Peter Binsfeld (c. 1540 or 1545/46 to 1598): Auxiliary Bishop of Trier, whose treatise on the confessions of witches gave new impetus to the persecutions

Peter Binsfeld came from a poor background, became Auxiliary Bishop of Trier in 1580 and died of plague in 1598. According to Franz, his treatise on the confessions of sorcerers and witches, printed in 1589, drew on statements extorted under torture in the Trier trials. The Neue Deutsche Biographie writes that the book gave new impetus to the witch persecutions. According to Voltmer, he advocated witch hunts that were to spare no estate.

Life dates

1540-1598 (about 58 years old)

Country

Germany

Institutions

Archbishopric of Trier

Category

Persecution

Level of evidence

B two independent scholarly sources · what does this mean?

Background

Course of events

1. The Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie gives about 1540 as his year of birth, the Neue Deutsche Biographie 1545 or 1546. Binsfeld became Auxiliary Bishop of Trier in 1580 and died of plague, according to the NDB on 24 November 1598.
   Evidence: Historische Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (Deutsche Biographie), ADB, Artikel Binsfeld

   „Weihbischof von Trier, geb. um 1540“

   Evidence: Historische Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (Deutsche Biographie), NDB, Kopf des Artikels

   „1545 oder 1546 Binsfeld (Kreis Wittlich, Eifel)“

   Evidence: Historische Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (Deutsche Biographie), ADB, Artikel Binsfeld

   „schon 1580 Weihbischof von Trier“

Response of the Church

1. The "Tractatus de confessionibus maleficorum et sagarum" was printed in Trier in 1589 and translated into German in 1590 and 1591. According to Franz, Binsfeld drew for it on statements extorted under torture in the Trier trials. The book became a model for persecution even in the Duchy of Bavaria. The NDB writes that it gave new impetus to the witch persecutions and describes his position as the general one at the time, though no longer the only one.
   Evidence: Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin, Abschnitt Cornelius Loos

   „unter Benutzung der in den Trierer Prozessen auf der Folter erpressten Aussagen einen neuen ‚Hexenhammer'“

   Evidence: Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin, Einleitung

   „der sogar im Herzogtum Bayern als Vorbild bei der Verfolgung von Hexen genommen wurde“

   Evidence: Historische Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (Deutsche Biographie), NDB, Biographie

   „gab dem Unwesen der Hexenverfolgungen neuen Auftrieb“

See also

• 1430-1793 · 363 years

  Witch hunts in Europe

  • Germany
  • France
  • Poland
  • Switzerland
  • Spain
  • United Kingdom
  • Torture
  • Murder
  • Persecution
• 1587-1594 · 7 years

  Electorate of Trier 1587 to 1594: Under Archbishop Johann VII and Auxiliary Bishop Binsfeld hundreds are burned as witches, including the city magistrate Flade; the theologian Loos is forced to retract his criticism

  • Germany
  • Expropriation
  • Persecution
  • Censorship

Scholarly literature and reference works

1. Scholarly literature
   Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin: Gunther Franz, Gegner der Hexenverfolgung (Aufsatz zur Ausstellung Hexenwahn. Ängste der Neuzeit), 1 January 2002. Original (retrieved 31 Oct 2026)
2. Scholarly literature
   Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin: Rita Voltmer, Abläufe, Ursachen und Hintergründe der großen Hexenverfolgungen in den Territorien zwischen Reich und Frankreich (Aufsatz zur Ausstellung Hexenwahn), 1 January 2002. Original (retrieved 31 Oct 2026)
3. Reference work
   Historische Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (Deutsche Biographie): Binsfeld, Peter, in: Neue Deutsche Biographie, Bd. 2 (1955), und Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, Bd. 2 (1875), 1 January 1955. Original (retrieved 31 Oct 2026)

Last changed on 31 October 2026. Is something missing or wrong? Suggest an addition or correction.