Katharina Henot

Katharina Henot, (1570-Cologne 19 May 1627), was an alleged German witch, burned at the stake for sorcery in Cologne in Germany. She is one of the more known German victims of the witch hunt, and the most known case in Cologne.

Katharina Henot was a known and influential citizen in Cologne. She was married to Heinrich Neuden. Together with her brother, Harger Henot (1671-1637), she had inherited the postal office from her father Jacob and worked as the perhaps first female postmaster in Germany. They were in a conflict in the Imperial court with Count Leonhard II von Taxis, who wished to create a central post office.

In 1626-1631, a great witch trial was held in the city of Cologne. In 1627, a nun in the convent in the city had become "obsessed". Rumors pointed out Henot, and the commission of the archbishop arrested both Henot in January 1627 and accused them of having caused several cases of death and sickness in the convent by use of magic. She was imprisoned and denied bail and protection.

Henot refused to admit anything even after being severely injured an sick from torture. She was in spite of this judged guilty and sentenced to be burned alive at the stake for sorcery. Her brother Hartgier Henot tired to get her freed with appeals direct to the Imperial court, but did not succeed. The trial against her is not considered to have been juridically correct even according to the law of the time. Later research has established the opinion that Henot was the victim of a conspiracy from the authorities of the city. Her brother tried to get her name cleared after her execution, but in 1629, he was himself pointed out as a witch by Christina Plum, one of the victims of the 1626-31 Cologne witch trials. He was arrested in 1631 together with a number of other influential citizens, but the witch trial was interrupted soon after by intervention.

See also

* Walpurga Hausmannin
* Pappenheimer Family
* Katharina Kepler
* Merga Bien

References

* Engelbert Goller, Jakob Henot, Inaugural-Dissertation, Bonn 1910
* Friedrich Wilhelm Siebel, Die Hexenverfolgung in Köln, Juristische Dissertation, Bonn 1959
*
* [http://www.historicum.net/themen/hexenforschung/lexikon/alphabethisch/h-o/art/Henot_Katharin/html/artikel/1606/ca/d7b6277f5a/ Artikel von Thomas Becker (Historicum.net)]
* [http://rcswww.urz.tu-dresden.de/~frnz/Aufsatz2.doc Aufsatz von Gerd Schwerhoff] , Word-Format
* [http://medien.wdr.de/radio/zeitzeichen/WDR5_Zeitzeichen_20070519_0930.mp3 Katharina Henoth wird als Hexe verbrannt] , [http://www.wdr5.de/sendungen/zeitzeichen/888974.phtml Sendung "ZeitZeichen" vom 19. Mai 2007] auf den Seiten des WDR 5
* [http://www.mynetcologne.de/~nc-frankeir/haupt.htm weitere Darstellung]