[Documents concerning Magdalena Sibylla von Neitschütz and the trial of her mother, Ursula Margarethe von Neitschütz].

Abstract:

Collection of copies of documents concerning Magdalena Sibylla von Neitschütz (Neitschitz, Neidschütz), the mistress of Johann Georg IV, Elector of Saxony, as well as the witchcraft trial, in 1695, of her mother, Ursula Margarethe von Neitschütz (née von Haugwitz), who had been the mistress of the previous elector, Johann Georg III. Document 1 is the letter by Emperor Leopold I that elevated Magdalena Sibylla to the status of Countess of Rochlitz (Gräfin zu Rochliz; p. 2), prepared and attested by Caspar Florenz Consbruch, and signed by vice chancellor Leopold Wilhelm von Königsegg und Rothenfels. Document 2, issued by the law faculty of the University of Leipzig, as jurors (Schöppen; p. 45), summarizes the trial, in which Ursula Margarethe von Neitschütz was accused of being a witch and using magic (beschuldiget, dass sie eine Hexe seij, auch sich der Zauberein beflissen; p. 17) to bring about the death of Johann Georg III, and to make his son fall in love with her daughter (p. 17). Footnotes in the same hand include citation of a work published in 1733 (p. 25). Documents 3 (a letter in French) and 4 (an impersonal account) are contemporary descriptions of the funeral of Magdalena Sibylla von Neitschütz, on 12 April 1694. Document 4 seems to end with citation of bible verses as funeral orations (Nahum 3: 3-7, Ecclesiastes 3:16; p. 52), and possibly Document 5, a poem, is part of the same piece. The latter, purporting to have been written for the deceased by her surviving brothers, ends with a derogatory epitaph (p. 55). Document 6 is a marriage contract (Eheverschreibung) by Johann Georg IV, acknowledging his intentions toward Magdalena Sibylla von Neitschütz. It includes annotations (p. 58-59) stating that it was thought to have been retroactively dated (retrodatiret; p. 58) to before his marriage (to another woman, in 1692), and reporting related testimony by Ursula Margarethe von Neitschütz, and by Jean Roussenet, a confidant of Johann Georg. Document 7 (partly in Latin), written in defense of Ursula Margarethe von Neitschütz, is signed by Dr. Mayer, as defensor, apparently assigned by the court (ad commissarios, dem churfürstlichen Amtmann nun auch dem Rathe zu Dresden; p. 105). Document 8 is an unattributed contemporary eyewitness account of the viewing of the corpse (Leichen Besichtigung) of Magdalena Sibylla von Neitschütz at the Sophienkirche in Dresden on 30 April 1694. Document 9 comprises a moralistic commentary on the Neitschütz trial (p. 109-116), followed by a collection of poems (some in Latin) about Magdalena Sibylla, her mother, or the Neitschütz family. The commentary, entitled All sins must be revealed by God (Alle Sünden müsset offenbaret werden durch Gott; p. 109), includes rubrics naming 3 privy councillors (Graf Callenberg, Ober-Hofjägermeister Erdmannsdorf, General-Major Friese; p. 110); the rubric Soli deo gloria, dated 26 May 1694 (p. 111); and a list of names of individuals implicated in the Neitschütz trial (p. 114-116). The poems include epitaphs; a composition resembling an oratorio (p. 130-136); and 2 anagrams (in Latin; p. 124). Additional material is laid in at the back of the manuscript: 1) the printed article Zuverlässige Nachricht von der Gräfin von Rochlitz, as published in Sammlung vermischter Nachrichten zur sächsischen Geschichte vol. 10 (1775), pp. 361-414, which responds extensively to an article by Anton Friedrich Büsching in Magazin für die neue Historie und Geographie, part 8 (1774; pp. 461 ff.); it includes a fold-out genealogical table for Magdalena Sibylla von Neischütz (between pp. 362 and 363) and printed documents (p. 398-413) corresponding to 1 and 8 in the present manuscript; 2) a publisher's brochure for Die Liebeszaubereien der Gräfin Rochlitz, by Johann Friedrich Klotzsch, ed. Johannes Jühling (Stuttgart: Robert Lutz, 1914; vol. 3 in Rara, eine Bibliothek des Absonderlichen); and 3) a clipping of a feuilleton piece (in Dutch) entitled Een vorstelijk bigamist uit de 17de eeuw (signed M.G.W.; 13 May 1926, Rott Courant).

Timespan:

Saxony (Germany) -- 1423-1815; Saxony (Germany); Germany.

Date:

1733

Identifier:

9943246233503681; (OCoLC)ocn233591585; (OCoLC)233591585; (PU)4324623-penndb-Voyager

Language:

German; Latin; French; Dutch; Flemish

Provenance:

Formerly owned by Carl Viol (bookplate, inside upper cover: Ex libris Carl Viol, Amsterdam). Bookplate depicts Amsterdam city scene on canal with bridge and church tower, designed by E. v. Doesburgh.; Sold by Martinus Nijhoff (Hague, Netherlands), 1969.; Formerly owned by Gustav Friedrich Klemm, who received it as a gift in 1826, from the wife of the court marshal von Racknitz, possibly the widow of Joseph Friedrich Freiherr zu Racknitz (1744-1818), who held that post in Dresden; handwritten note: Geschenk der Frau Hofmarschall von Racknitz an D. Gustav Klemm, d. 20 Apr. 1826 (p. i).

Publisher:

[Saxony?], [after 1733]

Subject:

Trials (Witchcraft); Trials (Witchcraft) -- Germany.; Codices.; Legal documents.; Manuscripts, European.; Manuscripts, German.

Form/Genre:

Manuscripts

Physical Description:

76 leaves : paper; 339 x 206 (250-280 x 145-160) mm bound to 344 x 215 mm + 1 booklet and 2 leaves

Personal Name:

Neitschütz, Magdalena Sibylla von,; Neitschütz, Ursula Margarethe von,; Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, 1640-1705.; Königsegg und Rothenfels, Leopold Wilhelm von, 1630-1694.; Consbruch, Caspar Florenz, 1655-1712.; Johann Georg IV, Elector of Saxony, 1668-1694.; Klemm, Gustav Friedrich, 1802-1867, former owner.; Viol, Carl, 1861- former owner.; Doesburgh, E. van, bookplate designer.

Corporate Name:

Universität Leipzig. Juristenfakultät.

Rights:

https://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?

Notes:

Title supplied by cataloger.; Origin: Written in Saxony, after 1733 (p. 25).; Ms. codex.; Script: Written in a German cursive hand, with Latin text in a book script.; Layout: Written in 30-36 long lines, except for a poem written in 2 columns (p. 119-120); frame-ruled and line-ruled in pencil.; Pagination: Paper, i + i (different paper, pasted in) + 74; contemporary pagination in ink, upper outer corners, 1-148 (inside lower cover is numbered 155, with 3 leaves cut or torn out after end of text).; Binding: Contemporary boards (Zacour-Hirsch).; Decoration: Title of document 1 within a frame filled in with pen-and-ink design of leaves and diagonal crossbars (p. i); pen-and-ink design marking end of text of last document (horizontal bar and short vertical bar in the middle, filled in, respectively, with a feather-like design and a design resembling owl heads, p. 147); printed sheet bearing Rochlitz coat of arms in circular medallion (p. ii); around border: Magdal Sibyll: Reichsgraefin v. Rochlitz); initials decorated with pen flourishes (p. i, 1, 49, 61, 106, 109, 110).; German, with Latin attestation (p. 14), passages (p. 63-65, 69, 70, 91-104), and verses (116, 120-124); and one document in French (p. 47-48). Accompanying newspaper clipping in Dutch.

Physical Location:

Oversize Ms. Codex 1221