Film was reaction to the communist 50s justice system who killed hundreds of innocent people. For more info see "The Confession" (1970)
Banned after release until The Velvet Revolution in 1989.
Already like a black cloud
Witches' Hammer (1970) (The Witch Hunt / Witchhammer)
Death the killer comes riding
on his hunchback horse
and the bones of the horse are rattling
and his mildewed mane flows and flows
and with bones and bones he bids us welcome
Like a black cloud
death the killer comes riding
already he comes riding.
And blood and blood no time for a coffin
with blood and blood he despoils the barren fields.
We are careless now.
The reaper is among us
the reaper is among us now.
The reaper is riding on his black horse
whose very bones are rattling
and he beckons, beckons every soldier
and wields the scythe of death the killer.
Like a black guest
he already gnaws white bone
he already gnaws white bone.
And the black guest already gnaws white bone
with bones and bones he bids us welcome.
Based on Northern Moravian witch trials occurred in Velke Losiny and Sumperk area between 1678 and 1695.
We are already careless. Already the reaper is among us.
Through woman came sin into the world. Woman is sin.
The womb of woman is the gateway to hell.
Bodily desire is the root of evil, in woman insatiable.
The embrace of woman is like unto the snares of the hunter.
Woman works her trickery with the devil
who appears in the form of a man.
Have mercy.
May the Lord God repay you.
Welcome oh guest most precious
my sweet Jesus
my dearest friend
Jesus most blessed
welcome into my heart
that loves you so.
Oh righteous God on High
Oh how you demean yourself
descending from your august throne
into my lips.
Oh my only God
forgive us our sins.
Hoc est enim Corpus meum.
Lord I am not worthy, that you should enter under my roof,
but speak the word only and my soul shall be healed.
Ecce Agnus Dei, Quitollit peccata mundi.
Lord I am not worthy, that you should enter under my roof,
but speak the word only and my soul shall be healed.
Corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi custediat animam tuam
in vitam aeternam Amen.
Corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi custediat animam tuam
in vitam aeternam Amen...
Joy unto Thee Queen of Heaven
Allelujah
Come into the sacristy.
Come on!
In the shadow of her Holy Son
Allelujah
You stood, dearest of mothers...
What have you gone and done?
Oh God!
What is she doing here?
- What's the meaning of this? - I'm not to blame, Reverend Sir.
Mrs. Grör from Vernirovice, has a cow that won't milk.
Bring in the sheriff!
Be seated, gentlemen.
Have you brought her? What does she look like?
I've never seen a witch before.
The worst thing is,
that it's not a matter of just one beggarwoman
but a whole coven of witches.
And the most uncompromising measures are necessary.
Bring her in!
Nothing like this has happened to me before.
You are still young, Brother.
Is this the woman?
Speak as if you were at the confessional.
What happened with that holy communion wafer?
Ma Grörka, the midwife who lives out our way,
needed that blessed wafer to give to her cow,
it had stopped giving milk, you see.
She promised me a bushel of peas and some barley flour.
I know I shouldn't have done it,
but Your Reverence, her cow's one of God's creatures too.
I thought the Lord God would forgive me.
Don't you know that foolish superstitions are sinful?
I did so want those peas.
It's abominable.
Where did that old Ma Grör get the idea about the wafer?
Old Ma David gave her the tip.
And who is Ma David?
Oh, such an old witch!
What makes you think she's a witch?
Answer! Otherwise you will be in mortal sin.
Oh, I didn't really mean it like that.
Ma David's a herb woman. She mends broken arms.
And works charms on cows.
There are plenty such old women, it doesn't mean...
Forgive me, your Ladyship, I am forced to...
Does Ma David stay at home at night, or go out, or...
does she have visitors at night?
But who would visit her, sir? she's nigh on seventy.
She has no inkling of what she has committed.
No, if I'd known the trouble I'd be in... I'm very sorry.
Don't believe a word she says, your Ladyship.
- It's the Devil speaking. - But really Father!
She's just superstitious like all of them. Look at her.
Say twenty Paternosters and twenty Hail Maries.
- You should be ashamed of yourself. - It's not mere superstition.
We're on the track of widespread heresy.
This is the work of the Devil, who causes misery in the land.
I have reported the affair to the Bishop's Consistory, and ask
of Your Ladyship that this devil's breed be exterminated.
- Leave everything to me. - I trust in your aid.
Allow me, Your Ladyship, to recommend that you summon
an experienced inquisition judge.
Do you know of a good judge?
I suggest Kaspar Hutter from Sumperk.
He is wise, just and knows the local conditions.
But I heard he was suspended.
He let four witches off scot free.
- They were of unsound mind, Sir. - So why was he suspended?
Are you saying their lordships were unjust?
There's a former inquisition judge living in Olomouc.
- A Mr. Boblig of Edelstadt. - But he's a pensioner,
he never finished his studies. I'm forJudge Hutter.
Mr. Boblig of Edelstadt did his work well for 40 years.
And he has a good reputation with the Bishop's Consistory.
Go and talk to him.
- What can I do for you, sir? - Food, drink, a bed.
- I'll drink what you're drinking. - At your service.
- But mind the bed's clean. - Everything will be in order.
Can't you tidy yourself up when you serve me?
Get a move on!
It's an honour.
Well, it'll do. A touch sour, but it'll do.
You are tired, sir, I'll prepare your bed now.
- You have come far, sir? - From Sumperk, Velke Losiny.
Does this inn belong to a man from Edelstadt? The lawyer?
Get the food ready.
He's a former inquisitor. I was told this place is his.
- I am Boblig. - You?
What can I do for you, Sir?
Please take a seat.
How much would a trial like this cost, Mr. Boblig?
Could I have a little warm water?
You need to set up an inquisition tribunal.
Apart from me, as director,
by law the tribunal needs a procurator fiscal
and a secretary and two or three lay judges.
And I would need my own clerk.
He is experienced in observing the accused.
They must be observed day and night.
Thank you kindly.
As you are surely aware, witchcraft trials
are not ordinary trials dealing in capital crimes.
The Devil, your Lordship, is unusually inventive.
I know, Squire of Edelstadt.
The judge is in peril of his life.
The property of the condemned is confiscated by the authorities
and it is from this property that the trial costs are met.
A fat lot we'd get from these beggar women!
We want to purge mankind of the devil.
Money is not the prime consideration.
You will have no cause for dissatisfaction with us.
But please try
and get the whole thing finished as quickly as possible.
I hope it won't be anything too serious.
Witches enter into a full compact with the Devil
and accept the Devil as their lord and master.
In return he grants them various supernatural powers.
I don't know nothing more, Your Honour, I said it all already.
I wanted to give the wafer to the cow,
because she wasn't giving no milk.
If I'd only known what I was letting myself in for...
You lie!
You took the holy wafer to Peter's Rock.
No!
What do you call that black gallant of yours?
Marten?
Hans?
Green Thomas?
- Answer my question! - Thomas...
But I don't rightly know who you mean, Your Honour.
You know well enough.
- Did you often go to Peter's Rock? - No never in my life.
It's miles away, whoever would want to go there?
I'm just a poor woman, I'm scared.
But we know everything.
- You feasted and drank there. - No, no...
- And trampled the holy wafers. - No!
Who went with you? You know many women, you're a midwife.
- What's that you say? - Who were you with there?
I never set foot there.
Don't you know they say witches fly around there?
You see, you can help us when you just try!
In a week's time we'll summon you again,
to tell us who was there with you.
- But are you sure? - I don't want to anticipate,
but it will probably prove to be an extensive network.
Witches on my estates!
It is... It's quite dreadful!
And I shall take the responsibility for it.
You have my complete confidence.
My full support, Good Squire of Edelstadt.
How long is it since that student was mad with love for you?
But that student ran away.
He had to run away, or he'd have been forced into the army.
And now you have a daughter ripe for marriage.
Who knows which lasts longer, love or friendship.
- Don't you want him? - I'd rather drown myself.
The water's cold, you'll have to wait.
Kaspar won't budge.
Do you really want to give Lisa to that mad old fool?
- Why not? Older men marry. - Lisa is young.
- But she'll be rich with him. - But without love.
When children arrive
- there's no time for love. - There's no persuading him.
You have a young housekeeper and you're not so young yourself.
Think it over, Kaspar. It would be a pity.
You don't want to ruin her life. She's your own child.
Those three old hags in Losiny have confessed.
Three times a year they would fly to Peter's Rock
on pitchforks. And get up to God knows what.
- At least it's not on my patch. - What do you say to it?
That beggarwoman deserves severe penance,
but that doesn't mean she's a witch.
- They confessed, didn't they? - The tribunal hasn't met yet.
I'm afraid you don't know much about inquisition courts.
We need not spoil the evening with these matters!
A health to our Lisa and her twenty years!
I'm in Losiny now as I'm sure you know.
And I couldn't resist coming to pay my respects, Reverend.
The honour is mine.
This is my assistant, the clerk Ignatius.
Wait for me in the servants' hall.
Susanna, bring some wine and a little something to eat.
You have a fine place here.
I'd much appreciate your help in ridding our region of witches.
You play the violin?
Aristoteles...
Euripides...
and theology...
Law...
I don't know this one...
- What a lot of books! - One can never have enough books.
Excuse me...
Could I ask you for a little hot water, my girl?
Yes, of course.
Pretty girl.
Do you know what surprised me?
It's how your town has recovered from that fire.
It looks better than in my youth. How did people get rich so fast?
- Rich is rather an exaggeration. - Why?
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
I noticed Sattler's new dye works.
A fine house. It must have cost a pretty penny.
Susanna?
I'll teach you...
Let him go, Florian! What's going on here?
He's saying shameless things, your Reverence.
Asking if I'd seen any secret marks on Miss Susanna!
I pour him two glasses to my one, and he behaves like that!
Rather strange jests aren't they? You'd better be off!
We are on church ground.
He is too full of zeal. Forgive us.
I hope, Father, that this is not our last meeting.
What's the matter, Susanna?
What's happened to you?
- What on earth is it? - Anyone can insult me.
- Whenever they feel like it. - But what are you saying?
When you find someone you like, you'll marry and be happy.
But I don't want anybody. You know I don't.
And you know my only wish is for you to be happy.
Is it really? You wish me happiness?
But who would ever marry a priest's cook?
Witches fly to their meetings and to rise into the air,
they grease themselves with marrow and the fat of murdered innocents
mixed with fresh blood from under the hearts of virgins.
They sit on brooms, distaffs, pitchforks or he-goats
and fly up the chimney as on horses.
No!
No! I was never there! I don't know nothing!
I'll say anything you want. Please don't, please...
Say it, come on...
And my gallant Marten took me with him to Peter's rock...
My gallant Marten took me with him to Peter's Rock.
And such meetings would take place - go on, tell us!
And such meetings would take place on Walpurgis Night.
No. Such meetings took place four times a year. First...
First...
- First... - No, you can't sleep now, stand up!
And listen. The meetings happened first...
First on Walpurgis Night.
Did you see Mrs. Tobias from the Baths there?
Yes! First on Walpurgis Night, second on St. Martin's Eve,
third on Easter Saturday, fourth on St. George's day...
- How did you say the Hail Mary? - I said the Hail Mary,
but when I got to the words "Blessed be the fruit of Thy womb",
my gallant Mar... Mar...
my gallant Marten threw me on the ground and I had to say,
- "Marten's black tail". - Out loud!
Then I lay down and then we fornicated together.
When he was done I had to pray to his tail and kiss it.
And what were you doing on Peter's Rocks?
I was supposed to be the lighter.
Marten brought candles, and turned my bare behind up
and stuck the candles in it. So I lighted the place until Midnight.
For this I got a Rhine florin from Mrs. Tobias from the baths.
Who was with you at Peter's Rocks?
- Name them all! - I didn't recognise them.
You must remember.
- Who was with you at Peter's Rocks? - No one!
I've never been to St. Peter's Rocks.
Mistress David, you have heard both the accused speak of you.
They are ready to live and die by their testimony. Confess!
If they talked of me, then they talked of me.
If they wants to die, they can die. I can't confess nothing.
Because Mistress David refuses to answer,
I have called Mistress Schuch,
who evidently knows something of the matter.
You said that Mistress David often spoke at Peter's Rocks.
She talked a lot all right.
Why is she silent before the court?
Because she has a dumb spirit. She has two spirits.
- One dumb and one big mouth. - How do you know this?
- My spirit Marten told me. - Are you willing to live and die
- by what you have said? - Yes, I'm willing to live
and die by it.
You have heard, gentlemen.
No, I didn't say a thing, Good Sir of Edelstadt.
Mistress David,
confess in good faith what both women have reported,
so that we do not have to use harsher methods.
Since you have a dumb spirit, we must obey our orders.
Master Hay, the first stretch, please.
I admit everything these two women said about me.
Who were the others? Name them!
You see Gentlemen, she really is in the grip of a dumb spirit.
On Walpurgis Night each witch is initiated into the meeting
by her own horned lover.
There without regard for age or kinship
they give themselves up to most loathsome fornication.
Bring clean straw. Whoever could abide this stink?
So,
who were you with at Peter's Rocks?
- With you, you devil! - What did you say?
With you! Live or die by it!
Hay, do you not know what you must do?
- You devil! Devil! - Hurry up, shut her mouth!
Devil, devil...
She won't be screaming any more, your Honour.
Your Ladyship,
tonight one of the three witches expired.
- How did she die? - Under torture?
No, the devil broke her neck
to stop her testifying.
In the night I heard a dreadful scream.
Do you think it was the devil?
- In my chateau? - I am afraid so, Your Ladyship.
Master Hay heard the David woman fighting with the devil.
In that case I cannot stay here.
I shall move out until this is all over.
- I hope it will be over soon. - I cannot guarantee it.
I would like to point out, Good Sir of Edelstadt,
that according to the law torture may only be used
in the presence of the tribunal.
I know my duties.
And my rights!
It would be unpleasant
if there was talk of this at the royal court.
I shall take care, that the devil does not outwit me again.
Edelstadt is capable of turning the clock back a hundred years.
Surely not. Some people at least will stand up to him.
Never underestimate bodily pain, my friend.
Until you suffer bodily pain, you're full of courage.
But then, according to what I have seen,
- full of pain and fear. - That's true but then again...
Finish what you were saying.
I don't know, but maybe one could find
the inner strength not to succumb.
Better not let the inquisitor into our houses.
I trust not, not into our houses,
but here...
he's managed to get this far.
Praised be the Lord.
They have just arrested Mrs. Tobias the bath attendant.
No more, wipe me.
And with these ones here, find out about their property.
These are the richest.
Because everything comes from the Devil,
- particularly wealth, dear boy. - You've a head for that, sir.
Indeed I have.
Some people think books are the source of all wisdom.
Like Dean Lautner for example.
Book-learned as a monk.
He thinks himself better than me,
he thinks his head's crammed with all there is to know.
Did you happen to notice that cook of his, sir...
Well, there you are then,
beauty is also a work of the Devil.
I wager she'd have plenty to tell us.
She will too, and she'll tell us
if he's learnt more from those books of his or...
from her.
Do you reckon he's been taking lessons from her?
I'd say he's been teaching her a thing or two himself.
Don't you think you're getting a bit above yourself?
- Go and do what I told you! - What have I done now?
Nothing, nothing. Forget it all.
When it's all over I'll build myself a house.
And you'll come to my wedding.
Dorothy Tobias,
Tell us who was there with you.
Yes,
At Peter's Rocks I saw Maria Sattler,
wife of the dyer Kaspar Sattler, and he was there too...
with their daughter Elizabeth. I confess it to save my soul.
And who else?
The Dean Father Lautner and his cook...
- Susanna Voglick. - That's not true!
- You made it up! - I am the examiner here.
Your duty is to listen.
What did you do there after you ate and drank?
The dean's cook brought an apron full of blessed wafers.
And Father Lautner gave them out to us.
I spat on them and stamped on them with my boots.
The dyer's wife Sattler and the dean's cook
stuck knives in them and them jumped about on them.
The dyer Sattler and the dean put them in their boots
and then danced in them.
Then we wiped our behinds with them.
- Nonsense! The woman is insane. - Insulting the dean like that!
- Gentlemen, quiet please. - But this is unbelievable!
Is something unclear to you Master Forester?
No, no, forgive me.
Are you willing to live and die by your testimony?
Yes,
I will live and die by it. I beg only for a merciful death.
And my children, I beg you in God's name, are innocent.
In the name of His Imperial Highness,
let those condemned for the heinous crime of witchcraft
be executed as the law demands, as just punishment and warning.
Maryna Schuch, Do you accept this judgment?
Yes, I humbly thank you.
Dorothy Grör and you, Dorothy Tobias,
you have heard the judgment, do you accept it?
Can't do much else.
No, not like that. Thank him.
Thank his Lordship.
Yes, I humbly thank his gracious Lordship.
Master Jokl, Do your duty.
- Reverend Sir, I'm afraid. - God is merciful.
I was forced to confess.
- They tortured me nine days. - That is a lie.
She was examined with thumbscrews and a Spanish boot.
That is the usual procedure.
Flee, good people, flee! or you will share my fate!
I die innocent.
- My children will curse you! - Jesus, be merciful to me.
I denounced innocent people.
Lucifer rises out of the ground, his lower half hairy as a goat,
but shining like the sun from his hips upwards.
The witches fall to their knees, and kiss his left foot and arse.
Then the great fiend celebrates a back mass in full vestments.
They were just poor wretched helpers of the devil.
There are some incredible reports, Gentlemen.
Two Dominicans recorded the story of one witch,
who removed the penises, of the men she lay with.
To the stake with such monsters!
She hid about thirty of them in a sort of nest in a tree.
How many?
- Thirty, Your Excellency. - God save us!
At the inquisition court many witnesses claimed
that the penises moved as if alive.
One unfortunate man who had lost his member,
was told by a witch that he could choose another.
Of course, he chose the largest.
But that witch really berated him for it.
She said the member belonged...
to a certain prince bishop.
For God's sake, Good Squire of Edelstadt,
stop these trials.
I am amazed that you, Father, should want such a thing.
You are perhaps overexcited. You should get some rest.
I looked into their eyes,
when the fire was already lit.
They were innocent.
They were innocent!
Have a care, Father,
as a priest you must not look into women's eyes,
however ugly the women. Or the devil may deceive you.
And just imagine,
that she sprinkled grain on those penises in the nest.
All right, you are right.
But where do you want to make representations?
All the court officials are worrying about the Turkish threat.
So you mean it's best to keep quiet, do you?
Christopher, these days anyone who stands up for heretics
is considered a heretic himself.
Stop walking on those splinters. It gives me earache.
I'm sorry.
Forgive me both of you.
In a moment I'll be behaving like them.
How can a man like that hold human fates in his hand?
- Yours, yours and mine. - And it will always be so.
If I believed that. I wouldn't want to go one living!
Why did you become a judge? Why did you let those women go?
You could have been a deluded inquisitor too, couldn't you?
- Boblig isn't deluded. - I'm talking about you!
- You are resignation personified! - Don't you two start to fight!
I know prisoners and prisons.
I tried to preserve the honour of my calling as judge.
Which was why I was dismissed. But that is now irrelevant.
- The point is that I know what prison can do to a man. - What?
Everything.
Only then you are no longer yourself.
Hallowed be thy name,
Thy kingdom come
and forgive us our trespasses.
- Brother, I beg of you! - Has something happened?
We are all born of a single mother after all.
- For God's sake, help me! - Don't shout, walls have ears.
Those three burnt women were innocent. I...
recognised that. He gave me to know it.
What am I to do? I didn't know it then...
- What do you want? - It is all my fault.
You must persuade his Grace the Bishop to stop the trials!
Let me give you a word of advice, brother.
Hold your tongue!
Yes, write it down!
For these reasons...
after these...
sudden...
and disgusting...
confessions...
we were all the more...
surprised...
dumbfounded... no...
aghast, underline "aghast".
But to arrest the dean himself...
that won't be such a simple matter.
It is him or me.
Boblig doesn't judge alone, after all,
the inquisition tribunal has to agree as well.
The sheriff has no education, the revenue officer is timid,
the master forester is a privy councillor and illiterate.
You can't ask me to do this!
Then I shall just have to ask
for an audience with the Bishop on my own.
You are not a favourite name at the episcopal residence.
Why not?
You are too popular with the people, and a...
I beg you Christopher, keep away from it, keep quiet.
Mind your own business, be reasonable.
It's because I am reasonable that I'm doing it.
Goodbye, Vojtech.
We grew up together but I fear we no longer understand each other.
Goodbye.
I beg your Grace to give the matter some thought.
That is the only reason I have ventured to come forward.
Mister Boblig uses such inhuman methods
that he can compel anyone to confess to anything,
however shameful.
It is against all human reason
and the law and teachings of Jesus Christ.
I feel a great responsibility before God and my conscience.
It is good that you feel responsible,
for what goes on in your deanery.
Only instead of requesting aid against the heretics,
you intercede for suspected or known helpmates of the Devil.
Your Grace,
inhumanity and insensitivity towards the superstitious
and uneducated, is the real work of the Devil.
And Boblig awakes this devilry with every action he takes.
You accuse the inquisitor?
I have just received some bad reports of you.
You know we do not allow priests to employ young housekeepers.
Yet you, Dean, harbour just such a young woman in your home.
And not only that. You even take her with you into society.
How does that accord with your conscience, and obedience?
My late mother took the girl in at the deanery.
She stayed with me later because she had nowhere to go.
We shall give due thought to everything. You may leave.
Ask Doctor Mayer
to study Advocate Boblig's indictment document carefully.
It accuses Dean Lautner and the priest König of witchcraft.
Do you have any orders for me, Sir?
I wished to speak with you...
in private. Go and make sure no one is listening.
I wanted to warn you that two of these witches
have mentioned your name as well.
They said they saw you at Peter's Rocks.
And there you were engaged...
in the kind of antics, I would never have believed of you.
- That's a complete lie. - Keep calm.
I know one cannot believe everything.
Sometimes they invent things to get their revenge.
I shall be grateful to you until my dying day.
Don't worry. I believe you.
I merely stress that you should do your job conscientiously.
Here is a list of suspects. You have to arrest them.
Even if some of them are your friends.
Anyone suspected of intercourse with the Devil is not my friend.
Excellent, I thank you.
Marie Sattler, you and Lisa are accused of witchcraft.
I have orders to arrest you.
Don't worry, we need you only as a witness.
The dyer's wife Mrs. Sattler has called you to testify.
Then I'll come,
- but only when the Dean gets back. - No, you must come at once!
I can't...
Let go of me!
Mister Gaub, let go!
- How much do you want? - Quiet, don't let anyone hear!
- How much for letting me talk to my husband? - Sit down!
They seem to have known you went to see the bishop.
Dear God!
Forgive me for only coming now. I had to wait until dark.
Everybody's started to watch everybody else these days.
I bribed the warden.
He brought it to me a few minutes ago.
You must leave this very night and escape.
The revenue master told me
they have a denunciation of you as well there.
Have I worked so hard just to leave it all to them?
You want to lose your life for the sake of money?
No, not for money. But I'm still first councillor!
I've lived a decent life and done so much for this town!
So now... I'm supposed just to give in to these scoundrels?
Won't you take a chair, Sir?
Please.
Ignatius, wine! In honour of our distinguished visitor.
Squire of Edelstadt, what interest can you have in imprisoning
the dyer's wife and daughter, and my housekeeper Susanna?
And why are you so interested in the fate of these women?
Marie Sattler has always been a good catholic and honest woman.
So has her daughter and Susanna Voglick.
- I have known them many years. - I know, reverend dean.
I am told you often visit the Sattler family.
Is that supposed to make things worse for Mistress Sattler?
God forbid, I am doing all I can for her.
Your good health, reverend sir.
You harlot!
You whore!
Do you think the Inquisition court
gave those witches up to the flames for no reason?
How did you prove their guilt?
You have books on law in your own library.
Guilt may be proven by confession and testimony. Is that not so?
Let me tell you something.
The women you defend have many guilty collaborators here.
And I am surprised that you, as spiritual pastor,
did not seek information on the state of affairs...
by coming directly to me.
Who else is supposed to be involved?
Why do dislike me, Dean?
What do you have against me?
You read many books, Dean, but one is enough for me.
- The Bible? - No. The Hammer of Witches.
The most holy book of all. It contains everything.
I know the book. May I read you a few lines?
It is permitted to bring the accused to confession,
by the promise of a fixed prison term only.
The judge must fulfill the promise
and only then burn the witch after the term has expired.
The judge may also promise a pardon, and then appoint
another judge in his place to pronounce the death sentence.
Such action is permitted by the law of God and man.
An ungodly and cruel book, don't you think?
A matter of shame for any Christian country!
Would you ever let anyone go free, I wonder?
If it could be proven that he or she was not in league with the devil.
And how does one prove that?
I don't know. Everyone has always confessed to me.
Perhaps you do not believe me, but it is the case.
And if I should be mistaken on occasion,
you as a man of the cloth know well enough
that even judges are only instruments in the hand of God.
And what about your conscience?
I am a lawyer, not a theologian.
I want to talk to my mother.
I'll give you money.
Money...
Give me the money then!
Let go or I'll scream!
- No! - That won't do you any good.
- The prior will make a fuss. - I'm sorry, soapmaker Prerovsky,
- you're on the list of accused. - Sattler, come quietly now.
I arrest you by official order.
We're members of the court tribunal!
- What's going on here? - I have my orders.
The revenue officer and forester are suspected of witchcraft.
They are her Ladyship's officers and under my jurisdiction!
But I am the president of the Inquisition Tribunal.
Her ladyship does not employ people in league with the Devil.
If you do not release them at once, I shall arrest you.
Sheriff, you have championed associates of the devil,
- and so I hereby arrest you. - This will cost you your neck!
Write that down in the record.
Before he arrests someone, he looks into their assets.
The court tribunal judges. Not me.
Trials are ever more costly. I can't keep on paying for them.
I do what I can for the church, but times are bad.
The squire of Edelstadt has legal reasons we do not understand.
When my officers were arrested,
it turned out they had been cheating me.
Confiscation of their property means I shall at least get back
part of what they purloined.
Reverend father, I advise you
to be more careful.
You can no longer count on my protection.
Lucifer's shining horn lights up the gory carrion feast
and the dance, where devils play on a horsehead with a cats tail.
Press harder there! There...
So Mistress Sattler, Sattler, and their daughter
- have now confessed. - My, that's swollen!
It's that courtroom of theirs. As cold as a barn.
I'm curious how Lauter will react
when we confront him with the Sattlers.
I'm curious whether it will get that far.
Not so hard!
I'm surprised there's been no answer from the bishop.
What are they playing at in the consistory?
- More? - No!
I'm utterly exhausted by it all.
Then you can do my feet.
It's not for me to say,
but I think you're being too soft with the girl,
with that Susanna wench,
especially when it is her testimony that would really get
the bishop moving.
Well, you know,
she's not like those filthy country hags, Ugh.
That one...
why, she could be the model for a painting of the Madonna.
Left foot first! You know I've a heart.
Pardon me, sir. I didn't mean any harm.
What a pity I'm old now.
Don't press so hard!
Can you imagine her naked?
Easily.
But I don't mean at an interrogation.
What a pity that she must...
well, there's nothing to be done about it.
If you want to enjoy a flower you have to pick it, and it wilts.
Just at the loveliest moment it has to wilt.
Man is but vanity,
beauty too.
It's all just skin deep and inside meat. Bloody meat.
Blood, putrefaction,
nothing.
Delusion.
In the name of God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, Amen.
Do you confess that you took part in witch assemblies,
as three others testified about you before their deaths
and four who are still living?
I have never been on Peter's Rocks.
How many witnesses can you bring to persuade us
- that the charge is false? - But I cannot prove
where I have not been and what I have not done.
I have known you from a child Susanna, and always liked you.
Tell the truth. If you show repentance God will forgive you.
Susanna Voglick,
your obstinacy forces the court to proceed to torture.
Come on, speak.
I can say only that it is not true.
Master Jokl, bring the thumbscrews.
Do you wish to make confession?
No!
That's enough! Leave her alone.
She withstood the torture, she is innocent.
Her gallant makes her body insensible. Continue Master Jokl!
Yes.
Will you answer the questions?
Was Dean Lautner with you at Peter's Rocks?
Dean Lautner?
- Yes. - Did you practice sinful union?
Yes.
And now I must pay the penalty for my sins.
The confession of the accused is sufficient.
It remains for us to determine if the signum diabolicum is on her.
The devil's mark.
Look well, Ignatius.
Here it is!
Not a drop of blood, Gentlemen.
This is better proof than any confession.
The signum diabolicum.
It is all a lie.
There is no truth in any of it.
Take her away!
Welcome friend.
Come, the guests are already waiting.
I hope I shall be praised.
Twenty years old.
I'm glad to see you again
and that you've come to our festivities.
Vivat decanus Adalbertus Winkler.
Vivat!
A letter from his Grace the Bishop.
- Is it for me? - Read it!
It's a beautiful letter.
But you will certainly be able to tell me precisely what it means.
It means that you are arrested on the orders of the Bishop.
So you invited me just to be able to arrest me discretely.
A moment ago you kissed me.
Do you know who else did that?
I am at your service, Gentlemen.
I saw them taking him away.
Like a criminal.
I'm off.
Don't you want to come with me?
Before they come for you too.
I'll be back in a moment.
I shall file a complaint with the appeal court.
Will you take me to Prague?
Thank you. It's the last chance.
At the end of Walpurgis Night Lucifer burns himself.
And his ashes are given to the witches.
What are you doing?!
You...
bitch of a witch, what were you thinking?
I answer for you. You have to testify!
You must testify!
Christopher Lautner,
can you tell us why you wanted a face-to-face meeting
- with the witnesses against you? - I hope I shall persuade them.
My friends won't be able to talk such nonsense to me face.
Marie Sattler, testify where you saw Dean Lautner
and what you did there.
We used to meet at witchcraft assemblies
on Peter's Rocks, where I used to go with my husband Kaspar,
Dean Lautner and his cook Susanna. There we...
- Marie, why are you saying this? - There we gorged and danced...
- But that's a lie! ...capered and drank beer.
- Why are you lying? - Then we fornicated.
Look me in the eye!
The dean lay with his cook and with me.
Elizabeth Sattler,
tell us about the witches' wedding in your house.
Two suitors came.
One was a spirit to whom I gave myself, Hans Peter,
and the second was the soapmaker Jan Prerovsky.
Before my parents gave the suitors an answer,
they invited guests from the coven to our house.
Then Dean Lautner married me to the evil spirit.
Goddaughter, what bad dream is this?
I saw it with my own eyes.
You committed fornication with Susanna and my mother.
- Then my father lay with me. - Do you know what you are saying?
You know I always did my best for you.
Kaspar Sattler, do you recognise Dean Christopher Lautner?
Yes.
Kaspar, I beg you, speak the truth, at least you.
The dean was in league with an evil spirit.
You're still annoyed, because I opposed your daughter's marriage.
Once he crowned my wife queen of the witches.
And then played to us on the violin to celebrate.
Kaspar Sattler,
is it enmity to the dean that speaks from your lips?
No. We were good friends for many years.
But we both served an unclean spirit and must pay for it.
Not a single word is true. You know it.
I denied it too at first but then I gave up.
To save myself greater torture.
Do you think God will forgive me?
I understand everything.
Forgive me, if I ever hurt you.
I am not angry with you and I forgive you everything.
Stop this play-acting!
We know everything about your crimes.
Do you admit the crimes to which the witnesses testified?
I admit nothing!
Was your housekeeper with you
at the witches wedding at the Sattlers?
We have been to no witch wedding. Neither she nor I.
Who awoke feelings of adulthood in her? Tell us the truth!
I did.
Why did you not get rid of her as time went by?
I wished to see her first settled and provided for.
We made an agreement and ended all bodily relations.
And that was all?
No agreement on a magical pact, perhaps?
- No! - Do you play the violin?
- Yes. - A priest and he plays the violin!
Do you admit what the witches of Losiny and Sumperk have described?
No!
But Dean Lautner, whom are we to believe?
- Thirty-six persons, or one? - One just person.
So you can prove your innocence.
I cannot.
Nobody can see into my conscience,
nor I into another's conscience.
Why did you lock yourself in your library before your arrest?
What were you afraid of?
I was afraid of nothing. I was studying. That is all.
Do you want to hear what Susanna Voglick has to say of you?
Yes I do. I hope she will speak the truth.
Susanna!
Susanna Voglick, tell the court
what you did at Peter's Rocks.
I will tell the whole truth.
It was my misfortune to have come to the deanery at all.
I should have gone begging instead.
- Susanna, you can't mean... - Tell us about Peter's Rocks!
Peter's Rocks... I know. One moment, and I'll get right.
Yes, we gorged there, drank, and capered and danced and...
fornicated with evil spirits and people and it's a sin and a shame.
The dean did it with me and with Mistress Sattler...
Yes, yes, it's the truth.
I came to the deanery and there they made me into a witch.
And so I have to die.
Susanna, for the love of God forgive me I beg. I...
I know it is all because of me.
Calm yourself!
Repeat only what you have already told us.
You have to say it to the dean. He doesn't want to admit it.
No...
No, I can't.
I can't, no, I can't!
No, no...
I can't, no!
She is completely insane. Don't you see she has lost her mind?
It's not unusual. It shouldn't lead us astray.
She has just been silenced by the devil. Come and look!
That red weal! Her black gallant has sealed her lips!
A page Satanas in nomine Patria et Filií et Spiritus sancti Amen.
Your work, Gentlemen.
A work pleasing to God!
I love you just as I always did
and I forgive you for what you said against me, Susanna.
Susanna...
Susanna!
Christopher Lautner, do you admit your guilt?
No!
Nor is the testimony of the Sattler family true,
nor is there any truth,
in the testimony of the girl you robbed of her reason!
So far we have treated you too gently. We shall be more severe.
Your commission has power,
but power and truth are two different things.
Not to mention the fact that you...
Look here, the Devil can take on anyone's likeness.
Suppose he is innocent
and the Devil just took on his form at the meeting?
So it was a mere duplicate of this man?
That's not a duplicate.
I've forty years experience. That's the original.
These old hags still don't have better things to do?
No, Your Lordship, but the trial is endless, forty defendants...
- and Judge Hutter has lodged a protest. - Against what?
Against the investigation methods.
He claims the confessions are extorted under severe torture.
It's the usual method in the inquisition court.
But this Boblig uses the same methods as the inquisitors
- at the beginning of the century. - Did those people confess or not?
They did, so what's the trouble?
You know, Mister Secretary, We really cannot bother
His lmperial Highness with this. He has other cares.
Dreadful finances... You know what I mean?
Above all we must maintain peace and order on our estates.
And the Turks approaching Vienna...
Well, things will no doubt turn out all right.
Marvelous cut, your Lordship.
- I hope I'll crush Martinic today. - Of course, your Lordship.
Marie Sattlerwas a pleasant surprise,
dying so well.
Up to the last moment
her eyes were turned to heaven.
- Just one little hitch. - Yes.
It took the executioner three hacks to get Sattler's head off.
Was Sattler drunk?
What do you mean?
Dyer Sattler signed his last will yesterday.
Didn't he have anything better to do before dying?
The trial will be paid for out of his property.
And since the confiscated cash isn't enough
his house and workshop will have to be sold.
But for an official price
that's a third of the value.
As far as I know you were the first interested party.
And I also know what's fitting in the circumstances.
Forgive us our trespasses.
And forgive my sin and guilt.
I did it all in Thy name.
What is your view, is Christopher Lautner guilty?
You are a member of the Inquisition commission.
Answer entirely according to your conscience.
The Squire of Edelstadt has gathered
a lot of convincing evidence against him.
Your personal opinion, if you please!
I am not absolutely persuaded of his guilt.
I have no answer to the question
why Dean Lautner would commit such crimes.
And your view, brother?
I regret, your Grace, that I am of the opposite opinion.
Thirty-six witnesses
have confirmed his involvement in witchcraft.
Lautner has not managed to overturn their testimony.
Which leaves us with no alternative but to use torture.
Your opinion, brother?
The question here is...
whether torture is the most reliable means...
to discover the truth.
The greatest authorities have demonstrated that a delinquent
can keep silent only with the aid of the Devil.
You have not been very enlightening.
I have a great interest in the case because Lautner is a priest.
Therefore let God decide.
I give my permission for Christopher Lautner
- to be subjected to the usual form of torture. - Amen.
No!
I will not confess!
That's enough, Jokl! The accused nodded,
which is equivalent to verbal confession. Record it!
Christof Alois Lautner...
on this day...
voluntarily confessed...
that he was in league with the Devil.
And it was a lie. What I confessed was untrue.
- Everyone saw your confession. - They saw a man forced to lie.
I am a sinner, but I have never indulged in magic.
Master Jokl, Stretch him on the ladder!
- That's enough for today. - Don't interrupt my investigation.
According to the Inquisition regulations
the third torture should not exceed half an hour.
And different types of torture may not be used in succession.
The testimony of 36 people constitutes convincing proof
and torture is unnecessary. The nod is quite sufficient.
Besides I would point out that if claims are contradictory
like Lautner's yes and then no, either may be accepted.
Do you consider the claims of the accused
to be as credible as the testimony of witnesses?
For today the examination by torture is over.
If you refuse to confess, you will be stretched on the rack.
Don't you think we might let him go?
He has made no admission after three degrees of torture.
Nobody could stand such pain if he were really guilty.
He withstands it all with the help of the devil, Dean.
How much longer, oh Lord, will you forget me?
Remember me, oh Lord, because the machinations of the grave,
surround me, and have divided me.
My bones are as melted wax.
Be mindful of me, my God.
My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?
Christopher...
Forgive me, Christopher.
I have resigned my seat on the Inquisition commission.
I cannot be your judge.
Look at me, Christopher!
So, Dean, you give up your activities on the commission,
so as not to have to take a stand against a foul murderer.
No, I am sick.
I am glad I am not alone.
Can you forgive me?
I cannot judge you.
We are both poor weak wretches.
Is what you confessed to yesterday, true or untrue?
- Yes, I confess. - You confess to everything
- that the 36 witches said you had done. - Yes, yes...
Who else did you see on Peter's Rock? Do not deny it!
I confess I was in such close league with the devil
that at my request he conjured a great darkness and storm,
and hail and thunder.
And for that reason I did not recognise anyone present.
- Besides those who are dead. - So sign the record.
With all his power the devil strives for dominion over the world.
But God has allowed us to uncover this unclean nest
and granted us the honour of trampling this nest under foot
and purifying it by fire.
We have come, brother, to prepare you with prayers
for the road that awaits you...
You wouldn't have a little tobacco for me, Father?
You do wrong, brother.
It is possible, Father,
That was always my way.
- I have sinned much. - Think on your salvation.
I have been thinking of that for a long time.
But I do not have much time left.
We shall stay until morning and pray with you through the night.
- When will I get some sleep? - Are you not afraid of God?
Oh yes indeed... yes.
But I do not wish...
to speak about Him with you.
They are afraid of you now,
because you don't stand in one line with them.
Suspicion might fall on any of them, but...
Not on me!
Not... me.
I have already stepped forward!
I'm riding high!
It just takes courage!
A firm goal and no scruples!
Because I'm no ordinary man.
I'm no longer an ordinary man. I'm already... at the top!
Our Father, Who art in Heaven, forgive us.
No, do not forgive us our trespasses!
Not them, nor me.
Because in your name we have sinned against man.
Mr. Boblig of Edelstadt lived happily ever after. And get married.