Weighing The Witch Against The Bible
Memory of the NetherlandsWitches were believed to be light enough to ride broomsticks and were therefore thought to be lighter than a Bible.
In medieval Europe, most town centers had stations called weigh houses where traders and sellers measured their crops or livestock before taking them to market. But as the witch hunt craze swept across the continent at the turn of the 17th century, these weigh houses were used to weigh the wicked.
The basis for this witch test rested in the widespread lore that witches rode around on broomsticks and could float on water. This meant that a witch had to be relatively lightweight. Therefore, if the accused was found to be lighter than a stack of Bibles, then they must be a practitioner of black magic.
But even if the accused was able to pass the weight test, executioners were often bribed to skew results. Many innocent people found themselves declared guilty based on this test method.
As such, the weigh house in Oudewater, the Netherlands, was once considered to be a “fair weighing site,” a title that was bequeathed by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. As the story goes, the Holy Roman Emperor witnessed an unfair witch weighing test at a nearby village.
bertknot/FlickrVisitors can weigh themselves at the Museum de Heksenwaag in the Netherlands to see if they pass the witch test.
A woman who was accused of witchcraft was weighed and found guilty, but the emperor could not believe that the woman could be so light. He declared the test invalid and ordered the woman to be weighed again in Oudewater, which had already built a reputation as a fair weighing site. The woman was cleared of her charges and released.
It is said that the emperor tried to pay the weigh test master for their service, but the man declined, impressing the emperor who immediately declared that Oudewater was a fair weighing site. The weigh master was then given authority to dispense official certificates that declared test subjects not guilty of being a witch.
Centuries later, the weigh house still exists and has since been converted into the Museum de Heksenwaag. Visitors today are able to weigh themselves and receive a certificate proclaiming that they are not a witch.
