Peter Binsfeld

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Peter Binsfeld (c. 1545 - 1598), son of a farmer and craftsman, was born in the village Binsfeld in the German Eifel region; he died in Trier as a victim of the Bubonic plague. Binsfeld grew up in the rural Catholic environment of the Eifel region. Considered by a local abbot as a very gifted boy, he was sent to Rome for study. After his studies there, Binsfeld returned to his home region and became an important personality in the anti-protestant catholic activities of the late 16th century. He was elected Suffragan Bishop of Trier and became a well-known theologian writer, who achieved fame as a one of the most prominent witch-hunters of his time. Binsfeld wrote the influential treatise De confessionibus maleficorum et sagarum, "The Confession of Warlocks and Witches", translated into several languages (Trier, 1589). This work discussed the confessions of alleged witches, and claimed that even if such confessions were produced by torture, they should still be believed. He also encouraged denouncements.

He thought that girls under age twelve and boys under age fourteen could not be considered guilty of practising witchcraft, but due to the precocity of some children the law should not be completely strict. This point of view can be considered as moderate, taking into account that other inquisitors had condemned to be burnt at the stake children between two and five years of age.

Contrarily to other authors of the same time, Binsfeld doubted that people could change shape into animals and of the validity of the diabolical mark.

Binsfeld also associated the seven deadly sins with seven demons, which he said induced people to commit that sin.

See also Binsfeld's classification of demons.