Executioners

by Phil Clarke

  Owing to the perceived bond between witches and the Devil, it was deemed appropriate that fire – an element of purification – should be used to check the ways of a sinful sorcerer. Fire was synonymous with Satan, so how better to condemn his followers than to set as their standard punishment one of the most brutal forms of execution: that of burning. This idea is said to have originated with Saint Augustine of Hippo who, during the fourth and fifth centuries, was one of the leading theologians whose works helped in­fluence Western Christianity. His beliefs helped establish the idea of a fiery hell as the dwelling place of the Devil he wrote:

  . . . Pagans, Jews and heretics would burn forever in eternal fire with the Devil unless saved by the Catholic church.

  References to witches can also be found in the Bible itself. In the first book of Samuel, King Saul consults with the witch of Endor after falling out of favour with God. This clandestine meeting with a necromancer is seen as a forbidden ritual and so would have gone some way to colouring Christian followers’ opinions regarding witchcraft. Throughout the Old Testament, witches are tainted as wicked, referred to as women who utter evil curses in order to injure or destroy. The Book of Ezekiel told of Jewish women who could control the souls of others and were able to kill as well as bring the dead back to life. With the advent of Christianity, witchcraft began to lose its positive spin and it became paired with evil as the scripture in chapter 18 of Deuteronomy clearly states:

  There shall not be found among you any one that . . . useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch . . . for all those that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord.

  With the fall of the Roman Empire, Germanic people soon spread throughout Europe and this helped spread the fear of witchcraft throughout the Western World. Even those tribes that furiously resisted Christianity had their own thoughts and beliefs concerning witches. For example, the Saxons, with their pagan practices, trusted in their demon gods such as Thor, Wotan and Loki, and believed in their most witch-like of women, the Valkyries; supernatural battle maidens who rode the skies upon winged steeds. It is from the Anglo-Saxon word wicca – meaning sorcerer or prophet – that we actually get the word: ‘witch’.

  Order gradually assumed control over a wild and uncivilised Europe and laws were created prohibiting witchcraft. Alfred the Great, King of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain through the latter part of the ninth century, imposed the death penalty for those who used magic to kill. But rather than opposition from the monarchs of Europe and their associated governments, it was hostility from religious circles that helped enforce the negative profile of witches. Pope Zachary issued a rare ban on all wizardry and spell casting in ad 747. The Canon Episcopi, written around ad 906, stated that all witchcraft was, in fact, superstition and fantasy. The idea that the existence of magic was nothing but a figment of delusional imaginations created a dearth of judicial attacks on the papacy over the proceeding centuries. However, by the thirteenth century, records show that popes in office were beginning to proclaim once more the existence of witchcraft, and these papal interventions would slowly and surely sound the death knell for all satanists and sorcerers throughout Christendom.

  From the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries there was rarely a pope who did not issue a bull – a papal charter or law named after the bulla, or lead seal, used to endorse it – against some aspect of witchcraft. Pope Alexander IV issued two in 1258 and 1260 calling for a distinction to be made between witchcraft and heresy. In 1437 and 1445, Eugene IV called for the Inquisition to purge Christendom of witches. The first pope to call for the re-classification of witchcraft as an improper religion and, therefore, making any ‘follower’ guilty of heresy, was Sixtus IV, with three bulls in 1473, 1478 and 1483. These paved the way for the witch-hunters who could legitimately accuse their victims of blasphemous acts.

  Despite these papal attempts to alter thinking in reference to witchcraft, it was not until a bull was issued on 5 December 1484 that the persecution of witches was allowed to take place. At this time, God’s appointed man in the Vatican was Innocent VIII, whose name fully contradicted his most severe and violent behaviour. Not only was he the author of this eliminative edict, but he fathered numerous illegiti­mate children and, during his final dying months, took to sucking milk from women’s breasts and transfused blood from young boys – causing the deaths of three – in a vain attempt to survive.

  In full opposition to the Canon Episcopi, the bull, called Summis desiderantes affectibus, concerned itself with those who deviated from the Catholic faith, preferring a life of devils, spells and incantations, as well as the lack of support his dutiful witch-finders were receiving among the Christian townships. The Pope called for the removal of all obstacles from

  the path of his inquisitors, and effectively sanctioned the persecution of all those they found guilty. The bull’s efficacy stemmed not solely from its ground-breaking contents but also because of the uniquely comprehensive circulation it secured in being appended to the front of the most essential published work on witchcraft: the Malleus Maleficarum, which translates as ‘The Hammer of Witches’. With the advent of Gutenberg’s printing press in the middle of the fifteenth century, this all-out attack on witchcraft, backed by the head of the Catholic Church, was able to reach districts and dioceses that had previously remained untouched.

  This well-distributed Witch-hunters’ Bible was written in 1486 by two Dominican priests called Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger, who were also pope-appointed inquisitors. Divided into three parts, the authors detail the power of the Devil channelled through these witches – his earthly accomplices – and thus the need for their destruction. In the last section, they provide a step-by-step guide on how to prose­cute a discovered witch, from the initial accusation through an interrogation-induced confession to a successful conviction at trial. The tone of the piece was indicative of their dedication to the downfall of witchcraft, often departing from logic and reason to justify the proposed actions. For example, the two priests went as far as to suggest that the failure to shed a tear at one’s trial was a true sign that the accused was a witch!

  Such was the demand for Kramer and Sprenger’s book that it had been reprinted up to twenty times by 1520 and a further sixteen editions were printed between 1574 and 1669. It was translated into French, English, Italian and German and, therefore, became the primary source of stimulation for the witch-hunting craze that swept right across Europe. And sweep it so fervently did. Like wildfire, the relentless search for sorcerers spread far and wide. What had been a relatively rare practice preceding the publica­tion, with as few as thirty-eight witch trials reported in England, eighty in Germany and ninety-five in France during the fourteenth century, accelerated, causing hundreds of thousands of unfortunate victims to lose their lives. The declaration of the Carolina Code in 1532 went some way to boost the beliefs so vehe­mently expressed in the Malleus Maleficarum adding fuel to the fire. The code, adopted by the vast Holy Roman Empire made up of approximately 200 independent states, legalised torture and the death penalty as punishments for witchcraft. It seemed, legally, the witch had no place to run.

  From 1550 to 1650, the witch-hunting craze was reaching its murderous peak. Witches all across Europe found themselves bound and burnt at the stake, rooted out by inquisitors and witch-hunters and convicted by God-fearing judges. This century-long period of persecution is often referred to as ‘The Burning Times’, and is attributed by many to the incessant fighting between Catholics and Protestants that was also at its height. The emergence of Protestantism in the first half of the sixteenth century ensured their followers would come to blows with the Catholics over religious supremacy and this struggle for power over the Holy Roman Empire’s many self-governing states came to a head in what would be forever remembered as the Thirty Years War, taking place between 1618 and 1648. The preoccupation with religion during this time was responsible for the overwhelming shift from focus upon the unwanted pagan rituals p
revalent throughout early medieval Europe.

  Ceremony

  The execution of a witch was predominantly a secular responsibility despite it being a religious matter. It was often the case that the Inquisition or the witch-finder would establish the guilt of the accused and then hand over the confirmed witch to the state which would decide on the degree of punishment. This judgement was handled not with sombre sobriety but with fanfare and flourish. The execution became a show, an event to both entertain and instil fear into the audience – a display of terror to fill the hearts of those who flocked to see such a deadly drama with fear, and to provide a worthy and thorough punishment for the culpable witch. Schools were closed on execution days and pupils would receive what amounted to extra-curricular religious studies educating them on the demise of those who favoured the Devil.

  During its French ownership, the now Swiss canton Neuchatel was often the scene for witch executions. The pomp and circumstance surrounding these began with a formal procession from their cells in the prison tower to the twelfth century Chateau, both of which still remain today. The chatelain, or commander, of the castle was charged with opening the ceremony before the bells – often covered in wet cloth to intensify the melancholia of the peals – were tolled. The witch was made to kneel before the ogling spectators and forced to recite a resume of his or her trial. The mayor would publicly rebuke the prisoner and if they failed to heed this vocal dressing-down, the victim would be dragged back to the prison for further torments. A priest delivered a sermon followed by a formal reading of the sentence by a scribe. With these formalities com­pleted, the prisoner would then be presented to the final link in the chain: the executioner. Once the oft-masked man had seen to the completion of the sentence, a banquet was held for those involved in the successful extermi­nation of yet another satanic sorcerer. The chatelain, mayor and various court officials would gorge them­selves on food and drink to celebrate the execution, none of whom would be required to put their hands in their pockets as the feast was paid for by the victim!

  Similar ceremonial events took place in the divided German states responsible for the main bulk of witch executions. So many took place in just one year that it was reported the execution site resembled a small wood, such was the abundance of stakes protruding from the earth. With at least 100,000 death sentences carried out against alleged witches in these loosely unified territories efficiency was crucial.

  History tells us that ovens came into practice in order to speed up the process – a development scarily portentious of the events of the holocaust. In Neisse, Silesia, forty-two females were oven-roasted for witch­craft during 1651, and over a period of nine years as many as 1,000 were cooked to death, includ­ing some children as young as two. There is evidence of an oven being used by Heinrich Kramer, the co-author of the Malleus Maleficarum, who started a Tyrolian witch hunt in the 1480’s, although its use was far more indirect. Kramer was experiencing consider­able opposition in this area and so required damning evidence against certain members of the community with which to kick-start his purge. He managed to convince a woman to hide in an oven and pretend the devil resided there. From within, she denounced various names providing Kramer with sufficient, yet dubious, evidence to administer severe interrogation. This bamboozlement of the Austrians eventually ensured Kramer was arrested and expelled from the region by the Bishop of Bixel. If there had only been more instances of ecclesiastical intervention, perhaps the gross number of sorcerers sentenced to death would have been reduced. Instead, entire villages were wiped out in the purge. Two villages disappeared outside Treves or Trier – an ancient German city sought after by the French during the Thirty Years War – when 368 witches were burnt, and a further two villages were left with only two remaining women alive in 1586.

  As in France, the execution itself, was transformed into a drama in order to leave an indelible mark on the minds of spectators. The people were summoned by the fanfare of trumpets and the tolling of bells to the killing zone where the judge – holding his staff of office – would call upon the court officials to testify that the trial had been conducted lawfully. One by one the accused would be brought before the judge where they would be asked for their own admis­sion of guilt. The judge would then cere­moniously break his staff and call for the executioner to carry out his orders, although not before those present were given the opportunity to point an accusatory finger and thus ensure that the slaughter continued.

  In the Duchy of Prussia, a Protestant German area centred around Berlin, they had their own formal executions of those deemed in league with the Devil. A ceremony was recorded in 1687 at Arendsee where the amtmann, or magistrate, publicly asked the prisoners if they were accountable for witchcraft. This was purely procedure, for if they failed to admit their guilt they would be tortured until a confession came forth. The notary would then read the sentence and the prisoner would be passed to the executioner. The breaking of the magistrate’s staff would take place as in other areas of Germany along with a ritual up­turning of the tables and chairs. A procession led the witches, bound by ropes and surrounded by armed guards, to the pyre and on this final journey psalms would be sung and prayers given for the souls of the condemned. This would continue well after the head had been separated from the body providing a most solemn soundtrack as the bodies were pulled by chains onto the flammable faggots and burnt to ashes.

  With the exception of England, all countries that took part in the witch-hunting executed their con­demned satanists by burning. As with the ceremony that preceded an execution, there existed both similarities and differences between the executions themselves. While burning was standard, there were different ways of administering this punishment. Those witches in Spain often found themselves sus­pended above a heap of faggots by chains and irons; their final agonising moments of life on show for all to see. Alternatively, others were tied to a stake and had the combustibles heaped around them hiding their suffering from sight. A third method which was often used in the Germany consisted of a ladder upon which the prisoner was bound. With the top of this apparatus tied to a frame, the prisoner would then find themselves swung down onto the fire.

  It would have been preferable to die as a witch in Germany and France than in the Latin countries of Italy and Spain, for those caught in the latter would have been burnt alive upon the pyre and would have missed out on the mercy of the Germans and the French who strangled the condemned before the flames took hold. This version was common after Scottish trials, too, although it was dependent on the co-operation of the condemned. In 1643, Janet Reid was taken by her executioner, or lockman, as he was known, and bound by the hands to her tinder-stacked bonfire. Here, she was strangled at the stake before being reduced to ashes. If she had revoked her con­fession, she would have foregone the strangula­tion and be forced to endure the unbearable heat. Further modifications to the pyre could have been made to increase the torture. It was common for the execu­tioner to stack slow-burning green wood around the stake if the witch remained obstinate thus prolonging the agony.

  The End Of The Craze

  As with any fire, the flames of witch hunting slowly petered out, doused by a mounting wave of oppo­sition. The rapid decline of the persecution was as swift as its onset in the fifteenth century. The arrival of the eighteenth century brought with it the Age of Enlightenment and advocation of reason over all things, the supernatural world of witchcraft had no place. Witch trials were still in existence but the number of those condemned to death dwindled. This was down to a diminished reliance on spectral evidence used to convict accused witches. In the past, it was sufficient to claim the prisoner had used spectres or apparitions of themselves to torment and bewitch their victims. Now, with considerable scepticism surrounding such paranormal phenomena, higher standards of evidence were required by the courts.

  As with any major change in collective thinking, there were those who still pushed for the purge to continue. John Wesley, a staunch methodist in Englan
d, believed that the failure to accept the power of witchcraft was effectively denying the power of the Bible. Delivered in 1768, Wesley’s view had come much too late for England was comparatively quick to bring an end to witch executions. In 1682, Temperance Lloyd, Mary Trembles and Susannah Edwards were tried and executed in the port town of Bideford near Devon and are considered to be the last English witches put to death, though others suggest Alice Molland is the unfortunate recipient of this title. She was sentenced to die on the Exeter gallows in 1684. Those north of the border required a little more time to follow suit, ending their reign of persecution in 1722 with Janet Horne, who was burnt at the stake in the Highland county of Sutherland.

  This cessation of the death sentence swept across Europe beginning with France in 1745 with the execution of Father Louis Debaraz at Lyons and then to Germany thirty years later. Germany’s last victim was Anna Maria Schwagel, a single servant girl in her mid-thirties, who, after being seduced by a coachman and tricked by a friar, found herself in the care of a mental asylum in Laneggen. There, a nurse attempted to force her to admit to sleeping with the Devil, and when she refused she found herself moved to a gaol cell where she spent the two weeks before her trial in Kempten, Bavaria. Before the judge, she freely con­fessed that she had made a pact with Satan and was beheaded on 11 April 1775.

  Many historians state that the final execution of a witch in Europe occurred in Switzerland on 17 June 1782 against one Anna Goeldi. Switzerland was central to the witch-hunting cause but it has also been documented that the last trial and death sentence dished out to a Devil-worshipping necromancer took place in Poland ten or eleven years later with the burning of two nameless old crones.