The Witch of Cologne

‘I value both.’

‘Good, in that case we might reach a compromise.’

‘Who are the citizens?’

Detlef can already see the excitement in the inquisitor’s eyes, the spittle forming at the corner of his mouth. God pity the accused, the canon thinks, knowing that he himself oscillates between believing in the physical manifestation of evil as opposed to the sheer culpability of human neglect. But how powerful is faith when men imbue it with superstition, he ponders, remembering how he has seen a peasant wished to death and the fields of a hated man suddenly blighted by witchcraft. The terrified face of a female merchant who was executed as a witch years before comes to his mind. Detlef’s father, determined to strengthen the sensitive five year old’s moral backbone, took him to the burning. The voyeuristic hysteria that filled the faces of the onlookers engraved itself on the child’s memory. As did the horror which shook his whole body as he perceived the agony of the convulsing woman as her skin blackened.

Frustrated fanatics are the most dangerous of men, he observes again now. Here is a man who smells of hate and so the Inquisitional Council of Aragon will have its way. The canon shifts his gaze from the inquisitor, whose innocently smiling demeanour is betrayed only by a slight twitch beneath one eye, and reluctantly nods to Groot, who lifts his quill ready for dictation.

The inquisitor’s cleric steps forward and begins reciting the names from memory.

‘Hermann Müller, cloth merchant of Cologne. Secret Lutheran and wizard.

‘Matthias Voss of Cologne, silversmith. Secret Lutheran and wizard.’

The feather’s nib scratching against the parchment sounds like a death sentence to Detlef.

‘And the individuals outside of the city?’ he asks.

‘Jan van Dorf of Mülheim, spice merchant. Charges of consorting with the devil to improve his trade. And the Jewess Ruth bas Elazar Saul.’

‘What is her charge?’

‘Witchcraft.’

‘And the evidence?’

Solitario pushes Juan aside and speaks directly to the canon. ‘Do you doubt the sources of the Inquisitional Council itself?’

‘It is not my place to doubt. I merely wondered whether there were actual witnesses.’

‘My order has many eyes.’

‘They say her mother was Spanish, from your own province of Aragon.’

‘What of it?’

‘I have a fascination with coincidence. The woman you accuse is one of the most respected midwives in the Rhineland. There are many who would defend her practice.’

‘Are you one of them? I have heard rumour that the ranks of the German clergy are rotten with secret Satan-worshippers.’

The warning does not go unheeded. Furious, Detlef struggles to maintain a veneer of diplomacy.

‘I bow to your greater knowledge of devilry and marvel at the paths of God that have led you to such extraordinary insights. I prefer to find faith in the goodness of man, this inspires me infinitely more than pursuing evil. In the meantime, I suggest you visit the sumptuous chambers of both Voss and Müller. They are two of the most successful merchants in this fair city.’

‘Indeed, I suspect that the papal guards and myself will be paying our respects to both men shortly.’

‘But what of the others? You are aware that Cologne has no jurisdiction over the lands across the Rhine? The domain belongs to the Hohenzollerns, it is Protestant. And the midwife is Jewish.’

‘I have evidence that she was baptised.’

Detlef looks up sharply. The notion that the daughter of the chief rabbi of Deutz could have been baptised seems outrageous, but the forced baptism of Jewish children was not a completely uncommon phenomenon.

The friar smiles sardonically at the canon’s surprise. ‘Her mother was Spanish and originally a converso. It appears that when the Jewess was a babe her mother had a sudden change of heart. The baptism was executed in secrecy; I suspect the rabbi has no idea it ever occurred.’

‘This evidence is indisputable?’

‘I have a sworn affidavit from the priest himself. And as she is baptised, it is within the Inquisition’s rights to arrest her. As for the Dutchman, the Hohenzollerns have been informed and are prepared to turn a blind eye; after all, the man is just an itinerant squatter.’