Witchcraze
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From my old collection, it's a BBC movie, I probably can't find the online version again. I might upload the the execution scenes to VIP forum.
I'd really appreciate that, too.
By the way, not always were witches burned alive, especially on the british isles it was rarly practised - it was commonplace to strangle the condemned before the incineration of their bodies. In Scandinavia, beheading usually preceeded the burning phase. In continental Europe, it varied largely: Generally it was considered an 'act of mercy' to ease the delinquents way into the christian hell: Rich, important or noble victims were beheaded, commoners strangled and the poor had a bag of gunpowder hung around their neck [see 'Leonor'], as the often extreme costs for the incarcaration, torture and execution (not to forget the paperwork) had to be paid from the heritage of the executed.
By the way, not always were witches burned alive, especially on the british isles it was rarly practised - it was commonplace to strangle the condemned before the incineration of their bodies. In Scandinavia, beheading usually preceeded the burning phase. In continental Europe, it varied largely: Generally it was considered an 'act of mercy' to ease the delinquents way into the christian hell: Rich, important or noble victims were beheaded, commoners strangled and the poor had a bag of gunpowder hung around their neck [see 'Leonor'], as the often extreme costs for the incarcaration, torture and execution (not to forget the paperwork) had to be paid from the heritage of the executed.
They're up.
Interesting piece of info Fux. I wonder, so if the condemned is poor, will they be tortured less since no one wants to pay for it? lol
Interesting piece of info Fux. I wonder, so if the condemned is poor, will they be tortured less since no one wants to pay for it? lol
Oh, that's a nice question! I would be glad, if it had been so, but unfortunately the need to cover the costs of those poor, who couldn't pay for themselves had to be balanced somehow, if the officials didn't want to go bankrupt (especially in times of really large witch-hunts e.g. Bishopric of Bamberg, Bishopric of Würzburg, Bishopric of Aichstätt, Bishopric of Fulda, Duchy of Lorraine, Reichsabbey St.Maximin etc.).
A good witch-hunter knew how to deal with such problems: He just procured some accusations against the rich and they were then subsequently overcharged!
In most of these extreme hunts (which even sometimes led to the economical ruin of the domain) you can observe a shift in the social rank of the victims. At the beginning of these large hunts a lot of poor or common people were persecuted, but as the costs rose, more and more people of the upper class became involved and positively, if their family sustained them, they could file a complaint at the "Reichskammergericht" (Highest judical authority of the Holy Roman Empire)... But consider the duration to send a letter in those times, when a horse was the fastest means of transportation and of course, the decision of the "RKG" had no binding effect on the autocratic rulers of the petty states (e.g. the Bishop of Bamberg ignored them completely and the witch-hunt in his domain did not end until the Swedish army occupied Bamberg in the thirty years war).
A good witch-hunter knew how to deal with such problems: He just procured some accusations against the rich and they were then subsequently overcharged!
In most of these extreme hunts (which even sometimes led to the economical ruin of the domain) you can observe a shift in the social rank of the victims. At the beginning of these large hunts a lot of poor or common people were persecuted, but as the costs rose, more and more people of the upper class became involved and positively, if their family sustained them, they could file a complaint at the "Reichskammergericht" (Highest judical authority of the Holy Roman Empire)... But consider the duration to send a letter in those times, when a horse was the fastest means of transportation and of course, the decision of the "RKG" had no binding effect on the autocratic rulers of the petty states (e.g. the Bishop of Bamberg ignored them completely and the witch-hunt in his domain did not end until the Swedish army occupied Bamberg in the thirty years war).
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