Mystics And Witches Draw A Crowd

Witch hunts were used as punishment for people who were different.

That was at least part of the presentation message delivered Tuesday by a Virginia Tech faculty member who has studied the role of witch trials, among other religious roles, in German culture and history.

Witch hunts were also used as a way for early modern Protestants and Catholics to target each other, Debra Stoudt told an audience at McBryde Hall.

The room overflowed Tuesday night as listeners filed in to listen to Professor Debra Stoudt’s talk on Mystics and Witches.

“I don’t think there’s room for any more chairs in here, but those who would like can stand in the back,” Professor Matthew Gabriele, the event coordinator, said before the presentation. “I never thought I’d say that at a medieval lecture.”

After the standing room filled, several students sat on the floor, while other members of the audience crowded around the doorway in the hall. There were nearly twice the 40 people that Gabriele expected.

Stoudt started her lecture with a gesture toward the title slide of her PowerPoint, which read “Mystics and Witches: Women on the Margins of the Sacred and the Secular.”

“I suspect that most of you are here for the third word in my presentation, [witches], and I hope that I don’t disappoint,” she said. “The word ‘sacred’ is probably going to be the closest to my focus tonight.”

Stoudt is a German professor at Virginia Tech and a respected medievalist, according to Gabriele. While she did spend a few minutes discussing witches, Stoudt’s speech focused primarily on mystics in Germany from A.D. 1100 to 1650. She specifically discussed how these women related to the institution of the Church.

A mystic, Stoudt said, was a part of the German religious sector. These were individuals pursuing a personal relationship and ultimately a union with God. In modern times, this is often misunderstood as someone trying to become divine herself, she explained.

Mystics are specifically characterized by their visions, their ability to perform miracles, and their revelation of experience to others, said Stoudt. Many mystics of the 13th century were known for their devotion to Christ.

They generally lived in nunneries under the protection of the Church. These women were venerated, often depicted with halos around their heads and called “saint.”

Benguines were similar to mystics, although they did not take a nun’s vows and were often in closer contact with the public. With this lack of a barrier, they were more likely to say something that the public would consider heretical. However, according to Stoudt, the most heretical women in Germany were the witches.

Witches were individuals accused of acts with the intention of causing damage or injury. In early modern Europe, there was an upheaval of natural disasters and political and social change. People searched for an explanation for these changes and ended up accusing people as witches.

Generally, witch hunts were used as punishment for people who were different, especially between Protestants and Catholics.

In general, Stoudt concluded, the closer a religious woman was to orthodoxy with the Church, the more likely she was to be venerated rather than accused as heretical.

The audience for this lecture was diverse, including students, professors and community members.

Logan Wright, a student who attended the lecture for a class requirement, said he was surprised by how much he enjoyed the lecture. “It got more interesting as it went on,” he said.

Brianna McHugh, a senior majoring in classics and religious studies, went into the lecture with higher expectations. She is writing a paper for a class about the witch Medea, and thought the lecture would help her gain a broader perspective on witches.