Würzburg witch trials

E182817

The Würzburg witch trials were a series of large-scale, brutal persecutions and executions for alleged witchcraft in early 17th-century Germany, among the most extensive in European history.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Würzburg witch trials canonical 2

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (57)

Predicate Object
instanceOf mass witch hunt
persecution
witch trial
accusationType attendance at witches' sabbaths
maleficium
pact with the Devil
weather magic
witchcraft
cause Counter-Reformation climate
epidemics and disease
famine and economic hardship
fear of demonic influence
religious zeal
social tensions during the Thirty Years' War
country Holy Roman Empire
documentation trial records and execution lists
endTime 1631
historicalSignificance among the largest witch trials in European history
example of mass hysteria and judicial terror
impact contributed to later criticism of witch persecutions
used as a cautionary example in Enlightenment debates on superstition
language German
legalBasis Carolina (Constitutio Criminalis Carolina)
inquisitorial procedure
location Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg
Würzburg
memorials commemorative plaques in Würzburg
local remembrance projects in Franconia
methodOfExecution beheading followed by burning
burning at the stake
notablePerpetrator Philipp Adolf von Ehrenberg NERFINISHED
numberOfVictims approximately 900
hundreds of people
partOf European witch hunts
perpetratorAction encouraged and oversaw witch persecutions
perpetratorRole Bishop of Würzburg
surface form: Prince-Bishop of Würzburg
relatedEvent Bamberg witch trials
European witch hunts
surface form: European witch craze

Fulda witch trials
religiousContext Counter-Reformation
surface form: Catholic Reformation

Counter-Reformation
startTime 1626
timePeriod Thirty Years' War
early 17th century
tortureMethods sleep deprivation
strappado
thumbscrews
torturePurpose to extract confessions
to force denunciations of alleged accomplices
useOfTorture yes
victimDemographics children
clergy
men
nobility
rural poor
urban elites
women

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Würzburg, Germany historicalEvent Würzburg witch trials
subject surface form: Würzburg
Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg notableEvent Würzburg witch trials