The witch sat in the gloomy study of the castle and began to tell the story of the witch-killing frenzy of the Middle Ages in a gloomy tone.

This wave of witch persecution, which lasted from 1480 to 1780, swept Europe for 300 years. Once a woman from a good family is falsely accused of being a "witch", she is immediately beheaded for public display, and then her body is burned. This is a dark chapter in the history of the European Middle Ages and in the history of human civilization.

Looking south from the crossroads in the heart of Freiburg's old town, the quaint Martin Gate stands just a hundred metres away. On the solid stone wall is a metal plaque with a description in German, which reads: "On March 24, 1599, Margareta M., Catarina S., and Anna were beheaded, burned, and sacrificed in the witch persecution." They are just representatives of the many innocent people in Freiburg, and I would like to use this card to remember the souls of the wrongdoers. A few words, but they made people think a lot, and aroused a desire in my heart to uncover the long and dark and terrifying history hidden behind it, which is a bloodstained page in the history of the European Middle Ages and the history of human civilization.

Let's start with a story.

The story takes place more than 400 years ago.

At that time, there was a tailor named Jacques in Freiburg, who was ingenious, loyal and industrious, and was known as the president of the tailors' guild. From 1562 onwards, he also became one of the 30 members of the municipal government. Jacques had a pair of daughters under his knees, and after his wife died, Jacques soon remarried. His second wife, Margareta, bore him a son and a daughter, a boy named Philip and a girl named Susanna. Eighteen years have passed in a flash, and the children have grown up. Her daughter, Susanna, continued to associate with other men after marriage, and such "misconduct" was contrary to the relevant laws and regulations of the time. However, as long as Jacques remained in the government, the family's reputation could be maintained to some extent. It was only when he asked to retire in 1583 that rumors about his wife, Margareta and daughter Susanna, were once again the subject of discussion among the townspeople.

One day in 1587, Susanna's husband was imprisoned for several days because of his debts. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Suzanne and her lover, college student Marcus, frequently corresponded with each other, and the two behaved immorally in broad daylight, which led to Marcus being detained several times. But once he was released, the old trick was repeated, and the police had to put the two in prison together. However, Marcus was still restless in prison, and he was noisy every day. In the end, the city government had to order that Marcus be expelled from the Freiburg district and that he would not be allowed to enter the city gates.

Poor Jacques was seriously ill and could no longer intercede with his old colleagues and friends for his daughter in prison. Margareta had no choice but to go out and spend money to ransom her daughter. But the story doesn't end there, and one day, an idle butcher makes small talk about Margareta as a "witch", and although he immediately retracts it, admitting that it is nothing more than "sloppy, irresponsible, and outspoken" nonsense, the phrase spreads like wings through the streets of the city. You know, at that time, witches had the same name as "infidels", and those who were condemned as witches were tantamount to getting a death verdict.

Jacques tried to defend his wife at first, but he had no way to return and soon left the world. Jacques's ex-wife's two sons-in-law then fight Margareta over the inheritance, but Suzanne's husband, who she never loved, took the opportunity to grab most of the money and slip away. Poor Margareta began her long and difficult days: constant infighting in the family, the situation of being a widow and being accused of being a widow, coupled with the jealousy of her family property, she was finally denounced as a "witch" by four Freiburg citizens on February 19, 1599, and was arrested and imprisoned on the same day. Also in prison are Katarina and Anna. Before them, there were six other women in detention as "witch suspects".

At first, Margareta does not admit that she is a "witch" and is guilty of rebellion against God. But under the escalating torture, Margareta was forced to confess to all the charges imposed on her. Her confession was as follows:

1. One night ten years ago, a black-faced man appeared in her garden, this man flirted with her, she fulfilled his wishes, he was a man with a cold temperament.

2. He convinces her not to trust God, and she does, but she immediately feels guilty.

3. The man said that his name was Black Eyebrow Grove, and gave her a witchcraft broom, and some witch ointment (for witchcraft).

4. She used to fly in her garden at night for a while.

5. She used this broom to fly to Georg's house, and she also went to Katarina's house and Anna's house.

6. There were also many women whom she did not know, who had come to her house, and they ate and drank together. The court quickly handed down a verdict on this confession, which today seems absurd, and sentenced Margareta M. to death, to be executed on March 24, 1599, beheaded by a sword, burned on a pile of wood, and ended with the words: "God forgive this poor soul." ”

Originally, according to the convention, witches were also to be burned alive like infidels. However, on February 13, when the city council voted on the methods of death of the other three "witches", the decision to be beheaded first, then burned, passed by an overwhelming majority. Therefore, she and the other two "witches" will not be burned alive, but after being beheaded, the corpses will still be thrown into the woodyard and burned to ensure the complete destruction of the "witch body".

Freiburg On March 24, 1599, on that cold early spring day, on the embankment not far from Martin's Gate, Margareta and three other accused witches were to be beheaded here. Under the embankment and across the river, there were citizens who came to watch. Seeing blood splattering from their heads under the light of the knife, they followed the cart loaded with the corpses to the crematorium, two kilometers south of the city. It is an important trade and transportation route, and there are already more people gathered around the pre-prepared firewood stacks to watch, and burning corpses there is the best place to make an example of a hundred people.

A similar story is that in 1597, Clara Geisler, a German widow and day laborer, was arrested and tried for 67 years old after she was falsely accused of having lived with three devils and committing other crimes. At first, Clara flatly denied her guilt, and the Inquisitors tortured her, at first by shackling her toes with iron tongs, but she still refused to admit it, saying that "the devil made her stubborn and persevered." Then the punishment was increased, and she was forced to confess and commit adultery with many demons, which caused the tragic death of more than 240 people, set the house on fire nine times, and burned the city down...... Later, however, her confession was interrupted, as she was tortured and the interrogation record ended with the following sentence: "The devil did not want her to confess anything, so he tightened her neck." ”

Margareta, Catarina, Anna, and later Geisler became the victims of religious evil during the frenzied period of the "witch persecution" in the late Middle Ages in Europe (1590~1630). This wave of persecution, which began around 1480 and lasted until 1780, swept Europe for almost 300 years, and it is difficult to count the number of innocent people who died in the fire of women like Margareta from the sky. Expert estimates of the number of victims vary widely, ranging from 100,000 to several million. The reason for the lack of data is partly due to the age of the court records and, in many cases, it is difficult to determine whether the victims were convicted on the basis of witchcraft or heretical beliefs. However, in Germany, there are two more credible figures that show the rampant persecution at that time. One is in the small Bavarian city of Bamberg, where 6,000 people were convicted of witches and burned in five years: in Würzburg (population of about 6,000) at the same time, nearly 900 people were unjustly killed, which is equivalent to a "witch" being executed every two days.

Between 1560 and 1680, 291 "witchcrafters" were executed in Essex, England, of whom 268 were women and only 23 were men, and 11 of those 23 were convicted for their "close association with witches". In Calvinist areas, the persecution of "witches" reached the point of madness. In the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, 3,371 "witches" were executed between 1591 and 1680. Wiesensteig, a small city in Germany, burned 63 "witches" in 1562 alone. Another small city, Obel Makhtl, executed 54 "witches" in two years, accounting for 7% of the city's population. In Oppennu alone, 50 "witches" were executed in nine months, representing nearly 8% of the population. According to incomplete statistics, from the 14th to the 15th centuries, more than 50,000 women were burned to death in Europe accused of being "witches". In some of the "hardest-hit areas", such as parts of Germany, there are only two women left in a village.

Gothika also dared to claim to be a witch in the space to live a dry life, if he was unfortunate enough to be born in the Middle Ages and was still so open-mouthed, the ranking officials would probably see the puppet in these terrible stories.