It is estimated that over the course of only 300 years, from the 14th to the 17th century, up to 100,000 people were executed in Europe on the charge of being werewolves. France and Germany especially found themselves under attack by these supernatural creatures, and in both countries the lycanthropy “epidemics” caused a real collective fear.
The werewolf could sometimes be the victim of a curse, but more often he was seen as a worshiper of Satan. Since turning into a wolf was considered the result of magical arts, lycanthropy trials fell into the wider phenomenon of witch-hunt.
The werewolf of Ansbach was a man-eating wolf that attacked and killed an unknown number of people in the Principality of Ansbach (in the area around the modern Bavarian city of the same name) in 1685, then a part of the Holy Roman Empire before being executed in a manner befitting a convicted human criminal. this lupine menace began by taking an unusual amount of the livestock being grazed in the countryside. Soon it began to turn its attention to those tending the animals, mostly women and children in Ansbach. The number of peasants the wolf killed is unknown, but its depredations were such that, during a period when people lived with wolves and occasionally lost their lives to the creatures, fear spread through the region.
The idea immediately spread that this was no normal wolf, but rather a werewolf — on whose identity there was little doubt: the detested Michael Leicht, Bürgermeister of Ansbach (a figure halfway between a mayor and a ruler), had recently died after subjecting the town to its cruel and fraudulent yoke for many years. , and his death was unlamented. It was soon rumored that the evil magistrate had returned from the grave as a werewolf, and was seeking revenge on those who cared so little for his death. It was rumored that this much-hated public officer had actually managed to escape death by transferring his spirit into the body of a wolf. Some swore they saw him attend his own funeral; a contemporary flyer shows Michael Leicht who, in the form of a wolf wrapped in a white-linen shroud, returns to his old apartment, scaring the new tenants. Soon there was a concerted effort to slay the creature and banish the late, lycanthropic Bürgermeister.
Thus hunting the fierce wolf became an imperative not only in order to protect children from further carnage, but to free the city from the spirit of the Burgomaster still haunting those places, and to avenge years of harassment. The hunters prepared a Wolfsgrube. This “wolf pit” consisted of a hole with stone walls, about three or four meters deep, covered with branches and straw, and it was used to trap wild animals. Pieces of raw meat were placed at the bottom of the well, and often a live bait was used: a sheep, a pig or a goose. The wolf, smelling the prey, would wander around the scrubs until it fell into the trapping pit.
The great mob found the troublesome (were)wolf, and tirelessly pursued it with hounds across the country. Wolves have impressive stamina, but eventually, the Werewolf of Ansbach needed a rest, and so it leaped down the Wolfsgrube. The dogs stood baying above, leading their masters to the trapped beast, which of course had no means of escaping. It was slain with a variety of weapons, including cudgels and pitchforks (every angry peasant mob needs the latter). Surprisingly, though, the wolf did not resume its human form upon being beaten, which ran contrary to accepted werewolf-lore, and remained lupine.
Either from embarrassment or unwavering faith in the true nature of the animal, the wolf was then treated as if it were human. After skinning the animal, the men severed its muzzle and placed on its head a mask with Leicht’s features; they dressed it with a wig and a cloak so it came to resemble the deceased Bürgermeister, and Triumphantly paraded the corpse through Ansbach. the wolf was hung from a gibbet erected on a nearby hill for all to see, so that it was clearly visible This was a common practice for human criminals whose bodies served as a warning.
On the one hand, depriving the wolf of his fur and replacing it with human clothes meant showing Satan himself that his tricks did not work. The townspeople of Ansbach were able to recognize the man concealing under the fur; this was therefore a warning, addressed to the Devil himself
On the other hand, there was an undeniable political aspect. This was a “by proxy” execution of the former ruler; the commoners, who had failed to overthrow their oppressor while he was alive, did so post-mortem.
A translated poem from the time written by Franz Ritter von Kobell reads:
I, wolf, was a grim beast and devourer of many children
Which I far preferred to fat sheep and steers;
A rooster killed me, a well was my death.
I now hang from the gallows, for the ridicule of all people.
As a spirit and a wolf, I bothered men
How appropriate, now that people say:
“Ah! You damned spirit who entered the wolf,
You now swing from the gallows disguised as a man
This is your fair compensation, the gift you have earned;
This you deserve, a gibbet is your grave.
Take this reward, because you have devoured the sons of men
Like a fierce and ferocious beast, a real child eater. “
Sources: https://historycollection.com/12-real-werewolf-cases-throughout-history/7/, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_of_Ansbach, https://www.bizzarrobazar.com/en/2018/11/27/il-licantropo-di-ansbach/
Interested in a topic of your own? Just ask here and I will be glad to post it!
Instagram: 3 Cats and Cauldron
TikTok: 3 Cats and a Cauldron
From our altar to yours, with love from the sea,
Click here for an Index to all posts
