Barbara BACH

Eigenschaften

Ereignisse

Eltern

Ehepartner und Kinder

Notizen zu dieser Person

Barbara came from a relatively well-off family, which may have caused friction and envy among her neighbors. Her mother Magdalena, “die alte Bächin”, was among the most notorious so-called witches of the persecution of 1618,so Barbara was already in danger by association. Her marriage to Martin Sponring was not particularly happy: He abused her physically, acted as a stranger to her, and enriched himself from her inheritance. She was in earlypregnancy when she was arrested for witchcraft on 25 Sep 1628. On initial interrogation, she professed innocence and thought it was all her husband’s fault, as his father had died in prison and his mother at the stake forwitchcraft. She trusted that God in heaven, in whom she had hope, would take pity on her, and that the authorities would take note that she was with child. Three days later, on 28 Sep, she was again interrogated, and said that between one and two in the morning she had seen an angel all in white, who told her “Du arme Seele, bete fleißig, Gott wird dich nicht verlassen.” (You poorsoul, pray diligently, God will not leave you.) This happened two nights in a row, and the night before the angel also appeared but said nothing. Nothing like that had happened to her before, except that about nine or ten yearsago when she was in a birthing bed and her husband was holding and hitting her and she fell out of bed, she called on God to help her and was immediately grabbed again by her husband. She asked for an hour to think about hertestimony and was granted it. That afternoon, after three hours of time, she again recounted the story of what happened about ten or eleven years earlier. She was in the birthing bed of her little Thomas when her husband, who was the main cause of herseduction, treated her so evilly and hit her, and she hid in a corner and slept there to escape him. When she crept out, someone or something stood there a bit to one side asked her why she was suffering so when she could have itmuch better if she went to him and slept with him, which she did. She found him harder in nature than a man. He promised her a thaler, which she didn’t want to accept. After the deed was done, she noticed that he had goat’sfeet. Three days later, he appeared to her again in her room when she and her husband had already lying in bed, which reminded her of what had happened. He said that since she had slept with him, she belonged to him. She saidno, but after much back and forth, she finally put her hand in his and said she was his and would do what he said. Barbara confessed to having helped create bad weather on the Sailberg and named four accomplices. She hauled buckets of water from the stream and emptied them out in the devil’s name. She attended a witch’s dance about two yearsago and named 7 others who were there. She neither ate nor drank there, but did dance at night about ten o’clock in the moonlight. Two days later, on 30 Sep, Barbara was again interrogated. She said that everything she had testified earlier should be erased, whereupon the executioner was ordered to dress her in a Trudenrock, preparing her for torture. (ATrudenrock was a dress put on a witch before torture, Þrúðr having been one of the Valkyries, and a drude being a malevolent nocturnal spirit that brings nightmares, the word drude or trude becoming by the 16th century a genericterm for a witch.) This order was sufficient for her to repeat her former confession, though not exactly as she had done before. This time she said her husband and her brother-in-law wanted to make a little shelf, but she wasn’twilling, so he struck her. Thereafter she went on a walk and met the devil, who said that she needn’t suffer so, he would make it better for her and then had relations with her, though she found him cold and hard. She offered himher hand to be his, and he ordered her to kill some livestock, which she didn’t do, so he ordered her to foreswear God and his saints, which she did. This happened a fortnight later in her chamber. She slept with him againanother fortnight later. He was quite black, with a big beard and a cap like a priest. She confessed further to helping create storms four times, on the Sailberg, on the Tauberberg, in the Leichten, and in the Aspach, and namedmany names of accomplices. After a noon break, she continued her confession, including to attending three witch’s dances and to riding to one on a fork (probably an oven fork), and named further accomplices. The next day, 1 Oct, Barbara was again interrogated, and said that she had had holy communion last on Maundy Thursday 1628, and always treated communion properly. She did not bring her evil deeds to confession, but on the otherhand always faithfully called on God, even now in prison. She had never done ill to man or beast, and stood by her confession. She was confronted by the witness Margarethe Reichardtin. On 3 and 7 Oct she was again questioned,but except for a few minor things said her previous confession was correct. On the 3rd, however, she said that Margarethe Reichardtin had come by her prison cell and tried to arrange a common story to accuse two women of beingaccomplices in witchcraft, both already dead. On 8 Oct, she was again subjected to questioning. She said an angel had appeared to her telling her she should pray hard, receive the holy sacrament, and that she was no such woman. She acknowledged all that she had confessed andwhat the holy angel told her. If she had lied to the devil, that wouldn’t be a fault. Thereupon she was handed over to the executioner and a Trudenrock was put on her. She sat as if mute. Then, when she was bound, she repeatedthat her previous confession was true. Tobias Lang’s wife was brought in, and Barbara accused her to her face of participating in witchcraft, to which Lang’s wife answered that Barbara would be considered a traitor. On 12 Oct, Barbara was again reminded of the names of her accused accomplices. She replied that she couldn’t think of any additions, but would name them if they occurred to her. A woman called Gäubäurin, one of the accusedaccomplices, was brought in, and Barbara accused her to her face. In order to verify her pregnancy, two expert women, Margarethe, Georg Werlein’s wife and midwife in Igersheim, and Katharina, wife of the shepherd Hans Klein in Burg Neuhaus, examined Barbara in November 1628. They were sworn tosecrecy after the proceedings. On 2 Jan 1629, Barbara was confronted by Paul Kolbenschlag’s widow, Ketterlein Kannengießerin from Mergentheim, and Barbara accused her to her face of participating in witch’s dance in the Leichten. This woman said she had neverseen Barbara, except for once when she was demanding money from her. On 8 Jan, Barbara was read her testimony, and she said she admitted it all, but she was not feeling well about it. She was not ready to forgive everyone, especially Doctor Vasoldt, one of the interrogators, who was so mean to herand scared her, even though she was great with child. Barbara remained in custody in the Burg Neuhaus until 27 Jan 1629, when she was transferred to custody in Markelsheim. It is not clear whether she was under house arrest or more formal custody, but as she was supplied with mealsfrom a local inn run by Hanß Jakob Horlein, a formal custody is more likely. She gave birth to a daughter on 30 Apr 1629 and then, on 25 May 1629, was brought back to the Burg Neuhaus. She was called into the chamber, wailed horribly that she couldn’t forgive Dr. Vasoldt, as he was killing her. They should do what they would, she couldn’t withstand any more punishment, she would rather die. On 26 May she wasagain brought before the panel and reminded of her testimony, and she stood behind it. She didn’t like her husband either, but didn’t want to tell the whole story. But her husband had let it be known that he was going to claimpriority in inheriting the inheritance from her cousin Thomas, abbot of Banz and refuse her rights to inherit it, just as all her husband’s assets came from her and he had brought no more than 500 gulden to the family. She askedthat the authorities look into this and assume custody of her children. Above all, she asked Dr. Baumann especially to indicate that she was indeed a witch, and that if she pressed her thumb in her fist and laid it on her heart(equivalent to crossing her fingers), that the devil couldn’t take her soul then. Although she hadn’t seen her husband at the witch’s proceedings, she feared that he might have been led to witchcraft by whoring. For he was apublic philanderer, and she had caught him with the maid, but thought him, with all due respect, a loose bird that shat in his own nest. The prelate of Banz had given her a “Batterlein” (a baptismal sponsor’s gift?) of 100florins, and she asked that the father not be allowed to keep this from her children. She was last called before the panel on 28 May, and she said she stood behind her confession. Thereupon the bailiff announced her execution was to occur on the 30th of May. She was burned at the stake. Her husband Martin Sponringwas arrested a week after her execution and was himself executed for witchcraft 16 Jun 1629. Their baby girl Margarethe died as an orphan at the tender age of about three months.

Quellenangaben

Datenbank

Titel	Ahnen der Familie Eggert / Eggert family ancestors
Beschreibung	Hier werden die Ahnen meiner Kinder dargestellt. / These are my children's ancestors.
Hochgeladen	2023-12-18 03:32:18.0
Einsender	James Eggert
E-Mail	eggertj@verizon.net
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