Anton Praetorius was born in Lippstadt, Germany in 1560. He was a Protestant pator who actively spoke against the persecution of witches.

In 1597 he was appointed as pastor to the Earl of Büdingen-Ysenburg in Birstein (near Frankfur am Main today). While there he personally witnessed the torture of four women accused of witchcraft.

According to the court records of the Birstein Witchcraft Trial, 1597, Reverend Praetorius was so upset about the torture of the accused women that he demanded the stop of the trial. The court records note his actions: "As the pastor has violently protested against the torture of the women, it has therefore been stopped this time." However, the Earl (preciding over the trial) dismissed Praetorius from attending any further trial hearings.

He returned home to Laudenbach-Bergstrasse (near Heidelberg) and wrote the book,
Gründlicher Bericht über Zauberey und Zauberer (A Thorough Report about Witchcraft and Witches), to protest against torture and the prosecution of witches. Initially he published the book in 1598 under the name of his son, Johannes Schulze. Then, in 1602 he dared to publish the book under his own name. A wealthy patron commissioned a third printing in 1613, and a fourth printing was made posthumously in 1629.

Praetorius was the first person to describe the deplorable condition of prisoners and to loudly protest against their torture. In his book he railed against the Church (both Roman Catholics and Protestants) for allowing such atrocities to occur.

http://www.anton-praetorius.de/