Sidonia von Borcke
Encyclopedia
Sidonia von Borcke also spelled Sidonie von Bork, Borke or Borken, was a Pomeranian
Duchy of Pomerania
The Duchy of Pomerania was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania ....

 noble woman tried and executed for witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...

. In posthumous legends, she was depicted as femme fatale
Femme fatale
A femme fatale is a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype of literature and art...

and entered English literature as Sidonia the Sorceress.

Life

Sidonia von Borcke was born in 1548 into the rich old noble Pomeranian
Duchy of Pomerania
The Duchy of Pomerania was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania ....

 family. Her father, Otto von Borcke zu Stramehl-Regenwalde, died in 1551, and her mother, Anna von Schwiechelt, died in 1568. After an unsteady life and the death of her sister in 1600, she spent her late life (since 1604) in the Lutheran Noble Damsels' Foundation in the former Marienfließ Abbey
Marianowo, West Pomeranian Voivodeship
Marianowo is a village in Stargard County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Marianowo. It lies approximately east of Stargard Szczeciński and east of the regional capital Szczecin.Before 1945 the area was part of Germany...

 (Marianowo), which since 1569, following the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

, was a convent for unmarried noble women. Before, she was involved in several lawsuits about her alimonies against her brother, Ulrich, and John Frederick, Duke of Pomerania (died 1600), one of which even made it to the imperial court at Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

.
In Marienfließ, Sidonia von Borcken was engaged in several private and judicial conflicts with her mostly younger roommates as well as the administrative and technical staff. When she was dismissed from her post as a Unterpriorin (subprior
Prior
Prior is an ecclesiastical title, derived from the Latin adjective for 'earlier, first', with several notable uses.-Monastic superiors:A Prior is a monastic superior, usually lower in rank than an Abbot. In the Rule of St...

ess) by the convent's prioress Magdalena von Petersdorff in 1606, she appealed to Bogislaw XIII, Duke of Pomerania
Bogislaw XIII, Duke of Pomerania
Bogislaw XIII of Pomerania , son of Philip I and Maria of Saxony, was a princes of Stettin and Wolgast, and a member of the Griffins ....

, who sent a commission headed by Joachim von Wedel to investigate the dispute. The interaction between the commission and Sidonia von Borcken soon evolved into a major conflict, and von Wedel met in private with Marienfließ Hauptmann
Hauptmann
Hauptmann is a German word usually translated as captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the German, Austrian and Swiss armies. While "haupt" in contemporary German means "main", it also has the dated meaning of "head", i.e...

 Johannes von Hechthausen to think about "getting rid of this poisonous snake". The dispute ended with the deaths of Bogislaw XIII in 1606, and the deaths of von Petersdorff, von Wedel and von Hechthausen all in 1609. Two years later, Sidonia von Borcke filed complaints against the new prioress, Agnes von Kleist, to the new duke, Philip II
Philip II, Duke of Pomerania
Philip II, Duke of Pomerania was from 1606 to 1618 the reigning duke of Pomerania-Stettin and is considered among the one of the most artistic of the Pomeranian dukes. He married Sophia of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg in 1607...

. Like his predecessor, Philip installed a commission to investigate the claims, this time headed by Jost von Borcke, a relative of Sidonia, who already had been involved and humiliated in prior lawsuits concerning Sidonia.

The commission did not succeed in calming the dispute, and Jost von Borcke described the situation at Marienfließ as one of chaos, mistrust, name-calling and occasional violence. Philip II died in 1618, and was succeeded by Duke Francis I. Jost von Borcke was in good standing at Francis I's court and remained head of the investigating commission.

Trial and death

In July 1619, a dispute between Sidonia von Borcke and Unterpriorin (subprioress) Dorothea von Stettin escalated during a Mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...

, and both were arrested. Dorothea von Stettin then accused Sidonia von Borcke of witchcraft, namely of forcing former Marienfließ factotum
Factotum
Factotum is the second novel by American author Charles Bukowski. The plot follows Henry Chinaski, Bukowski's alter ego, who has been rejected from the World War II draft and makes his way from one menial job to the next...

 Wolde Albrechts to ask the devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...

 about her future. Wolde Albrechts made her living from fortune-telling
Fortune-telling
Fortune-telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. The scope of fortune-telling is in principle identical with the practice of divination...

 and begging after she had lost her position at Marienfließ due to the death of von Hechthausen. Furthermore, she had been travelling with "gypsies" in her youth, was known for several unstable sexual relationships, and was unmarried with an illegitimate child. Dorothea von Stettin persuaded her Marienfließ roommate Anna von Apenburg to second her story. According to contemporary law, the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina, two eyewitnesses were sufficient to convict and sentence both Sidonia von Borcke and Wolde Albrechts. Anna von Apenburg however withdrew from her statement when asked to repeat under oath.

The following trials, which took place at the court in Stettin (now Szczecin
Szczecin
Szczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....

) are well documented, and more than 1,000 original pages are in the state archive in Greifswald
Greifswald
Greifswald , officially, the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald is a town in northeastern Germany. It is situated in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, at an equal distance of about from Germany's two largest cities, Berlin and Hamburg. The town borders the Baltic Sea, and is crossed...

 (Rep 40 II Nr.37 Bd.I-III). The recent unexpected deaths of several Pomeranian dukes and the then widespread superstition in the Duchy of Pomerania
Duchy of Pomerania
The Duchy of Pomerania was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania ....

 resulted in a public prepared to blame the dukes' deaths on Sidonia von Borcken's alleged witchcraft, a belief that would further manifest with the extinction of the Pomeranian dynasty
House of Pomerania
The House of Griffins or House of Pomerania, , also known as House of Greifen; House of Gryf, was a dynasty of Royal dukes that ruled the Duchy of Pomerania from the 12th century until 1637, after their power was temporarily derivated to Prussian Royal House...

 in 1637.

The preface of Sidonia von Borcken's trial was the trial of Wolde Albrechts, who was arrested on 28 July 1619. On 18 August, she was charged with maleficium
Maleficium (sorcery)
Maleficium is a Latin term meaning "wrongdoing" or "mischief" and is used to describe malevolent, dangerous, or harmful magic, "evildoing" or "malevolent sorcery"...

 and Teufelsbuhlschaft, i.e. sexual relations with the devil. On 2 September, torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...

 was admitted as a legitimate means of interrogation by the supreme court at Magdeburg
Magdeburg
Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....

. On 7 September, Wolde Albrechts confessed under torture and further accused Sidonia von Borcke and two other women of witchcraft. She repeated these confessions in presence of Sidonia von Borcke at the court on 1 October, and was burned at the stake on 9 October. Her confession was used to open the trial of Sidonia von Borcke on 1 October. Still arrested in Marienfließ, she attempted a flight and a suicide, both failed.

On 18 November 1619, Sidonia von Borcke was transferred to a prison in Stettin. In December, 72 charges were formulated. The most important were
  • murder of her nephew, Otto von Borcke
  • murder of priest David Lüdecke
  • murder of duke Philip II
    Philip II, Duke of Pomerania
    Philip II, Duke of Pomerania was from 1606 to 1618 the reigning duke of Pomerania-Stettin and is considered among the one of the most artistic of the Pomeranian dukes. He married Sophia of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg in 1607...

     of Pomerania-Stettin (died 1618)
  • murder of Magdalena von Petersdorff, prior
    Prior
    Prior is an ecclesiastical title, derived from the Latin adjective for 'earlier, first', with several notable uses.-Monastic superiors:A Prior is a monastic superior, usually lower in rank than an Abbot. In the Rule of St...

    ess at Marienfließ
  • murder of Matthias Winterfeld, gatekeeper at Marienfließ
  • murder of Konsistorialrat Dr. Heinrich Schwalenberg
  • paralyzation of Katharina Hanow, noble woman at Marienfließ
  • consultation of soothsayer
    Fortune-telling
    Fortune-telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. The scope of fortune-telling is in principle identical with the practice of divination...

    s
  • knowledge of future and distant events
  • sexual contacts with the devil, who allegedly materialized in pets such as von Borcke's cat Chim.
  • magical practices like praying the "Judas psalm" and crossing brooms under the kitchen's table

In January, about fifty witnesses were questioned, and Sidonia von Borcke was appointed a defender, Elias Pauli. Though drafting a defense showing that the allegedly murdered died natural deaths, Pauli also dissociated himself from statements of Sidona von Borcke incriminating Jost von Borcke and other officials. On 28 June, the Magdeburg
Magdeburg
Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....

 court permitted the Stettin court to use torture. When torture was applied on 28 July, Sidona von Borcken confessed, and the verdict read death by dragging to the execution site, rupturing four times with plies, and finally burning. When Sidonia von Borcken revoked her confession, she was tortured anew on 16 August.

The final verdict of 1 September 1620 read death by decapitation and burning of the body. The verdict was carried out in Stettin, outside the mill gate. The exact date is of her death is uncertain.

In fiction

After the death of Sidonia von Borcke, her fate became legendary and even more strongly associated with the extinction of the House of Pomerania
House of Pomerania
The House of Griffins or House of Pomerania, , also known as House of Greifen; House of Gryf, was a dynasty of Royal dukes that ruled the Duchy of Pomerania from the 12th century until 1637, after their power was temporarily derivated to Prussian Royal House...

 in the chronicles of the 17th century. Portrayed as a femme fatale
Femme fatale
A femme fatale is a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype of literature and art...

she became subject of several fictional works in German and English literature, especially in the 19th century. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...

's brother-in-law Christian August Vulpius
Christian August Vulpius
Christian August Vulpius was a German novelist and dramatist. His sister married the noted German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.-Biography:...

 in 1812 published Sidonia von Borke in Pantheon berühmter und merkwürdiger Frauen ("pantheon of famous and noteworthy women").

The Gothic romance Sidonia von Bork was written in 1847/48 by the Pomeranian priest Wilhelm Meinhold
Wilhelm Meinhold
Johann Wilhelm Meinhold was a Pomeranian priest and author.Meinhold was born in Netzelkow on the island of Usedom, where his father Georg Wilhelm Meinhold was Lutheran priest. Growing up in the atmosphere of the Napoleonic Wars, he matriculated at the University of Greifswald, Swedish Pomerania,...

 (1797-1851), published in three volumes in 1848.Full title in German: Sidonia von Bork, die Klosterhexe, angebliche Vertilgerin des gesamten herzoglich-pommerschen Regentenhauses (preview at google books) English translations of this novel, titled Sidonia the Sorceress, were published in 1849 by Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...

's mother, Jane Francesca Elgee
Jane Wilde
Jane Francesca Agnes, Lady Wilde was an Irish poet under the pen name "Speranza" and supporter of the nationalist movement; had a special interest on Irish Fairy Tales, which she helped to gather...

 (the later Lady Wilde) and William Morris
William Morris
William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...

, who also published Wilde's translation in his Kelmscott Press in 1893. In 1894, another English translation of the Meinhold novel was published by Lady Duff-Gordon
Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon
Lucy Christiana, Lady Duff Gordon was a leading fashion designer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, best known as "Lucile", her professional name. The first British designer to achieve international renown, Lucile was a widely-acknowledged innovator in couture styles as well as in fashion...

.Full title of the English version: Sidonia the Sorceress: The Supposed Destroyer of the Whole Reigning Ducal House of Pomerania (full text at Internet Archive
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...

, Google Books and Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...

). Also referred to as The Convent Witch, a translation of the German subtitle Die Klosterhexe (Daguerreotype of 1848)


Already the first English translations gained cult status in Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

 Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 in a succès d’estime unmatched by any other German book in British literary history. Especially in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was a group of English painters, poets, and critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti...

, whose members besides Morris included Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, painter and translator. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, and was later to be the main inspiration for a second generation of artists and writers influenced by the movement,...

 and Edward Burne-Jones
Edward Burne-Jones
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet was a British artist and designer closely associated with the later phase of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, who worked closely with William Morris on a wide range of decorative arts as a founding partner in Morris, Marshall, Faulkner, and Company...

, passion for Sidonia as a Medusa
Medusa
In Greek mythology Medusa , " guardian, protectress") was a Gorgon, a chthonic monster, and a daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. The author Hyginus, interposes a generation and gives Medusa another chthonic pair as parents. Gazing directly upon her would turn onlookers to stone...

-type femme fatale was widespread. Rosetti is reported to have referred to and quoted from the novel "incessantly". Several members drew paintings based on the novel, the most famous are Clara von Bork and Sidonia von Bork by Burne-Jones in 1860. For his Sidonia painting, Rosetti's girl-friend Fanny Cornforth
Fanny Cornforth
Fanny Cornforth was an English maidservant who became a model and mistress to Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti...

 served as the model.

Other authors of novels based on the life of Sidonia von Borcke include Albert Emil Brachvogel (1824-1878) and Paul Jaromar Wendt (1840-1919). Novelist and poet Theodor Fontane
Theodor Fontane
Theodor Fontane was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language realist writer.-Youth:Fontane was born in Neuruppin into a Huguenot family. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to an apothecary, his father's profession. He became an...

 (1819-1898) had prepared a novel, Sidonie von Borcke, since 1879. However, he did not finish the novel, and the fragments were first published in 1966.

External links

Play from 1786
  • Sidonia the Sorceress at Internet Archive
    Internet Archive
    The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...

    , Google Books and Project Gutenberg
    Project Gutenberg
    Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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