The Cellar - Dec 5th, 2016: Witches Weigh House

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Many a times, people accused of witchcraft would be dragged to a weigh house to be weighed.
It was believed that a witch weighed next to nothing. After all, how could they fly on a broomstick?
The Heksenwaag (Witches' scale) in the town of Oudewater became famous for such witch trails.

http://cellar.org/2016/witch1.jpg

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Witch trials were often rigged resulting in the burning or drowning of hundreds of innocent victims
all across Europe, but the people of Oudewater refused to take part in the delusion of witchcraft.
The Heksenwaag provided a fair weighing process to the accused. It is said that the Roman Emperor
Charles V granted Oudewater the privilege to weigh persons suspected of witchcraft and to issue
certificates if found to be of normal weight.

http://cellar.org/2016/witch2.jpg

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Sadly, not many people had the fortune of getting themselves weighed at Oudewater because many judges
refused to allow such trials. A single rumor or an unsubstantiated witness was enough to convict innocent
people of sorcery. Historical records account for only 13 such trials at the Heksenwaag between the period
1674 and 1743.

Only 13 trials because the women would rather burn at the stake than have their weight announced in public? :lol2:

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