Book Review: Buckriders, the Scandal of Limburg by François Van Gehuchten I & II

 

Note: The title of these books has been translated into English by me for the reading comprehension of this blog's viewers as the book itself isn't available in English (yet). The original title reads Bokkenrijders: De Schande van Limburg

So despite my love for history, I don't really read all that much history non-fiction these days. But when something does peak my interest (e.g. the subject of Buckriders) I will obviously check it out! So here's my review of two historical nonfiction books about the Buckrider trials held in the Dutch province of Limburg in the 18th century!

I've talked about the Buckriders before in my review of a fictional book about the subject. To catch those not in the know (probably most of this blog's readers) up to speed: the Buckriders were (supposedly) a bunch of blasphemous gangs active in the 18th century in the south of the Netherlands (particularly Limburg) and north of Belgium, with them raiding houses and churches. What followed can best be described as a bunch of "witch"-trials started by mass hysteria. Hundreds of (supposed) Buckriders were captured, tortured and executed as a result of this. So, yeah, not a very happy history, but definitely interesting.

These books are about three of seven large Buckrider trials that were held in Limburg at the time. It delves into what is very likely the truth regarding these gangs, but also some of the myths. At the time, it was widely believed that all Buckriders were satanists who took an oath to denounce God an the Church, and rode flying billy goats into the night (resulting in their name). Some people may believe these claims, but it is nowadays widely supposed that these oaths and of course the flying ungulates were more likely the result of exaggerations due to torture-induced confessions. 

There's also the fact that in a short amount of time an insanely large number of people were arrested and put on trial. Like, sometimes they literally wouldn't stop torturing the captives until they belted out the names of anyone they knew, leading to much more people being arrested than were probably actually active in the gangs. And people died. We're talking 200+ people here during just one of the trials, and there were seven in total. So it was quite brutal. 

I just really liked these informative books, how they delved into the history of these particular three trials and how it delves into the origins of the truths and myths regarding the Buckriders. A lot of context is added, and we even learn a lot about particular individuals both on the accusing and accused sides. We learn about the locations where raids and trials took place, and overall just a lot of the culture back then is explored. 

So while these books are currently only available in Dutch, I definitely recommend them to those interested in the subject, as long as you can handle the dark subject matter, of course. The only downside of the books is that you'll need to keep up with a lot of events/names sometimes, and the size + paperback combination isn't ideal (I'm not a hardback fan, but I think that it would've been better for these books since they're bigger than an A4-size). 

Rating: 4.5/5