3 - Woman, Wife, Witch?: The Representation of Woman in Johann Fischart's Geschichtklitterung

Summary

Vnnd welche Salomon in seinen Gleichnussen vnd Parabolen nennt das Weib: Da er sagt/ daß keine Bosheit vber eines Weibs Bosheit seie: Vnd bißweilen nennt ers ein Hure/ die alle Männer annimmet/ als die Matery aller formen/ ….

THE IMAGE OF THE WOMAN as an evil creature — wet and slippery and hence difficult to grasp — meets the reader of Johann Fischart's German translation (1581, 1586) of Jean Bodin's De Démonomanie des sorciers (1580), a well-known witch tract of its time. Expressing the common fears that men have of women, the text is in no way unusual for a time when many women were prosecuted and sentenced to death for what was considered witchcraft and the use of evil powers. Having studied law Fischart certainly was familiar with witch trials as well as family feuds, prostitution, and other cases that brought women before court. But it has not been possible to find arguments in his own texts or other documents that explain why he chose to translate a misogynist text in the tradition of Heinrich Institoris's Malleus maleficarum (1486) and to publish a new edition of the infamous Hexenhammer (Hammer of Witches, 1582). A strong believer in the Reformation, he also engaged in transmitting the ideas of the reformers in his writings. His Philosophisch Ehezuchtbüchlein (Philosophical Treatise on Marital Discipline, 1578) is one of many marriage tracts of the time, based on ancient and medieval texts and published to emphasize the importance of marriage for humanity. Oscillating between fear, hatred, and songs of praise Fischart thus does not differ from his contemporaries in his ambiguous attitude towards women, on the one hand calling attention to their disposition to witchcraft and magic, on the other hand stressing their importance as the companion to man within marriage. It is therefore not surprising that a person like Fischart who published a great number of texts chooses to take different standpoints in various genres, even though his decision to translate and publish witch tracts might appear dubious to the modern reader. Also, when he employs comical effects, as in Flöh, Hatz, Weiber Tratz (Hunting of Fleas, Defiance of Women, 1573), the female sex takes a central role as a creature of evil. The text is an adaptation — possibly of a text by Mathias Holtzwart — but Fischart feels no obligations towards the original.