The Cruelty of Witch Trials in Switzerland: The Trial of Jeanette Clerc

Introduction

In Switzerland during the sixteenth century, witch-trials were more prominent than any other part of Europe. The Clergy held the authority of government, and during this time they felt threatened. The reformation of the Catholic Church made the Clergy feel threatened that their power was being taken away by the rest of society. The threatening presence of non-conformists’ views made the Clergy more aggressive as they did not want to adjust the imbalance between them and the ‘average’ folk of the day. Greed had fuelled their desire to keep in power, which led to drastic measures, one of them being the witch-trials. Switzerland had been known for their cruel torture and its aggressive rate of executing witches.

The thinking of the time was that women were not humans, but merely objects told what, how, and when to do things, thus reinforcing the power imbalance between men and women. Since the reformation had also had an impact on the economic standings, it made the clergy feel more entitled to presiding over witch trials. One of them being the trial of Jeanette Clerc, a wife of a farmer that lived in the outskirts of Geneva who had been accused of witchcraft in the early sixteenth century. The trial of Jeanette Clerc was based on misogyny within the society, the religious competition taking place, how the clergy took aggressive action, and how the economic growth of Switzerland was contributing to the final verdict of her trial.

Witch Trials

The Malleus Maleficarum was among of the major forces on sorcery notions in Switzerland. The Malleus’s misogynistic viewpoint was written in 1487 in present-day Germany by a catholic priest, Kramer. The Malleus’ sexism played a key role in the witch-hunts in Switzerland. The piece was penned after Pope Innocent VIII’s bull, detailing the male’s approval to summon sorcerers in northern Germany as schismatic. The document is waterlogged with sexist opinions and the concept that sorcerers are almost unfailingly women. The opinions mirror the behaviors of Early Modern Europe, notably Switzerland.

The author had a delusion with the sensual pureness of ladies, their “ingrained villainous personality,” and their second-rate to men. Kramer claims that there were more women sorcerers than men witches anchored on his individual experience summoning sorcerers in Germany. He records that different individuals gave different evidences to support the female’s higher likelihood to practicing sorcery than males. A majority of historiographers refer to Priest’s sexism and notion that sorcerers were females as information that the concept of a male sorcerer was not likely. Nevertheless, the Priest declared that sorcerers were more probable to be female, not that sorcerers were explicitly females.

Similarly, it is evident that the early and feudal society believed that male witches existed, since several male witches were pinpointed, charged, and killed for engaging in sorcery. More importantly, Kramer, a staunch sexist, held a view that wizards could operate as self-reliant operatives, or he would have at no time utilized the term most probable nor would he dedicate a whole part of the book to the matter of man who practiced witch-craft, however no ways in which his sexism view can be disregarded.

In the document, he filed reasoning for his opinion that females were more probable to be sorcerers, inclusive of his arguments that females cannot engage in sobriety; they are either all good or sinful. The writer also persists that they are similarly more apprehensive. This apprehensive nature resulted in a frail conviction, which Satan could effortlessly target. Additionally, the first-ever female, Eve, was drawn from a rib; thus she is not a complete carnal; she is often deceitful. This represents a deprivation of females. Depraving female is a favorite subject throughout articles of all kinds during this age.

There was a thoughtful deliberation during this period on whether females were mortal in the same manner as males or if they were an entirely divergent class. Kramer took this discussion to limits when he referred a female to as not only a sensual but not a complete one. This dashes off a female uniquely inferior to the animals in Great Chain of Being. When referring to gobbling kids, he said that individuals who are sorcerers are used to eating, and feasting on infants against the predisposition of each animal. It is clear that once again females are deprived even further than the real animals, implying that animals with the exclusion of the wolf, are regarded as lesser inhuman compared to these obstetricians.

Kramer referred to other philosophers for his view in the ethical drawbacks of women. He applied the opinion of Theophrastus who wrote that female’s memories breakdown; thus they have no sincerity and are impetuous. Also, he cited the pieces of Seneca, Cicero, and Saint Jerome, who demonstrated what occurs when females are in posts of power over males. Among the illustrations is the slump of Troy as a result of Helen and the recession of Rome and Judea, for each Kramer condemned females.

He went on to contrast a female’s tone to a whistle’s that wipes out males by compelling them to disregard their faith, embezzling their money, and using their resources. Moreover, he quoted the Holy Bible once more to bolster his opinions on why females are intrinsically sinful and sensually uncontrolled. Kramer cited Proverbs, stating that there are three things which are at no time contented and ultimately the fourth that at no time claims “Enough,” is the opening of the womb. He utilized this scripture to claim that sorcery is the consequence of female’s voracious sensuality like the concubines of powerful and affluent males, fornicators, and adulteresses who are most prone to engage in witchcraft.

The Scripture verse utilized by Kramer, literally says “There are three things that are no time contented, four that at no time claim “Enough!” the barren land, womb, the grave, that is at no time contented with fire, and water, that never claim, Enough!” It is clear that he took it upon himself to redefine the verse. The 'opening to the womb' is not stated among the stuff that are at no time contented; instead, it is the desolate womb since it is incapable of producing a child. As such, women such as Jeanette Clerc were summoned based on such views. The society then never appreciated women but viewed them as an inferior class which should be disregarded. They utilized views on women from scholars such as Kramer to trial women, and as a result, they were not given a fair trial and as such, a person like Jeanette Clerc were coerced to confess. For instance, a cold metal blade was placed on her neck, thus, she had no choice but to acknowledge that indeed her herbal charm killed her neighbor’s cow (Monter 1971).

The language utilized in this misogynic view played a significant role in how the Swiss society viewed women then. For instance, Kramer examined the character of females through the initiation of the phrase Femina, and he tracked it to the expressions fe, implying “faith” and minus, implying “lesser” suggesting that it implied “less devotion” Additionally, he said that women are referred to as Femina since they intrinsically have less conviction than males, which makes women to disregard their faith more easily. Notably, renouncing faith was a crucial subject in witchcraft trials in the Swiss community. In this period, witchcraft in the Swiss community was a felony not just because of the evil included in maleficia, or pernicious mysterious deeds, but more significantly it was a deed of defection as witches purportedly disavowed God and glorified Satan. This made the Swiss clergy at the time to be intrusive since they would not accommodate any other kind of worship apart from praising God.

There was a rise in the execution of women who were alleged to be engaging in witchcraft in Switzerland because the society then believed witches should be referred to Maleficarum since females had the better claim to it, and not Maleficarum, that is a masculine and gender fair-minded noun. Drawing from Kramer’s misogynic view, Malleus Maleficarum, it is clear that even Kramer, a Dominican priest held a view that witchcraft was a women felony. Utilizing a womanly plural demonstrates the overall faction of witches is wholly laddish.

The Jeanette Clerc trial has bothered many historians. It demonstrates a society that was largely believing in God that demeaned women, and viewed them as beings who used magic to ascent to power. The Church was at war with those who held a contrary view at the time. The summoning and prosecution of Jeanette Clerc in 1539 in time of Calvin’s short exile is an ideal beginning point. Clerc was apprehended in Geneva’s upcountry mandament of Jussy after her acquaintance’s cow succumbed after taking an unidentified herb which Clerc had lacerated the night before St. John Baptism’s day. She was maimed and instantaneously gave a full admission; she was sentenced and executed just fourteen days after her apprehension.

She quickly accepted the malefice on her acquaintance’s cow and proceeded to deliver a comprehensive depiction of her induction as a sorcerer and of the sorcerer’s synagogues and meetings. She had surrendered herself to an inky devil with noisy tone, known as Symon, who had pledged to give her all the cash she desired; when she died, Symon had given her a considerable amount of money, which turned into green foliage on the following day. Clerc’s induction was crowned by a journey to the synagogue, cruising on a “big stalk” in front of the Devil. At the synagogue, Clerc had unusual sex with Symon (in the back, similar to animals’), whose sperm was frozen water. Clerc did allegiance to Symon, embracing him on his left side (that was equally unusually frozen); Symon thereon stroked her by bittering her right part of her face. As such, she eschewed the Virgin Mary, and God in a boisterous voice. Alternatively, the tabernacle was instead a jovial incident, illuminated by a tender bonfire, with dancing and chanting to the enhancement of melody from a tambourine.

The meal (apart from some fuzzy roast beef, all pinkish and terrible, she declined) was delicious; it included white wine, apples, and white bread. There were a few individuals in the synagogue but Clerc had identified at least four of them who had attended the meeting. When it came to an end, the Devil gave Clerc a tiny white box of oil and a stick; to turn up for more gatherings that were scheduled on two days a week. She only had to apply the oil on the stalk and make a declaration, “Baston, ude blane, baston noyr, poure-moy la ou tu doubt, va, de par le diable, Va!” which were the magic words that would enable her to ride on the stick. Lastly, Symon spelled out that Clerc must pay him a small yearly cense or tax in token of loyalty.

The case that Clerc’s depiction of how she got her got power portrays a female having intercourse with Satan backs up the belief that it was considered mandatory for this to be included in sorcery admissions. Similarly, the case that males were the individuals overseeing a majority of these witch trials supports the thinking that males held that females had to have sex more often than them in this era. It is evident that in this era women were seen as sex objects, who could go to the extremes to get what they want. Moreover, they were not allowed to be independent and as such, had to rely on men. Those who were progressive like Jeanette Clerc, a farmer was accused of using the power of magic to prosper.

The rise in witch-hunts in this period in Switzerland points out to market competition between churches. In the 15th century, Protestantism rose as the inaugural rightly feasible opponent to the Catholic Church’s grip on the populace. Researches view the Protestant and Catholic churches as associations going up against each other in the trade of supplying an essential utility; Salvation. As the struggle for clerical market stake intensified, the various denominations extended beyond the common spiritual utility and started concentrating on deliverance from deviltry here on the universe. In both Protestants and Catholics, witch-summons became an essential utility for appeasing and attracting the multitude by showing their evil-fighting mastery.

Just like how political aspirants tailor their campaign tasks in political battles during the election period to lure the allegiance of uncertain citizens, classical Protestant and Catholic officials targeted witch-summons tasks in admission battlefields in the era of Reformation and Counter-Reformation to draw the attention of uncertain Christians. This goes a long way in depicting why witch trials rose exponentially in the 15th century in Switzerland and Europe as a whole.

On the other hand, the rising incidents of witch-hunts point to the possibility that these summons were a wider-scale example of brutality and blame game triggered by deteriorating economic conditions in the 1500s. In the fifteenth century, the downturn was a result of a decline in temperature and this lead to food deficiencies. The alive era of witch-hunts coincided with a time of smaller than normal temperature referred to as 'little ice age” by climatologists. This is evident in Clerc’s admission when she refers to the Devil’s semen as cold. The freezing temperatures raised the prevalence of crop deterioration, and cooler water bodies blocked cod and the rest of the fish from moving further north, canceling out this crucial food source for few northern regions of Europe. Numerous categories of information reveal more than a circumstantial connection between economic growth, weather, and witch trials.

In an era when the reasoning for shifts in weather was generally a puzzle, individuals would have looked for a fall guy in the period of bloody variations in weather sequences. 'Sorcerers' suddenly became a target for fall guy since there was a cultural structure that existed then which permitted the execution and pinpointed that they could regulate the weather. As such, the cow of Jeanette Clerc’s neighbor might have died as a result of frigid temperatures. However, since this was a mystery to the Swiss community, then they believed that the herb it had taken caused it death overlooking the possibility of adverse weather. Similarly, the Catholic Church then which was familiar with the Swiss had told the people of the existence of a Devil who caused suffering, and as such, people took such events as Satanic without a second thought.

Conclusion

Jeanette Clerc’s trial during the fifteenth century supports the ideology that females were charged with sorcery because of the notion that they were more erotic in their disposition. Notably, in the admissions of females brought in on allegations of sorcery, even when there is no admission of enchantment there is still an admission of sensual misbehavior. The males who were judging in this period, even ones who doubt the legitimacy of sorcery, always put forward the opinion that females cannot manage themselves and are, therefore, more likely to be influenced by Satan to do wrong stuff.

The regular emergence of sensual admissions, as well as the ideologies put forward by authors in the pre-modern era in Europe, reveal that females were perceived as more erotic in this time. Moreover, women were not allowed to take up leadership roles since they were seen as second-rate to the males. Women whose husbands died were accused of killing them in order to take up their positions. In the pre-modern era, we witness fierce competition between Protestant and Catholic churches who fuelled the majority of the witch-hunts in this period in the name of salvation. Finally, the rising incidents of witch-hunts point to the possibility that these witch-hunts were a broader-scale example of brutality and blame game triggered by deteriorating economic conditions in the 1500s.