‘The extensive persecution of witches in Bamberg in the years 1623–32 was largely a product of the desire of the Prince Bishop to seize their property’. How far do you agree with this statement?

Between the years 1618 to 1648 the Thirty Years War was taking place, this caused the Bamberg economy to become weak. This in turn affect Bamberg, meaning that the village supplies were plundered by soldiers. This had an effect on property confiscations of suspected witches as it meant that Bamberg, as well as its judicial branch didn’t have to finance the cost of witch trial or interrogations, but was done through property. In addition to the economy and property confiscations, the belief in witchcraft was amongst the factors affecting the extent of witchcraft persecutions, as well as the religious beliefs in Bamberg between 1623 and 1632. Overall, the extensive persecution of witches was less so about property confiscations, but more about the economic climate and strong beliefs in witchcraft.

Property confiscations weren’t uncommon, as it was enshrined within Bamberg’s law where a witch could have their property confiscated, which encouraged the persecution of upper classes. In turn, the victim would then have to pay the court fees, in addition to paying for the travel expenses for their interrogators and also torturers. This therefore reduced the financial liability that the state held. This essentially became an industry the state could take advantage off, with no proceedings or events regarding witch trials never needing finance. As a result, the Bamberg economy boomed, despite being during the time of the Thirty Years War. In April 1631, 22 inmates were held in prison on charges of witchcraft. From this, that meant that there were multiple property confiscations that took place, especially of those from a wealthy background, being either middle or upper class. This in turn generated 220,000 florins, including 500,000 florins being confiscated in total from the people imprisoned. One of the richest citizens, Georg Neudecker, who was a former Mayor of Bamberg, had 100,000 florins taken from himself alone. As a result of being rich, he was imprisoned for three years, which evidently shows how they wanted to take as much money as they could from him. He wasn’t the only person who was accused of witchcraft, and also held a high position amongst the Bamberg council. The Treasurer of Bamberg, Wolfgang Hoffmeister, was also locked up, and had 50,000 florins confiscated. This means that Dornheim had the power to authorise property confiscations as his desire for property was partially fuelled by the income he could generate from it, but also the way suspected witches were treated, as an attempt the humiliate and make the victims feel powerless, having no possessions/property. The incentive for lawyers, coachmen, blacksmiths and tavern owners, as a few examples, was that they would generate income, therefore would be more susceptible to persecuting witches, therefore the property confiscations wouldn’t have been opposed by business owners who could have profited from trials and persecutions. Overall, the persecution of witches was partially due to the desire of the Prince-Bishop to confiscate property, however was not largest reasons for the persecutions, as other factors had a greater influence, such that as…