Michael Wirth’s Kunstbüchlein: Books of arts and weapons magic in a sorcery trial from seventeenth-century Germany

How did men and magical objects interact in the early modern period, and with what consequences? This article seeks to answer these questions through a close reading of the trial for sorcery of an urban artisan named Michael Wirth, who was accused in 1663 of murdering his neighbour by magical means. The article foregrounds the role that Wirth’s Kunstbüchlein (books of arts) played in his practice of magic (in his case, a type of weapons magic aimed at ensuring his accuracy in musket-shooting) and in his acquisition of a reputation for malevolent sorcery in the eyes of some of his neighbours. In so doing, it analyses the competing claims made by different trial protagonists about Wirth’s relationship with, and use of, his books of arts, and explores how the books themselves participated in these meaning-making processes. The article furthers our understanding of the practice of weapons magic and the use of books of arts by urban artisans in the seventeenth century. It also contributes to ongoing debates about the gendering and material culture of magic in early modern Germany, and about the agency of human and non-human actors in networks of social practices.