Die Hexenverfolgung im Hochstift Bamberg und das Eingreifen des Reichshofrates zu ihrer Beendigung

Franconia was one of the central locations for the European witch-hunts, an the legal proceedings which took place in the diocese of Bamberg (1595-1630) were some of the most spectacular events of this kind ever, even for contemporaries. On the basis of a comprehensive study of the sources, the author is able to describe the causes and the chain of events clearly and in great detail for the first time. In addition to the fate of individual persons and families, financial and power aspects of the proceedings are illuminated as well as the influences coming from the political and religious environment at the time of the Thirty Years' war. Only the strong intervention of the highest offices in the empire in 1630/31 was able to put a stop to witch-hunters, thus offering a unique opportunity to discern the attitude of emperor and Vatican to the phenomenon of the burning of witches. A final source of astonishment is the fact that the valid criminal procedure law of all things was to become the means of stopping further mass executions in Franconia.