Stuff You Missed in History Class

Podcast: iHeartPodcasts
Episode: Peter Stumpp, Werewolf of Bedburg
Date: October 8, 2025
Hosts: Holly Fry & Tracy V. Wilson

Episode Overview

This episode dives into the grisly historical account of Peter Stumpp (also Stump, Stube, Stubbe), the so-called "Werewolf of Bedburg," whose 1589 trial and execution for crimes including murder, cannibalism, incest, and lycanthropy became both a cautionary tale and a template for later European werewolf lore. Holly and Tracy situate Stumpp’s story within the broader context of witchcraft and werewolf panics, the risks posed by wolves in early modern Europe, and the sensationalism of the era’s print media. The episode examines what is known (and not known) about the case, while exploring its enduring mythic resonance.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Werewolves and Witchcraft: Historical Context

• Previous episodes on witch trials set the stage: Varda (1621), Matthew Hopkins (1640s), Goody Garlic (1657), and earlier discussions like Gilles Garnier, the "Werewolf of Dole" (1573).
• "The concepts of witchcraft and lycanthropy were interconnected during this period. Cultures all around the world have stories... about people who can shapeshift into animals." (Tracy, 01:37)
• The focus is specifically Western Europe (now Germany and surrounding areas) in the early modern period (~16th-17th centuries).
• Content warning: The episode is "grisly and disturbing... gruesome murders and cannibalism and incest and rape, among other things." (Tracy, 01:24)

2. The Realities of Wolves in Early Modern Europe

• Unlike today, wolf attacks on people (especially children), and livestock were common.
• Possible causes:
  • Little Ice Age — Harsher winters, scarcer food, wolves encroached on populated areas (Tracy, 03:49).
  • Warfare — Wolves scavenging battlefields led them to become “habituated” to humans. (Holly, 04:28)
• Even where attacks weren't frequent, the fear of them became part of a cultural mythology.

3. The Evolution of Werewolf Legends

• Werewolves in this period weren't just humans who became wolves, but "someone who became a wolf and then did monstrous things." (Holly, 05:57)
• Associations with cannibalism, rape, gluttony, lust—reflecting societal fears.
• Lycanthropy and witchcraft:
  • Witches often accused of enchanting or transforming into wolves, but werewolf accusations more often targeted men (with exceptions, e.g., She Wolves of Ulich, 07:25).

4. Intersecting Panics: Magic, Devilry, and Sensationalism

• Manuals detailed how to identify and extract confessions from witches; belief in their reality was widespread.
• Lycanthropy debated: Some saw it as a real transformation, others (church authorities) as a devilish delusion or mass hysteria (Tracy, 08:17).
• Transformation often attributed to magical objects (belt, girdle, unguent) bestowed/gifted/cursed by a demon or the Devil (Holly, 09:06).
• Werewolf trials paralleled and were often conflated with witch trials—burnings, confession under torture, etc.

Notable Quote:
"A werewolf was not just a person who could transform into a wolf, but someone who became a wolf and then did monstrous things." (Holly, 05:57)

5. Peter Stumpp: Historical Case Study

a. Sparse Biographical Facts & Name Variations

• No birth record or life details—known only through trial accounts (Tracy, 15:13).
• Many versions/spellings of the name. “Stump” possibly refers to the loss of a hand; some versions omit that detail (Holly, 16:29).

b. Contemporary Sources: ‘A True Discourse’

• The fullest account is a 1590 English translation of a German pamphlet:
  • Frames Stumpp as evil from his youth, practicing magic from age 12
  • Made a pact with the devil for a "girdle" that enabled his transformation into a wolf (Tracy, 18:10–19:42)
  • The pacts and powers are consistent with contemporaneous beliefs about magical tools for lycanthropy.

c. Alleged Crimes

• 25 years of murders, including:
  • 13 children and 2 young women—ripping babies from wombs, cannibalism
  • Rape, incest (with his daughter Beale and sister), and keeping company with a ‘she-devil’ (Holly, 21:22–23:13)
  • Murder of his own son (Tracy, 27:51): "Peter was insensible and killed his son and ate his brain."
• Some accounts differ on details and numbers, reflecting the sensational nature of media at the time.

d. Capture and Execution

• Captured after a failed child abduction where a little girl escaped due to a stiff collar and stampeding cattle (Holly, 28:31).
• Hunters claimed to have seen him transform from wolf to man; captured and brought to magistrates (Tracy, 29:41).
• Confessed to all under fear or presence of torture (Tracy, 30:16).
• Executed via breaking wheel, pincers, beheading, burning; daughter and ‘gossip’ (Catherine Trompin) also executed as accomplices (Tracy, 31:04).
• Public postmortem display: “a tall pole was erected… with the wheel Peter had been broken on… a wooden likeness of a wolf, and above that was Peter Stumpf’s head.” (Holly, 31:50)

Notable Quote:
"Peter Stumpp, as principal malefactor, was judged first to have his body laid on a wheel and with red hot burning pincers in 10 several places to have the flesh pulled off from the bones..." (Tracy, 31:04)

e. Broadsheets and Sensational Print Culture

• Multiple pamphlets, woodcuts, and broadsheets printed in Germany and translated abroad; standardized and sensationalized the story (Holly, 32:59–33:47).
• Early print media contributed heavily to the spread and embellishment of such tales.

Notable Quote:
"Since these works were made to be sold, they were often heavily sensationalized..." (Holly, 34:20)

f. Enduring Legacy

• Stumpp’s story featured in later dictionaries/encyclopedias (e.g., Richard Verstigen’s 1605 etymological dictionary).
• Became the archetype for the ‘werewolf’ in Europe through the 17th–19th centuries.

Notable Quote:
"For centuries after this, Peter Stumpf was one of the go to illustrations for what it meant to be a werewolf." (Tracy, 37:14)

6. Analysis and Broader Implications

• Confessions obtained under torture—truth of the killings and supernatural claims highly dubious.
• Political and cultural context:
  • Warfare (Cologne War, 1583–88) led to displacement, death, and conditions for wolf attacks and moral panic.
  • Print technology fueled rumor and mass hysteria (Tracy, 39:40).
• Witch and werewolf manias had explicit religious overtones, reinforcing social control (Holly, 40:12), intersecting with era's Reformation and Counter-Reformation strife.

Notable Quote:
"This is a really gruesome story that was part of a centuries-long moral panic that played out alongside these multiple intense social and cultural and religious changes and strikes." (Tracy, 40:46)

Memorable Moments & Quotes with Timestamps

• "This episode is grisly and disturbing..." (Tracy, 01:24)
• "Wolves starting to see humans as potential food sources rather than as something to stay away from..." (Holly, 04:28)
• "A werewolf was not just a person who could transform into a wolf, but someone who became a wolf and then did monstrous things." (Holly, 05:57)
• "He only requested that at his pleasure he might work his malice on men, women and children in the shape of sin, some beast..." (Tracy, 19:04)
• "He died with very great remorse, desiring that his body might not be spared from any torment, so his soul might be saved." (Holly reading Verstigen, 36:27)
• "It's hard to take that confession just at face value." (Tracy, 37:40)
• "This is a really gruesome story, but also a really gruesome story that was part of a centuries long moral panic..." (Tracy, 40:46)

Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:16 — Introduction; context for witch/lycanthropy trials
• 03:49 — Realities of wolf attacks in early modern Europe
• 05:57 — Werewolf beliefs and criminal accusations
• 09:49 — Rise of werewolf witch trials
• 15:13 — Historical sources on Peter Stumpp
• 16:29 — Name variants and ‘missing hand’ legend
• 18:10 — The ‘True Discourse’ account
• 21:23 — Alleged crimes and heinous acts
• 27:51 — Account of Stumpp killing his own son
• 29:41 — Capture after failed child abduction
• 31:04 — Description of execution
• 32:59 — Broadsheets and the power of print
• 34:20 — Sensationalism in news media
• 35:57 — Verstigen's etymological dictionary
• 37:14 — Stumpp as werewolf archetype
• 38:18 — Context: Cologne War and plague
• 39:40 — Religious overtones and witchcraft panic
• 40:46 — Summary: moral panic and societal anxiety

Tone & Style

The hosts maintain a careful balance of scholarly rigor, dark humor, and compassion for historical figures. Warnings for disturbing content are explicit and frequent, and the language—especially in sections quoting the 16th-century pamphlets—is appropriately archaic and sensationalized, reflecting the tone of the original sources.

Conclusion

The tale of Peter Stumpp illustrates how fear, propaganda, and print could converge to create enduring legends blending fact and fantasy. Witch and werewolf trials weren’t just products of superstition but complex social phenomena, fueled by religious war, political instability, and new mass media. While the truth of Stumpp’s crimes is lost to history, his story survives as the ultimate European werewolf myth.

For More:

• See earlier episodes: The Witchfinder General, Gilles Garnier (“Werewolf of Dole”), The Beast of Gévaudan
• For full source text: "A True Discourse Declaring the Damnable Life and Death of one Stuba Peter" (1590)

End of Summary