Part 7

It must be said emphatically, that the great respect paid to their women by the Germans was indeed well deserved. For the majority of the German women were not merely good housekeepers, affectionate wives and loving mothers, but at the same time patronesses of everything that is beautiful. It was for them, that the homes became comfortable and artistic, as most of those exquisitely carved chests, buffets, tables, chairs and beds, which are now the show-pieces of our museums, were ordered by rich women fond of art. They adorned the cupboards of their cozy and paneled rooms with costly vessels of crystal and silver; they covered the floors with fine rugs and hung the walls with tapestries, etchings and paintings of famous masters.

This taste for the beautiful would not allow the exterior of the houses to be neglected. Carvings, paintings and flowers were seen everywhere; even the most insignificant objects, such as the weather-vanes on the roof, and the brass-knockers on the doors were ornamented.

THE GLORIOUS TIME OF THE RENAISSANCE.

The close contact which, during the middle ages, existed between Germany and Italy also secured better conditions for the women of the latter country. The most remarkable change came, however, during the 14th and the 15th centuries, with that remarkable intellectual revolution known as the Renaissance.

This movement, one of the most significant in the evolution of woman, originated in Italy at a time when the whole country was suffering from ecclesiastic and feudal despotism. It was then that men and women of high standing, striving for greater spiritual freedom, became attracted by the almost forgotten works of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Seneca, Cicero, and other authors of the classic past. It is to the glory of Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, and other poets of Italy to have revived interest in these literary treasures. Eager to unlock these rich stores of beauty and wisdom, they collected the precious manuscripts and established libraries and museums for their preservation.

Many noblemen, patricians and merchant-princes, inspired by this sacred thirst for learning, and being aware that this effort was made in behalf of the emancipation of enslaved intelligence, aided the movement by their wealth. The art of printing with movable types, invented in 1450 by Johannes Gutenberg in Mayence, and introduced into Italy, France and Spain by German printers, made it possible to reproduce what the collectors had recovered. So learning remained no longer the pursuit of monks and recluses only, but became fashionable and pervaded all classes. Professors of classic literature and of humanism began to journey from city to city, opening schools and lecture-rooms, or taking engagements as tutors in the families of the princes, noblemen, and wealthy merchants.

The universities, founded at Bologna, Padua, Salerno and various other places, gave special attention to classical education and humanism. And, strange to say, all these schools and universities admitted women on equal terms with men. The number of women, who availed themselves of this privilege, may have been small, but evidently the way was clear. There were even several ladies, who acquired the degrees of doctor and professor of Greek language and literature, or of civil and canon law. Among these learned women were =Britisia Gozzadina=, who held a chair in the university of Bologna; and =Olympia Morata=, who, with her German husband, came to Heidelberg, where the chair for Greek at the university was offered to her.

It was this revival of antique learning, art and science, and its application to the literature of the 16th Century, that shattered the narrow mental barriers imposed by mediæval orthodoxy.

The stimulating movement met with full success, when a number of Italian princesses, in sincere enthusiasm, took the leadership. Among these ladies were =Elisabeth Gonzaga=, Duchess of Urbino; =Isabella d’Este=, Marchioness of Mantua; =Caterina Sforza=, Countess of Forli; =Veronica Gambara=, Countess of Corregio; =Lucrezia Borgia=, Duchess of Ferrara; the poetess =Lucrezia Tornabuoni= of Florence, and =Cassandra Fidelis=, “the pride and glory of Venice.” But above all stood the famous =Vittoria Colonna=, Marchioness Pescara, one of the most wonderful women of these great times.

Ariosto said of her: “She has more eloquence and breathes more sweetness than all other women, and gives such force to her lofty words that she adorns the heavens in our day with another sun. She has not only made herself immortal by her beautiful poems and style, than which I have heard none better, but she can raise from the tomb those of whom she speaks or writes, and make them live forever.”

Michael Angelo, to whom she was a close friend as well as an inspiration, and a polar star, wrote: “By her genius I was raised toward the skies; in her soul my thought was born; without wings, I flew with her wings.”

Such exceptional women made their courts and drawing rooms the gathering places of the most refined and beautiful ladies of the time, of great artists like Raphael Sanzio, Leonardo da Vinci, Michael Angelo, Titian, Corregio and Bellini, of famous authors, poets and philosophers like Tasso, Ariosto, Bembo, and of distinguished statesmen, dignitaries and men of the world. They met here to listen to interesting debates about Humanism, the new doctrine, that man must endeavor to reconstitute himself as a free being, and throw off the shackles, that held him the thrall of theological despotism. They also read the classic philosophers, enjoyed the inspiring works of composers, or harkened to the wonderful accounts of daring discoverers, just returned from adventurous expeditions to India and the New World.

Most attractive affairs were the festivals of the Roses, held in spring. Then poets and poetesses contested with their latest songs, rondos and sonnets, to be awarded laurel-wreaths or roses of gold and silver.

It was at such gatherings that intimate friends united sweet discourses and platonic adoration, as shown in the following charming poem, written in those idyllic times:

“Donne e donzelle e giovanette accorte rallegrando si vanno a le gran feste d’amor si punte e deste che par ciascuna che d’amar appaghi e l’altre a punto in gonnellette corte ginocano a l’ombra delle gran foreste, tanto leggiadre e preste, quai solean ninfe stare appresso i laghi e in giovanetti vaghi veggio seguire e donnear costoro e talora danzare a mano a mano.”

Translated these rhymes mean: “I behold lovely women and maidens as they joyfully hurry to the great feast. Struck and awakened by love they flourish with sweet desire. I see them at play in the shadows of the forest, and running with flowing garments, agile and graceful like nymphs at the border of the lakes. Bright young men follow these sweet women to amorous play. Here and there some of these happy couples disappear, wandering hand in hand.”

It is difficult for us, to realize the great changes brought about by this movement in social manners as well as in the position of women. “To be a gentleman,” so J. A. Symonds says in his book “Renaissance in Italy,” “meant at this epoch to be a man acquainted with the rudiments at least of scholarship, refined in diction, capable of corresponding or of speaking in choice phrases, open to the beauty of the arts, intelligently interested in archæology, taking for his models of conduct the great men of antiquity rather than the saints of the church. He was also expected to prove himself an adept in physical exercises and in the courteous observances which survived from chivalry.”

What was expected of a lady of rank we learn from a very interesting booklet, written in 1514 by Count Baldassare Castiglione, entitled “Libro del Cortegiano.” According to this “Manual for Courtiers” a lady should not be inferior to her husband in intellectual accomplishment and be able to read and write Latin. In classic literature as well as in music and arts she should be versed to such an extent as to have a correct judgment of her own; while she should possess individuality, her behavior should be easy but graceful and blameless. It was also expected that she should cultivate her personal merits and beauty. “Beauty,” so the manual says, “is of far greater importance to a lady than to a gentleman, because it is a divine gift which loses its charm when connected with an unworthy person. In her whole appearance, in her words, actions and attitude a lady must remain different from man. While virility should distinguish him, a lady should never try to copy him and be masculine. By nature woman is not inferior to man, therefore she should not imitate him. Both sexes are created to enjoy equal rights, but each sex has its own and individual right.”—

From Italy the Revival of Learning with its new conceptions of philosophy and religion spread to France, Germany, the Netherlands, and England, stimulating everywhere great intellectual life and achievements.

In France it was ushered in by =Christine de Pisan=, the first French lady of the 14th Century who, at least in prose, gave evidence of a finished literary perception. In her works, which were often copied, she tried to rouse the self-respect of women by informing them about their sphere and duties. By her work “Cité des Dames” she made them acquainted with the character of famous women of the past, and endeavored to inspire their minds in order that they might join in the ethical efforts of the time.

Christine de Pisan was perhaps also the first woman, who opened a sharp protest against the narrow views many men of her time had in regard to woman’s abilities and position. Defying the prejudice of woman’s inferiority, she gained a complete victory in her literary skirmishes over several clergymen of high standing.

In Germany the cities of Nuremberg, Augsburg, Strassburg and Basel became the centers of learned societies, who gathered around scholars like Schedel, Pirckheimer, Agricola, Peutinger, Reuchlin and Brant. Here also Dürer, Holbein, Cranach, Schongauer and Vischer enriched the world with works of art that rank among the greatest of the Middle Ages. But most important of all, in Germany that great religious movement started which was in truth the Teutonic Renaissance: the Reformation, in which Luther, Melanchton, Hutten and Erasmus were the leading spirits.

Kindred movements were started in Switzerland by Zwingli, in France by Lefevre d’Estaples, Berquin and Calvin; in England by Wycliffe, Bilney, Cranmer and Cromwell.

While so numerous men and women strove for greater physical and intellectual liberty, ecclesiastic despotism, to prevent anybody from thinking independently, denounced all free thinkers as heretics who must be exterminated by fire and sword. The life of many brilliant men and women ended at the stake or on the scaffold. But far greater numbers perished through obscure superstition, for the spread of which the Church was in the first place responsible.

THE DARKEST CHAPTER IN WOMAN’S HISTORY.

The belief in witchcraft, witches, evil spirits and devils is as old as humanity. It prevailed among all primeval people as well as among all nations of the classic past and the middle ages. It still exists among many nations who call themselves civilized. Witches have been and are feared as persons, who maintain intercourse with evil spirits, demons or devils. They are believed to be able, through the assistance of these spirits, of inflicting injury on other people, who attract their dislike and hatred. In former times people were convinced, that such witches could transform themselves into animals, clouds, water, rocks, trees or anything else; that they could cause disastrous thunderstorms, hail, invasions of grasshoppers, whirlwinds and droughts; that they could steal the dew and the rain, hide the moon and the stars, and produce plagues in men and cattle.

From the Hebrews, who were firm believers in witchcraft and sorcery, this superstition was handed down to the early Christians, and with the extension of Christianity, it affected all other European nations. The earliest ecclesiastical decree against witchcraft appears to have been that of Ancyra, 315 A. D., condemning soothsayers to five years’ penance. In canon law the Decretum subjected them to excommunication as idolators and enemies of Christ. And in accordance with the command of Moses: “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,” all women suspected of witchcraft were killed.

Later on the Popes John XXII. and Eugene IV. issued bulls exhorting all Christians to greater diligence “against heretics as well as the human agents of the Prince of Darkness, and especially against those who have the power to produce bad weather.” To exterminate these enemies of the Holy Faith all fighting forces of the church were set in motion, among them an institution, which had been founded in Spain during the 12th Century: the Inquisition.

As its name, derived from the Latin “inquirere,” indicates, it was the office of this institution to inquire about, or spy into all sins committed against the Holy Faith and the authority of the church, and to deliver witches as well as heretics to the proper authorities for punishment.

Confirmed and sanctioned by the Popes, this Inquisition had already performed excellent work during the crusades against the Albigenses and Waldenses. But the most vigorous crusade against witchcraft began when in 1484 Pope Innocent VIII. published his bull “Summis desiderantes affectibus,” of which Andrew D. White in his “History of the Warfare of Science with Theology” has said that of all documents, ever issued, this has doubtless caused the greatest shedding of innocent blood.

By this bull several professors of theology were appointed as inquisitors for large parts of Germany, with full power to prevent the further spread of heresy and witchcraft. The clergy as well as all other authorities were warned that these inquisitors must not be hindered in any way nor by anyone. “All who try to do so, will be, whatever office they may hold, subdued by excommunication, suspension, interdict and other still more terrible punishments, without any appeal: and if necessary, they shall be turned over to the civil authorities. It shall not be permitted to anyone to act wantonly contrary to our message. Whoever may try to do so, should know that he directs upon himself the wrath of Almighty God as well as of the Apostles Peter and Paul.”

Under the authority of this bull the inquisitors opened in Germany not only a systematic crusade against witchcraft, but at the same time prepared a manual, the Malleus Maleficarum, or “the Witch-Hammer,” which became the great text-book on procedure in all witchcraft cases. Never before had a volume been published that contained an equal amount of idiotic superstition. And never before nor after has any book caused more unnecessary suffering, misery, and disaster. When J. Scherr, one of the foremost historians of Germany, said that this bungling composition was written with the venom of monks, who had become crazy with violent fanaticism, voluptuousness, avarice and the passion for cruelty, he spoke only too true.

Of the unfortunate human beings, who fell victims to this madness, the overwhelming majority were women.

In fact, the authors of the “Witch-Hammer” boldly asserted, that witchcraft is more natural to women than to men, on account of the inherent wickedness of their hearts. “What else is woman but a necessary evil, a domestic danger, an attractive temptation, and a natural mischief, painted with nice colors? According to her mind woman seems to belong to another species than man. She is more voluptuous, as is proven by many immodest and lustful acts. This fault became apparent in the creation of the first woman, who was formed out of a crooked rib.”

The inquisitors go on to explain: “Witchcraft is the most unpardonable among all acts of heresy and sins. Generally heretics are punished very severely. If they do not recant, they are burned. If they change for the better, they are imprisoned for life. But such dealing is not rigorous enough for witches. They must be annihilated, even if they regret their sins and announce their readiness to return to our Christian faith. Because the sins of the witches are far greater than the sins of the fallen angels and of the first men.”

After having made these statements, the authors of the “Witch-Hammer” explain what witches are able to do to their unsuspecting fellow-men in violation to the rules of the church.

Decency forbids the translation and reprinting of those passages which deal with the character of the obscene acts, charged to witches. We must confine ourselves to the remark that they were accused of sexual intercourse with innumerable devils, and that, in describing the various forms of such intercourse, the authors of the “Witch-Hammer” revealed their own infernal depravity.

To point out only a few of the countless crimes ascribed to witches: it was asserted that witches, disguised as midwives, killed unborn children and tormented the unfortunate mothers by sharp thorns, bones and pieces of wood, produced in their wombs. Other witches, by looking at mothers and cows, made them dry; they also prevented milk from being churned into butter. By dipping brooms into water and swinging them in the air, numerous witches were accused of having caused terrible thunderstorms. Witches also stopped springs, wells and rivers from flowing; others caused an invasion of earthworms, mice, locusts, and other vermin.

To remain undetected in the performance of such hellish tricks, the witches transformed themselves into dogs, cats, owls, bats and other animals.

But the most horrible crime imputed to witches, was, that during certain nights they would go up chimneys and ride on broomsticks, goats, or pigs through the air to some bald hill, to take part in the celebration of the Witch-Sabbath. Here they would meet their master, Satan, whose upper half is that of a hairy man with a pale face and round fiery eyes. On his forehead he has three horns, the middle one serving as a lantern and radiating light similar to that of the full moon. The lower half of Satan’s body is that of a buck, but the tail and the left foot are those of a cow, while the right foot has the hoof of a horse. Assisted by innumerable devils of lower degrees Satan would preside over the Sabbath, during which the most sacred ceremonies of the church were ridiculed. Having read the Mass, he would administer the Devil’s Sacraments and the Devil’s Supper, after which the whole assemblage would indulge in the most obscene orgies.

Even more nauseating volumes on witchcraft were published in Italy, Spain, France and the Netherlands. Their authors had wrenched the most insane confessions from tortured women about their carnal intercourse with the Prince of Hell and with hosts of other evil spirits. Notwithstanding the absurdity of such confessions they were believed by the superstitious priests as well as by the people, because the Popes and all other dignitaries of the church approved of such books and summoned every true Christian to join in the universal warfare upon witchcraft.

As superstition, like hysteria and other mental diseases, is contagious, it cannot surprise us that the belief in witches also affected the countries in which the Reformation had taken root. We must consider that in these times education was still confined to a few. It was a privilege of the wealthy and of a small number of distinguished thinkers. Even these stood entirely under the influence of the Bible, and they believed, as the example of Luther proves, in the corporal existence of the devil and evil spirits. Among the common people, who grew up in blind credulity, enlightenment made very slow progress.

Thus, all Christianity became polluted with superstition and the belief in witchcraft. Furthermore, from the European countries it spread to every Spanish, French, Dutch and English colony founded in different parts of the world.

But there is also another explanation for the passionate zeal developed by the inquisitors. By the trials for witchcraft the church as well as the inquisitors and other officials grew enormously rich, as all property of the witches and their families was confiscated under the pretense that the taint of witchcraft hung to everything that had belonged to the condemned. If such property should remain, in the hands of their relatives it might cause them all kinds of misfortune and deliver them also into the hands of Satan.

Where thus suspicion, ignorance and avarice were lying in wait, no woman was sure of her life for one hour. No matter what her social position might be, the slightest grounds of suspicion, or the slandering denunciation by some enemy was sufficient to deliver her into the power of the inquisitors.

Generally the proceedings began with searching the body of the suspected witch for the mark of Satan, as it was asserted that all who consorted with devils had some secret mark about them, in some hidden place on their bodies, as, for instance, on the inside of the lips, between the hair of the eyebrows, in the hollows of the arm, inside of the thigh, or in still more private parts, from whence Satan drew nourishment. To find these marks, was the task of the “Witch-Prickers,” who, after divesting the supposed witch of all clothing, minutely examined all parts of her body. If they found a mole or another peculiar blemish, they pricked it with a needle. If the place proved insensitive and did not bleed, this was an undeniable proof that the person had sold herself to the devil, and that she must be turned over to the inquisitors.

Then these human tigers began to ask questions, suggesting satisfactory answers, and if these answers were not equal to a confession of guilt, the prisoner was subjected to tortures which sooner or later surely brought out such answers and in such language as was suggested to her by the inquisitors. And these answers were given though the poor creature knew that they would send her to the stake or scaffold.

To indicate the horrible sufferings, that hundreds of thousands of delicate and aged women had to go through, a few of the many implements of torture may be described. Robert G. Ingersoll in his great lecture “The Liberty of Man, Woman and Child” has said about them:

“I used to read in books how our fathers persecuted mankind. But I never appreciated it. I read it, but it did not burn itself into my soul. I did not really appreciate the infamies that have been committed in the name of religion, until I saw the iron arguments that Christians used. I saw the Thumb-screw—two little pieces of iron, armed on the inner surface with protuberances, to prevent their slipping; through each end a screw uniting the two pieces. And when some person denied the efficacy of baptism or her guilt of witchcraft, then they put his thumb between these pieces of iron and in the name of love and forgiveness, began to screw these pieces together. When this was done most men said “I will confess!” Probably I should have done the same and I would have said: “Stop! I will admit that there is one god or a million, one hell or a billion; suit yourselves; but stop!”—