CHAPTER V

Of Incendiary Witchcraft.
Argument.
ITCHES, that brood of hellish
vipers, do not only by their devilish work inflame souls, but set fire | to bodies, houses, and whole towns; wherefore theyaremani- §\\ festly fuel for |
CRIA
i eternal erry | re. b aa - Bas Examples. | Diy ue Remy (II, =
13) tells that at Montlhéry a certain witch called Black Jeanne Armacu- riana quarrelled with one Francoise Huyna and, when she could not get what she wanted, was consumed with a desire for vengeance. She was then given by the demon a piece of linen in which were wrapped some small objects like cut straws, and was told to hide it in Huyna’s house and go away quickly; for the house would soon afterwards catch fire suddenly and be burned with all the furniture. She therefore rolled the piece of linen into a ball and offered it for sale as a head ornament to Huyna, who was then busy in the bakehouse. But when she said that she did not need it, as her servants could provide all that she required, Jeanne never-
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theless threw it into the bakehouse saying that if she had no use for it she could return it to her; and she had hardly left the house before the bake- house where that ball was caught on fire, and then the whole house began to blaze so fiercely that it was burned down before any help could be brought. The truth of this matter was established beyond doubt by the sepa- rate accounts of the two women and by the event itself.
A less subtle, though equally per-- nicious work of incendiarism is testified to by Conrad Wolffhart,* who writes as follows in his Prodigiorum ac Ostentorum Chronicon. There is a town in Swit- zerland called Schiltach which, on 13 April, 1533, was suddenly and com- pletely burn- ed; and, ac- cording to the report of the townsmen to the Magis- trate at Frei- burg, the cause of the fire was popu- larly supposed to be as follows. A demon whistled a signal from a cer- tain part of the house, and the master went up thinking it was a thief, but found no one. But the signal was heard again from the upper dining- room; and the master ran up to find the thief, but again saw no one, yet the whistling was heard from the top
* “Conrad Wolffhart.”’ This famous Ger- man scholar was born at Rouffach in Alsace, 1518. He professed Grammar for many years at the University of Basle where he died 156r. In his writings he often adopted a Hellenised name, Lycosthenes, under which he is not infre- quently known. I have used the Basle edition, Solio, 1557, of the “‘Prodigiorum Chronicon.”’
96 of the smoke-chamber. Then it came into the master’s mind that it was something devilish; and he bade his household keep their wits while two priests were fetched. They began their exorcism, and he answered that he was a demon. Asked what he was doing there, he said that he wished to ruin the town. When they threatened to offer Masses, he said that he cared nothing for their menaces. And soon afterwards he seized a woman with whom he had had intercourse for four- teen years (although she had confessed every year and had. received the Eucharist), and bore her up in the air and set her on the top of the smoke- chamber, and gave her a jar which he told her to upset: and when she had done so the whole town was burned down within an hour.
A few years ago some incendiaries were infesting the region of the Rhine. They used to place in other persons’ houses a sword or spear or knife, or some other object entirely free from heat or fire; and after a few hours flames would burst from the house and consume it as if it had been made of straw.
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