This article aims to contribute to the emerging cultural study of early modern witchcraft by examining one particular prosecution from the Bishopric of Bamberg—a territory in Germany that experienced very intensive witch persecutions between 1625 and 1630. The main focus of the present study is on Burgomaster Johannes Junius, a male accused in 1628 of being a demonic witch. Throughout the study, the following documents are examined for the insights they provide not only into witchcraft but also into the construction of seventeenth-century masculinity: Junius’s witch trial records and a letter written to his daughter while he was imprisoned. The article suggests that the concept of honor played a significant part in establishing and maintaining Junius’s masculine identity. The centrality that Junius attached to his honor was emphasized by the intense and dramatic manner in which he tried to defend it after he was arrested for the “dishonorable” crime of witchcraft.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Behringer, Wolfgang. 1995.Weather, hungerandfear: originsofthe Europeanwitch-huntsin climate, society and mentality. German History13:1-27.
2.
Behringer, Wolfgang. 1996. Gegenreformation als Generationenkonflikt oder: Verhörsprotokolle und andere administrative Quellen zur Mentalitätsgeschichte. In Ego-Dokumente. Annäherung an den Menschen in der Geschichte, edited by Winfried Schulze, 275-93. Berlin, Germany: Akademie Verlag.
3.
Bever, Edward W. M. 1983. Witchcraft in early modern Württemberg. Ph.D. thesis diss., Princeton University.
4.
Bireley, Robert. 1999. The refashioningof Catholicism, 1450-1700:A reassessment of the Counter Reformation. London: Macmillan.
5.
Briggs, Robin. 1996. “Many reasons why”: Witchcraft and the problem of multiple explanation. In Witchcraft in early modern Europe: Studies in culture and belief, edited by Jonathan Barry, Marianne Hester, and Gareth Roberts, 49-63. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
6.
Clark, Stuart. 1997. Thinking with demons: the idea of witchcraft in early modern Europe.Oxford: Clarendon.
7.
Foyster, Elizabeth A. 1999. Manhood in early modern England: honour, sex and marriage. London: Longman.
8.
Garfinkel, Harold. 1973. Conditions of successful degradation ceremonies. In Deviance. The Interactionist Perspective. 2d ed., edited by Earl Rubington and Martin S. Weinberg, 89-94. New York: Macmillan.
9.
Gehm, Britta. 2000. Die Hexenverfolgung im Hochstift Bamberg und das Eingreifen des Reichshofrates zu ihrer Beendigung. Hildesheim, Germany: Georg Olms Verlag.
10.
Gibson, Marion.1999. Readingwitchcraft:Stories of early Englishwitches. London: Routledge.
11.
Hsia, R. Po-Chia. 1989. Social discipline in the Reformation: Central Europe 1550-1750. London: Routledge.
12.
Hümmer, Friedrich Karl. 1890. Bamberg im Schweden-kriege. Bericht des Historischen Vereins Bamberg52:1-168.
13.
Jerouschek, Günter. 1992. Die Hexen und ihr Prozess. Die Hexenverfolgung in der Reichsstadt Esslingen. Esslingen, Germany: Stadtarchiv Esslingen.
14.
Labouvie, Eva. 1990. Männer im Hexenprozess. Zur Sozialanthropologie eines ‘männlichen’ Verständnisses von Magie und Hexerei. Geschichte und Gesellschaft 16:56-78.
15.
Lambrecht, Karen. 1995. Hexenverfolgung und Zaubereiprozesse in den Schlesischen Territorien. Cologne, Germany: Böhlau Verlag.
16.
Larner, Christina. 1981. Enemies of God: The witch-hunt in Scotland. London: Chatto and Windus.
17.
Leitschuh,Friedrich.1883. Beiträge zur Geschichte des Hexenwahnsin Franken. Bamberg, Germany: Carl Hübscher Verlag.
18.
Levack, Brian P. 1995. The witch-hunt in early modern Europe. 2d ed. London: Longman.
19.
Macfarlane, Alan. 1970. Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England: A regional and comparative study. London: Routledge Kegan Paul.
20.
Midelfort, H. C. Erik. 1972. Witch huntingin southwestern Germany, 1562-1684:The social and intellectual foundations. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
21.
Monter, E .William, ed. 1969. European witchcraft. New York: John Wiley.
22.
Monter, E .William, ed. 1987. Sodomy and heresy in early modern Switzerland. In Enforcing morality in early modern Europe, 41-55. London: Variorum Reprints.
23.
Parigger, Harald. 1990. “Ich sterbe als ein rechter Märtyrer.” Der Brief des Bamberger Bürgermeisters Johannes Junius aus dem Hexengefängnis vom 24. Juli 1628. Geschichte in Wissenschaft und Unterricht 41:17-34.
24.
Renczes, Andrea. 1990. Wie löscht man eine Familie aus? Eine Analyse Bamberger Hexenprozesse. Pfaffenweiler, Germany: Centaurus-Verlagsgesellschaft.
25.
Robbins, Rossell Hope. 1959. The encyclopedia of witchcraft and demonology. New York: Crown.
26.
Roper, Lyndal. 1994. Oedipus and the devil: Witchcraft, sexuality and religion in early modern Europe. London: Routledge.
27.
Schulte, Rolf. 2000. Hexenmeister. Die Verfolgung von Männern im Rahmen der Hexenverfolgung von 1530-1730 im Alten Reich. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Peter Lang.
28.
Turner, David. 1999. “Nothing is so secret but shall be revealed”: The scandalous life of Robert Foulkes. In English masculinities 1660-1800, edited by Tim Hitchcock and Michèle Cohen, 169-192. London: Longman.
29.
Walinski-Kiehl, Robert. 1988. “Godly states,” confessional conflict and witch-hunting in early modern Germany. Mentalities/Mentalités5:13-24.
30.
Walz, Rainer. 1993. Hexenglaube und magische Kommunikation im Dorf der Frühen Neuzeit. Die Verfolgungen in der Grafschaft Lippe. Paderborn, Germany: Ferdinand Schöningh.
31.
Wiesner, Merry E. 1996. Gender and the worlds of work. In Germany. A new social and economic history, 1450-1630, edited by Bob Scribner, 209-232. London: Arnold.
