„… sie seÿ nicht from.“ – Das Böse in den Hexenprozessen des Schäßburger Stuhls im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert

Abstract

There has been no in-depth research into witches and witchcraft trials on Transylvanian Fundus regius for over 50 years. The most recent contributions on the subject either examined the language of the relatively abundant surviving witness testimonies or were content with putting the Transylvanian witchcraft trials in the European mainstream context of the modern era. This paper analyses the published documents of the witchcraft trials of the Sighișoara Seat from the point of view of “dealing” with evil. Starting from the mentality and the state of the theological debate of the time, it focuses on the historical context and the social environment in order to recognize attitudes and strategies of the actors in the process of dealing with evil within the local community.