The Witch-Hunters

Whylom there was dwelling in my country An archdeacon, a man of high degree, That boldly did execution Or punishing of fornication Or witchcraft -- Chaucer, "Friar's Tale," Canterbury Tales

Disclaimer

This is NOT a page about Wiccans or neo-pagans, and I do not advocate the belief that Wiccans are Satan-worshippers and/or baby-killers. I am well aware that they are not. This is a starting point for historical research into the great witch craze of 1100-1700 AD. And please, don't ask me for spells.

Introduction

Instrumental to the torture and inevitable punishment of witches were the witch-finders. A witch-hunter could be someone who meticulously searched villages for individual witches, or it could be someone who devoted much of their time to the persecution of witches. Matthew Hopkins was decidedly the most famous of witch-finders, but there were numerous others, many of whom we shall never know much of. Although some of the following people may not have physically sought out witches, they wrote treatises which strongly encouraged others to do so.

Here are some of the witch-finders, anti-witch writers, and Inquisitors I have been able to dredge up. Since there are so many, I have broken the information up into three pages.

Sir James Altham, Lancaster Judge. Pascual de Andagoya, Conquistador Witch-Finder of Alava. Angelo of Verona, Inquisitor of Lombardy. St. Thomas Aquinas, anti-witch writer. John Bain, common pricker of Scotland. John Balfour, common pricker of Corhouse. Bartolo, lawyer of Sassoferrato. Friar Bernardino, witch-finder of Sienna. Peter Binsfeld, witch-hunter. Jakob Bithner, witch-hunter of Styria. Bernhard Bitterlin, witch-hunter of Obermarchtal. Jean Bodin, legal witch-finder of Paris. Henry Boguet, the witch-finder of Burgundy. Robert le Bougre, Cathar-cum-Inquisitor. Jacques du Boys, Dominican witch-hunter. Franz Buirmann, witch-finder of Cologne.	Cumanus, Italian witch-hunter. Lambert Daneau, anti-witch writer of Geneva. Martin Antonio Del Rio, anti-witch writer of the Netherlands . John Dick, Scottish witch-finder. Prince Bishop von Dornheim, witch-hunter of Bamberg. Jean Duprat, Inquisitor of Carcassonne. Prince-Bishop Philipp Adolf von Ehrenberg, witch-hunter of Wurzburg. Dr. Matern Eschbach, witch-hunter of Baden-Baden. Nicholas Eymeric, Papal Inquisitor of Aragon. Ulrich Felger, corrupt prison guard. Johann Baptist Fickler, Bavarian anti-witch writer. Girolamo Folengo, anti-witch writer.	Joseph Glanvill, King's Chaplain. Edmund Grindal, witch-hunter of Canterbury. Francesco Maria Guazzo, Italian demonologist. Bernard Gui, Inquisitor of Toulouse. Sir Matthew Hale, witch-hunter of Bury St. Edmonds. Hans Georg Hallmayer, witch-hunter of Rottenburg. Alexander von Haslang zu Haslangsreut, Grosshausen und Reid, Bavarian witch-finder. Melcher Hauber, corrupt prison guard. Ulrich von Helfenstein, witch-hunter of Wiesensteig. Matthew Hopkins, the witch-finder general of Essex.
King James I, the royal witch-hunter of England. Jean, instructor of Inquisitor of Arras. John Jewel, witch-hunter of Salisbury. Dr. Leonhard Kager, witch-hunter of Gmünd. Carl Kibler, witch-hunter of Ellwangen. John Kincaid, Scottish witch-finder. The Knights of the Teutonic Order, witch-finders of Ellingen. Lewes Lavater, anti-witch writer of Zürich. Paul Laymann, anti-witch writer. Martin Luther.	Walter Map, anti-heretic writer. Konrad von Marburg, German Inquisitor General and heretic-finder. Cotton Mather, the witch-finder of Salem. Duke Maximilian I, witch-hunter of Bavaria. Simon de Montfort, heretic-hunter of Albigenses. Thomas Naogeorgus, witch-hunter of Esslingen. John Parkhurst, witch-hunter of Norfolk and Suffolk. Mr. Paterson, female witch-hunter. William Perkins, anti-witch writer. King Philip IV, royal Templar-hunter. Pope Alexander VI. Pope Gregory IX. Pope Innocent VIII. Pope John XXII.	Remigius, Inquisitor. Edmund Robinson, Hero Wannabe. Nicholas Savin, Inquisitor. Jakob Sprenger, German witch-hunter. John Stearne, English witch-finder. Gervaise of Tilbury, anti-witch writer of Arles. Johannes Tinctorus, theologian. Thomás de Torquemada, Spanish Grand Inquisitor. Abbot Johann Trithemus, anti-witch writer. Doctor Wangereck, Bavarian witch-hunter. James Welsh, common pricker of Scotland. William V, witch-hunter of Bavaria.

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The Witch Hunters is copyrighted 1996-1998 to Shantell Powell.