Assassin's Creed Hex is mostly shrouded in mystery at the moment, but long-time leakers Ubisoft recently made some interesting claims about its setting. Insiders claimed it Assassin's Creed Hex will be set in 17th century Germany in Wurzburg, a city known for its bloody witch-hunting history.
Ubisoft has previously described Assassin's Creed Hex as a “dark” entry in the series, set during a “pivotal moment in history”. Fans quickly traced the moment to the Holy Roman Empire and the witch trials, but Ubisoft insiders Rogue and xJonathan narrowed it down to the Wurzburg witch trials. This fits the bill as one of the worst witch trials in all of history.
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The Wurzburg witch trials killed nearly 1,000 people
How the Würzburg witch trials came about
Throughout the reign of the Holy Roman Empire, legislative and judicial power was divided between the lords (kings, princes, dukes, etc.) and the Catholic Church. The subject is too complex and vast to be adequately covered here, but suffice it to say that during the 17th century, tensions between the Church and various European states increased greatly as a result of the Reformation, a time when millions of Europeans were leaving Catholicism for the newer sects of Lutheranism and Protestantism. This religious conflict, combined with disagreements over imperial and papal power, created a hotbed of social strife, crusades, and unmitigated discrimination, to put it mildly.
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The Counter-Reformation movement, spearheaded by local leaders and the Vatican, was undeniably the driving force behind witch trials in the 16th and 17th centuries. Witch trials had taken place before, though on a much smaller scale, which is generally attributed to the Catholics, who had relatively more power in previous centuries. Until Assassin's Creed Hex is said to be taking place, Catholicism was losing its hold over Europe, so it is no surprise that its leaders took drastic measures to regain control.
One such representative was the Catholic Prince Bishop Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn, who presided over Wurzburg in the early 17th century. Mespelbrunn initiated the witch trials of 1612-1618, during which an estimated 350 people were killed in the run-up to the Thirty Years' War. He was succeeded by his nephew, Philipp Adolf von Ehrenberg, who in 1625, potentially spurred on by a particularly bad frost, accused of witchcraft, initiated the Wurzburg trials, which are said to be the subject of AC Hex.
With the Mespelbrunn witch trials still alive in memory, and Wurzburg being close to Germany's Protestant borders, Ehrenberg was able to quickly rally support for his cause. The new prince-bishop's mission appeared to be to create a holier, more uniformly Catholic nation, a cause that precluded remorse and evidently basic human decency.
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The Würzburg trials were exceptionally bloody and indiscriminate
Between 1625 and 1631, around 900 German citizens are estimated to have been killed in Wurzburg, either by execution or in custody on charges of witchcraft. Those suspected of witchcraft were detained and tortured for information about potential co-conspirators, leading to an ever-growing list of those accused. What made the Wurzburg different from other witch trials of the time, apart from the abnormally high number of victims, was the relative lack of discrimination. Initially, it was mostly young, unmarried, working-class women who were accused (as was often the case), but the Würzburg trials also saw the execution of many men and children as young as seven. High officials and members of the elite were also prosecuted, including Ernst von Ehrenberg, the prince-bishop's own nephew, who was executed by beheading.
How the historical context of the Wurzburg Witch Trials might have influenced Assassin's Creed Hex
The Würzburg witch trials of 1625-1631 were unique, but still emblematic of the witch hunt as a whole. On the one hand, the investigation and execution of not only men and children, but also members of the upper social classes was highly unusual, as working-class women were typical scapegoats for the anti-witchcraft movement. At the same time, the Würzburg trials were prompted by the same factors as all witch hunts: religious hysteria, desperate efforts for political control, and autocratic rule.
Assuming leaks o Assassin's Creed Hexsettings are true, then both sides of this coin should be thoroughly examined. The story of Wurzburg is the story of all witch hunts (unfortunately, the horrific practices of the Wurzburg trials were used as a blueprint for many subsequent witch trials in other parts of the world). The paranoia and injustice that characterized these events offer fertile ground for any story, but especially one of Assassin's Creed a franchise that is explicitly about secret organizations, the underbelly of society, and often vigilante justice. Hex he could present a compelling and intimate story of those affected by the events in Wurzburg and elsewhere.
The relatively widespread nature of the Würzburg trials could serve to reinforce and underline the brutality Hexstory. Of course, it's bad enough when young, poor women are exclusively targeted, but when any demographic could be tried and executed for witchcraft with little or no evidence, you'd imagine a sense of social failure and insecurity would spread. Assassin's Creed HexNarrative could play into this “nobody's safe” element and use it as one of many pillars to differentiate itself from other games in Assassin's Creed canyon.
