Joseph Keyser

Joseph Keyser (also known as ‘the boy’, ‘the first prisoner’, Jozef Keyzer or Joseph Keijser) (Aachen, c. 1751 – Ubach, 15 October 1771) was a young man from the land of Valkenburg and alleged Bokkenrijders. His arrest induced the third mass trial (1770-1778). (1) 

Personal life 

Little is known about the life of Joseph Keyser. He was born in Aachen around 1751 or 1753. He had only been living in Ubach for a while when he was arrested for stealing a horse; he was about 18 years old at that time.(2) 

Arrest 

On 1 November 1770 Joseph Keyser was arrested, about 18 years of age, after a horse had been stolen from the stall of Henricus Schutz, a farmer in Waubach. (2) Keyser had attempted to sell the horse in Jülich, where it was discovered that the animal had been stolen. Keyser was arrested and imprisoned in the stalls of the Burg van Rode (Fortress of Rode). Initially he was only questioned for the horse theft, which he might have committed with the aid of Peter Müller, a friend of his who lived in Ubach as well.(3) 

Confessions 

Both Keyser and Müller confessed without torture that they had stolen the horse together. After this, Keyser was sentenced to torture; on 10 January 1771 he was tormented with thumbscrews. (4) Under the pain of the torture, he started to make additional confessions. He told the torturers that he also committed several other crimes and accused his alleged accomplices, who were arrested and tortured as well until they confessed. The first he named were Peter Müller and Baltus Kirchhoffs, who went on to name others. Even though it had started with the theft of a single horse, the prosecution connected this crime to the violent robberies that had earlier been committed in the area. They believed that this was the work of the infamous Bokkenrijders gang, which had been the cause of mass trials decades earlier. This was how the third mass trial in the Bokkenrijders trials started. Keyser and his accomplice Peter Müller became key witnesses in the following months and accused many of the people in their village of being Bokkenrijders. Keyser accused, among others, Baltus Kirchhoffs and “the barber surgeon of Herzogenrath”. (5) 

At least once, Keyser withdrew his confessions and accusations. When he was confronted with Dirk Jaspers, who he had accused of robbing the rectory in Hoengen with him, he suddenly denied that Jaspers and himself were guilty of this. (6) He predicted that he would make the same confessions and accusations again under torture, and that he would withdraw them again after being tortured. (7) The author Gierlichs tells us that Joseph Keyser was afraid he might get poisoned by other Bokkenrijders, because he named too many of them. The author Sleinada tell us something similar: he believes that the other Bokkenrijders held an assembly to discuss whether they should poison Joseph Keyser. However, the credibility of these sources is uncertain. 

Sentence 

Despite his revocations of his confessions and allegations, Joseph Keyser was sentenced to death. On 15 October 1771, he was hanged on the Beckenberg in Herzogenrath. 

References: 

1. ↑ Van Gehuchten, F. (2014). Bokkenrijders. De schande van Limburg. De derde en grootste bokkenrijdersvervolging, 1770-1778, Heerlen: Leon van Dorp. p. 240 

2. ↑ Jump up to:2,0 2,1 2,2 Van Eekelen, J. (z.d.). Bokkenrijders en hun afstammelingen > Keijzer > De Jongh uit Ubach, gefolterd, galg 1771. johnve.home.xs4all. Geraadpleegd op 11 juni 2022, van https://johnve.home.xs4all.nl/AFS_2/A274.html#293 

3. ↑ Sleinada, S. J. P. (1779). Oorsprong, oorzaeke, bewys en ontdekkinge van een godlooze bezwoorne bende, nagtdieven en knevelaers, binnen de landen van overmaeze en aenpaelende landstreeken ontdekt, met een nauwkeurig getal der geexcuteerde en vlugtelingen. onbekend. p. 24 

4. ↑ Augustus, L. (1991). 'Vervolgingsbeleid en procesvoering tegen de Bokkerijders: Het ontstaan van een waandenkbeeld.' Publications de la société historique et archéologique dans le Limbourg, 127, 69-153. p. 145 

5. ↑ Van Gehuchten, F. (2014). Bokkenrijders. De schande van Limburg. De derde en grootste bokkenrijdersvervolging, 1770-1778, Heerlen: Leon van Dorp. p. 34-36 

6. ↑ 7: Van Eekelen, J. (z.d.). Documenten Bokkenrijders > Processtukken > Beschuldigingen tegen Joseph Ploum en gevolgen Ubach 8 juni 1771 ••• RHCL Maastricht Hs 102. johnve.home.xs4all. Geraadpleegd op 11 juni 2022, van https://johnve.home.xs4all.nl/docop/proc0/proc_B08a.html   

7. ↑ Van Gehuchten, F. (2014). Bokkenrijders. De schande van Limburg. De derde en grootste bokkenrijdersvervolging, 1770-1778, Heerlen: Leon van Dorp. p. 28 

8. ↑ Gierlichs, W. (1972). De geschiedenis der bokkerijders in ’t voormalig land van ’s-hertogenrode. Schrijen B.V., p. 96 

9. ↑ Sleinada, S. J. P. (1779). Oorsprong, oorzaeke, bewys en ontdekkinge van een godlooze bezwoorne bende, nagtdieven en knevelaers, binnen de landen van overmaeze en aenpaelende landstreeken ontdekt, met een nauwkeurig getal der geexcuteerde en vlugtelingen. onbekend. p. 25-27