The Witches' Advocate

636 Pages·1980·22.068 MB·English

by  Gustav Henningsen

• H WITCHES'
l
CO
ADVOCATE
Basque Witchcraft & the Spanish Inquisition
Gustav Henningsen

THE WITCHES'
ADVOCATE
BASQUE WITCHCRAFT
AMD THE SPANISH
INQUISITION (1609-1614)
by Gustav Henningsen
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA PRESS
RENO,NEVADA
19 8 0
&
2?
POUGLAS C0LLS2E LIBRARIES
Sources for illustrations: 1, 12-15: engravings by Adrian Schoonebech in
Philip van Limborch, Historia Inquisitionis, Amsterdam, 1692. 2: Bib-
lioteca National, Madrid. 3-10: sections of etching by Jan Ziarnko in
Pierre de Lancre, Tableau de 1'inconstance, Paris, 1613. 11, 16-21:
Archive Historico National, Madrid. 22: Royal Library of Copenhagen.
Basque Series Editor: William /I. Douglass
University of Nevada Press, Reno, Nevada 89557 USA
0 Gustav Henningsen 1980. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
Designed by Dave Comstock
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Henningsen, Gustav.
The witches' advocate.
(Basque series)
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Inquisition. Basque Provinces. 2. Witchcraft
—Basque Provinces. I. Title.
BX1735.H44 272’.2'09466 79-20340
ISBN 0-87417-056-7
To Marisa, Jacob, Ulrik,
Gustav, and Maria
I.
t
There were neither witches nor bewitched until they were
talked and written about.
Inquisitor Alonso de Salazar Frias, 1612
We are still completely convinced that when the Council reads
our report with the thoroughness and consideration which are
customary, it will be bound to realize as a clear and obvious fact
supported by unassailable arguments that this sect is a reality.
Inquisitors Alonso Becerra Holguin
and Juan de Valle Alvarado, 1613
When a detailed and systematic study of the witchcraft pro­
ceedings stored in the Inquisition archives has been com­
pleted, new facts will emerge which were unsuspected even
by those who until now have devoted the greatest care to their
examination.
Julio Caro Baroja, Vidas mdgicas e Inquisition, 1967

CONTENTS
List of Illustrations, Tables, Diagrams, and Maps xiii
Abbreviations and Conventions ............................. xvii
Place Names and their Locations on Map 1........ XXI
Preface .................................. ■ XXV
Acknowledgments................................................... xxxi
1. Introduction: Theories of Witchcraft ... . . 1
2. The Witches of Zugarramurdi................. . . 27
3. The Inquisition ........................................... . .37
4. Tire Trial (First Part)................................... . .51
5. The Witch Cult........................................... . .69
6. The Visitations and the Edict of Faith . . .95
7. Valle's Visitation....................................... .107
8. The Trial (Second Part)........................... .143
9. The Auto de Fe......................................... .181
10. The Great Persecution............................. .203
11. Salazar's Visitation................................... .227
12. The Battle Over the Witches ................. .307
13. The Resolution of the Witch Problem . . .357
Epilogue.................................................................. . .387
Witch List.............................................................. . .395
Notes...................................................................... . .439
Glossary.................................................................. . .551
Bibliography .......................................................... . .557
Index .................................................................... . .579