Fight Against The Persecution of Witches
In 1597 Praetorius was appointed as pastor to the Count of Büdingen/ Ysenburg in Birstein and had to witness the torture of 4 women accused of witchcraft.
According to the court records, Reverend Praetorius was so upset about the torture of the accused woman that he pressed for a stop in the trial against the last surviving woman. His protest against the torture can be found in the record of the witch-trial of Birstein 1597: "As the pastor has violently protested against the torture of the women, it has therefore been stopped this time." As a consequence Anton Praetorius was dismissed by the count.
In his new parochy in Laudenbach near Heidelberg he wrote the book Gründlicher Bericht über Zauberey und Zauberer (Thorough Report about Witchcraft and Witches) to protest against torture and the prosecution of witches. At first he published the book in 1598 under the name of his son Johannes Schulze ("Johannes Scultetus"). In 1602 he dared to publish the book under his own name. The book was published again in 1613 and posthumously in 1629.
Praetorius was one of the first to describe the terrible situation of the prisoners and to protest against torture, and with his "Bericht" Praetorius publicly objected to the prevailing attitude in the church (a view held by Roman Catholics as well as Protestants such as Martin Luther and John Calvin) on the torture and burning of witches. Praetorius died in Laudenbach.
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Famous quotes containing the words fight against, fight, persecution and/or witches:
“A man can seldom—very, very, seldom—fight a winning fight against his training; the odds are too heavy.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“Still doth the soul, from its lone fastness high,
Upon our life a ruling effluence send.
And when it fails, fight as we will, we die;
And while it lasts, we cannot wholly end.”
—Matthew Arnold (1822–1888)
“... social evils are dangerously contagious. The fixed policy of persecution and injustice against a class of women who are weak and defenseless will be necessarily hurtful to the cause of all women.”
—Fannie Barrier Williams (1855–1944)
“They say this town is full of cozenage:
As nimble jugglers that deceive the eye,
Dark-working sorcerers that change the mind,
Soul-killing witches that deform the body,
Disguised cheaters, prating mountebanks,
And many such-like liberties of sin.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)