Witchcraft and the Trial of Junius

¶ … crime Junius was accused of was witchcraft. However, testimonial goes into more specific and varied details. Dr. Georg Adam Haan explained he saw the accused about a year and a half ago attending a witch gathering within the electoral council-room. He said he saw the accused drinking.

Hopffens Elsse said the accused was spotted on Haupts-moor attending a witch-dance. The court says his accomplices had confessed and ratted him out. People said they spotted him attending a witch meeting and a witch-dance. They did not say he performed magic. They did not say he put a curse on anyone or was seen casting a spell.

The merely said they saw him quite a while back, attending witch-themed events. This is of course insane because even if he attended these events, he was not seen doing anything wrong. He in fact did not commit a crime. If his "accomplices" were in fact persuaded to confess, they did not list the crimes they did nor did the list their names. It seems as though they were just trying to pin something on Junius because they wanted him to pay for something.

2.

Although the torture inflicted on Joannes Junius was severe, he did not confess. He was subjected to leg screws, thumbscrews, and being pricked on his right side. This did nothing in terms of yielding a confession.

Is stripped and examined; on his right side is found a bluish mark, like a clover leaf, is thrice pricked therein, but feels no pain and no blood flows out. Strappado. He has never renounced God; God will not forsake him; if he were such a wretch he would not let himself be so tortured; God must show some token of his innocence. He knows nothing about witchcraft. (History.hanover.edu)

Therefore, the role of torture, at least from the perspective from the official record of the trial, had no part in the accused's confession. The man appeared steadfast in proclaiming his innocence.

In fact it was only when the record mentioned "urgent persuasion" that Junius appeared to confess. Now this from Junius' perspective is when he grew weary from being tortured. It is here one sees the true effects of torture. The role it played in his confession was great. He reached his limit and was afraid of further torture.

Since he the record wanted to remove any additional torture from the document, it was written in a way that made it seem as though Junius was persuaded through mere verbal means. Although the executioner did persuade him, it was only after extensive torture. The confession and his perspective state, that "urgent persuasions" were not what caused him to confess, but rather, the fear of more torture. That torture then broke Junius and he finally confessed because he knew they would keep torturing him if he did not.

3.

Several things are different in terms of the personal account and court record. The main difference was as mentioned in the previous answer, the amount of torture Junius endured. The official record states his confession was garnered from urgent persuasions, not torture. "On July 5, the above named Junius is without torture, but with urgent persuasions, exhorted to confess, and at last begins and confesses." (History.hanover.edu) The reality is he was tortured for a long time. He had mentioned weeks where he was in agony because of the thumbscrews, so much so that he could barely write out the letter to his daughter. " ... so that for four weeks I could not use my hands, as you can see from the writing. . . . Thereafter they first stripped me, bound my hands behind me, and drew me up in the torture." (History.hanover.edu)

The record also makes it seem like the torture was brief and inconsequential. In reality, he was drawn up eight times and let fall eight times, suffering terrible agony. The record also makes it seem like the accused was truly confessing to a crime when the accused said from his perspective, that he was just making stuff up to make them satisfied. They kept asking him to give names, so many names, even though he did not recognize anyone. The record also failed to mention that it was the executioner that had convinced Junius to confess.

4.