Die Hexe und die Heilige

by Ulrike Schweikert

Deutschland im 16. Jahrhundert. In einer reichen Kaufmannsfamilie kommen die Zwillinge Sibylla und Helena zur Welt. Dass Zwillinge Unglück bedeuten, glaubt damals fast jeder.Als die beiden im Alter von fünf Jahren den Tod des Vaters vorhersehen, steckt die Mutter Helena kurzerhand in ein Kloster. Ohne die Schwester wird das Leben für Sibylla immer schwieriger, und als die Dominikaner wieder einmal die Hexenjagd auf Andersdenkende eröffnen, gibt es für sie nur einen Sie muss weg von zu Hause. Das Mädchen geht bei einer Hebamme in die Lehre und wird bald zu ihrer begabtesten Schülerin.Doch erneut braut sich Unheil am Horizont zusammen. Sibylla wird zum reichen Vogt gerufen, dessen Tochter sie von unerwünschter "Last" befreien soll. Der Vogt ist fasziniert von dem eigenwilligen Mädchen, das sich so ganz anders verhält als die anderen jungen Frauen ihrer Zeit. Er verliebt sich in sie, und sie wird bald so etwas wie seine Vertraute. In diesen Zeiten aber ist es gefährlich, die Geheimnisse der Mächtigen zu kennen. Sibylla wird von den Häschern der Inquisition festgenommen, und diesmal scheint ihr keiner helfen zu können...Ein grandioser historischer Roman über eine Frau, die ihr Schicksal mit so vielen ihrer Zeitgenossinnen teilen musste und doch einzigartig ist.

Genres: Historical, History, German Literature

480 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Gele · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm sad, upset, angry, happy, relieved...

So many emotions for this book. So many characters to grieve for and so many to hate. Sibylla was a lovely character. Very stubborn, but she was the prime example of someone getting older and wiser in the process (she still had some childish moments, but you could tell she was very brave for her young age - some would call it stupid).

Her twin sister, Helena, only appeared in a few parts of the story and was also barely mentioned by Sibylla herself or her family, to the point where it seemed like Helena did not even exist. I wish there had been more development of Helena's character and her relationship with Sibylla, especially since the book is technically about both of them.

Moving on, the men in this book pissed me off a lot. The ones I liked the most were the most irrelevant ones, which appeared for a few chapters. But especially Sybilla's love interests were very questionable characters at times.

Konrad of Werdenau, the bailiff of Ellwangen, was technically the most obsessed with getting into Sibylla's pants; I did not like the man. I just couldn't get behind his reasoning, apart from being obsessed with this young, rebellious woman. Also, let's not forget he did rape her at some point while drunk, so bye-bye. Lost all my remaining respect there, despite him helping her later on.

And Peter Berchtold, the pastor of Ellwangen... man, I don't know how many times I slapped my forehead with this man. He was very conflicted with himself and his beliefs as a die-hard Christian, and I'm not sure I like him. He did genuinely love Sibylla (practically to the death) - I give him that-, but condemned so many of her actions, despite knowing how it would affect her negatively the most. I did root for them most of the time because Sibylla was also truly in love with him, despite knowing that it could never be.

The most important part of this story was obviously the witch hunting. Ellwangen was one of the towns that was the worst off, to the point where they would kill off eight women and sometimes men in one day, and then a few weeks later, another eight to nine people from the same town. The sad fate of Jacob and Maria Schober put some tears into my eyes.

Overall, it's a very good story that shows very well how people had to fear for their lives during the witch hunts and how a little gossip could turn deadly in just a few days.

[Birgit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mega umgesetzte Handlung

[Sigrid]

In het Nederlands gelezen

[Patrizia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it !!