All available evidence suggests that Assassin's Creed Hex will take place during the German witch trials in Würzburga particularly bloody crusade that took place in the early 17th century. Assuming this is the case, Assassin's Creed Hex can be expected to be an unusually dark and gloomy entry in the series, its historical background characterized by great, indiscriminate brutality.
Wurzburg's story paints a disturbing picture of religious hysteria and autocratic, state-sanctioned murder. Like many of the witch trials that took place throughout Europe and the United States during the 17th century, the Wurzburg Trials of 1625-1631 are generally attributed to the struggle between the Catholic Church and the Lutheran and Protestant Reformations. As the grip of Catholicism loosened, accusations of heresy and blasphemy were backed up by interrogations, torture, imprisonment and, in the case of some 900 Germans in the Würzburg region, death. What set the Wurzburg apart from the other witch trials of its era was its indiscriminate nature, as men, women and children of all classes and demographics were put on trial without qualms. This could inform AC Hexs story in a number of ways, but especially when it comes to its cast of historical characters.
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Prince Bishop Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn
Although he did not oversee the Würzburg witch trials that began in 1625, Prince Bishop Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn played an important role in the run-up. Appointed to the office of Prince Bishop of Wurzbug in 1573, Echter's role as civil ruler and representative of the Church led him to take a hard line against the Reformation. To this end, he expelled Lutherans from the Prince-Bishopric of Wurzburg and reinstated the University of Wurzburg as a center of Catholic education.
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By and large, the result of Echter's reign was a greater conversion to Catholicism, with an estimated 100,000 Reformed Christians returning to the Vatican-sanctioned sect during his time. He even presided over comparatively minor witch trials, which of course involved executions, setting the bar for an “acceptable” level of violent prejudice against non-Catholics. These trials are said to have subsided around 1617, likely due to Echter's death and the coming Thirty Years' War, but his nephew Philipp Adolf von Ehrenberg would escalate his plans a handful of years later, sparking the witch trials that Assassin's Creed Hex will reportedly focus on
Prince Bishop Philipp Adolf von Ehrenberg
Appointed Prince Bishop of Würzburg in 1624, Philipp Adolf von Ehrenberg was as radical as his uncle and predecessor, if not more so. His mission, perhaps galvanized by growing tensions between Catholics, Protestants and Lutherans due to the ongoing Thirty Years' War, was to create a unified Catholic region. This meant sending out a special commission to deal with reports of witchcraft, resulting in an ever-growing list of accused.
It is impossible to be certain, but many historians believe that the extensive nature of the Wurzburg trials was a result of the illegal torture methods used by Adolf's witch-hunting commission. While being tortured, those accused of witchcraft were encouraged to name accomplices, and as is often the case with torture, they quickly blurted out names in the hope of a reprieve, or perhaps even a release. This practice, along with the greater paranoia and hysteria characterizing Reformation Europe, essentially meant that no one was safe from the wrath of the witch hunters.
Ernst von Ehrenberg
As previously mentioned, the Würzburg trials were unique in their relative lack of discrimination; many elite-ranking members of society, most of whom would have been virtually immune from criminal condemnation in any other case, were arrested, tried, and quickly executed on charges of witchcraft during this time. This unconventional scenario is typified by the case of Ernst von Ehrenberg, Adolf von Ehrenberg's own nephew, who was found guilty of witchcraft, beheaded, and his body burned.
Although Ernst was not very influential during the Wurzburg trials, his situation is indeed interesting, which Assassin's Creed Hex could explore meaningfully. After all, we're probably all used to stories where nepotism and rank spare evildoers from justice. It is not typical to see stories where the opposite happens.
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Johannes Junius
Although he was not actually tried in Würzburg, Johannes Junius was arrested and executed for witchcraft during the Bamberg Trials, which occurred simultaneously. Shockingly, Junius was actually the mayor of Bamberg and confessed to several bizarre and disturbing acts, including sacrificing a horse to Satan and attending witches' sabbaths on the back of a flying dog. However, he is said to have initially denied all charges and only confessed after weeks of horrific torture, which he highlighted in a letter to his daughter Veronica, characterizing his confession as the result of coercion. He was executed in 1628.
Then again, I wouldn't expect Johannes Junius to be particularly punchy with respect to Assassin's Creed Hexs plot, but his heartbreaking story is emblematic of the era's larger problems. He outlines, in simple, intimate language via his letter, the methods Germany's witch hunters used to extract confessions from their victims, and his case serves as a particularly visible and well-documented example of the horrors the Church spearheaded during this time.
Friedrich Spee
Here we have another denouncer of the 17th century witch trials, but on the other side of the pulpit. Friedrich Spee was a confessor of witches in Würzburg and thus played a decisive role in the hundreds of witchcraft arrests. But Spee would make a bold face in the later years of the Wurzburg trials, writing in his book Cautio Criminalis that he did not believe that any of the executions he oversaw were fair. Spee seemed to believe, as many historians do today, that virtually all confessions obtained through torture are worthless, and that the Wurzburg trials were largely misguided.
Spee's hair is said to have suddenly turned white as a result of his experiences during Wurzburg, which, while somewhat unrealistic, could make for a striking image in a video game that Assassin's Creed Hex.
Maybe Spee can be one of the player character's allies in Assassin's Creed Hexwho acts as a kind of “man on the inside”. Spee's internal ethical conflict is ripe for meaningful narrative interrogation, which AC Hex could follow his change of heart and provide a glimmer of hope for the Catholic Church; Spee is proof that not everyone involved in the Würzburg trials lacked honor and humanity.
