paragon: Strong watered silk.
patches: Adornments in the shape of hearts, diamonds, triangles and stars stuck onto the face.
Philip and Cheney: A soft woollen fabric.
philoselle: A wrought silk.
poplin: A plain weave usually of cotton with a fine ribbing.
poriut: Hebrew for ‘fertility’.
Rosh Hoshana: Jewish New Year, usually in September.
Schülergelief: A pogrom carried out by university students.
scientia nova: Literally, ‘new science’ (Latin); a term used before the words ‘science’ and ‘scientific’ were adopted.
Sephardim: Jews of Spanish, Portuguese or North African descent.
Shabbetai Zevi: A real historical figure born in Smyrna, Zevi claimed to be the new Messiah and attracted a huge following amongst the disenchanted European Jewry. He was eventually captured and forced to convert to Islam by the Turkish Grand Vizier Ahmed Köprülü.
talith: Fringed shawl worn by men over the head and shoulders while praying.
tefillah: Phylactery: a small black box containing writings from the Torah bound by leather thongs to the forehead and left arm and worn by Jewish men during prayers.
the Three Angels: An amulet used during childbirth depicting the angels Snwy, Snsnwy and Smnglf and engraved with kabbalistic writings. Used to protect against the demon Lilith.
yarmulke: A skullcap worn by Orthodox Jewish men at all times and others when praying.
yeshiva: Traditional religious school for boys.
the Zohar: Key kabbalistic text, written in Aramaic and sometimes referred to as the ‘Bible’ of the kabbalists. The title means ‘the sacred light’.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
These are some of the reference books used during the writing of The Witch of Cologne.
Abrahams, Beth-Zion, translator and editor, Glückel of Hameln, The Life of Glückel of Hameln 1646–1724, Horovitz Publishing Co., 1962.
Feuer, Lewis Samuel, Spinoza and the Rise of Liberalism, Transaction Publishers, 1997.
Israel, Jonathan I., European Jewry in the Age of Mercantilism 1550–1750, Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 1997.
Israel, Jonathan I., The Dutch Republic, Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477–1806, Oxford University Press, 1998.
Kamen, Henry, The Spanish Inquisition: A Historical Revision, Yale University Press, 1998.
Nadler, Steven, Spinoza: A Life, Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Schama, Simon, The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age, Vintage, 1997.
Scholem, Gershom, Kabbalah, Meridian, 1978.
Seward, Desmond, Monks and Wine, Crown Publishers, 1979.
Acknowledgments
Thanks go to the following individuals for their generosity with their time, knowledge and input: Professor Bernard Rechter and Professor Walter Veit of Monash University; Herr Henning Bochert; Herr Volkmar Schultz MdB of the Bundestag; Mr Eugene DuBow of the American Jewish Committee; Dr Dieckhoff and Dr Joachim Deeters of the Historical Archives of Cologne; Herr Carsten Schliwaki and Dr Klaus Pabst of the University of Cologne; Sister Monika-Clare Ghosh of Ballykileen, Ireland; Gerald Asher, Ordre du mérite agricole and wine editor of Gourmet magazine; Dr Christopher and Catherine Tuckfield; Simon Palomares; Ed Campion; Michelle Frankel; Lillian Klein; Fred and Annie Seligmann; Christelle Davis; Leo Raftos; Simon Duffy; Eva Learner; my Australian agent Rachel Skinner for her ego management and astrological insights; Nicola O’Shea for her brave copy editing; and lastly to my publisher Linda Funnell for her tenacity, wisdom and stamina.
Acknowledgments also go to the libraries of UCLA, Los Angeles; University of Judaism, Los Angeles; State Library of New South Wales, Sydney; Cologne Public Library; and the Goethe Institute, Los Angeles.
For the wonderful cover photograph I thank Moshe Rosenzveig, Kristen Anderson and Belinda Balding.
Finally, on a more personal note, my eternal gratitude goes to those friends and family who helped restore my faith, hope and belief during the adverse personal circumstances surrounding the gestation of this book: Rosslynd Piggott; Tushka Bergen; Geoffrey Wright; Paul Schütze; Loris Alexander; Jeremy Asher; Karyn Lovegrove; Siobhan Ryan; Poppy King; Lisa Dethridge; Eva, Adam, Ruth and Danielle Learner—thank you all for being there when suddenly there was no one.
About the Author
Tobsha Learner was born and raised in England and has lived in both Australia and the US. She is well known in Australia as a playwright and her first collection of short stories, Quiver, has sold over 150,000 copies internationally. Her second book, Madonna Mars, was an erotic thriller set in Los Angeles and Washington. Although she has written historical fiction for both stage and screen, The Witch of Cologne is her first book in this genre.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
Also by Tobsha Learner
Quiver
Madonna Mars
Copyright
HarperCollinsPublishers
First published in Australia in 2003
This edition published in 2010
by HarperCollinsPublishers Pty Limited
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A member of the HarperCollinsPublishers (Australia) Pty Limited Group
www.harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Tobsha Learner 2003
The right of Tobsha Learner to be identified as the moral rights author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000 (Cth).
This book is copyright.
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries should be addressed to the publishers.
HarperCollinsPublishers
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National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
Learner, Tobsha.
The witch of Cologne.
ISBN: 978 0 7322 7076 6 (pbk.)
ISBN: 978-0-730-49110-1 (ePub)
1. Witchcraft—Europe—History—17th century—Fiction.
2. Jewish women—Fiction. 3. Midwives—Fiction.
4. Cologne (Germany)—Fiction. I. Title.
A823.3
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