Introduction
Social norms are essential for regulating society, public formations, and state bodies’ activities. Today, the system of social norms implemented in judicial proceedings is complex, including many different structures that focus on moral and ethical issues. In the past, according to Roper (46), the inquisitorial legal system was, in fact, relatively stable.
Still, witch trials were typical and perceived as attempts to benefit society due to economic hardships, the slowdown of population growth, weak government, and stronger religious influences. In their essence and nature, such lawsuits were distinguished by their anti-humanism, amoralism, dehumanization, and subjectivization due to deliberate distortion of witnesses’ words, harsh interrogations, and torture, forcing an accused to admit at least part of their guilt (Roper 47). One such trial that has gained publicity is the trial of Tempel Anneke, a woman who was convicted by her neighbors and accused of witchcraft (Morton 35). The trial against Tempel Anneke is the clearest example of how connecting different events of the woman’s life becomes a story of witchcraft.
Process
The trial of Tempel Anneke is one of the famous cases against witches. Anna Roleffes, known as Tempel Anneke, was arrested by the courts on suspicion of witchcraft in June 1663 near Brunswick (Morton 18). During the questioning, the judges deliberately asked Anneke many probing questions to put her in a negative light. The woman was intelligent, educated, and witty; she answered the questions clearly and confidently in a way that did not discredit her.
However, even such a stubborn woman eventually broke down under the pressure of questioners (Roper 45). The woman’s answers were utterly irrelevant because of the widespread stereotype of the correlation between aging, gender, and witchcraft in early-modern German culture (Roper 161). Finally, on December 30, 1663, the court in Brunswick sentenced Anna Roleffes to execution by beheading (Morton 41). This tragic story exemplifies injustice against the woman wrongly accused of witchcraft because of entrenched culture and social unrest.
Procedure
Tempel Anneke’s trial was a structured procedure based on analyzing witness allegations and Anneke’s answers, especially under torture. The judges appealed mainly to the words of a roofer, Hans Tiehmann, who claimed to have witnessed the use of sorcery by Tempel for stealing and several other allegations against the Roleffes (Morton 18). Residents of Harxbüttel, where Anneke lived, believed that the woman killed animals to conduct witch experiments, miraculously healed people, and magically acquired once stolen items.
Moreover, they mistook her for a witch and a drunkard who sent diseases if she was denied a mug of beer (Morton, 84). Fantasy and intent played far from the last place in the speech of the interrogated due to fear for their lives and property and the goal of finding a scapegoat for their sufferings (Roper 27). These stories and labels especially convinced the judges to believe that Anneke had to confess her evil deeds in front of them.
The courts asked Roleffes many questions during the questioning, trying to incriminate her for lying. However, the woman was convinced in her answers, showing her high intellect and deep understanding of legal aspects. For example, when the judges asked her “Whether she didn’t harm people, animals, or crops,” she confidently said “no,” demonstrating determination and steadfastness (Morton 97). Roper (45) mentions that psychological pressure is one of the interrogation tools.
Nonetheless, in the case of Tempel Anneke, this approach to gaining voluntary confession was not successful, and witnesses involved in the proceedings showed significantly weaker fortitude. Tempel’s attempt to justify herself turned out to be futile, and after several “no” judges applied harsh measures against her since traditional interrogation methods did not allow for obtaining a concrete confession and directly proving Tempel Anneke’s guilt.
Implications
Based on the story of Tempel Anneke, it is clear that witch trials were not more about uncovering facts but about constructing a coherent chronology of events and phenomena as a motive for the execution of an alleged witch. Due to Tempel Anneke’s answers during the interrogation, the judges received unequivocal responses, which did not suit them because the court members were used to the different behavior of an accused. As a result, witness statements could be accepted as the main arguments in favor of the prosecution; it was a forced court measure to get a coherent story similar to reality.
The lawyers considered witness statements about Tempel Anneke’s abilities. They believed that the woman’s talent to treat people and animals was inextricably linked with the help and support of the Devil, who makes witches suppose that healing works for good and not for evil (Morton 35-36). Any confession of witchcraft meant telling stories of collaboration with the Devil (Roper 85). The judges additionally wanted to get a confession from Anneke herself, using torture, so Anneke confessed that she worked with the Devil.
Although this was not the case, before her death, she prayed to God for mercy (Morton 178). Moreover, for the most part, judges in Germany suppressed female independence and thought that a woman not involved in witchcraft should be timid and conforming (Roper 46). Hence, intelligence, personality, and non-standard behavior during the hearing aggravated Anneke’s position in the judge’s eyes.
Conclusion
The trial of Tempel Anneke is one of the striking cases of how several events from a person’s life are intertwined into a story about witchcraft and involvement in cooperation with the Devil. Anna Roleffes was an intelligent, educated, and talented woman who carefully helped her neighbors, who later accused her of sorcery, fearing for her knowledge and abilities. Anneke was arrested and court-martialed; despite her firmness in her court answers, the judges found her guilty based on speculation and assumptions, but not facts.
Works Cited
Morton, Peter, editor. Tempel Anneke: Records of a Witchcraft Trial in Brunswick, Germany, 1663. Translated by Barbara Dähms, University of Toronto Press, 2017.
Roper, Lyndal. Witch Craze: Terror and Fantasy in Baroque Germany. Yale University Press, 2004.