This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio, Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a show that pulls back the covers of history to expose the monsters underneath. I'm Gabe Lucier, and in this episode, we're celebrating Halloween with the hair raising tale of one of the most dreaded werewolves in history. As a quick warning, though today's episode includes descriptions of graphic violence and may not be appropriate for all listeners. The day was October thirty first, fifteen eighty nine. Alleged werewolf Peter Stump was put to death in Bedborg, Germany. The fifty year old farmer had confessed, under pain of torture to having made a deal with the devil. Stump claimed he had pledged his immortal soul in exchange for the ability to turn into a werewolf. He also admitted to a series of gruesome killings he supposedly carried out while in wolf form. His lurid crimes were said to include the mutilation of countless livestock, as well as the murder of sixteen women and children, his own son among them. Stump's execution proved every bit as brutal as the atrocities he was charged with, but given the content of his confession and the way in which it was obtained, the truth about his guilt is still uncertain. Although the Renaissance had already begun by the time of Stump's death, the light of reason was slow to dawn in many parts of Europe, and as a result, the old superstitions of the Middle Ages had lingered on. Between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, the continent was racked by famine, plague, war, and religious conflict. Those upheavals fed into people's long standing fears about the supernatural, giving rise to widespread panics over witches and, to a lesser extent, werewolves. Accusations of shape shifting were common throughout Europe, but most of them centered on witches and their familiars, usually a cat, a mouse, or a toad. Accusations of lycanthropy, or the ability to shape shift into a wolf, were mostly confined to areas with wild wolf populations, like the forested regions of Germany and France. In those cases, public fears of prowling wolves gradually morphed into fears of demonic ones, and if a rabid wolf happened to attack someone's livestock or children. The rest of the community would immediately start to wonder if there was a werewolf in their midst. In fifteen eighty nine, Peter Stump became the target of such suspicion in the small city of Bedborg, not far from Colne. He lived there with his son, daughter, and mistress on a prosperous farm which she had worked for decades. In recent years there had been rumors of a wolf like creature roaming the countryside near bed Board, a story bolstered by the periodic killings of both livestock and humans. The mutilated, partially devoured remains of those victims were usually found in fields, often by a traveler who had then spread the story of the werewolf of bed Boorg to other towns. There were several efforts to track and kill the creature over the years, but had managed to elude its pursuers every time. Then, in fifteen eighty nine, a hunting party finally managed to corner the wolf with their hounds. What happened next varies from one account to another. Some sources claimed that one of the huntsmen was attacked by the wolf and managed to cut off its left paw before it got away. Then, soon after, Peter Stump appeared in town missing his left hand, arousing suspicions that he and the wolf were one and the same. In fact, some sources claimed that the name Stump was actually a reference to that tell tale injury, and that prior to the attack he had been called Griswold. The most common version of the story, however, is that after being trapped by the villagers, Stump willingly transformed from wolf to man in front of them so that they'd spare his life for the moment. He was then taken into custody and tortured, at which point he allegedly revealed the full scope of his crimes. The only written records of Peter Stump's trial and execution are a few salacious pamphlets and handbills that were circulated across Europe around that time. What little we know of Stump's life and death comes from those accounts, and they differ on a great many points, including whether his name was Stump, Steube, or Griswold. The longest and most famous of those works is a sixteen page English pamphlet published in fifteen ninety. It purports to be a translation of a German work, but as of the time of recording, the original document has never been found. According to the pamphlet, Stump was interrogated while on the rack, a torture device used to slowly stretch a victim until their limbs popped from their sockets. It was under those conditions that he described his first encounter with the devil, and how he had been gifted a magic belt to control his shape shifting power. The English pamphlet described this fiendish process, explaining that whenever Stump put the belt around his waist, was straight transformed into the likeness of a greedy, devouring wolf, strong and mighty, with eyes great and large, which in the night sparkled like unto brands of fire, a mouth great and wide, with most sharp and cruel teeth, a huge body and mighty pause, and no sooner should he put off the same girdle, but presently he should appear in his former shape, to the proportion of a man, as if he had never been changed. The pamphlet went on to describe the wicked deeds Stump committed in his wolf form, explaining that he quote took pleasure in the shedding of blood and that after killing his victims, he would quote eat their hearts, panting hot and raw. The farmer claimed he had been killing for years, eventually taking credit for the murders of thirteen children, two pregnant women, and one man. He reportedly relished being a secret werewolf and would sometimes pick out his next victims while strolling through town. In the guise of a gentlemanly farmer. He would go through the streets. The pamphlet recounts of Kolne Bedburg and Apreth in comely habit and very civilly, as one well known to all the inhabitants thereabout, and oftentimes was he saluted of those whose friends and children he had butchered, though nothing suspected for the same. Stump's guilt was based in highly on his own confession, even though it had been extracted under torture and the threat of more torture to come. Nonetheless, it was enough to satisfy the local court, and a few days later, on October thirty one, fifteen eighty nine, Peter Stump was put to death for being a werewolf. A large crowd gathered that day to watch what proved to be one of the most horrific executions on record. First, he was strapped to a wooden wheel, whereupon the flesh was torn from his body in ten different places with red hot pincers. Next, his arms and legs were broken with the blunt side of an axe head, a precaution to ensure he couldn't rise from the grave. Finally, he was beheaded and his body burned on a pyre. Stump's mistress, Catherine Trompin, and his daughter Beale were also executed as accessories to the murders. They were each tied to a stake and burned alive, with Stump's headless body between them. After the executions, the wheel on which Stump's body had been broken was attached to a high pole and put on display in the bed Boorg town square. On top of the wheel was the lifeless body of a wolf, with Stump's head in place of its own, a warning to all would be werewolves to stay out of bed board. The public and the pamphlets they circulated had condemned Peter Stump as a supernatural serial killer, a monster who had murdered and sometimes devoured his victims for the past two and a half decades. Today, some historians believe he may very well have been a killer, perhaps even one who is convinced he was a werewolf. Even if that's true, though, he was likely blamed for many local wolf attacks that happened during that period, so the true number of his victims would be impossible to determine. There's also the possibility that Peter Stump was completely innocent, that all of his victims were actually killed by by real wolves, and he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Another more sinister possibility is that the farmer was purposely framed for political or religious reasons. The fifteen eighties had been a tumultuous time for the German Rhineland, with Protestant and Catholic factions fighting for dominance in the Bloody Colne War. By fifteen eighty nine, the Catholics had won control of the bed Bored region, and the Protestant population there, including Peter Stump, found themselves living in enemy territory. In light of that, it's possible that he was singled out for his religious views and then subjected to a brutal trial to discourage his fellow Protestants from thoughts of rebellion. Although it's largely conjecture, that theory does find some level of support in the English pamphlet from fifteen ninety. It mentions that several representatives of the high aristocracy, including the new Archbishop of Kolm, were present at Stump's execution. It's unlikely that members of the German elite would have attended a public spectacle like a werewolf trial, unless, of course, they were there to send a political message. Whatever the truth, Stump's execution was hardly an outlier. At least three hundred werewolf trials were conducted in early modern Germany, and in France more than six hundred people were sentenced to die on accusations of being werewolves, and that was just within a three year span. And as egregious as all that sounds, it's only a fraction of the tens of thousands of women who were executed for witchcraft in those countries during that same period. Somehow, amidst all the suffering and death wrought by disease and war, sixteenth century Europe managed to make baseless conjecture the most frightening threat of all. Happy Halloween, everybody and gay Blusier and hopefully you now know a little more about history today than you did yesterday. If you enjoyed today's episode, consider following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You can find us at TDI HC Show. You can also rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, or you can get in touch directly by writing to This Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thank you for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow for another day in history class.

This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio, Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a show that pulls back the covers of history to expose the monsters underneath. I'm Gabe Lucier, and in this episode, we're celebrating Halloween with the hair raising tale of one of the most dreaded werewolves in history. As a quick warning, though today's episode includes descriptions of graphic violence and may not be appropriate for all listeners. The day was October thirty first, fifteen eighty nine. Alleged werewolf Peter Stump was put to death in Bedborg, Germany. The fifty year old farmer had confessed, under pain of torture to having made a deal with the devil. Stump claimed he had pledged his immortal soul in exchange for the ability to turn into a werewolf. He also admitted to a series of gruesome killings he supposedly carried out while in wolf form. His lurid crimes were said to include the mutilation of countless livestock, as well as the murder of sixteen women and children, his own son among them. Stump's execution proved every bit as brutal as the atrocities he was charged with, but given the content of his confession and the way in which it was obtained, the truth about his guilt is still uncertain. Although the Renaissance had already begun by the time of Stump's death, the light of reason was slow to dawn in many parts of Europe, and as a result, the old superstitions of the Middle Ages had lingered on. Between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, the continent was racked by famine, plague, war, and religious conflict. Those upheavals fed into people's long standing fears about the supernatural, giving rise to widespread panics over witches and, to a lesser extent, werewolves. Accusations of shape shifting were common throughout Europe, but most of them centered on witches and their familiars, usually a cat, a mouse, or a toad. Accusations of lycanthropy, or the ability to shape shift into a wolf, were mostly confined to areas with wild wolf populations, like the forested regions of Germany and France. In those cases, public fears of prowling wolves gradually morphed into fears of demonic ones, and if a rabid wolf happened to attack someone's livestock or children. The rest of the community would immediately start to wonder if there was a werewolf in their midst. In fifteen eighty nine, Peter Stump became the target of such suspicion in the small city of Bedborg, not far from Colne. He lived there with his son, daughter, and mistress on a prosperous farm which she had worked for decades. In recent years there had been rumors of a wolf like creature roaming the countryside near bed Board, a story bolstered by the periodic killings of both livestock and humans. The mutilated, partially devoured remains of those victims were usually found in fields, often by a traveler who had then spread the story of the werewolf of bed Boorg to other towns. There were several efforts to track and kill the creature over the years, but had managed to elude its pursuers every time. Then, in fifteen eighty nine, a hunting party finally managed to corner the wolf with their hounds. What happened next varies from one account to another. Some sources claimed that one of the huntsmen was attacked by the wolf and managed to cut off its left paw before it got away. Then, soon after, Peter Stump appeared in town missing his left hand, arousing suspicions that he and the wolf were one and the same. In fact, some sources claimed that the name Stump was actually a reference to that tell tale injury, and that prior to the attack he had been called Griswold. The most common version of the story, however, is that after being trapped by the villagers, Stump willingly transformed from wolf to man in front of them so that they'd spare his life for the moment. He was then taken into custody and tortured, at which point he allegedly revealed the full scope of his crimes. The only written records of Peter Stump's trial and execution are a few salacious pamphlets and handbills that were circulated across Europe around that time. What little we know of Stump's life and death comes from those accounts, and they differ on a great many points, including whether his name was Stump, Steube, or Griswold. The longest and most famous of those works is a sixteen page English pamphlet published in fifteen ninety. It purports to be a translation of a German work, but as of the time of recording, the original document has never been found. According to the pamphlet, Stump was interrogated while on the rack, a torture device used to slowly stretch a victim until their limbs popped from their sockets. It was under those conditions that he described his first encounter with the devil, and how he had been gifted a magic belt to control his shape shifting power. The English pamphlet described this fiendish process, explaining that whenever Stump put the belt around his waist, was straight transformed into the likeness of a greedy, devouring wolf, strong and mighty, with eyes great and large, which in the night sparkled like unto brands of fire, a mouth great and wide, with most sharp and cruel teeth, a huge body and mighty pause, and no sooner should he put off the same girdle, but presently he should appear in his former shape, to the proportion of a man, as if he had never been changed. The pamphlet went on to describe the wicked deeds Stump committed in his wolf form, explaining that he quote took pleasure in the shedding of blood and that after killing his victims, he would quote eat their hearts, panting hot and raw. The farmer claimed he had been killing for years, eventually taking credit for the murders of thirteen children, two pregnant women, and one man. He reportedly relished being a secret werewolf and would sometimes pick out his next victims while strolling through town. In the guise of a gentlemanly farmer. He would go through the streets. The pamphlet recounts of Kolne Bedburg and Apreth in comely habit and very civilly, as one well known to all the inhabitants thereabout, and oftentimes was he saluted of those whose friends and children he had butchered, though nothing suspected for the same. Stump's guilt was based in highly on his own confession, even though it had been extracted under torture and the threat of more torture to come. Nonetheless, it was enough to satisfy the local court, and a few days later, on October thirty one, fifteen eighty nine, Peter Stump was put to death for being a werewolf. A large crowd gathered that day to watch what proved to be one of the most horrific executions on record. First, he was strapped to a wooden wheel, whereupon the flesh was torn from his body in ten different places with red hot pincers. Next, his arms and legs were broken with the blunt side of an axe head, a precaution to ensure he couldn't rise from the grave. Finally, he was beheaded and his body burned on a pyre. Stump's mistress, Catherine Trompin, and his daughter Beale were also executed as accessories to the murders. They were each tied to a stake and burned alive, with Stump's headless body between them. After the executions, the wheel on which Stump's body had been broken was attached to a high pole and put on display in the bed Boorg town square. On top of the wheel was the lifeless body of a wolf, with Stump's head in place of its own, a warning to all would be werewolves to stay out of bed board. The public and the pamphlets they circulated had condemned Peter Stump as a supernatural serial killer, a monster who had murdered and sometimes devoured his victims for the past two and a half decades. Today, some historians believe he may very well have been a killer, perhaps even one who is convinced he was a werewolf. Even if that's true, though, he was likely blamed for many local wolf attacks that happened during that period, so the true number of his victims would be impossible to determine. There's also the possibility that Peter Stump was completely innocent, that all of his victims were actually killed by by real wolves, and he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Another more sinister possibility is that the farmer was purposely framed for political or religious reasons. The fifteen eighties had been a tumultuous time for the German Rhineland, with Protestant and Catholic factions fighting for dominance in the Bloody Colne War. By fifteen eighty nine, the Catholics had won control of the bed Bored region, and the Protestant population there, including Peter Stump, found themselves living in enemy territory. In light of that, it's possible that he was singled out for his religious views and then subjected to a brutal trial to discourage his fellow Protestants from thoughts of rebellion. Although it's largely conjecture, that theory does find some level of support in the English pamphlet from fifteen ninety. It mentions that several representatives of the high aristocracy, including the new Archbishop of Kolm, were present at Stump's execution. It's unlikely that members of the German elite would have attended a public spectacle like a werewolf trial, unless, of course, they were there to send a political message. Whatever the truth, Stump's execution was hardly an outlier. At least three hundred werewolf trials were conducted in early modern Germany, and in France more than six hundred people were sentenced to die on accusations of being werewolves, and that was just within a three year span. And as egregious as all that sounds, it's only a fraction of the tens of thousands of women who were executed for witchcraft in those countries during that same period. Somehow, amidst all the suffering and death wrought by disease and war, sixteenth century Europe managed to make baseless conjecture the most frightening threat of all. Happy Halloween, everybody and gay Blusier and hopefully you now know a little more about history today than you did yesterday. If you enjoyed today's episode, consider following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You can find us at TDI HC Show. You can also rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, or you can get in touch directly by writing to This Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thank you for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow for another day in history class.