Introduction

Behold Germany, mother of so many witches

Friedrich Spee, 1631

A fierce opponent of witch-hunting, the German Jesuit Friedrich Spee lamented in his Cautio criminalis that “there do at least appear to be, and there are thought to be, more witches in Germany than elsewhere.”¹ Modern historians concur. Figures vary, not just because of the usual incompleteness of early modern records, but also because “Germany” can be an imprecise concept when applied to the early modern period. The vast territories of the Holy Roman Empire of the German People covered not just present-day Germany but many other lands besides: the Low Countries, Switzerland, regions that are now part of eastern France, Austria, Bohemia, and swaths of Poland. By no means were all the people of these territories linguistically German, and over time, the borders of the empire itself contracted somewhat. Some imperial lands experienced very intense waves of persecution, and some prosecuted witches almost not at all, so when, where, and how a particular scholar defines “Germany” can significantly affect statistics. Nevertheless, summarizing the best statistical data, William Monter reasonably concluded in a recent overview that during the century of the most intense witch trials (1560–1660), three-quarters of all witches executed in Europe were German speakers, while six out of seven lived within the pre-1648 boundaries of the German empire.² By far the majority of the most intense witch hunts in early modern Europe occurred in German lands. In the early seventeenth century, the bishopric of Würzburg executed some 1,200 victims; the electorate of Mainz executed around 1,800 (more than the total for all of Britain); and Cologne executed some 2,000. The intensity of this last hunt was truly phenomenal as it occurred in just under ten years (1626–35).³ This was the wave of trials that prompted Spee’s opposition.

Given Germany’s preeminent position as the heartland of early modern witch-hunting, this forum section seeks to present an overview of recent work and the state of certain research questions with particular relevance to the lands of the German empire. First, Laura Stokes examines the origins of the stereotype of diabolical, conspiratorial witchcraft and the earliest full-blown witch hunts in Europe. She reminds us that central Europe was not just the heartland of witch-hunting, but also the location of its birth. Both significant trials and early demonological writings appeared not in the imperial center but rather in western Alpine lands, including the Francophone diocese of Lausanne, and also German-speaking Basel and Lucerne. Johannes Dillinger then unpacks the enormously complicated political situation within the early modern empire, and surveys how certain political developments promoted rampant witch-hunting, while others stymied or stifled trials. Bernd Roeck focuses on cities. He argues that, while some cities did experience major trials, in general, witchcraft always remained more a rural than an urban phenomenon, and he explores the elements of urban society that at least helped to reduce the likelihood of truly rampant fear of witchcraft developing into a major hunt. Finally, Claudia Opitz-Belakhal takes up the issue of women and gender in relation to the witch trials. Her concern is to show how both women’s history and its more recent and more encompassing offshoot gender history have affected and been reflected in the study of witchcraft.