Sidonia the Sorceress is a Gothic historical novel based on true events, namely the fate of the Pomeranian noblewoman Sidonia von Borcke (1548-1620), who was tried and executed for witchcraft in the city of Stettin. Portrayed as a femme fatale, she became the subject of several fictional works in German and English, especially during the 19th century. The depiction of evil featured in Meinhold’s novel developed a considerable influence on the subjects of the artist and literary circles in the Anglo-Saxon countries.
‘When we returned to the castle, Sidonia met the bridemaidens again with joyous smiles. She now wore a white silk robe, laced with gold, and dancing-slippers with white silk hose. The diamonds still remained on her head, neck, and arms. She looked beautiful thus; and I could not withdraw my eyes from her. We all now entered the bridechamber, as the custom is, and there stood an immense bridal couch, with coverlet and draperies as white as snow; and all the bridemaids and the guests threw their wreaths upon it. Then the Prince, taking the bridegroom by the hand, led him up to it, and repeated an old German rhyme concerning the duties of the holy state upon which he had entered.’
Circa l’autore
Wilhelm Meinhold (1797-1851) was a Pomeranian priest and author. He was a poet, playwright, and novelist, whose best known works are two historical Gothic romance novels: Maria Schweidler, die Bernsteinhexe, which was first published anonymously in 1838 and translated into English as The Amber Witch in 1843; and Sidonia von Bork, die Klosterhexe (1847), which was translated into English as Sidonia the Sorceress by Jane Wilde, the mother of Oscar Wilde, in 1849.
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