Behind him walk darkly clad representatives from the Nuremberg city council, scions of the city’s wealthy leading families,įollowed by the heads of several local craftsmen’s guilds, thus signaling a genuinely civic occasion. The judge of the “blood court,” dressed in red and black patrician finery, leads the solemn cortege on horseback, followed on foot by theĬondemned man, two chaplains, and the executioner, better known to residents, like all men of his craft, by the honorific of Meister (Master) Frantz. From there a slow procession of local dignitaries moves toward the site of execution, a mile away. His request denied, Lambrecht is expertly shepherded to the adjoining market squareīy the city’s longtime executioner, Frantz Schmidt. He also makes one last futile plea to be dispatched with a sword stroke to the neck, a quicker and more honorable death than being burned alive, the prescribed punishment for counterfeiting. Johannes Hagendorn, one of the criminal court’s two chaplains, later writes in his journal that at this moment Lambrecht turns to him and fervently asks for forgiveness from his Sinner is led out of a side door of the stately town hall, his ankles shackled and wrists bound tightly with sturdy rope. His late mother is also rumored to have been a witch and his father was long ago hanged as a thief, thereby validating the prison chaplain’s assessment that “the apple did not fall farįrom the tree with this one.” Shortly before noon, the bells of nearby Saint Sebaldus begin to ring solemnly, joined in quick succession by Our Lady’s Church on the main market, then Saint Lorenz on the other side of the Pegnitz River. “See, devil, you have here your morsel, now give me mine!” upon which he cursed to death one of his many enemies. On one recent occasion, according to several witnesses, Lambrecht threw a black hen in the air and cried, Is widely reputed to be skilled in magic, having divorced his first wife for adultery and “whored around the countryside” with an infamous sorceress known as the Iron Biter. More intriguing to the anxious spectators, he Everyone knows that he has been sentenced to death for counterfeiting prolific amounts of gold and silver coins with his brother and other nefarious figures, all of whom successfully got away.
Toiled in the more menial position of wine carrier.
Though he had trained and worked for many years as a miller, he most recently The basics are quickly conveyed: his name is Georg Karl Lambrecht, age thirty, formerly of the Franconian village of Mainberheim. The “poor sinner,” circulate through the crowd at a dizzying pace. Rumors about the condemned prisoner, traditionally referred to as Pungent wafts of vomit and urine mix with the fragrant smoke from grilling sausages and roasting chestnuts. Drunken young men jostle one another and grow restless, filling the air with their ribald ditties. By midmorning the throng has grown to a few thousand spectators and the dozen or so town constables on duty, known as archers, are visibly uneasy at the prospect of maintaining Other adults and children roam the crowd, selling bottles of beer and wine. Vendors have already set up makeshift stands to hawk Nuremberger sausages, fermented cabbage, and salted herrings, lining the entire route of the death procession, from the town hall to the gallows just
Yet another public execution awaits the free city of Nuremberg, renowned throughout Europe as a bastion of law and order, and spectators from all ranks of societyĪre eager to secure a good viewing spot before the main event gets under way. The sun has barely cleared the horizon when a crowd begins to form on the chilly Thursday morning of November 13, 1617. Julius Krautz, executioner of Berlin (1889)1 Harrington A Note About the Author CopyrightĮvery useful person is respectable. Notes Acknowledgments Index Illustration Credits Also By Joel F. If you believe the copy of thisĮ-book you are reading infringes on the author’s copyright, please notify the publisher at: us./piraįrontispiece Title Page Copyright Notice Dedication Copyright infringement is against the law. You may not make this e-book publicly available in any way. The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your personal use only.