Peter Stumpf
Jul. 13th, 2007 04:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
naomi_jaySo blaming bad drug trips and melancholy is all well and good nowadays, but back in the sixteenth century, people had necromancy and sorcery instead. Peter Stumpf was born in Bedburg, near Cologne, in about 1525 and devoted his youth to the study of these subjects. After his capture in 1589, Stumpf told how Satan gave him a girdle, a wolf strap, which turned him into a wolf whenever he wore it.
For years, Stumpf lead a double life, stalking and viciously attacking anyone who incurred his wrath, whilst all the time appearing to his neighbours to be an ordinary man. His victims were so badly mutilated that nobody could imagine their attacker to be anything besides a savage animal. And so for years, Stumpf’s crimes went undetected. His killed women and children as well, ravishing them in his human form before transforming into a wolf to murder them.
Stumpf also sexually abused his daughter and sister, as well as committing acts of cannibalism. He was accused of having killed and devoured thirteen young women, as well as his own son.
He was finally captured by a party of men and dogs who tracked a wolf and a stolen child to a thicket. Once they cornered the wolf, they watched in amazement as it transformed back into Peter Stumpf. During questioning by authorities, Stumpf readily confessed to being a sorcerer, a werewolf, a cannibal, a rapist and an incestuous adulterer. His daughter and sister were tried as accessories and all three were condemned to death. (Never be a woman in the medieval period. You just can’t win.)
On October 31st, 1589, Stumpf was stretched on the wheel and tortured with red-hot pincers. His limbs were severed with an axe, he was decapitated and his body was burned. Suffice to say, we’ll never know how much of Stumpf’s story is true. All we’ll ever know for sure is what he confessed to. Whether he could actually transform into a wolf may well be immaterial: Stumpf was a psychological werewolf and he was far from being the only one.
For years, Stumpf lead a double life, stalking and viciously attacking anyone who incurred his wrath, whilst all the time appearing to his neighbours to be an ordinary man. His victims were so badly mutilated that nobody could imagine their attacker to be anything besides a savage animal. And so for years, Stumpf’s crimes went undetected. His killed women and children as well, ravishing them in his human form before transforming into a wolf to murder them.
Stumpf also sexually abused his daughter and sister, as well as committing acts of cannibalism. He was accused of having killed and devoured thirteen young women, as well as his own son.
He was finally captured by a party of men and dogs who tracked a wolf and a stolen child to a thicket. Once they cornered the wolf, they watched in amazement as it transformed back into Peter Stumpf. During questioning by authorities, Stumpf readily confessed to being a sorcerer, a werewolf, a cannibal, a rapist and an incestuous adulterer. His daughter and sister were tried as accessories and all three were condemned to death. (Never be a woman in the medieval period. You just can’t win.)
On October 31st, 1589, Stumpf was stretched on the wheel and tortured with red-hot pincers. His limbs were severed with an axe, he was decapitated and his body was burned. Suffice to say, we’ll never know how much of Stumpf’s story is true. All we’ll ever know for sure is what he confessed to. Whether he could actually transform into a wolf may well be immaterial: Stumpf was a psychological werewolf and he was far from being the only one.
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no subject
on 2007-07-13 05:25 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2007-07-17 07:23 am (UTC)no subject
on 2007-07-14 05:51 pm (UTC)Chilling tale. I really think he was a guy who was framed. Lots of people benefited from his fortune and lands. If you wanted something, the best way to get it is to accuse someone of sorcery!
Catherine
no subject
on 2007-07-17 07:20 am (UTC)