Introduction

The Bamberg witch hunt which occurred from 1626 to 1630 was among the bloodiest and most vicious of the German witch panics, and took place in the context of a series of persecutions occurring across the southern German princedoms during the same time.  Prince-bishops who held both political and religious authority ruled many of these territories, and in Bamberg, Bishop Johann II Fuchs von Dornheim and suffragan (assistant bishop) Friedrich Förner drove the hunts forward (Behringer, 226).  Under their efforts, approximately six hundred people burned as witches in Bamberg, including at least eight city councillors, two burgomasters, and several wives and daughters of these men (Behringer, 229).  Even Dr. Georg Haan (or Horn), the Chancellor of the bishopric, was executed with his son (Georg Adam Haan), his wife, and two daughters (Behringer, 229).  Johannes Junius was mayor of Bamberg in 1628, until an accusation extracted from George Adam Haan led to his arrest, imprisonment, torture, and execution (Apps and Gow, 92, n31).  Though the records remaining from his trial are typical of the hunt, Junius also secretly wrote a letter to his daughter, Veronica, expressing his farewell, his experience under torture, his decision to confess, and paternal advice.  This letter is one of very few documents that describes a witch trial from the accused's perspective.  It forms the basis of the following fictitious account, narrated by Veronica.