#christian speyer

[justineportraits]

Christian Speyer (1855-1929) Ritt am Strand / Amazone am Pferd

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Today in Christian History

Today is Thursday, April 20th, the 110th day of 2023. There are 255 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

1479: Death of Alexander who founded the Orthodox monastery of Oshevensk, experienced miracles, and was a notable spiritual counselor.

1529: At the Second Diet of Speyer, the term “Protestant” is first applied to participants of the Reformation. The term was taken from the Protestatio, a statement by the reformers challenging the imperial stance on religion.

1558: Death of Johannes Bugenhagen, a leading Lutheran reformer, a professor at the University of Wittenberg, and the pastor of the city church there. Bugenhagen had helped Luther with his German Bible translation as well as translating the Bible into Low German himself.

1653: Cromwell dissolves the Rump Parliament, so-called because it consisted of only a few representatives who still remained. Cromwell lectures them on their vices and their uselessness, saying he is doing this at God’s command: “Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. Go!”

1676: Death of Baptist minister John Clarke, a founding father of Rhode Island, and the agent who obtained the colony’s charter from King Charles II in 1663.

1898: C.H. Spurgeon’s London tabernacle burns down. Efforts to rebuild it commence at once.

1962: Theologian Karl Barth is featured on the cover of Time magazine.

1988: Wilson Rajil Sabiya, a Lutheran theologian, writes a letter to General Ibrahim Babangida, President and Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, alerting him to Muslim efforts to make Nigeria an Islamic country by infiltrating the police force.

2001: A Peruvian Air Force aircraft shoots down a private airplane carrying missionaries, killing Veronica Bowers and her infant daughter, Charity.

[ifindus]

I didn't know norway has interacted with HRE, could you tell us more about that?👁️

Of course!! Don't mind the essay below ✨

A direct relationship between Norway and HRE is difficult to find due to many reasons. One reason is that while HRE existed (962-1806) Norway was for the most part bound to Denmark and becomes non-existent in international relations. Another reason is the way that HRE was organized made it difficult to have a linear and stable relation. We mainly see potential interactions between HRE and Norway in two different ways: the Hanseatic league, and through wars and treaties.

The Hanseatic league.

The ­Hanseatic League was a guild of German tradesmen founded in the early 1100s, growing into a large organization for all German tradesmen by 1282. The guild was a result of common interests in trade and a need to protection; a network of alliances. They were essentially tradesmen based in the German area (HRE at the time) who banded together to make more profit in other cities and nations. Some foreign cities even getting their own areas where the German tradesmen lived and functioned as they would have under German rule. Bergen is a great example of this, and was the only Norwegian city included in the Hanseatic League trading network with an office, where still today there are areas referred to as the German dock. The League had their own laws and rules their members had to align with and had its high point from the 1300s to the middle of the 1400s.

The Hanseatic League founded the German office in Bergen at a time the Norwegian nation was weakened by the Black Plague. The access to grain from the Baltics was important for Norwegians and in Bergen the Germans got access to dried fish that came south from Northern Norway as well as fish oil, beer, iron, and certain fabrics. From around 1560, however, the Hanseatic League’s power in Bergen diminished as the Norwegian townspeople got a stronger trading position. Still, the Hanseatic League dominated the trade in Bergen until the middle of the 1700s. The Hanseatic office in Bergen was one of the last sold in 1754. The German population living in Bergen interacted with the locals through cooperation, competition, and conflict and had a great influence on the city.

The Hanseatic League was a major force in Northern Europe during the middle ages and more or less controlled all trade in the North, stretching from the Baltics to England. Middle Low German dominated the trading sphere and such has had a great influence of the Norwegian language and terms connected to trade. The Hanseatic League also made it easier for Norwegians to get access to continental goods and a more steady access to grain.

Wars and Treaties.

Firstly, there’s the German-Danish War of 974, where Norway fought along side Denmark against HRE. This is perhaps the only time we see a direct interaction between the nation Norway and HRE. HRE wanted to crush the Danish rebellion and prevent Viking raids further south. Denmark and Norway moved into German territory to ransack, and the first battle ended with a surprising Danish victory. After this battle, Norway returned home. A year later, HRE attacked again and this time they were successful, bringing the war into Denmark and even claiming Danish territory. The wat was a Danish loss.

Then we have the Treaty of Speyer in 1544 where the HRE Emperor recognised Christian III as the rightful king of Denmark and Norway and fully supported him against his rivals (just so far as to not aid them). In return Denmark-Norway would become pro-Hapsburg and respect the rights of the Teutonic Order, as they had had some disagreements over land previously.

Then there was the Danish-Norwegian involvement in the Thrity Years’ War (1618-1648) started in 1625. The war was in large related to a religious conflict within the borders of the HRE, and a want for European dominance between the Hapsburgs (Spain and Austria) and the House of Bourbon (France). The possibility to gain territories and seeing the war as a threat towards protestantism was what prompted Denmark-Norway to enter the war. Denmark was already present in German area due to trade and control of rivers leading into the sea around Denmark. The Danish intervention was financed by the Dutch and the English against HRE. The following battles were a massive failure for Denmark.

The Danish-Norwegian participation in the Thirty Years’ War ended with the treaty of Lübeck, signed in 1629, between HRE and Denmark-Norway. After the treaty, Denmark-Norway contributed to the war on HRE’s side and had to relinquish some territories. HRE and Denmark-Norway also ended up on the same side in the Franco-Dutch War (1672-1678), fighting against France, though they were both occupied in different areas of the war and never fought together.

HRE and Denmark-Norway were on opposing side in the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1814), which led to the dissolution of HRE in 1806) and a cede of Norway to Sweden in 1814, but never engaged in any battles against each other.

Summary.

The most extensive and influential interaction between Norway and HRE was within trade and contact through the Hanseatic League, with extensive cultural exchanges affecting language and norms and even local Norwegian politics.

They rarely dealt with each other directly in wars and treaties as the treaties were mainly organized by Denmark and to avoid fighting each other in the wars. The one time Norway as an independent nation fought against HRE in battle, Norway won. And Denmark lost.

[cruger2984]

THE DESCRIPTION OF SAINT TERESA BENEDICTA OF THE CROSS (aka Edith Stein) The Carmelite Nun with Jewish Blood and the Patron of World Youth Day and Converted Jews Feast Day: August 9

"The world doesn't need what women have, it needs what women are."

Edith Stein, known as Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, is a martyr of Auschwitz. She was born in Breslau, Lower Silesia, Prussia (now Wrocław, Poland) from a observant and religious Jewish family on October 12, 1891. She was youngest of 11 children, and was born on the holiest day of the Hebrew calendar - Yom Kippur. Edith was a very gifted child who enjoyed learning, in a home where her mother encouraged critical thinking, and she greatly admired her mother's strong religious faith. By her teenage years, however, Stein had become an agnostic, despite her religious background.

Stein arrived at the University of Göttingen in April 1913 in order to study for the summer semester with Edmund Husserl, a German mathematican and philosopher. By the end of the summer, she had decided to pursue her doctoral degree in philosophy under Husserl and chose empathy as her thesis topic. Because of the outbreak of World War I, her studies were interrupted in July 1914. She then served as a volunteer wartime Red Cross nurse in an infectious diseases hospital at Mährisch Weißkirchen in 1915. In 1916, Stein moved to the University of Freiburg in order to complete her dissertation on Empathy. Shortly before receiving her degree from Freiburg she agreed to become Husserl's assistant there. Her dissertation was awarded a doctorate in philosophy with the summa cum laude honor. She then became a member of the faculty at Freiburg, where she worked until 1918 as a teaching assistant to Husserl, who had transferred to that institution.

During this period she also lectures on women's education and vocation and on education in general to very large audiences and to great acclaim. In these lectures, published in ESGA 13 and ESGA 16, she works out for herself the important questions concerning social type and essence, which find a fuller development in The Structure of the Human Person.

She was converted to Christianity in 1921, after reading the autobiography of St. Teresa of Ávila, during summer holidays in Bad Bergzabern, that prompted her conversion and eventually the desire to seek the life of a Discalced Carmelite. Baptized on New Year's Day 1922, and dissuaded by her spiritual advisers from immediately seeking entry to the enclosed and hidden life of a Carmelite nun, Stein obtained a position to teach at the Dominican nuns' school in Speyer from 1923 to 1931. She studied Catholic philosophers and theologians, in particular, Thomas Aquinas, and familiarized herself with Catholic philosophy in general and tried to bridge the phenomenology of her former teacher, Husserl, to Thomism. She visited Husserl and Heidegger at Freiburg in April 1929, the same month that Heidegger gave a speech to Husserl on his 70th birthday. In 1932, she became a lecturer at the Catholic Church-affiliated Institute for Scientific Pedagogy in Münster, but anti-semitic legislation passed by the Nazi government forced her to resign the post in 1933. In a letter to Pope Pius XI, she denounced the Nazi regime and asked the Pope to openly denounce the regime 'to put a stop to this abuse of Christ's name.'

Meanwhile, as the Nazi government imposed antisemitic laws, she wrote a letter in 1933 to Pius XI, asking the Pope to openly denounce Adolf Hitler's regime. Edith entered the Discalced Carmelite monastery St. Maria vom Frieden (Our Lady of Peace) in Cologne-Lindenthal in October 1933, and took the name of Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Teresia Benedicta a Cruce). In order to avoid the growing Nazi threat, the Order transferred Edith and her sister, Rosa, who was also a convert and an extern sister of the Carmel, to the Discalced Carmelite monastery in Echt, Netherlands. There she wrote Studie über Joannes a Cruce: Kreuzeswissenschaft ('Studies on John of the Cross: The Science of the Cross').

Ultimately, she would not be safe in the Netherlands. The Dutch Bishops' Conference had a public statement read in all churches across the nation on July 20, 1942 condemning Nazi racism. In a retaliatory response on July 26, 1942, the Reichskommissar of the Netherlands, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, ordered the arrest of all Jewish converts who had previously been spared. Along with two hundred and forty-three baptized Jews living in the Netherlands, Edith and her sister were arrested by the SS (Schutzstaffel) in the monastery on August 2, 1942. She and her sister Rosa were imprisoned at the concentration camps of Amersfoort and Westerbork before being deported to Auschwitz. A Dutch official at Westerbork was so impressed by her sense of faith and calm, he offered her an escape plan. Stein vehemently refused his assistance, stating: 'If somebody intervened at this point and took away [her] chance to share in the fate of [her] brothers and sisters, that would be utter annihilation.'

Early in the morning on August 7, 1942, 987 Jews were deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. It was probably on August 9th that Edith, her sister Rosa, and many more Jews were killed in a gas chamber. Edith was 50 years old when she received the crown of martyrdom.

Beatified on May 1, 1987 in Cologne, Germany and canonized eleven years later on October 11, 1998 by St. John Paul II in the Vatican, Edith Stein is one of the six patron saints of Europe, together with Benedict of Nursia, Cyril and Methodius, Bridget of Sweden, and Catherine of Siena. Her feast day was officially added to the Episcopal Church liturgical calendar with a feast day to this day in 2022.

[vinlandmapper]

Forgotten Histories: Welserland

Have you heard of the Welserland colony? The Welserland colony was a colonial enterprise granted to the wealthy German banking family, the Welsers, by the Spanish crown in the early 16th century.

In 1528, Spain authorized the Welsers to establish a colony in Venezuela in exchange for gold and territory. The Welsers installed Ambrosio Alfinger as governor, and his mission was to convert natives to Christianity and find El Dorado. More governors, such as Georg von Speyer and Philipp von Hutten, continued the search for gold but it failed. By the 1540s, the colony started failing since the Welsers were only bankers, not experienced colonial administrators, and by 1546, Juan de Carvajal, a Spanish rival, arrested von Hutten and Bartholomeus Welser, marking the end of any German control in Venezuela. In 1556, the Spanish crown revoked the Welser's contract, bringing the colony to Spanish administration once again.

Do you have any opinion on this? I personally think it failed due to lack of support in Germany and also the HRE's lack of political centralization.

[kamreadsandrecs]

In the late spring of 1096, having been deliberately provoked to a crescendo of Christian chauvinism by the preachers, it was unsurprising that the early crusaders who left the Rhineland on Peter the Hermit’s inspiration were on the lookout for anyone who might be perceived as an enemy of Christ. They did not have to travel very far from home. The first targets and victims of the crusading vanguard were not the dread infidel at the gates of Constantinople, but communities of Jews living in cities of Western and central Europe, such as Cologne, Worms, Speyer and Mainz.

from Crusaders: The Epic History of the Wars for the Holy Lands, by Dan Jones

[kammartinez]

In the late spring of 1096, having been deliberately provoked to a crescendo of Christian chauvinism by the preachers, it was unsurprising that the early crusaders who left the Rhineland on Peter the Hermit’s inspiration were on the lookout for anyone who might be perceived as an enemy of Christ. They did not have to travel very far from home. The first targets and victims of the crusading vanguard were not the dread infidel at the gates of Constantinople, but communities of Jews living in cities of Western and central Europe, such as Cologne, Worms, Speyer and Mainz.

from Crusaders: The Epic History of the Wars for the Holy Lands, by Dan Jones

[lux-vitae]

Ritt am Strand (Ride on the Beach) by Christian Speyer (1855-1929)

[1122deactivated2211]

The Cathedral of Speyer, Germany. X

[duke-of-hellsite]

So, today is one of the days of Rosh HaShanah, and while I was eating apples with honey I realised one thing

I mean there were plenty of non-christian people in Frederick II’s court, and he also was a quite curious guy, so probably he knew a lot about Jewish traditions

Just imagine situation like this:

- Your Majesty, there are plenty of things to do today, you have a meeting with bishop of Speyer, he wants to discuss-

- No-no-no-no, Emperor’s not here today, I don’t know anything

- But Your Majesty…

- I said I’m not here today, the Lord said not to do anything on Rosh HaShanah and who I am to disobey

And then he just continues doing nothing, maybe eating apples with honey, in the company of Pietro della Vigna and some Jewish scientists

Meanwhile Bishop of Speyer who has been enduring all this for 10 years already:

[church-history]

The Rhineland Massacres

(Massacre of the Jews of Metz during the First Crusade, by Auguste Migette)

In 1096 while noble men were marching off to the Holy Land to liberate Christians from muslim oppression (many of whom would never return), lesser men prompted by hatred, bloodlust, and greed, had turned their gaze to another target, the Jewish population of Rhineland, bringing an abrupt end to more then five centuries of peace and coexistence between Jews and Christians. 

Emicho of Leiningen

Emicho of Leiningen, a minor Rhineland count was supposed to organize a company of reinforcements and bring them East to join the crusade campaign, however prompted perhaps by a circulating false rumor that Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV intended to avenge the death of Christ against the Jews of Rhineland before joining the crusade effort, decided to target the local Jews himself. The rumors of course were untrue and Henry wrote to all his vassals denouncing the story and commanding them to see to the safety of the Jews, but that mattered little to Emicho who had already made up his mind.

Arriving at Speyer in May, Emicho attempted to launch an attack on the city’s Jews but was soundly thwarted by the local bishop John who, forewarned, had commanded the Jews of the city to take shelter in his palace, bishop John even had the hands of many attackers cut off. In the end Emicho only managed to kill 12 Jews in Speyer.

Next Emicho, or his followers in separate groups, went to Worms, where the bishop of the city once again sheltered the local Jews in his palace, but refusing to be foiled a second time they broke down the doors of the palace and slaughtered approximately 500 Jewish men, women, and children. Attacks by Emicho and/or his followers in Mainz, Cologne, Trier, and Metz, followed the same suit, bishops shielded Jewish citizens in their palaces at peril to their own lives only to have the gates broken down and the refugees mercilessly murdered.

Emicho and his forces continued their spree until they began to run out of food and money, at which point they began to break up into smaller groups and targeted Jews in the Moselle valley -carefully avoiding cities with resident bishops- they killed thousands.

Folkmar and Gottschalk

(Folkmar’s attack on  Mersbourg)

There were two other notable leaders of reinforcements that also launched attacks against Jews at about the same time as Emicho; Folkmar and Gottschalk.

Folkmar, beginning in Saxony, persecuted Jews in Magdeburg and later, on May 30, 1096, in Prague in Bohemia. The Catholic Bishop Cosmas attempted to prevent forced conversions, and the entire Catholic hierarchy in Bohemia preached against such acts, but Duke Bretislaus II was out of the country and the Catholic Church's officials' protests were unable to stop the mob.

The hierarchy of the Catholic Church as a whole condemned the persecution of the Jews in the regions affected (though their protests had little effect). Especially vocal were the parish priests (only one monk, named Gottschalk, is recorded as joining and encouraging the mob). Chronicler Hugo of Flavigny recorded how these religious appeals were ignored, writing:

It certainly seems amazing that on a single day in many different places, moved in unison by a violent inspiration, such massacres should have taken place, despite their widespread disapproval and their condemnation as contrary to religion. But we know that they could not have been avoided since they occurred in the face of excommunication imposed by numerous clergymen, and of the threat of punishment on the part of many princes.

In general, the mobs did not fear any retribution, as the local courts did not have the jurisdiction to pursue them past their locality nor did they have the ability to identify and prosecute individuals out of the mob. The pleas of the clergy were ignored on similar grounds.

Gottschalk the monk went on to lead a force from the Rhineland and Lorraine into Hungary, occasionally attacking Jewish communities along the way. In late June 1096, the group was initially welcomed by King Coloman of Hungary, but as the true nature of the mob became clear, the King demanded they disarm. Once their weapons had been secured, the enraged Hungarians fell upon them and "the whole plain was covered with corpses and blood."

(Hungarian Magyars)

Folkmar and his Saxons also met a similar fate at the hands swords of Hungarian knights rallying to the aid of both bishop and king. According to revered crusade historian Sir Steven Runciman (1903-2000), the defeat of the these wicked men struck “most good Christians” as “punishments meted out from on high to the murderers of Jews”

Lasting effects and the role of  The Church in protecting Jews

The massacre of the Rhineland Jews and other associated persecutions were condemned by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. The Church and its members had previously carried out policies to protect the presence of Jews in Christian culture. For example, the twenty-five letters regarding the Jews of Pope Gregory I from the late sixth century became the primary texts for the canons, or Church laws, which were implanted to not only regulate Jewish life in Europe but also to protect it. These policies did have limits to them; the Jews were granted protection and the right to their faith if they did not threaten Christianity and remained entirely submissive to Christian rule. These regulations were enacted in a letter by Pope Alexander II in 1063. Their goal was to define the place of the Jews in Christian society. The Dispar nimirum of 1060, was the late eleventh-century papal policy concerning the Jews. It rejected acts of violence and punishments of the Jews, and it enforced the idea of protecting the Jews because they were not the enemy of the Christians. This papal policy aimed at creating a balance of privilege and restrictions on Jews so that the Christians did not see their presence as a threat. Sixty years after the Dispar nimirum, the Sicut Judaeis was issued. It was a more detailed and organized text of the position of the papacy concerning the treatment of Jews. This text was enacted by Pope Calixtus II in 1120. It defined the limits of the Jews' eternal servitude and continued the reinforcement of the Jews' right to their faith.

(Speyer cathedral built ca. 1080-1106)

The bishops of Mainz, Speyer, and Worms had attempted to protect the Jews of those towns within the walls of their palaces. In 1084 Rüdiger Huzmann (1073–1090), bishop of Speyer, established an area for the Jews to live, to protect them from potential violence. Rüdiger's successor, Bishop John, continued the protection of Jews during the First Crusade. During the attack on Speyer, John saved many of the Jews, providing them protection in his castle. Archbishop Ruthard of Mainz tried to save the Jews by gathering them in his courtyard; this was unsuccessful as Emicho and his troops stormed the palace. Ruthard managed to save a small number of Jews by putting them on boats in the Rhine. The Archbishop of Cologne, Hermann II, sent many of the Jews to outlying villages, so that they would be safe. The archbishop of Trier was less effective; he favored protecting the Jews from violence, but during the attack on Trier, he hid and did not take any action to help them. Some bishops, like Albrecht of Magdeburg (1513–1545), went as far as offering silver to spare the Jews.

After the First Crusade, there was a continued effort made by the popes to protect the Jews, so that violence that occurred in the Rhineland Valley would not reoccur. In 1272, Pope Gregory X stated that the Jews "are not capable of harming Christians, nor do they know how to do so." Popes continually assured the Christian people that the Jews were not the enemy, but the Saracens were because they opposed Christianity, and Jews would only become the enemy if they challenged the religion. Following Gregory X's lead, Pope Benedict XIII clearly stated to the Christian people how to treat the Jews. 

"Jews are never to be burdened beyond the limits of the present constitution. [They are not] to be molested, to be offered in their persons, or to have their goods seized... [Rather, they are to be treated] humanely and with clemency..."

 Benedict enforced the privileges given to the Jews by warning the Christians that their actions toward the Jewish people must not violate those given to them by the Church.

[mask131]

Magical summer: The Malleus Maleficarum

MALLEUS MALEFICARUM

Category : Christian Europe belief and folklore / Demonology and witch-hunting

The Malleus Maleficarum… also known by its popular and approximative English translate, “Hammer of Witches”, is without a doubt one of the most infamous and darkest books that European history ever saw. If it is titled the “Hammer of Witches”, it is in the sense “A hammer to use against witches” – because The Malleus Maleficarum is still known to this day as THE guide that witch-hunters used during the great witch-trials hysteria that swept Europe. It was THE book used to torture and put to death thousands and thousands people under accusations of witchcraft. It became THE symbol of the great witch persecution in Europe.

But what exactly is this book?

 THE ORIGINS

# The Malleus Maleficarum is German of origin. It was written by a certain Heinrich Kramer (under his Latin name Henricus Institor), a Catholic clergyman and inquisitor. It was first published in Speyer, in 1486 and quickly became one of the most iconic and best-selling demonology compendium of the 15th century. At the time the book simply had a great influence over popular culture and folk belief… But starting with the 16th century, all the way to the 17th, it because used as the main tool and guide to hunt and prosecute witches throughout Europe, to the point it is considered to have been one of the reasons witch-hunting and witch-killings in the continent became so strong, vicious and “popular”. Because this is what the Malleus Maleficarum is: a long treaty that analyzes, describes and explains the nature, behavior and activity of witches, followed by a manual on how to hunt them, torture them, organize their trials and punish them for their crimes.

# What is quite “funny” (in a sad and tragic way) is that people remember this book as “The book inquisitors used to torture witches”. And this… is untrue. In fact, it was the reverse: the Inquisition wanted NOTHING to do with this book. You see, its author, Heinrich Kramer, was indeed part of the German Inquisition… but he had been embroiled into some scandals and dubious business beforehand, which made him not a respected or well-considered member of the Inquisition. People thought he was a senile old man, a pervert leech obsessed with sex, and a criminal that tried to act in illegal ways. The Inquisition did not approve much of him – and when he published his so-called “treaty”, despite it having a HUGE popularity among common folk, the Inquisition AND the faculties of theology deeply hated and rejected this book. The Malleus Maleficarum was accused of being not actually a Christian (well Catholic) book, due to several of its teachings and “facts” going against the canon and preaching of the Church and the catholic religion. Even worse: famous and renowned theologians such as those of the Faculty of Cologne clearly said that several of the methods and procedures the Malleus advised were purely unethical and illegal. But here’s the thing… The Church might be against it, but the non-Church people loved it. And Kramer was understanding that very well. In fact, the Malleus was designed to be a guide not to religious courts and judges… BUT TO SECULAR COURT AND JUDGES. It gave all the tips and ways for witch trials to completely escape the hands of the Church and be organized by non-religious tribunals. The Malleus Maleficarum was mostly used by political bodies such as city councils or royalty: the witch-trials it organized were not those of the Inquisition or the Church, but witch trials orchestrated by judiciary judges, mayors and other non-religious authority figures. But given people BELIEVED it was a real “religious” text, and given it was written by an inquisitor (though a disgraced one), it became a common and general idea that the Malleus Maleficarum was an “official” text of the church and endorsed by the Inquistion (which comforted people into using it). All a vicious cycle…

# The “strengthening” of the reputation of the book also was due to a bizarre incident in 1519, 33 years after the book’s first publication. The book started being re-edited with a second author: alongside Kramer’s name appeared the one of Jacob Sprenger, who was a famous inquisitor and theologian. Here’s the thing however: by this time, Jacob Sprenger had been dead for 24 years, and there is no actual factual or historical evidence saying he co-wrote the book. He was indeed given authority by the Pope to hunt down and judge witches, through the same papal text that also gave such powers to Heinrich Kramer (before everyone realized he was cuckoo), but that’s it. Most people agree that it was probably a pure invention, but overall to see his name appear in front of the book just reinforced people in the idea that it was a GOOD book and an official one. And thus began the horror…

 THE CONTENT

# The first part of the Malleus Maleficarum is a series of explanations, justifications and authorization for the existence and publication of this book: Kramer was crazy, but not stupid, he knew his views were disliked and up to debate, so he tried to make sure he was good on both legal and religious ground. He notably included the papal decree recognizing the existence of witches and giving to the inquisition the power to hunt them down, and a list of signatures from doctors of the theological faculty of Cologne approving the publication and content of this book (which again, is quite fascinating given the same faculty, upon discovering what the book contained upon its publication, rejected it as un-Christian, unethical and illegal).

# After that we reach the main text, which is divided in three different parts. The first section is a theoretical examination of the concept of witchcraft itself, using things such as theology or natural philosophy to answer the question “Does witchcraft exist, or is it just a product of our imagination”? Kramer’s answer is: yes, it exists, because the Church and the world recognizes that the Devil is real, and so witches must be real too, because witches sign a pact with Satan in order to obtain their powers and perform their harmful magic. This section was mostly aimed at other members of the clergy, and it was a way for Kramer to refute and debunk all the critics that would arose. The second section is a long discussion of cases of witchcraft, and the practices of witches: in it Kramer describes all the various forms of witchcrafts, as well as their “remedies”, how the witches recruit other witches, how the witches cast help, and how can one prevent witchcraft or help those affected by it. The third section is the “legal” part of the Malleus, and its more infamous: it is Kramer’s “How to prosecute a witch 101”, a guide for judges, magistrates and inquisitors in their fight against witchcraft. It notably gives a step-by-step process of how to make a witch trial, with heavy encouragement and suggestions of “serious interrogation”… aka torture.

# One of the worst parts of the Malleus Maleficarum is that Kramer creates in it a mock-trial destined to trap people with no way of escaping. The very basic principle of it dooms the victim: according to the book, God would never permit an innocent to be convicted of witchcraft. If God lets you be accused of being a witch… it means you must be guilty of something. By this very principle we understand the full scope of the madness of this book. It also introduced the “tear paradox”, well known through witch-hunts: if the victim cries during her trial, it means she is feeling guilt or fear about something she did, and she has something to hide. But if the victim does not cry, it means that she is a witch for sure, because either she has no regret and empathy for what she has done, or the Devil himself uses a spell to dry her tears so she doesn’t look guilty. Overall, there is no way to escape, and the only way out is through death. The Malleus Maleficarum leaves no escape for witches put under trial: all witches must be killed. But, and here is the VERY interesting part… The Malleus Maleficarum introduced the idea of burning witches. You see, before that the “burning at the stake” punishment was usually the death penalty for those who committed heresy, not witchcraft (witches were usually hanged or beheaded for example, like other people). But Kramer defended in his book that witchcraft WAS a form of heresy and should be treated and prosecuted as such: as a result, the most fitting death penalty was to burn the person alive.

# The Malleus Maleficarum is also very infamous for being the most famous (maybe the first?) book to actively encourage and authorize torture as an interrogation method. It is key, for Kramer, to obtain a confession from the witch, else the punishment cannot be inflicted, and so the confession must be obtained by any way, including torture. Though if someone confesses under torture, their confession has to be confirmed: they are taken in a different room, in a calm and peaceful environment, to agree and certify what they said. If they do not, the Malleus insists that the witch-hunter should not repeat the torture… No, that would be too cruel and inefficient. No, if the person changes their version… the witch-hunter has to put them through a NEW and DIFFERENT torture, and repeat the process until the victim finally gives up. The only key being “DO NOT REPEAT THE SAME TORTURE! Vary your tortures, please”. Even more devious is the fact that Kramer encourages the witch prosecutors to use deception and lies to get confessions. He notably writes “When the victim is first interrogated, try to persuade the prisoner to confess freely. If they refuse, strap them into a torture instrument BUT one of yours should pretend to have pity for them, and will force the others to free the prisoner. As a result, a second interrogation will happen: but if the victim still refuses to confess, this time put them to torture for good”.

# The Malleus Maleficarum showed a deep misogyny and a dark obsession with women. The vary title is feminine “Maleficarum” (witches) is in feminine, not the male “Maleficorum”. The text does recognize that there are male witches, and that men can become witches – but Kramer claims they are quite rare, and that they mostly ally with Satan due to being power-hungry (unlike women who fall easily due to either being “unfaithful” creatures prone to turn away from religious, or “lustful” beings that give in to the Devil’s seduction). Kramer claims and insists: the majority, if not all witches, are female, because women have a “weak sex” and are more inclined to witchcraft. Their faith in God is weak and easily broken, they are base beings only obeying their carnival desires, they are temperamental beings with a “loose tongue” and “defective in soul and body”… The Malleus say women have only one way to escape witchcraft: by becoming fully devout and chaste through a “religious retreat”. Aka, becoming nuns. But again, we find the inescapable trap Kramer plans: he also points out that only a few “spiritually gifted” women can actually manage to become nuns, or reach a life of chastity and devotion. As a result, he concludes that most women are doomed to be witches, and that the only “solution” to this is to exterminate all witches. Try to see a bit of logic in there.

# The depictions of witches and witchcraft in Kramer’s book became extremely influential over popular culture and belief. For Kramer witches are by nature and essence, purely evil. They are the servants and slaves of Satan, and their magic is actually a form of Satanism/diabolism. They are malevolent elements that seek to harm or destroy society, and who are only able to use “maleficia” (aka malevolent acts of sorcery). Witches obtain their power and status by signing a pact with the Devil: they reject Christianity and all of its teachings, to sell their soul to Satan. In exchange they get all sorts of powers and benefits: for example they can fly through the sky, they can cast curses, they get frequent sexual relationships with the Devil himself or his demons… they even have the power to steal a man’s penis! This is a recurring topic in European “Devil-witches”: the fear of them causing sterility under all of its forms, be it withering crops, killing cattle or making couples infertile. And due to the misogyny of the overall concept, witches were seen as anti-men creatures that sought to destroy masculinity in any way possible : most notable being a literal form of castration, as they steal away men’s genital organs and hide them away.

But in exchange, witches have of course duties: notably they have to gather regularly in an assembly presided by Satan himself (the famous “witches Sabbath”) and in which they partake in all sorts of atrocious and horrible activities (most notably incest, cannibalism and baby-killing) before it all ends in one giant and gory orgy between the witches and the demons. Given Kramer’s obvious sexual obsession, it is not surprise that the demons described in the Malleus are all seducers who tempt women with carnal pleasures, and out of all the types of demons, Kramer only spends time describing in details the “incubi” and “succubi”, aka the sex demons. However one unique point that differed from previous conceptions of witches is that, despite Satan being the one who makes deals with them, he is not the “recruiter”. According to Kramer, it is witches that recruit other witches, in one of two ways. Either they select a young maiden and send her a demon in the shape of beautiful young man to seduce her into the dark side, either they use their magic to causes disaster in the life of a matron until, in desperation, she turns towards witches for help.

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What is even more unfortuante is that the spread of the Malleus Maleficarum was precisely due to the invention that would announce Renaissance and the avancement of civilization: the printing press and the booming printing industry, which allowed texts to spread faster, to be cheaper to buy and to be read by more people than before. Mind you, the Malleus Maleficarum alone did not start the witch-trials and witch-hunts in Europe. There were much more factors and causes : the Pope had already recognized the existence of witches and the need to destroy them before the Malleus was published ; people had centuries-old folk belief and superstitious tales about witches, witchcrafts and the like ; Europe went through a series of diseases, famines and natural disasters usually blamed on supernatural forces... And of course, what greatly inflamed the witch hunts was the great religious turmoil and the great religious wars that started tearing apart Europe in the 15th century between Catholic and Protestants. Christianity divided itself, the very nature of God and the Church was debated and doubted, and this led not just to armed conflict and political exiles, but also to a severe hunt for all "heresies"... which quickly turned into "witchcraft".

[dancing-coyote]

Robot /// Saint Christopher [Westminister Psalter] The Patron Saint of Travelers / The Transformed Beast

Walter of Speyer popularly portrayed St. Christopher as a monstrous giant; in time, the legend goes, Christopher meets the Christ child, regrets his former violent behavior, and receives baptism. He is then rewarded with a human appearance, and devotes his life to Christian service, becoming a soldier saint.

Scarecrow /// Saint Peter [The Crucifixion of Saint Peter, Caravaggio] Patron Saint of Bridge Builders and Sailors / The Forgiven Sinner

"Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.”

SAR /// Lucifer [The Fallen Angel, Alexandre Cabanel] The Morning Star / The First Fallen Angel

"How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, "I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit. Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: "Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble, the man who made the world a wilderness, who overthrew its cities and would not let his captives go home?""

Saints and Sinners

[madforfashiondude]

Exhibition Of Large-Scale, Immersive Installations to be Highlight of the Newly Expanded Museum of Modern Art, New York (MoMA)

Exhibition Of Large-Scale, Immersive Installations to be Highlight of the Newly Expanded Museum of Modern Art, New York (MoMA)

The Museum of Modern Art will inaugurate its latest transformation on New York City’s Wesr 53rd Street with Surrounds: 11 Installations, opening in The Steven and Alexandra Cohen Center for Special Exhibitions, in The Peggy and David Rockefeller building, on October 21, 2019. The presentation, spanning the entire sixth floor, presents 11 watershed installations by living artists from the past two…

[lgbtunis-moved]

The Plague Pogroms

During the Bubonic Plague pandemic in 1346–1353, the Jewish communities of Europe were used as scapegoats and blamed for the mass deaths. accusations spread that they had caused the disease by deliberately poisoning wells (many Jews chose not to use the common wells of towns and cities). They were often coerced through torture to confess to poisoning wells.

Representation of a massacre of the Jews in 1349 Antiquitates Flandriae

The first plague-related massacre took place in Toulon, Provence (1348), where the Jewish quarter was sacked, and forty Jews were murdered in their homes. the next occurred in Barcelona. By 1349, massacres and persecution spread across Europe. 2,000 Jews were burnt alive on 14 February 1349 in the "Valentine's Day" Strasbourg massacre, where the plague had not yet affected the city. While the ashes smouldered, Christian residents of Strasbourg sifted through and collected the valuable possessions of Jews not burnt by the fires. Within the 510 Jewish communities destroyed in this period, some members killed themselves to avoid the persecutions. In 1349 the Jewish community in Frankfurt am Main was annihilated. Later the Jewish communities in Mainz and Cologne were destroyed as well. The 3,000 strong Jewish population of Mainz initially defended themselves and managed to hold off the Christian attackers. But the Christians managed to overwhelm the Jewish ghetto in the end and killed all of its Jewish residents.

At Speyer, Jewish corpses were disposed in wine casks and cast into the Rhine. By the close of 1349 the worst of the pogroms had ended in Rhineland. But around this time the massacres of Jews started rising near the Hansa townships of the Baltic Coast and in Eastern Europe. By 1351 there had been 350 incidents of pogroms - 60 major and 150 minor Jewish communities had been exterminated. The pogroms causes thousands of refugees from western and northern Europe to flee to Poland and Lithuania, where they remained for the next six centuries.

The Erfurt Treasure is a hoard of coins and jewelry that is assumed to have belonged to Jews who hid them in during the plague pogroms. They were found in the wall of a house in a medieval Jewish neighborhood in Erfurt, Germany

The Colmar Treasure was buried by Jews in the Holy Roman Empire at the time of the plague pogroms. It was found in the wall of a house in the medieval rue des Juifs, in Colmar, Alsace. It is believed that some of the items were sold by the discoverers before the full extent of the Treasure could be recorded.

[ofpsalms]

𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐂 𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐘𝐏𝐄: Document 𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄: 07/23/2020 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍: Executive summary of the investigations jointly conducted by the Vatican and Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople into depictions of St. Christopher and other “dog-headed” saints, with additional support by the Office of the Anglican Communion. To be stored for future studies and consultations regarding lycanthropy.��

𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

This ecumenical commission and subsequent investigation was formed based on increasing inquiries regarding the appearance of St. Christopher, martyr and patron of travelers, as well as reports of the presence of various types of lycanthropes within several different denominations of Christian churches. Based on evidence collected from our investigations, the Commission has concluded that St. Christopher was indeed a lycanthrope, or werewolf, and that there are many others who were, and are, like him.

 To the human world, we have provided a false scholarly narrative that this is a remnant of old-religion cynocephalic depictions possibly started by the Coptic Orthodox Church, or a mistranslation of Canaanite to “canid.” Further investigations must be conducted in order to ascertain the number of lycanthropes within Christian churches and how to proceed. 

Rev. Rudolfo Martinez, SJ Ecumenical Commission on Lycanthropic Studies 

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St. Christopher is best known as the patron saint of travelers and transportation, the most famous legend surrounding him has to do with his service carrying travelers across a treacherous river. One day, a child approached St. Christopher by the river and asked to be helped across. St. Christopher obliged. However, as he entered midstream, the river rose and the child's weight grew and became extremely heavy. It was only by great exertion that St. Christopher safely delivered the child to the other side.  When St. Christopher asked the child why he was so heavy, the child explained that He was the Christ and when St. Christopher carried Him, he also carried the weight of the whole world on his shoulders. 

It has been long debated if the depictions of the wolf-headed St. Christopher have any basis in reality. Though we cannot for a conclusion from icons along, early writings about his life indicate that he displayed traits similar to those suffering from lycanthropy.

 St. Christopher was described as extremely tall, or even a giant, with a fearsome face. According to the medieval Irish Passion of St. Christopher, "This Christopher was one of the Dog-heads, a race that had the heads of dogs and ate human flesh." At the time several races of beings, including vampires and werewolves, were commonly accepted as real creatures that populated the world. Such a narrative was concurred by the German bishop and poet Walter of Speyer, who described St. Christopher as a giant creature of a cynocephailac species, who barked and preyed on humans for their flesh.  Eventually, Christopher met the Christ child, regretted his former behavior, and received baptism. For this, “he was rewarded with a human appearance.” However, it currently is theorized this was St. Christopher transforming back into his human form, whether at will or by God’s command. 

Based on these descriptions the Commission has concluded that St. Christopher’s lycanthropy was a result of inheritance rather than infection. Outside of the full moon, he was able to change at will, but, prior to meeting the Christ-child and carrying him across a treacherous river, elected not to. 

He is not the first werewolf to be converted by any of the Christian churches, and certainly not the last. 

Depiction of Christ with cynocephali warriors, Kiev Psalter of 1397 

A large number of lycanthropes have been known to be drawn to Catholic and Orthodox churches, peacefully living among the faithful and even clergy. At times, they have even been reported to actively protect churches from active threats. Pope Nicholas IV and Pope Clement VI said to have had employed a small militia of werewolves to protect against vampiric threats.  Pope Alexander VI elected to have several in the newly-formed Swiss Guard. 

 Based on evidence, a theory postulated by the Commission is that this is the natural result of lycanthropes’ ongoing conflict with vampires. Vampires are naturally repelled to holy objects and places, a fact that these werewolves are fully aware of and use to their advantage. The look to God not only as a way to defeat their enemies, but for protection from them. 

The Commission estimates that there around 2,000 werewolves actively attending and participating within Christian churches, but further study will be needed.