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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i Witchcraft narratives in Germany STUDIES IN EARLY MODERN EUROPEAN HISTORY This series aims to publish challenging and innovative research in all areas of early modern continental history. The editors are committed to encouraging work that engages with current historiographical debates, adopts an interdisciplinary approach, or makes an original contribution to our understanding of the period. SERIES EDITORS William G. Naphy and Penny Roberts EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Professor N. Z. Davis, Professor Brian Pullan, Professor Joseph Bergin and Professor Robert Scribner Already published in the series The rise of Richelieu Joseph Bergin Sodomy in early modern Europe ed. Tom Betteridge Fear in early modern society eds William Naphy and Penny Roberts Religion and superstitition in Reformation Europe Helen Parish and William G. Naphy Religious choice in the Dutch Republic: the reformation of Arnoldus Buchelus (1565–1641) Judith Pollman A city in conflict: Troyes during the French wars of religion Penny Roberts ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii Witchcraft narratives in Germany Rothenburg, 1561–1652 ALISON ROWLANDS Manchester University Press Manchester and New York distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave Copyright © Alison Rowlands 2003 The right of Alison Rowlands to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Published by Manchester University Press Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9NR, UK and Room 400, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY10010, USA www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk Distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY10010, USA Distributed exclusively in Canada by UBC Press, University of British Columbia, 2029 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z2 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data applied for ISBN 0 7190 5259 9 hardback First published 2003 111009080706050403 10987654321 Typeset in Monotype Perpetua with Albertus by Northern Phototypesetting Co Ltd, Bolton Printed in Great Britain by Biddles Ltd, Guildford and King’s Lynn ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v Contents Acknowledgements page vi Map: place of origin of the sixty-five people involved in witch- trials in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, 1549–1709 vii Introduction 1 1 ‘An honourable man should not talk about that which he cannot prove’: slander and speech about witchcraft 14 2 The devil’s power to delude: elite beliefs about witchcraft and magic 48 3 ‘One cannot … hope to obtain the slightest certainty from him’: the first child-witch in Rothenburg, 1587 81 4 ‘When will the burning start here?’: the Catholic challenge during the Thirty Years’ War 105 5 Seduction, poison and magical theft: gender and contemporary fantasies of witchcraft 135 6 ‘God will punish both poor and rich’: the idioms and risks of defiance in the trial of Margaretha Horn, 1652 180 Conclusion 206 Appendix: trials for witchcraft in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, 1549–1709 212 Bibliography 229 Index 239 Acknowledgements There are many individuals and institutions without whose support this book would never have been written. I am grateful to my PhD supervisor Bob Scribner for encour- aging my love of early modern German history and hope that he would have been proud of my contributions to our better understanding of it. Since 1992 I have been hugely indebted to my colleagues in the History Department at the University of Essex, who have given me constant support and intellectual stimulation, and to the Essex University students with whom I have discussed witchcraft in the course of teaching. I am grateful to Lynn Botelho, Anthony Fletcher, Brian Ward and Jenny Wormald for reading early drafts of the manuscript, to Robin Briggs and Tom Robisheaux for always being ready to answer my witchcraft-related questions, and to Franz Josef-Knöchel, without whose technical expertise this book would have no map. I am also indebted to Nick Rowlands for helping me understand early modern Latin, to Marla Rowlands for helping me understand early modern German, and to Renate Barker for all the books. Thanks also to everyone of CLFC and CULFC (1992–2002) for distracting me and keeping me sane. In Franconia my biggest thanks go to the archivists of the State Archive in Nuremberg but most especially to the staff of the Rothenburg City Archive who made the many hours that I have spent there so productive and enjoyable: to Frau Hildegard Krösche, Professor Karl Borchardt, and especially Herr Waldemar Parr and Dr Ludwig Schnurrer. For their unfailing hospitality in Rothenburg and beyond over more than a decade my immense thanks go to Christa Joist and Michael Kamp, but most especially to Bernhard, Hanne, Ulrike and Judith Mall, who have generously allowed me to make their apartment in Rothenburg my second home. For financial support which helped expedite the completion of this book I am grateful to the Research Endowment Fund at Essex University, a research grant awarded in 1999 by the Arts and Humanities Research Board, and the research fellowships awarded in 2000 and 2001 by the Sonderforschungsbereich 235 (Teilprojekt Zauberei- und Hexenprozesse) of the University of Trier. I am indebted to Professor Franz Irsigler for inviting me to participate in the Sonderforschungsbereich and to Dr Herbert Eiden, Dr Rita Voltmer and the other researchers in the Sonderforschungsbereich who made my time in Trier so intellectually stimulating and socially enjoyable. For their hospitality in Trier in 2000, thanks to Franz and Marita Eiden and Margret Krämer and Stefan Schörer. My warmest thanks go to my parents, Nick and Marla Rowlands, without whose love and support this book would never have been started, and to my husband, Her- bert Eiden, without whose love and support it would never have been finished. This book is for all three of them. Alison Rowlands ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii Margraviate of Reichardsroth Ansbach Gailshofen Ohrenbach HABELSEE Tauber Großharbach Ober- 2 Gickelhausen scheckenbach Neustett STEINACH TTauberzellauberzell Ruckertshofen Gumpels- Territory of the Imperial hofen 5 Knights of Hatzfeld Holdermühle Haardt 1 Reichels- Endsee Burgstall hofen FINSTERLOHR TTAUBER-AUBER- 2 ADELS- SCHECKENBACH HOFEN Ellwingshofen 5 Schonach Steinsfeld 1 Hartershofen WWolfsbucholfsbuch Seldeneck GAGATTENHOFENTTENHOFEN Schmerbach Nordenberg Lichtel BETTWBETTWARAR Margraviate of Bayreuth WeilerWeiler 1 Margraviate of Bayreuth Ober- Blumweiler Linden rimbach Schwarzenbronn Reutsachsen Schweins- dorf Wildentierbach WolkersfeldenWolkersfelden Böhmweiler SPIELBACH Detwang Hemmendorf 26 Heimberg 1 Wachsen-Wachsen- UNTEREICHEN- Heiligenbronn Hachtel Schönhof ROTH Leuzenbronn Dürrenhof berg OBERSTETTEN 1 ROTHENBURG Neusitz Hummertsweiler 3 BOVENZEN- Brunzendorf OB DER TTAUBERAUBER WEILER Schon- Spindel- 1 gras Enzen- Schnepfendorf Horabach bach weiler Obereichenroth Hechelein Burgstall Eckartshof Erlbach Funkstatt Bossendorf Leuzhof 2 Kirnberg 1 Reusch Herrn- GEBSATTELGEBSATTEL Ansbach WINDISCH-BOCKENFELD Leuzen- 1 Wildenhof dorf BETTENFELD winden Margraviate of WWolfskreutolfskreut 1 Rödersdorf Pleikartshof County of STSTANDORFANDORF Hohenlohe Gemmhagen Lohr Kleinbären- Metzholz Lohrbach weiler Gammesfeld Buch Heufelwinden Tauber County of Hertershofen Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst Ehringshausen Insingen Hegenau Hausen am Bach Unter Östheim Klein- Ober Östheim Herberts- Brettheim ansbach hausen Reichenbach HILGARHILGARTSHAUSENTSHAUSEN Reinsburg Gailnau Ober Wörnitz Germany 4 Reubach WETTRINGEN Unter Wörnitz Morrieden Bastenau WeikersholzWeikersholz Part of Margraviate of 7 Harlang Bösen- Mittel- map Ansbach Grüb nördlingen stetten Großulrichs- Erzberg Arzbach Rothof hausen Territory of the Imperial Knights of Schwarzenberg Boundary of Rothenburg city territory 1 Place of origin and number of witches Boundary of Rothenburg’s rural hinterland 0 2 4 6 8 10km Boundary of neighbouring territory Place of origin of the sixty-five people involved as accused, self-confessed or reputed witches in witch-trials in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, 1549–1709 Design: Alison Rowlands; cartography: Franz-Josef Knöchel Introduction This book is a study of the trials involving allegations and confessions of mal- eficient or demonic witchcraft that took place in the German city of Rothen- burg ob der Tauber between c. 1561 and c. 1652. It has two aims. First, it will explain why Rothenburg had a restrained pattern of witch-hunting during this period, with relatively few trials (even fewer of which ended in guilty verdicts against alleged witches); no mass-panics involving large numbers of accused witches; and the execution of only one alleged witch.1 Second, it will offer detailed readings of the exceptionally rich records from the Rothenburg witch- trials to explore the social and psychic tensions that lay behind the making of witchcraft accusations and confessions, the popular and elite reactions to these accusations and confessions, and the ways in which participants in witch-trials pursued strategies, expressed emotions and negotiated conflicts through what they said about witchcraft. These aims are important for various reasons. In 1996, Robin Briggs sug- gested that what was surprising about the early modern period was not how many people were prosecuted as witches, but – given the widespread belief in witchcraft and the existence of laws against it – how few were. Briggs argued that the witch-persecution of the early modern period ‘was a relative failure,