1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:10,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio, 2 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:15,480 Speaker 1: Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:18,840 Speaker 1: show that pulls back the covers of history to expose 4 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:23,480 Speaker 1: the monsters underneath. I'm Gabe Lucier, and in this episode, 5 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: we're celebrating Halloween with the hair raising tale of one 6 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 1: of the most dreaded werewolves in history. As a quick warning, 7 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:35,600 Speaker 1: though today's episode includes descriptions of graphic violence and may 8 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:44,640 Speaker 1: not be appropriate for all listeners. The day was October 9 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:50,440 Speaker 1: thirty first, fifteen eighty nine. Alleged werewolf Peter Stump was 10 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:54,280 Speaker 1: put to death in Bedborg, Germany. The fifty year old 11 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:57,720 Speaker 1: farmer had confessed, under pain of torture to having made 12 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:01,320 Speaker 1: a deal with the devil. Stump claimed he had pledged 13 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:04,479 Speaker 1: his immortal soul in exchange for the ability to turn 14 00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:07,960 Speaker 1: into a werewolf. He also admitted to a series of 15 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:12,360 Speaker 1: gruesome killings he supposedly carried out while in wolf form. 16 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:15,920 Speaker 1: His lurid crimes were said to include the mutilation of 17 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 1: countless livestock, as well as the murder of sixteen women 18 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:24,480 Speaker 1: and children, his own son among them. Stump's execution proved 19 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:27,759 Speaker 1: every bit as brutal as the atrocities he was charged with, 20 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:31,000 Speaker 1: but given the content of his confession and the way 21 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 1: in which it was obtained, the truth about his guilt 22 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: is still uncertain. Although the Renaissance had already begun by 23 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:41,720 Speaker 1: the time of Stump's death, the light of reason was 24 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:44,320 Speaker 1: slow to dawn in many parts of Europe, and as 25 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 1: a result, the old superstitions of the Middle Ages had 26 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:52,160 Speaker 1: lingered on. Between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, the continent 27 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:57,000 Speaker 1: was racked by famine, plague, war, and religious conflict. Those 28 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 1: upheavals fed into people's long standing fears about the supernatural, 29 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:05,160 Speaker 1: giving rise to widespread panics over witches and, to a 30 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:11,680 Speaker 1: lesser extent, werewolves. Accusations of shape shifting were common throughout Europe, 31 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:14,919 Speaker 1: but most of them centered on witches and their familiars, 32 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 1: usually a cat, a mouse, or a toad. Accusations of lycanthropy, 33 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:23,519 Speaker 1: or the ability to shape shift into a wolf, were 34 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:27,520 Speaker 1: mostly confined to areas with wild wolf populations, like the 35 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 1: forested regions of Germany and France. In those cases, public 36 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:36,560 Speaker 1: fears of prowling wolves gradually morphed into fears of demonic ones, 37 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:40,280 Speaker 1: and if a rabid wolf happened to attack someone's livestock 38 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:43,560 Speaker 1: or children. The rest of the community would immediately start 39 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:46,240 Speaker 1: to wonder if there was a werewolf in their midst. 40 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,920 Speaker 1: In fifteen eighty nine, Peter Stump became the target of 41 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:54,239 Speaker 1: such suspicion in the small city of Bedborg, not far 42 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 1: from Colne. He lived there with his son, daughter, and 43 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:01,320 Speaker 1: mistress on a prosperous farm which she had worked for decades. 44 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:04,720 Speaker 1: In recent years there had been rumors of a wolf 45 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:08,720 Speaker 1: like creature roaming the countryside near bed Board, a story 46 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 1: bolstered by the periodic killings of both livestock and humans. 47 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:17,920 Speaker 1: The mutilated, partially devoured remains of those victims were usually 48 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:20,920 Speaker 1: found in fields, often by a traveler who had then 49 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:23,920 Speaker 1: spread the story of the werewolf of bed Boorg to 50 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:28,040 Speaker 1: other towns. There were several efforts to track and kill 51 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:30,920 Speaker 1: the creature over the years, but had managed to elude 52 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:35,160 Speaker 1: its pursuers every time. Then, in fifteen eighty nine, a 53 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 1: hunting party finally managed to corner the wolf with their hounds. 54 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:43,360 Speaker 1: What happened next varies from one account to another. Some 55 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:46,040 Speaker 1: sources claimed that one of the huntsmen was attacked by 56 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: the wolf and managed to cut off its left paw 57 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:53,360 Speaker 1: before it got away. Then, soon after, Peter Stump appeared 58 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: in town missing his left hand, arousing suspicions that he 59 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:00,680 Speaker 1: and the wolf were one and the same. In fact, 60 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 1: some sources claimed that the name Stump was actually a 61 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: reference to that tell tale injury, and that prior to 62 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:12,120 Speaker 1: the attack he had been called Griswold. The most common 63 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:15,520 Speaker 1: version of the story, however, is that after being trapped 64 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 1: by the villagers, Stump willingly transformed from wolf to man 65 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:22,119 Speaker 1: in front of them so that they'd spare his life 66 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:25,840 Speaker 1: for the moment. He was then taken into custody and tortured, 67 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:29,200 Speaker 1: at which point he allegedly revealed the full scope of 68 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:34,359 Speaker 1: his crimes. The only written records of Peter Stump's trial 69 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:38,520 Speaker 1: and execution are a few salacious pamphlets and handbills that 70 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 1: were circulated across Europe around that time. What little we 71 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:46,039 Speaker 1: know of Stump's life and death comes from those accounts, 72 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: and they differ on a great many points, including whether 73 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:54,359 Speaker 1: his name was Stump, Steube, or Griswold. The longest and 74 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:57,920 Speaker 1: most famous of those works is a sixteen page English 75 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:01,760 Speaker 1: pamphlet published in fifteen ninety. It purports to be a 76 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:04,480 Speaker 1: translation of a German work, but as of the time 77 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 1: of recording, the original document has never been found. According 78 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:12,160 Speaker 1: to the pamphlet, Stump was interrogated while on the rack, 79 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:15,640 Speaker 1: a torture device used to slowly stretch a victim until 80 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:19,040 Speaker 1: their limbs popped from their sockets. It was under those 81 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:22,680 Speaker 1: conditions that he described his first encounter with the devil, 82 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 1: and how he had been gifted a magic belt to 83 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 1: control his shape shifting power. The English pamphlet described this 84 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:34,040 Speaker 1: fiendish process, explaining that whenever Stump put the belt around 85 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:38,719 Speaker 1: his waist, was straight transformed into the likeness of a greedy, 86 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:43,280 Speaker 1: devouring wolf, strong and mighty, with eyes great and large, 87 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:46,480 Speaker 1: which in the night sparkled like unto brands of fire, 88 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:51,000 Speaker 1: a mouth great and wide, with most sharp and cruel teeth, 89 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:55,039 Speaker 1: a huge body and mighty pause, and no sooner should 90 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:58,040 Speaker 1: he put off the same girdle, but presently he should 91 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:01,480 Speaker 1: appear in his former shape, to the proportion of a man, 92 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:05,080 Speaker 1: as if he had never been changed. The pamphlet went 93 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:08,120 Speaker 1: on to describe the wicked deeds Stump committed in his 94 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:11,640 Speaker 1: wolf form, explaining that he quote took pleasure in the 95 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:14,680 Speaker 1: shedding of blood and that after killing his victims, he 96 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:19,800 Speaker 1: would quote eat their hearts, panting hot and raw. The 97 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:23,400 Speaker 1: farmer claimed he had been killing for years, eventually taking 98 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:26,920 Speaker 1: credit for the murders of thirteen children, two pregnant women, 99 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:31,360 Speaker 1: and one man. He reportedly relished being a secret werewolf 100 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:34,520 Speaker 1: and would sometimes pick out his next victims while strolling 101 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:38,120 Speaker 1: through town. In the guise of a gentlemanly farmer. He 102 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: would go through the streets. The pamphlet recounts of Kolne 103 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:46,800 Speaker 1: Bedburg and Apreth in comely habit and very civilly, as 104 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:50,839 Speaker 1: one well known to all the inhabitants thereabout, and oftentimes 105 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:54,000 Speaker 1: was he saluted of those whose friends and children he 106 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:59,120 Speaker 1: had butchered, though nothing suspected for the same. Stump's guilt 107 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:02,599 Speaker 1: was based in highly on his own confession, even though 108 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:05,200 Speaker 1: it had been extracted under torture and the threat of 109 00:07:05,279 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: more torture to come. Nonetheless, it was enough to satisfy 110 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:12,680 Speaker 1: the local court, and a few days later, on October 111 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:16,280 Speaker 1: thirty one, fifteen eighty nine, Peter Stump was put to 112 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:20,360 Speaker 1: death for being a werewolf. A large crowd gathered that 113 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 1: day to watch what proved to be one of the 114 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:27,040 Speaker 1: most horrific executions on record. First, he was strapped to 115 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:30,040 Speaker 1: a wooden wheel, whereupon the flesh was torn from his 116 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:34,520 Speaker 1: body in ten different places with red hot pincers. Next, 117 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:37,520 Speaker 1: his arms and legs were broken with the blunt side 118 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:40,520 Speaker 1: of an axe head, a precaution to ensure he couldn't 119 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:44,800 Speaker 1: rise from the grave. Finally, he was beheaded and his 120 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:50,000 Speaker 1: body burned on a pyre. Stump's mistress, Catherine Trompin, and 121 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:54,440 Speaker 1: his daughter Beale were also executed as accessories to the murders. 122 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:57,560 Speaker 1: They were each tied to a stake and burned alive, 123 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:02,720 Speaker 1: with Stump's headless body between them. After the executions, the 124 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:06,160 Speaker 1: wheel on which Stump's body had been broken was attached 125 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:08,560 Speaker 1: to a high pole and put on display in the 126 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 1: bed Boorg town square. On top of the wheel was 127 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:15,120 Speaker 1: the lifeless body of a wolf, with Stump's head in 128 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:18,240 Speaker 1: place of its own, a warning to all would be 129 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:22,640 Speaker 1: werewolves to stay out of bed board. The public and 130 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:26,400 Speaker 1: the pamphlets they circulated had condemned Peter Stump as a 131 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:30,720 Speaker 1: supernatural serial killer, a monster who had murdered and sometimes 132 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:35,240 Speaker 1: devoured his victims for the past two and a half decades. Today, 133 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:38,720 Speaker 1: some historians believe he may very well have been a killer, 134 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 1: perhaps even one who is convinced he was a werewolf. 135 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:45,360 Speaker 1: Even if that's true, though, he was likely blamed for 136 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:48,960 Speaker 1: many local wolf attacks that happened during that period, so 137 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:53,120 Speaker 1: the true number of his victims would be impossible to determine. 138 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:57,240 Speaker 1: There's also the possibility that Peter Stump was completely innocent, 139 00:08:57,760 --> 00:09:00,080 Speaker 1: that all of his victims were actually killed by by 140 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:02,360 Speaker 1: real wolves, and he just happened to be in the 141 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:07,079 Speaker 1: wrong place at the wrong time. Another more sinister possibility 142 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:10,480 Speaker 1: is that the farmer was purposely framed for political or 143 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:14,480 Speaker 1: religious reasons. The fifteen eighties had been a tumultuous time 144 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:18,400 Speaker 1: for the German Rhineland, with Protestant and Catholic factions fighting 145 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:23,160 Speaker 1: for dominance in the Bloody Colne War. By fifteen eighty nine, 146 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:26,000 Speaker 1: the Catholics had won control of the bed Bored region, 147 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:30,760 Speaker 1: and the Protestant population there, including Peter Stump, found themselves 148 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:34,920 Speaker 1: living in enemy territory. In light of that, it's possible 149 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:37,600 Speaker 1: that he was singled out for his religious views and 150 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:40,800 Speaker 1: then subjected to a brutal trial to discourage his fellow 151 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:45,760 Speaker 1: Protestants from thoughts of rebellion. Although it's largely conjecture, that 152 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:49,040 Speaker 1: theory does find some level of support in the English 153 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:53,720 Speaker 1: pamphlet from fifteen ninety. It mentions that several representatives of 154 00:09:53,760 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 1: the high aristocracy, including the new Archbishop of Kolm, were 155 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:02,400 Speaker 1: present at Stump's execution. It's unlikely that members of the 156 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:05,400 Speaker 1: German elite would have attended a public spectacle like a 157 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:08,640 Speaker 1: werewolf trial, unless, of course, they were there to send 158 00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 1: a political message. Whatever the truth, Stump's execution was hardly 159 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:18,080 Speaker 1: an outlier. At least three hundred werewolf trials were conducted 160 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:21,480 Speaker 1: in early modern Germany, and in France more than six 161 00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:25,439 Speaker 1: hundred people were sentenced to die on accusations of being werewolves, 162 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:28,679 Speaker 1: and that was just within a three year span. And 163 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:31,959 Speaker 1: as egregious as all that sounds, it's only a fraction 164 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:35,320 Speaker 1: of the tens of thousands of women who were executed 165 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:39,880 Speaker 1: for witchcraft in those countries during that same period. Somehow, 166 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:43,760 Speaker 1: amidst all the suffering and death wrought by disease and war, 167 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:48,240 Speaker 1: sixteenth century Europe managed to make baseless conjecture the most 168 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:57,040 Speaker 1: frightening threat of all. Happy Halloween, everybody and gay Blusier 169 00:10:57,320 --> 00:11:00,160 Speaker 1: and hopefully you now know a little more about history 170 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:03,960 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. If you enjoyed today's episode, 171 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:07,800 Speaker 1: consider following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You can 172 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:11,959 Speaker 1: find us at TDI HC Show. You can also rate 173 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:14,640 Speaker 1: and review the show on Apple Podcasts, or you can 174 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:17,719 Speaker 1: get in touch directly by writing to This Day at 175 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:22,160 Speaker 1: iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, 176 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:25,000 Speaker 1: and thank you for listening. I'll see you back here 177 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:28,960 Speaker 1: again tomorrow for another day in history class.