Anna (von) Rumschottel (fl. 1532) was the mistress of
Eric I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Eric I, the Elder (; 16 February 1470 – 30 July 1540) was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg from 1495 and the first reigning prince of Calenberg-Göttingen.
Life and works
Ancestry
Eric I was born on 16 February 1470 in Neustadt am Rübenberg ...
.
She was a member of the
landed gentry
The landed gentry, or the gentry (sometimes collectively known as the squirearchy), is a largely historical Irish and British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. It is t ...
. She became the lover of Eric I when he became a widower. The relationship was discontinued when Eric married
, and Eric I stated to Elisabeth that his mistress was dead, going so far as to arrange a mock funeral for her. The relationship was resumed during Elisabeth's recovery after the birth of their daughter Anna Maria, and continued even after the recovery of Elisabeth, as the pregnancy had caused her to become ill. The affair was public when Anna gave birth in a secluded castle. Elisabeth took deep offense, and complained of the affair in a 1549 letter to Albrecht of Prussia.
Elisabeth accused Anna of having caused her illness and complications during her second pregnancy.
[Women Reformers of Early Modern Europe: Profiles, Texts, and Contexts. (2022). USA: Fortress Press. p.65] She accused Anna of
witchcraft
Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meanin ...
and urged her husband to have Anna
burned at the stake
Death by burning is an list of execution methods, execution, murder, or suicide method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment, and many societies have employed it as a puni ...
. She persuaded Eric to allow Anna to be charged with witchcraft. Elisabeth sent spies and soldiers into the neighboring
Diocese of Minden, in order to arrest Anna in her hideout in
Minden
Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the largest town in population between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district () of Minden-Lübbecke, situated in the cultural region ...
. However, Anna escaped. During Inquisition proceedings against Anna's alleged helpers, some of the accused women died after torture at the stake. She wished to have also Anna convicted and executed by burning. However, Eric I arranged for Anna to escape. This caused Elisabeth to appeal to her father to intervene, and eventually caused the separation between Elisabeth and Eric.
Anna Rumschottel was however burnt to death in Hamelin.
References
* Martina Schattkowsky,
Witwenschaft in der frühen Neuzeit: fürstliche und adlige Witwen zwischen '
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rumschottel, Anna
Mistresses of German royalty
Executed German women
German people executed for witchcraft
16th-century executions in the Holy Roman Empire