The Real Werewolf Trials of Europe

Anthony Delaney (0:00)

Looking for more shady and sinister stories? Sign up to History Hit. You can join us to explore the tragic life of the Brantes or discover the chilling story of Burke and Hare. Plus, with your History Hit subscription, you'll unlock hundreds of hours of exclusive documentaries with a brand new release every week, exploring everything from the ancient world to World War II. Just visit historyhit.com/subscribe to start exploring the past. It's 1589, rural Germany. Peter Stump is about to die for one reason. They believe he is a werewolf. The anxious crowd watches in sickening silence as the gruesome executioner raises his wheel. Peter's flesh is torn with red hot pincers. His bones are shattered one by one. Only then comes the blade and the final flames. Village Gossip says he hunted humans prowling the countryside and eating flesh.

But Stump was far from alone. Across 16th century Europe, the courts tried, tortured and executed dozens accused of becoming werewolves. But who were these people? And what could see you accused of being a werewolf? And where did the panic come from?

Welcome to After Dark.

Maddy Pelling (1:30)

Hello and welcome to After Dark, I'm Maddy.

Anthony Delaney (1:32)

And I'm Anthony.

Maddy Pelling (1:32)

Now today we're exploring the fantastic history of werewolf trials in Europe. No, it's not some kind of 1980s horror B movie, although it should be. Might as well be.

Dog Soldiers, have you seen that? No. Oh my god, a classic. This instead is a true story of accusations, arrests, trials and bloody executions of individuals believed to be werewolves. This is not a history I was aware of. And that's understand.

Anthony Delaney (1:58)

This is not a history.

Maddy Pelling (1:59)

Well, it is. This is the crazy thing. Like I didn't think it would be, but it is. We're talking about the 16th and 17th centuries.

Werewolves, presumably mythological creatures before this point, why are they crossing over into real life in this moment?

Anthony Delaney (2:18)

Who knows, Maddy? I mean, truly, I know that sounds flippant, but like-

Maddy Pelling (2:21)

I hope you know, because you're in charge of this episode. Nobody does.

Anthony Delaney (2:23)

I am in charge of this episode, yeah. By the way, I haven't seen Indiana Jones. I haven't seen Star Wars. Why would you think I'd seen Soldier Brothers or whatever it's called?

Maddy Pelling (2:30)

Okay, Dog Sold- Right, right. What's it called? Dog Soldiers. It's literally like- So not Soldier Brothers. It's not even a B movie. It's like a D movie. Okay, I hope you get it. It's literally, I think it's set in Northumberland.

It's basically like some British army soldiers on an exercise on a training area in a forest. And then they basically get picked off by werewolves one by one. And it's the best worst movie you could ever see. It's like a classic.

Anthony Delaney (2:55)

I like a good bad movie.

Maddy Pelling (2:55)

It's like a bad classic. It's just perfect. No, no, no.

Anthony Delaney (3:00)

I can get on board with that.

Maddy Pelling (3:01)

Yeah.

Anthony Delaney (3:02)

OK, so this history is weird. First of all, we are about to encounter werewolves.

Maddy Pelling (3:10)

Are we?

Anthony Delaney (3:11)

And a history of werewolvery.

And we will see. Thank you. We will situate ourselves in the early modern period for the most of this episode, though we could go back to general folklore, which has no time period necessarily. You see werewolves in ancient Rome. They're very much there in kind of Nordic medieval examples of folklore and tales. I mean, it's all folklore really because I'm talking about werewolves. But it is, it's something that comes adjacent to witch trials, which is why we're talking about it because it's so very easily overlooked as a bit of a nonsense and I'm very guilty of it. So apologies in advance. But there's something culturally happening alongside it to place it in the same realm as the witch trial and to have similar kind of consequences.

So yeah, it's an interesting one. It's contextually interesting, I think.

Maddy Pelling (4:10)

Yeah. And surprising, I would say.

Give me a really brief overview of a history of werewolves in terms of where are they cropping up in the archives? Where are the references to them? Are they a consistent creature throughout human history? Are they different things with different kind of folkloric rules around them at different times?

Anthony Delaney (4:31)

Yeah, they're different over time periods. They're different even within the same time periods regionally. So what we often find is there's a contradiction between whether this is a man turning into a wolf or a man's soul. And it's so very often a man, by the way, a man's soul entering a wolf.