Johannes Bang

Citing this biography: Boyd, Michelle, "Johannes Bang," article, Olive and Eliza, last accessed [current date]."

Johannes Bang was born about 1440. He was recorded as a Schöffe des Freistuhls (judge of the Freistuhl, or seat of a Vehmic court) in Hallenberg, Hochsauerlandkreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany 9 November 1464.

The Vehmic courts, which arose in the Middle Ages in what is now Germany, were vigilante tribunals that took place both openly and in secret. According to 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, "Crimes of a serious nature, and especially those that were deemed unfit for ordinary judicial investigation—such as heresy and witchcraft—fell within its jurisdiction, as also did appeals by persons condemned in the open courts, and likewise the cases before those tribunals in which the accused had not appeared. The accused if a member could clear himself by his own oath, unless he had revealed the secrets of the Fehme. If he were one of the uninitiated it was necessary for him to bring forward witnesses to his innocence from among the initiated, whose number varied according to the number on the side of the accuser, but twenty-one in favour of innocence necessarily secured an acquittal. The only punishment which the secret court could inflict was death." These tribunals were restricted to Westphalia, where they originated, in the 16th century and abolished in 1811.

Johannes and his wife's possible child is:

Summary of Sources

1. Henseling, Jakob, "Oberhessische Adels- und Bürgerfamilien des Mittelalters," Hessische Familienkunde, Band 10, Heft 8, Dec 1971, pages 331-338.
2. Dörsam, Ralf, "Vorfahren Wirwatz/von Biedenfeld," 25 Apr-2 May 1999, sourced PDFs linked in eine Ahnenreihe über 40 Generationen, http://www.doersam.name/andorama/kdgtabelle.htm, last accessed 28 Dec 2020.

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