Peter Stumpp - Blog Posts

Werewolf traditions from cultures around the world...

1) In Argentina, a family's seventh born child would sometimes be killed out of fear that it would be a werewolf, especially if they were male and their father was also a seventh child.

2) In French Canadian folklore, not confessing your sins on Easter was a surefire way of being cursed to transform into a werewolf.

3) In Norse mythology, there's a myth about a father and son who discover magical wolf pelts and after putting them on are forced to live as wolves for 10 days before they can turn human again.

4) In Greek mythology, the first ever man wolf hybrid was King Lycaon who was cursed for trying to trick Zeus into eating human meat.

5) In 1500s France, a man named Peter Stumpp was found guilty of killing and eating a dozen people while in werewolf form, including two pregnant women and his own son.

Everyone knows about the Salem Witch Trials, but have you ever heard of the European werewolf trials?

Between the 15th and 17th centuries, individuals across Europe, including countries like Switzerland, Germany and France were accused of lycanthropy, wolf-riding and wolf-charming (wolf-charming meaning they used magic to summon a pack of wolves to attack someone).

The most famous case of someone being charged with lycanthropy took place in 1598. German farmer Peter Stumpp was accused of using witchcraft to turn himself into a wolf and go on a killing spree that led to the deaths of two pregnant women and 14 children. The worst part is they said he ate his victims while in his wolf form. After being stretched out on the rack, Peter admitted to all of the accusations, said he'd been practicing magic since he was 12 years old and that he used a magical belt the devil gave him to take his wolf shape. After his admission, Peter was executed on the wheel where he was skinned alive, had his limbs broken, his head chopped off and his body burned.