How accurate is it to say that it was the impact of the
Thirty Years’ War that accounts for the extent of witch-hunting in Bamberg in the years 1623-32? .
The 30 years war had an indefinite impact on the extent of witch-hunting in Bamberg as it accelerated the
pre-existing economical, political and religious issues, as it takes precedence as to why Bamberg witch hunting
had reached the point it had in 1623-32.
The many economic problems that plagued Bamberg and the larger Holy Roman Empire were one of the
reasons behind the Bamberg witch trials. The "Little Ice Age," which peaked in the 17th century, was
characterised by exceptionally cold temperatures compared to the normal/ standard weather the public was used
to. Due to the fact that many harvests were frozen as a result, the economy suffered greatly. The economy was
already foible due to the reduction of American silver and the use of copper in the new wave of currency- coin
clipping.However the war did render trading unstable and unsustainable, significantly increasing the the harm
caused by the famines, and consequently the passion and rage of the general public, who ascribed these
troubles on witches, demonstrating how the War had a substantial negative impact on the economy which
supported the continuation of witch hunts. As a result, many people began to hunt for someone or something to
blame, and many of them turned to witches; which caused a significant devaluation of the overall currency. The
Bamberg trials, for instance, reached their zenith in 1629, which also happened to be the year when the normally
lucrative wine harvests froze. This illustrates the direct link between the economy's problems and the rise in witch
hunts.Margaretha Eissman stated that she was "forced to resort to the devil due to currency clipping," we have
evidence of how this affected the Witch Hunts. This is additional proof that the economic problems that led to the
Witch Hunts were to blame.One way the 30 years war did impact Bmaberg regarding the economical premise is
through the consumption and confiscation of food as well as animals (mainly horses). With these additional
strains put onto the people of Bamberg- redirection of frustration was needed and witch - hunting was the only
acceptable source. Moreover the detrimental economical costs of the war affected Bamberg; the succession of
von Dornheim as he benefits from the danger and lack of funds for the running and maintenance of assize courts
in Bamberg, therefore leaving him the main authority regarding witch hunts and anything to do with the
supernatural.
The decentralised structure of the Holy Roman Empire was another factor that led to the Bamberg trials. Since
the Emperor had little direct authority over the larger empire, places like Bamberg had a great deal of autonomy,
giving leaders like von Dornheim total power. Due to this, Dornheim was able to pass laws authorising the
confiscation of property for any witch found guilty, which resulted in a significant number of upper class people
being found guilty of witchcraft and wizardry only for the purpose of taking their money and property. The 30
years conflict, however, made this decentralisation even worse.When Dornheim eventually overstepped his
bounds, the Emperor enacted imperial rules prohibiting the seizure of witches' property and issued direct letters
to Dornheim ordering him to stop the trials. Dornheim disregarded the Emperor's requests and carried on with the
trials. Only because of the Thirty Years War was this feasible. Despite the fact that the Empire was widely
decentralised, the Emperor would never permit a little town like Bamberg to blatantly disobey him and would deal
the town quick retaliation. The Emperor, however, did not have any finances to spare for Bamberg because of the
war.The battle against Protestant troops occupied every single Imperial soldier; Bamberg was just not a top
priority. This demonstrates unequivocally how the trials were allowed to continue after the thirty-year war.
In addition to this, the war accelerated public hysteria and the hysteria’s foundation was the pre existing religious
issues. The 30 years war occurred primarily due to pre-existing issues between the christian denomination of
Catholics and protestants. Due to the fact that Bamberg was originally catholic, and the counter- reformation was
caused by an issue regarding protestants. The tensions between both denominations and the thirty years war
accelerated the conflict between both denominations to the point where protestant hot spots were being
associated with satanic and occult activity, therefore promoting witch hunting in protestant dense areas. The
additional hysteria caused by the war, with a mix of religious tension, allowed the Bamberg witch-hunts to reach
the extent it did from 1623-32. Suspicions of non catholics sky rocketed immensely leading to more accusations
in Bamberg. The particular religious sentiments regarding catholics, started to decline as 20 % of the men had
gone to war, leaving women to take over intially masculine roles, women started drinking, fornicating and
swearing, which was against the conservative catholic norms, with this in mind more accusations were made
against women in general- which inturn increased trials as the methods used to gain information regarding
witches came from a range of things such as torture, starvation etc. which increased the amount of accusations
C.A
