The 'Werewolf' of Bedburg

First, I have to admit right off the bat.....that this is a questionable piece of German history, and possibly 0-percent true.  But on the other hand, it might as well be 50-percent true, and if you wished 'more'.....yes, it might be completely and absolutely true.

So this story starts in the 1550s timeframe of central Germany, near Koln.  The guy in this case?  Peter Stumpf (different spellings often occur, and that is one problem with the story).

Pete was a marginally educated farm guy (no one can even cite if he could even read). His list of crimes?  Well....murder, assault, witchcraft (this was still illegal in the 1550s era), cannibalism, and werewolfery.

I questioned the werewolfery accusation.  In most cases, you can offer up the observation that this might be a nutcase guy who had paranoid schizophrenia, or that he just liked the legendary status of being referred to as a werewolf character.

The chief part of this story leads back to a pamphlet that was published in London in the late 1500s, and that leads back to the mid 1500s publication of a German story.  Lets admit here that the printing press invention in 1525, helped provide an avenue for 'titillating' stories like this, and the public was all hyped up to read material like this.  The Brits loved this kind of stuff.....as did the Germans.

As for Bedburg?  It is an actual town, and Pete's history for the most part is that he was a farmer who had done reasonably well with what he had.  No one ever suggested  him to be a failure.

At some point in the 1580s, Pete got into some type of accusation business there in the local community.  That part of the story is often left out and you have to wonder about things.

In 1589, a court case opened up and the chief charge against Pete was that he was a werewolf.  At some point, under a lot of torture.....Pete came to confess that he'd done a good bit in the art of black magic (since his teens).

There's talk of a 'magic-belt' (never explained in detail) that Satan had given Pete, during these torture sessions.

There's at least eighteen people that Pete confessed to having killed, for various reasons.  Course, under torture, Pete probably said a lot of things that just didn't line up with facts.....if this were a true story. 

Toward the late fall of 1589....Pete (with a daughter and girlfriend)....was finally put to death (in an extreme manner which I won't go into detail about).  Various efforts were made to ensure he didn't return from the dead (as was the chief worry in this era).

Since that point, in various literally productions....Pete's story has been used in different ways, and often repeated as 'fact' (lacking of course).

The thing about this 16-page pamphlet that arrived in London....people ate this up.  The more gross....the more harsh the situation....the more dramatic that the story was......just led to people being consumed with the story, and thus believing it was 100-percent true, when at best it might have been 5-percent true.

Was there a real Pete?  Historians argue over this point and the evidence is lacking.

Did the stories help to motivate the general public to accept more Christian behavior than normal.....to help prevent werewolves and Satan-situations?  Well....yeah, that probably was one of the things that came out of this period, and the various stories.

So that's the story of Pete (the werewolf).