Dorothea Flock

Dorothea Flock (or the Flockin) (1608 – 17 May 1630), was a German woman convicted of witchcraft in Bamberg and a victim of the Bamberg witch trials during the reign of Prince-Bishop Johann Georg Fuchs von Dornheim.

Dorothea Flock was born in the city of Nuremberg. She was the second wife of Bamberg’s councilor Georg Heinrich Flock. Their house was in Bamberg, Lange Straße 32. Already his first wife Apolonia had been executed for witchcraft in May 1628.

Based on an anonymous accusation Dorothea was arrested in December 1629 and imprisoned for alleged adultery. She escaped from custody but shortly afterwards she was caught again. This time she was accused of witchcraft. Georg Heinrich Flock fled to Protestant Nuremberg to the relatives of his wife. The Hofmanns were a respected, wealthy and influential merchant family there. Together with them Georg Heinrich Flock hoped to free his wife Dorothea, who was heavily pregnant.

During the following weeks the family tried to secure Dorothea's release. They objected to the procedure against Dorothea Flock and considered the circumstantial evidence insufficient to imprison her any longer. At least a custody transfer from the prison of the Malefizhaus to the building of the old court was achieved. But also there she lay in heavy chains. With the help of a Nuremberg notary public and the intercessions of patricians of Nuremberg they again appealed to the prince-bishop and to . In addition Georg Heinrich and Dorothea´s sister Magdalena hoped for help from Georg Heinrich´s cousin, who as a high-ranking officer of the imperial army, was commanding a regiment in the Netherlands. He held out the prospect of using his influence with Isabella Clara Eugenia, the Spanish infanta and governor of the Netherlands. Meanwhile, Magdalena won over Würzburg´s guardian of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin to petition to the prince-bishop pleading for mercy for Dorothea Flock.

But all measures, further interventions by notary publics as well as the efforts of the Nuremberg council remained unsuccessful. Georg Heinrich Flock had no other option but to turn with a supplication to the Imperial Aulic Council in Vienna. Then the tide seemed to turn: On 18 March 1630, Georg Heinrich obtained for his wife a mandate by which Dorothea should be granted easing of detention until childbirth and the assistance of an advocate; and the prince-bishop was called for mediation "so that there is no cause for complaint". The prince-bishop did not reply.

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