Maria Holl Survived 62 Sessions Of Torture During the
Late 16th-Century Witch Trials
In the last decade of the 16th
century, a respectable woman who owned a restaurant along with her husband in
Nördlingen, Germany, was put under arrest by the authority of the town council
on suspicion of witchcraft. At first, Holl was patient with the council and
their questioners; she was confident that she would be released without much of
a hassel. Unfortunately for Maria Holl, the council, inquisitors and the
citizens of Nördlingen all believed that she was truly a witch.
(“Examination of a witch”, c. 1853, from the Collection of the Peabody
Essex Museum, originally by Author Thompkins H. Matteson, [Public Domain] via
Creative Commons)
With their supposed witch in
custody, Holl’s questioners quickly launched into their investigations. First,
they stripped their prisoner and searched every space of her body for any abnormalities,
skin tags, moles or bumps, which they believed could be ‘witch marks.’ To be
thorough, Maria Holl was shaved of all of her body hair, and when a suspected
mark was found, it was prodded with a needle, but was not declared a mark of
witchcraft. The interrogators concluded that there were no ‘witch marks’ on
Holl’s body, but even so, the investigation was just getting under way.
With her body examined, the
interrogators moved on to her mind. Their first line of questioning attempted to
connect Maria Holl with the devil. Had she made a pact with the devil? Had she
brought a curse on any of her fellow citizens? Had the devil seduced her? By
this point, after having her naked body prodded by needles, and insinuation of
adultery with the devil thrown her way by her questioners, Maria Holl abruptly
ended her compliance with the interrogators—she refused to make any statements
that could lead to self-incrimination.
(19th century woodprint of a woman being interrogated for witchcraft,
[Public Domain] via Creative Commons)
With no diabolical blemishes
on her body, and no semblance of a freely-spoken confession in sight, the
interrogators called for torture to begin. The successive sessions of various
torture techniques used by the interrogators lasted multiple months. There is
little specific information on which torture devices were used, but the
strappado (she was hung by her arms with a rope), thumbscrews and the Spanish
boot (a device that compressed the leg, sometimes with spikes) were likely used.
The rack and the age-old whip were also frequently used in the interrogation of
witches in Nördlingen, Germany. Nevertheless, after 62 sessions of torture,
possibly lasting a year, Maria Holl still refused to confess to witchcraft. Her
steadfast proclamation of innocence, despite months of excruciating pain,
finally began to impress the citizens of Nördlingen.
(Spanish boot photographed by Michal Klajban, from the torture chamber
of Spiš Castle, Spišská Nová Ves District, Slovakia, via Crative Commons
(CC 3.0))
The more Maria Holl resisted
torture, the more the people of her town began to believe in her innocence. As
the population began to support Holl, they also increasingly lost faith in the
judgment of the town council and the witch-hunt it was waging against the city.
With no confession of witchcraft to justify an execution, the council
grudgingly put an end to the torture of Maria Holl. At this point, Holl was not
set free. No, the council needed to plan how to defend itself.
(Trial of Martha Corey illustrated by John W. Ehninger in 1902, [Public
Domain] via Creative Commons)
The council finally agreed on
a plan that would deliver Maria Holl from their dungeon, while also saving
their own skins. Holl would be set free, they declared, if and only if she
signed a legal form, in which she swore that she would never seek reprisal
through a judicial court. For added protection, she had to publicly claim that
the town council had acted justly and properly during her trial for witchcraft.
Even though Maria Holl received no justice for her abuse at the hands of the
Nördlingen inquisitors, she did walk away with her life, and hers was the last
case of witchcraft tried in Nördlingen, Germany.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
thehistorianshut.com
Click HERE to read about
another woman who refused to confess to witchcraft, but did not survive her
trial.
Click HERE to read about a
woman who was burned to death in Ireland after her husband (supposedly)
believed her to be a fairy changeling.
Sources:
- Witch Craze by Lyndal Roper. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004.
- http://news.twelvetribes.org/2015/07/01/a-parallel-process/
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