Further on the theme of Goats & Bérets: Buckriders.
Buckriders are a part of Southern Dutch and North-Eastern
Belgian folklore. They were witches, who rode through the sky on the back of
flying bucks provided to them by the Devil to rob and murder common people and
church possessions.
Throughout the 18th century, groups of thieves and other
criminals adopted the belief to frighten the inhabitants of southern Limburg, a
province in the southern part of the Netherlands and in parts of what has
become since eastern Belgium. Using the name "Bokkenrijders"
(buckriders), these criminal bands launched raids across a region that included
Limburg, and parts of modern-day Germany. In response to the robberies towns in
Limburg started to build defences like moats around them and farms started to
develop a closed square building style.
The trials against the buckriders differed from 'ordinary'
criminal proceedings because in many cases a so-called 'ungodly oath' was
involved ("I renounce God and swear submission to the Devil"). Once a
year, they would visit their master, the Devil, on the 'Mook Heath.
The buckriders were feared and despised by the common people
because of their ruthlessness and violence. The belief existed that the
buckriders could travel fast and vast distances through the skies to rob in a
widespread area. Commonly, the buckriders raided small communities, parsonages,
churches and more remote farms. Hundreds of buckriders were convicted and
sentenced to death.
Because of the link to the occult and witchcraft,
authorities accused many potentially innocent men of being buckriders and the
majority of suspects were tortured and subsequently convicted of crimes they
initially denied having committed.
The buckriders were considered both criminals and witches
that made a pact with the devil. The witch trials and robbery trials cannot be
seen separately in that sense: the accusations always included both robbery and
witchcraft.
It is estimated that between 425 and 468 men were executed
between 1743 and 1796 on the conviction of being a Buckrider.