renaissance popes, Paul III was a comparatively moderate leader. The decadence represented by his predecessors was significantly altered when he came to power. It should not be overlooked that the Farnese family benefited a great deal from his position. The Pope had four children (three so-called “nephews” and one “niece”) through his mistress and he appointed two of his grandsons cardinals when they were only in their teens. Pope Paul also released the regions of Parma and Piacenza from papal ownership. He made them duchies, appointing his son, Pier Luigi, as duke. In 1540 Paul III endorsed the order of Jesuits by the papal bull Regimini Militantis Ecclesiae. He also re-instituted the Papal Inquisition and began the Catholic Counter-Reformation. He further excommunicated Henry VIII when the King rashly set himself up as the head of the Church of England.

Emperor Charles V (1500 - 1558)

Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain and Archduke of Austria, who inherited the Spanish and Habsburg Empire extending across Europe from Spain and the Netherlands to Austria and the kingdom of Naples as well as reaching overseas to Spanish America. Charles was born in Gent, the son of King Philip I “the handsome” of Castile and Joan “the mad”, daughter of Ferdinand “the Catholic” of Aragon. In 1506 he inherited Franche Comté and the Netherlands from his father. In 1516 he inherited Spain and its possessions from his mother, and in 1519 also the Austrian heritable countries from Emperor Maximilian I. In 1519 Charles was elected King of Germany as desired by Maximilian I and by means of the regular bribery financed by the powerful Fugger banking family (see below). However, he spent little time in Germany, he regarded Spain as his main country and preferred French speech. He struggled hard to hold his huge empire together, and had great abilities as a ruler, though he was a reticent man. His policy failed partly because of a conflict of interests. He looked upon the Catholic Church as the gathering factor of the empire, but he wanted to reign supreme, and therefore ended up in a conflict with the Pope. Charles V was a devoted Catholic, and strongly opposed the Lutherans. However, he was unable to destroy Luther and his Reformation, being engaged in wars against both the Turks and Francis I of France. The first two wars against Francis I, who had been his powerful rival in the German imperial election of 1519, rendered him supreme in Italy. In 1525 he even managed to capture Francis, who had to sign a humiliating peace treaty. In 1527 Charles V's troops stormed Rome (see Il sacco di Roma, below) and three years later he was crowned emperor by Pope Clement VII. While Charles V succeeded in his foreign policy, he suffered defeat in his policy towards the German princes and Protestantism. At the Imperial Diet of Worms (1521) he had Luther convicted, but the Reformation was spreading rapidly and was supported by numerous princes who used it to strengthen their position against the Emperor. The Protestant princes founded the Schmalkaldic League in 1530, and ten years later most of the German duchies were reformed. In 1545 Pope Paul III, on the initiative of Charles, summoned the Council of Trent. It resulted in a strengthened position of the papacy instead of the Emperor, but it made Charles able to strike against the Protestants. The Schmalkaldic League was crushed in 1546-1547 and the leaders were captured, but it was not a lasting victory. In 1551 a secret treaty was signed between Sachsen, Hessen and Brandenburg against Charles, and he received only half-hearted support from the Catholic princes. In 1552 a new war broke out. This time the Protestants were supported both by France and by Turkey, and Charles was forced to withdraw. In 1555 a religious peace treaty was made at Augsburg, in which Emperor Charles had to grant the princes religious freedom for their duchies. In 1556 Charles had to renounce Metz, Toul and Verdun, and he abdicated, broken in body and mind. He spent his last years at the monastery San Juste in Estremadura with penitential exercise, music and bell-forging.

Il sacco di Roma

The Sack of Rome was the plundering of the city in 1527 by the troops of Emperor Charles V. General Charles of Bourbon, who led the attack, was killed when the city was raided, and the eight days of plundering that followed can only be compared to the Barbarian assaults in the 5th century. There were piles of corpses in the streets, and thousands of bodies were just dumped into the Tiber. Prior to the assault, the population in Rome amounted to approximately 60,000. Within a few days, 15,000 were killed, and of those who survived, pests, starvation and other plagues probably killed as many again. The soldiers of Charles V behaved like wild hordes during the attack as they rampaged for gold. Some cardinals were robbed of more than 100,000 ducats (Venetian gold coins), and people were tortured to pay ransoms as high as 30-40,000 ducats. Not many art treasures were lost during the assault. Charles V's men did not appreciate their value, and there were obviously more lucrative activities than spending time removing or destroying “worthless” items. Thus most of the famous Renaissance churches and palaces were left untouched. The Emperor received the news about the vandalism of The Eternal City with sorrow and shame, as his primary plan had been to show the Pope (Clement VII) his superior power. After this disaster Rome faced enormous problems in rising again, especially since it occurred at the same time as other crises. The death of Pope Leo X (1521) had already placed the city in a critical financial situation, as he left a colossal debt. The Reformation had meant a severe decline in income for the Church, with England, Scandinavia and major parts of Germany no longer supporting the Pope. On top of this, the loss of all current coins and valuables during the sack now left the Church virtually penniless.

Luther and the Reformation

Martin Luther was born Nov. 10th 1483, and died Feb. 18th 1546. He was brought up in Eisleben, and became a doctor and professor of theology as well as a monk of the Augustinian order. In 1517, Tetzel, a Dominican friar, came into the bishopric of Magdeburg to raise money for the building of the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome by selling papal indulgences. This greatly offended Luther, and on October 31st, Luther nailed ninety-five arguments to the church door at Wittenberg in which he roundly attacked Tetzel's actions and the whole practice of the sale of papal indulgences. The Reformation, the first movement in history to benefit from the printing press, made Luther famous. His fame grew, and so did the support for his theses. In 1520 he called for a German national Church, independent of Rome. The Pope excommunicated him in the papal bulls Exsurge Domine (which Luther burned on December 10th) and Decet. Under the Emperor's safe conduct he appeared before the Imperial Diet at Worms. Luther refused to retract his position and was then outlawed by the Emperor. On his return from Worms, Luther was intercepted by agents of his protector, the Elector of Saxony, and taken, for his own safety, to the Castle of Wartburg, where he commenced his translation of the New Testament into German. Because of his wide popular support, neither the Imperial Edict of Worms nor the Papal Bulls could be enforced against Luther, especially as a new nationalism began to sweep the country. The men of North Germany did not have a high regard for things Italian, and to them the Catholic Church was Italian. In many ways, Luther reflected the spirit of the land in which he lived. With his tremendous vitality, his courage, his love of music and poetry, and his rough, almost coarse sense of humour, he was the personification of the North German peasantry. Stimulated by the teaching of the Reformation, the Peasant's War broke out in 1524. Luther said: “A Christian is a free lord of all things, and subject to no man”, a statement much misunderstood by the peasant workers. Luther was speaking in purely theological, not social or political terms, but the peasants saw this as religious sanction for their uprising. Without doubt Luther clearly saw the danger to which the Reformation would be exposed if, in the minds of the masses, it became associated with mob law. In 1525 Luther married the nun Katarina von Bora, and with their six children, they created a rich domestic life. During their meals, attended by guests and students, Luther spoke on a wide variety of subjects, including witchcraft. He recollected his childhood among peasants and miners, where his mother lived under the constant fear that a woman neighbour would bewitch her children “so they'd scream themselves to death”. To gain this witch's favour, she often had Martin sent to her with gifts. Witchcraft was a topic where the Catholics and Protestants did not disagree. In fact, the witch persecutions were carried out even more vigorously in the reformed parts of Germany than in the rest of Europe. In 1538 Luther claimed that “Lawyers demand too much evidence... The witches' deeds are proof enough to give them their well deserved punishment to both set an example and deter, so others refrain from this devilry... To such people one shall not show mercy. I would myself burn them.”

The Fugger family

Fugger is a great German trading and banking family which played a major political role in 16th century Europe. Johannes Fugger acquired citizenship in Augsburg in 1368 as a weaver and cloth merchant. Andreas Fugger amassed a great fortune at the beginning of the 15th century. Ulrik Fugger (1441-1510) engaged in large financial transactions with the Habsburgs, while his brother Jacob Fugger (1459-1525) changed the firm's activities to mining and banking. In 1505 Jacob set up a company for trading in East India, and in 1521 he subsidized the election of Charles V as emperor. The Fugger family was at its most powerful during the time of Jacob's son Raimund (1489-1535) and Anton (1493-1560) both of whom Charles V made counts. In 1534 they were granted permission to mint money, leasing the papal mint with the Chigi family in Rome. Several members of the family were well-known humanists and supported art and science. Branches of the Fugger family are still active in European banking.

Heidelberg

Heidelberg is situated at the bottom of the Neckar valley and by the foot of the 568 m tall Königstuhl mountain. From 1237 Germany consisted of seven electorates; three clerical and four secular. The three clerical electorates (Köln, Trier and Mainz) were ruled by archbishops, while electoral princes reigned over the secular electorates (Böhmen, Sachsen, Brandenburg and the Palatinate). In 1356 The Golden Bull decided that the King of Germany should be elected solely by the seven electoral princes. In 1329 Emperor Ludwig IV and his nephew Rupert I detached the Palatinate from Bavaria (Bayern). From 1508 to 1544, Elector Ludwig V ruled the Palatinate. In 1556 his successor Ottheinrich introduced the Reformation in the area. He also constructed the Ottheinrich Building at Heidelberg Castle, which is said to be the most beautiful Renaissance building north of the Alps. The most important catechistic work of the reformed Church, The Heidelberg Catechism, was composed in 1563 by two theologians from Heidelberg, Zacharias Ursinus and Caspar Olevianus. Their work was commissioned by Electoral Prince Friedrich III. In 1608 Electoral Prince Friedrich IV became head of the Protestantic Alliance. During the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), the Palatinate lost three quarters of its population. In 1907 remains of Homo Heidelbergensis were found in Mauer nearby Heidelberg. This is the oldest European discovery of human remains, ascribed to approximately 550,000 B.C.

The University of Heidelberg

As a consequence of the historic revolution which took place in the principality at the end of the 14th century, the Palatinate (Pfalz) had become a powerful part of the German kingdom. Ruprecht I wanted to set up a high school for the whole land, and on June 24th 1386 Pope Urban VI gave his consent for the establishment of Heidelberg University, the first in Germany. The Electoral Prince bestowed a constitution which granted authors, book merchants and teaching staff at Heidelberg University freedom of the city and exemption from taxes and other official charges. This constitution was to be read out loud under oath by the inhabitants of the town every year on November 1st in the Church of the Holy Ghost. The first chancellor at the university was the famous professor Marsilius of Inghen, and within a year of its foundation the university already had 500 students. In 1518 Luther captivated the student audience with his academic disputation on Heidelberg. As a result of wars in the 17th century, the university lost its former glory, but in 1805 Duke Karl-Friedrich of Baden re-established the university and it regained its old reputation. The university is today known as the Ruperto-Carola University, after its benefactors Ruprecht and Karl-Friedrich.

Heidelberg Castle

The construction of Heidelberg Castle began circa 1300, and throughout the following 400 years, ramparts, outbuildings and palaces in all styles, from Gothic to High Renaissance, were added to it. The castle is situated on a promontory and has the most fantastic view over Heidelberg town. At the time when the electors (Kurfürsten) and counts of Palatine lived at the castle with their families, court and government, the castle functioned as a small, independent community. The oldest preserved building of the castle complex, the Ruprecht Building (circa 1400), was built in Gothic style and was later renewed by Elector Ludwig V. Heidelberg Castle contained a church, library, bell tower (completed in 1537), pharmacy, and numerous other buildings. Magnificently decorated throughout, the castle was well protected by daunting fortresses. In the early 17th century, an elaborate park, Hortus Palatinus, was also laid out in conjunction with the castle. On April 25th 1537, the old fortress above the castle was struck by lightning. This building at that time housed a large quantity of gunpowder, and the resulting explosions destroyed considerable parts of it. It was never reconstructed, but was eventually rebuilt in a new form. In 1764 the castle was once again struck by lightning.

The Church of the Holy Ghost

Ruprecht I laid the foundation stone for this towering building in 1400. It is the largest Gothic house of worship in the Palatinate and served as a mausoleum for the Palatine princes, and also as a place of ceremony for the university. The church also contains the university library, the Bibliotheca Palatina. The little shops outside the church, at the foot of the buttresses, were already in existence in 1483, when they were sold to the town by the university administration. A simple commemorative tablet (c. 1410) for King Ruprecht I and his queen, Elisabeth von Hohenzollern, is all that remains of the 55 tombs housed in the church before its destruction by French soldiers in 1693. The soldiers smashed the stone tablets and desecrated the tombs of the Palatine princes, prising open the pewter coffins and throwing bodies into the street before carting away the coffins themselves, as booty. The Reformation reached the Church of the Holy Ghost during the reign of Prince Ottheinrich (1556-1559), and all Catholic objects and treasures were then removed. The church reverted to Catholicism in 1576 and was again reformed in 1583.

Bibliotheca Palatina

The library of the principality of Pfalz was founded in 1419. In 1438 Elector Ludwig III inherited the library. At that time the collection held 152 volumes. Around the same time plans were made for galleries which would house the library in the Church of the Holy Ghost. The library soon ran out of space since it was continually receiving gifts of new books from, among others, Ottheinrich, who was to be the founder of the most comprehensive collection of books in the world. Huldrich Fugger (of the leading German banking family) bequeathed his collection of books to the Bibliotheca Palatina, and the collection thereby became enormous. Duke Maximillian of Bavaria allowed this priceless collection of books (both the Bibliotheca Palatina and the university library) to be conveyed to the Vatican in Rome as a gift in 1623. According to legend, the town of Heidelberg was totally emptied of shelving and woodwork when the gift of books was due to be packed up and dispatched. The vast majority of these books still remain in the Vatican.

The Bishopric of Worms

It was the bishop's duty to administer all the affairs of his bishopric, both spiritual and temporal, unless the Pope defined otherwise. In 1496 the bishopric of Worms consisted of 226 secular clergy and 290 priests of order. The bishop was to perform High Mass on all Sundays and holy days. It was his responsibility to organize the running of his bishopric; to deal with employment, church funds and income, and to oversee his clergy. He had to ensure that the right doctrine was preached, and to guard his bishopric from heresy (although he had no judicial authority). The Cathedral of Worms was never reformed.

Witches

The definition of a witch is a person in the service of the Devil who is capable of causing misfortune to others. Suspicion usually fell on widows, spinsters and other solitary or independent women, especially those who were poor. Midwives, who delivered and cared for children as yet unbaptized, were among the most vulnerable. Instances of infant mortality at that time were extremely high, and sudden death needed explanation. The fact that witches killed unbaptized children was common knowledge, the reason behind this belief was cooly logical: The number of souls in Heaven was being carefully counted in preparation for the Day of Judgement, when God would prove his final supremacy over the Devil. By killing unbaptized infants, thereby depriving Heaven of their souls, witches were helping the Devil to delay Doomsday. Many witches were accused of being responsible for crops failing, thunderstorms and other natural disasters. The methods of witch prosecution were so “logical” and watertight that the convicted themselves often ended up convinced of their own guilt. Mysterious diseases were naturally caused by witches. At that time, unfamiliar illnesses like epilepsy, schizophrenia and blood clots were instantly diagnosed as the result of a witch's curse. Sexuality was often seen as both carnal and evil, and a woman who had a strong effect on the opposite sex soon roused suspicion. It was known that women enjoyed sex, and therefore it was easy to imagine them having intercourse with Satan. This also explains why so much suspicion fell on single women, as they obviously were particularly easy for the Devil to seduce. The witch hysteria continued unabated from 1450 to 1750. In earlier prosecutions (1200-1450), a woman could be released if ten other women were willing to plead her innocence. In the 300 years to come however, this practice was, with few exceptions, totally set aside. During the 16th and 17th centuries persecution of witches spread quickly. Since the accused were forced to give the names of other witches under torture, trials went on and on. Objections to such persecution only led to an increase in the hunt for the Devil's earthly servants. In several countries, England and the USA in particular, modern witch cults today exist where the members consider themselves to be witches. The association First Church of Satan (USA) is said to have 10,000 members.

Blocksberg

Blocksberg or Brocken (Germany) was believed to be the meeting place for witches, among many other more or less well-known places, such as: Hekla (Iceland), Stonehenge (England), Puy de Dôme (France), Blåkulla (Sweden), Benevento (Italy), Mendvisto and Pilatus (Switzerland). However, Blocksberg is often used as a synonym for any place where the witches were thought to hold their Sabbat. Before leaving for Blocksberg, the witches would gather in church bell towers. They would then ride backwards through the air on their broomsticks, stealing young children on their way in order to bring Satan more underlings. The witches were believed to prepare themselves for such nightly flights by means of special unguents. The first step was to secure a consecrated wafer by pretending to receive communion. This sacrament was fed to a toad which was then burnt. The ashes were mixed with the blood of an infant (preferably unbaptized), powdered bone of a hanged man and certain herbs (often with hallucinogenic properties). The resulting mixture was anointed on the palms of the hands, on the wrists, and on a stick or stool which was then placed between the legs, the witch being at once transported to the place of meeting. It was also believed that the witches would boil the children they had stolen, in a large pot, and would use the resulting “witch-grease” in the same way as above. On arrival, the witches would greet Satan as “Good-father” or “Anti-father” and perform various deeds of worship as a prelude to the Sabbat.

The Sabbat

Originally the Sabbath is a Jewish weekly day of rest. According to the old Catholic tradition, there is something unholy for everything holy, and the witches' Sabbat was seen as a counterpiece to the day of rest. The idea of the Sabbat as a weekly convention of witches and demons, however, first appeared at the end of the 14th century. It was already commonly known that the Devil's counterpiece to the Holy Trinity was the Diabolic Trinity: the Devil, the AntiChrist and the False Prophet. It was not until the 16th century that literature described in detail the witches' secret meetings. The supposed practices at these Sabbats were deemed to be inversions of Christian rituals. The Sabbat was envisaged as a riotous orgy in worship of the Devil, and included sacrificial slaughter of animals and birds and the drinking of their blood as the “holy” sacrament. The billy-goat was the most frequent guise of the Devil. “The billy-goat is shameless, wanton and always seeking sexual intercourse, hence its scowling glance. Its false member is so burning hot that its blood is capable of dissolving diamonds.” (Isadorus of Sevilla) The blasphemy of a Black Mass and the kissing of the Devil's anus were standard parts of the Sabbat myth, as was the grand finale of a huge banquet, followed by indiscriminate sexual indulgence between demons, witches and warlocks. Sabbats were commonly believed to take place in special diabolic meeting places, such as Blocksberg. Certain dates are still connected to witches' Sabbats:

            April 30th                   (Walpurgis Night)

            June 23rd                  (Midsummer's Eve)

            October 31st             (All Hallow's Eve - Halloween)

In the 1940s Gerald B. Gardner started a modern witch coven, and probably for the first time in history, the witches' Sabbat rituals were actually performed.

The Devil

Devil (from the Greek diabolos) means accuser or slanderer; it was translated as Satan by the Hebrews. The list of names for the Devil is endless; Lucifer, Beelzebub, Satan, Apollyon, Abbadon, the Prince of Darkness, the Evil One, Sargatanas, Ashtaroth, to name but a few. The Devil is an evil spirit, the ruler of evil powers or evil personified; God's adversary. From the theological point of view, the Devil was first defined at a church meeting in Toledo in 477. According to the Bible, the Devil's number is 666 (Revelation 13,18), and in several passages the Devil appears as a prosecutor at the Heavenly judgement seat (the books of Job and Revelation, etc.). Subsequent speculation among the Jews led to the Devil being regarded as a fallen angel (Lucifer). The concept of a devil is not restricted to Jewish and Christian beliefs; he also appears in other religions, both primitive and advanced. Belief in the Devil developed out of belief in spirits (demons), common to many religions. From around 1100 people began writing poetry in which the Devil played a major part; at the same time his role became more significant in painting, where he began to make frequent appearances in war and torture scenes. The popular graphical broadsheets which came out in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries (especially the woodcuts), made the Devil known to everyone, especially those who could not read. Usually the Devil was depicted as scarlet, green or black. He had horns, his nose was pinched out to form a snout, his jaw contained large teeth and was twisted to a malicious sneer, his ears stood out. The Devil was equipped with bat wings, a long tail and claws or goat's hooves, and his body was naked and hairy. These were the main characteristics, though his shape varied widely. With the belief in witches, the notion grew that the Devil could have intercourse with them, and this motif frequently appeared in the arts in the following centuries. The Devil usually appears as a tempter, fighting against God for the souls of men, standing in wait to ensnare them. He often appears in plural in pictures of Saint Michael with scales to weigh souls, where the devils do their best to weigh down the opposite dish so that the souls of men are found to be too light. The Devil also makes an appearance in music. Diabolus in musica (Latin for “the Devil in music”) is the name for the augmented fourth (an interval of three whole tones), the use of which was banned in church music of the Middle Ages.

Necromancy

Necromancy is the art of practising witchcraft with the assistance of evil spirits. The oldest books on magic were written in ancient Babylonia and Egypt, and they had an influence on all later works. Different terms are used for manuals on black magic such as the one credited Bishop Cyprianus of Antioch. They have been called Cyprianus, Cypriani or Cypri books, Black Books, and, as was most common in Germany, Faust Books. The books on magic give instructions on how to get a thief to return stolen property, how to find a hidden treasure, how to be successful in hunting and fishing, how to win a girl's love, etc. They also contain information on amulets and conclude with a series of household remedies. Many of the well known figures in the Middle Ages had a reputation as sorcerers, for instance Albertus, Magnus and Pope Honorius III (1216-1227). This pope was responsible for the highly respected book on magic Grimorium (Grimoir), which contained instructions for casting out spirits and the souls of the deceased. All who owned a book on magic were believed to belong to the Devil, or would end up belonging to him unless they had got rid of the book before they died.

The number of devils

In Basel (1564) a German professor in theology estimated the number of devils in the world at 2,665,866,746,664. According to another demonologist, Dr. Johann Weyer, who wrote the book De Præstigiis in 1578, “The Diabolic Monarchy” consisted of only 7,405,926 devils, led by 79 princes. Weyer was otherwise among the few who was strongly opposed to the witch hysteria. Weyer was corrected by a French specialist, who claimed that there could definitely not be more than 72 princes in charge. Later, a group of statisticians estimated the population of Hell to consist of a meager 1,758,064 devils. These theories were all wrecked by yet another “besserwisser” who said that the number of devils was always proportional to the population of the world.

The Inquisition

The Inquisition was a Roman Catholic institution aimed at uncovering and punishing heretics. When Christianity became the official religion, the Roman caesars introduced the death penalty for members of sects which were seen as a threat to society, for example the Manichaeans and the Donatists. The Church did not agree with this, but later milder punishments were introduced in connection with matters of faith. When the Catharene movement spread in the 12th century, heresy became a real threat to the Church, and special courts were set up to help counter the activities of heretics. The Inquisition was established in 1237, when the Dominican order by papal decree was given permission to judge both heretics and witches alike. In 1252 Innocent IV recognized torture as a means of getting confessions from offenders. Heretics who renounced their misbeliefs at the trial were let off with a church fine; those who did not, were condemned and handed over to the civil authorities who would carry out the sentence; for bad cases this might take the form of being burnt to death. The Inquisition also had other tasks, such as the censorship of certain books and campaigning against false scientific teaching. The Inquisition was active in Italy, southern France, The Netherlands and Germany, but was at its strongest in Spain, where it became a state institution in 1478. Tomas of Torquemada, Inquisitor General from 1483 to 1498, is thought to have sent more than 2,000 people to their deaths. In England and Scandinavia the Inquisition never gained any foothold. During the Counter-Reformation the Inquisition was a dangerous weapon in the fight against Protestantism which was almost completely wiped out in Italy and Spain.

Exorcism

Exorcism (from the Greek exorcismos), the driving out of the Devil as it was practised in old baptism rituals, grew out of the New Testament accounts - e.g. “In my name shall they cast out devils”. (Luke 16,17; also Luke 9,1; 10,17) The use of the crucifix, consecrated water and the name of Jesus were the main tools for driving demons out of people. It was important to ascertain exactly how many demons a person was possessed by, and what their names were. The ritual known as the Rituale Romanum consisted of a set sequence of psalms and prayers which had to be recited, accompanied by the laying on of hands and sprinkling with Holy Water. If necessary, the possessed person had to be bound and a certain number of witnesses had to be present. Protestantism rejected both demon possession and exorcism, but not the existence of witches. In other Christian communities, exorcism continued to be an accepted means of fighting the Devil.

Trial procedures

The phenomenon of witch persecution is a stain in the history of the judicial system. Sorcery was considered to be a crimen exceptum, i.e. a crime so serious that exceptions could be made from trial procedure otherwise laid down in the law:

- A witch had no right to a legal defence, but if someone was prepared to defend her, he had to be wary of doing too good a job and therefore being accused of conspiracy with the witch or the Devil himself.

- Anonymous testimony, gossip and idle rumours were often adequate grounds for sentence.

- A confession given without torture could not always be seen as reliable.

Special precautions had to be taken when a suspected witch was to appear before court:

- Her feet were not under any circumstances to touch the ground on the way from the prison to the court. If this happened, she might cause lightning to strike, thereby killing her guards.

- The judge had to look at the accused before she was allowed to set eyes on him. Otherwise she might cast a spell over him that would make him judge the trial to her advantage.

When it came to methods of proof, there were plenty of alternatives. The most common was Ordeal by Water, where the accused was thrown into the sea or a river with her hands and feet tied together. If she floated she was guilty beyond doubt, since water through the baptism of Christ was sacred and would force away anything unsacred or bewitched. If she sank however, she was regarded as innocent, but it wasn't always guaranteed that she would be picked up in time not to drown. The Weight Test was also highly effective. Considering the “fact” that witches were able to fly, they had to have an unnaturally low weight. A trustworthy person therefore estimated the weight of the accused, and if she was then weighed and found to be too light, she was guilty of being a witch. At Oudewater in the Netherlands, Emperor Charles V had erected a public weighing scale. Here, people were weighed and issued with certificates verifying that they had sufficient body weight not to be a witch. Witch marks were the first signs of evidence looked for on a suspected witch. The Devil marked all his subjects with a Stigma Diabolicum, and in search of this mark, the accused were undressed and shaved. The witch mark could vary in colour and shape, and there was little to differentiate it from a birthmark, a mole or a scar.

Spectral evidence

This method of evidence depends on mediums who “see” or “sense” evil powers, as in the famous Salem Witch Trials (Massachusetts, USA), where all “witches” were accused and judged solely on this evidence. The mediums, who in these cases were girls upwards of 9 years, claimed that the ghostlike beings that appeared out of the accused's bodies, beat, kicked and bit them. The girls rolled about on the floor in agony, screaming inhumanely, and could even show wounds and bleedings that stemmed from these attacks. The suspects were therefore placed with their back to the witnesses in order to cause the least possible harm. The fact that the “witches” cried in despair while sitting there, was only viewed as further proof of their guilt.

Torture
The witch was in the service of the Devil, and there was no limit to what kind of torture she could be exposed to in order to extract the full truth about her activities. Germany was a textbook example of thoroughness in this field, and one German woman was tortured 56 times before her confessions were considered satisfactory. There were plenty of methods. Red-hot tong, seats with scorching hot iron spikes, boiling oil, the sticking-out of eyes, burning of the soles of the feet etc. A witch was not believed to be able to cry, and if, during the torture, she produced something that resembled tears, then she had probably smeared her cheek with spit. In some countries, the family of the accused had to cover all the expenses of the prosecution, including those of torture.

Burning

Throughout the late Middle Ages the punishment system was designed to have a deterrent effect. Even ordinary thieves were given extreme physical punishment, and humiliating penalties such as the stocks (pillories) became commonplace. These punishments were carried out in public, where the offenders would be subjected to severe ridicule and abuse. The most common death penalty for those guilty of heresy or sorcery was to be burnt at the stake. No punishment was too severe for the Devil's conspirators, and the most painful punishment possible was to be burnt alive. In proportion to the size of the population, many more were put to death for witchcraft in Germany than in any other country. English law, for instance, prohibited the use of torture during a trial; German law imposed it. In England very few were burnt alive; in Germany this was the norm. Towards the end of this period, the fact that a woman's mother had been burnt for witchcraft was sufficient grounds for burning her also. If a witch sentenced to death had shown too much resistance during questioning, fresh branches from a tree would be laid with the fire. They would burn more slowly, thereby extending the process and the pain. A more “humane” alternative was to bind the prisoner to a ladder and then push the ladder into an already lit fire. Another merciful solution was to tie a bag of gunpowder around the victim's neck. Death would occur instantly as soon as the fire reached the gunpowder. The burning of witches and heretics was considered to be an auto-da-fé, i.e. an action of faith, and to witness such a burning was therefore Christian and righteous.

From Malleus Maleficarum, Part II, Question 2, Introduction

“In the time of Pope Nicolas there had come to Rome on some business a certain Bishop from Germany, whom it is charitable not to name although he has now paid the debt of all nature. There he fell in love with a girl, and sent her to his diocese in charge of two servants and certain other of his possessions, including some rich jewels. While this girl was on her way, with the usual greed of women, she grew covetous of these jewels, which were indeed very valuable, and began to think in her heart that, if only the Bishop were to die through some witchcraft, she would be able to take possession of the rings, the pendants and carcanets. The next night the Bishop suddenly fell ill, and the physicians and his servants gravely suspected that he had been poisoned; for there was such a fire in his breast that he had to take continual draughts of cold water to assuage it. On the third day, when there seemed no hope of his life, an old woman came and begged that she might see him, saying that she had come to heal him. So they let her in, and she promised the Bishop that she could heal him if he would agree to her proposals. When the Bishop asked what it was to which he had to agree in order to regain his health, as he so greatly desired, the old woman answered: Your illness has been caused by a spell of witchcraft, and you can only be healed by another spell, which will transfer the illness from you to the witch who caused it, so that she will die. The Bishop was astounded; and seeing that he could be healed in no other way, and not wishing to come to a rash decision, decided to ask the advice of the Pope. Now the Holy Father loved him very dearly, and when he learned that he could only be healed by the death of the witch, he agreed to permit the lesser of two evils, and signed this permission with his seal. So the old woman was again approached and told that both he and the Pope had agreed to the death of the witch, on condition that he was restored to his former health; and the old woman went away, promising him that he would be healed on the following night. And behold! when about the middle of the night he felt himself cured and free from all illness, he sent a messenger to learn what had happened to the girl; and he came back and reported that she had suddenly been taken ill in the middle of the night while sleeping by her mother's side. Finally, the Bishop went out of compassion to visit the girl; but when he entered the room, she received him with horrible execrations, crying out: May you and she who wrought your cure be damned for ever! And the Bishop tried to soften her mind to penitence and told her that he forgave her all her wrongs; but she turned her face away and said: I have no hope of pardon, but commend my soul to all the devils in hell; and died miserably. But the Bishop returned home with joy and thankfulness.”

This “incident” has been the basis for the “Which Witch” story.