Hans the Werewolf

The so called "Hans the Werewolf" (1633-1651) was allegedly an Estonian werewolf and witch. His trial is a typical example of the combined werewolf and witch trials, which dominated the witch hunt in Estonia.
Context
In Estonia, around one hundred witch trials were held in 1610-1650, and 29 women and 26 men are recorded executed for sorcery. A book about witchcraft was published in Riga in 1626. Christianity, forced upon the people by violence by the foreign conquerors, was not a major influence on the Baltic people. They therefore largely did not believe in the Devil or witches. But they did believe in werewolves, and the Baltic witch trials were therefore more or less werewolf trials; the public regarded the accused as werewolves, while the authorities judged them as witches. The trial of Hans is an example of this.
The trial
Hans was put before the court in Idavare accused of being a werewolf at the age of eighteen. He had confessed that he had hunted as a werewolf for two years. “When asked by the judges if his body took part in the hunt, or if only his soul was transmuted, Hans confirmed that he had found a dog’s teeth-marks on his own leg, which he had received while a werewolf. Further asked whether he felt himself to be a man or a beast while transmuted, he told that he felt himself to be beast”
He claimed he had gotten the body of a wolf by a man in black. The court asked if it was his soul or his body participating when he turned into a werewolf, and if he felt as an animal or a human when he did. He answered that he felt like a wild beast. Thereby, the court considered it proved, that he had not dressed out, but really transformed into a werewolf; and, as he was given this disguise by a "man in black", which the court thought was obviously Satan, he could be judged to death guilty of witchcraft. This was a common way in the Baltic countries of making an accusation of a werewolf into a witch trial.<ref name ="Guillou"/>
Accusations of magic, which were often about enchanted potions, were rare in Estonia; accusations of werewolves, on the other hand, were common. At 18 trials, 18 women and 13 men were accused for damage on property the had caused in the shape of werewolves. Under torture, they confessed having hidden their wolves skin under a rock. The only thing needed to make this a witch trial, was a pact with the Devil.
As late as 1696, a flock of werewolves was believed to run wild in Vastemoisa under their leader Libbe Matz.<ref name="Guillou"/>

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu