Peter Stump | by Unknown Author
Bedburg, Germany–In the annals of lycanthropy, there are many stories of violent crime against humans from one with wolf-like attributes. The story of Peter Stumpp is one such story. Historians and speculators have immortalized his crimes in the history books, as judiciaries of the era accused Stumpp of lycanthropy. Not exactly a modern crime. But just like the infamy of the Witches of Salem, today the public knows Stumpp as the Werewolf of Bedburg. Unfortunately, his crimes go beyond simple murders by moonlight.
The Medieval Setting
When the world was in the throes of medieval tyranny–aka the Dark Ages–there were many atrocities that assailed humanity. War, famine, disease, and torture were all realities of life. To be a serf or a laborer, meant an exhausting life of toil and work under the barons and lords of the feudal society.
These lowly workers also dealt with the inexplicable.
Take for instance, the Dancing Plague of 1518, in which citizens of Strasbourg, France, danced uncontrollably until they grew fatigued or died. A strange circumstance, but mass hysteria has a way of controlling those of limited education and intelligence. In the case of the Werewolf of Bedburg, multiple killings drove the community into a frenzy of fear and vengeance. Yet, the enemy was extremely stealthy, and as legend states–had the ability to shapechange.
Background of Violence
A werewolf, simply put, is “a person transformed into a wolf or capable of assuming a wolf’s form.” These fairy tale creatures began to take a truer form in Medieval society due to exceptionally gruesome murders and death in communities. Well sources typically point to undiagnosed psychological issues and hysteria, for serfs and laborers, these hounds from hell were very real.
In Europe between the years of 1564 and 1589, cattle mutilations and murders occurred in and around the small village of Bedburg in Germany. The villagers first discovered desiccated cattle, which something had violently slaughtered and eaten. Later, the bodies of local townsfolk began to appear. Of course, the thought of a frenzied wolf-like man committing these atrocities did not seem likely. Nevertheless, for nearly a decade, the killer stalked the wilds around Bedburg, hunting for hapless victims that included men, women, and children.
The Werewolf Strikes
Nobody in the village knew who to suspect, but as with most undetected villains, they are typically the ones we least suspect. Peter Stumpp (or Stubbe, or Stumpe, or Stumpf), lived near Cologne, Germany, in the 1500s. While he was a farmer, he also spent his time looking for victims in the community. In a similar vein to Sawney Bean in Scotland, Stumpp found the weakest in society, and preyed up on them.
“Peter started by murdering, in wolf-shape, anyone who displeased him, plus their relatives,” states Nancy Garden in Werewolves. Accordingly, he hunted the helpless because they were easy to overpower. Garden adds, “Often he went through the streets, well-dressed and polite, even saying hello to friends and relatives of people he had murdered. Then, in wolf-shape, he would kill their lambs and goats, and their daughters, too, when he had the chance.”
After years of murders and attempts to capture the killer, the locals finally stopped Stumpp. Unfortunately, the death toll in Bedburg had become too much, with the discovery of arms and legs in the surrounding fields. With fervent veracity, a group of locals with hunting dogs captured Stumpp after cornering him in the forest. The authorities decided to torture the confession out of Stumpp.
The Devil’s Belt
Under pain of torture–a breaking wheel (wooden rack)–Stumpp admitted to consorting with the Devil. He claimed to have worn a belt that allowed him to turn into a wolf-like entity that was voraciously hungry for meat and flesh. In this form, Stumpp allegedly killed man, animal, and his own kin (eating his own son’s brains). The courts convicted Stumpp of killing 16 people, including 13 children.
The judges sentenced Stumpp to death, and executioners tried his mortality on Oct. 31, 1589.
As some sources state “… Peter Stubbe was tied to a wheel and flayed, broken, decapitated, and burned at the stake, at each stage the tools used by his executioner invoked aspects of the crimes they were meant to punish, ‘thereby mapping the misdeeds on to the body of the criminal’” (Brown). In a likewise grisly manner, other sources point out that he had his skin ripped from his flesh with “hot pincers,” and his arms and legs were “broken with the blunt side of an axe before his left hand was cut off.”
Conclusion
The story of Peter Stumpe, the Werewolf of Bedburg, is a violent one. From his own murders of men, women, and children, to his harrowing execution, he lived a life of misery. Similarly, those that fell under his animalistic insanity were also grimly disposed of by his violence. Stumpe’s admission in court is still analyzed to this day. It should be noted that his story reminds us that insanity was left undiagnosed in Medieval times, and the thought of werewolves explained excessive violence when saner explanations were left unfound.
Works Cited
Neumann, Sean. “His Son and Other Murders. Was He Really a Killer, or a Victim of Mass Hysteria?” People, 1 Feb. 2025, Web.
Walter, Katie L. “Review of Flaying in the Pre-Modern World: Practice and Representation, by Larissa Tracy.” History, vol. 104, no. 360, Apr. 2019, pp. 331-334.
