He signs the contract in his own blood. With this blood-stained paper he sells his soul to make the Devil serve him.
The well-known tale and play about the learned Faust striking a deal with the Devil to gain a better life is a new way of looking at the Devil. The Faust performances are popular across the country, and some people even start making up these unholy contracts in the hope of bettering their hard lives. This Faustian bargain also ends up being written into the sorcery legislation.
But in the 18th century, neither the high court judges, the theologians or the king regard this pact as genuine sorcery though a written pact with evil personified ought to be quite a palpable proof of sorcerous intent. Because who says the Devil has been involved at all?
Instead, these attempts to bargain with the Devil are regarded as blasphemy, and the people convicted are compelled to return to the path of Christian virtue through instruction and hard work. They are only executed if they refuse to repent, and by beheading rather than burning. Several such cases occur in the 18th century, and the accused are often men associated with the army.