The vast majority of individuals are conscious of the witch trials held in Salem, Massachusetts through the late seventeenth century, however do you know the identical hysteria occurred throughout northern Europe? Catalonia, in Spain, was one of many first on the continent to carry witch trials, and its authorities has lately tried to make amends for the area’s previous.

A “witch” at her judgment trial being dunked in water to show her guilt. (Picture Credit score: Bettmann / Getty Photographs)

The area’s authorities handed a measure in late 2021, permitting for the posthumous pardoning of over 700 witches who had been killed between the fifteenth and 18th centuries. It additionally known as upon native leaders to look into renaming streets in honor of the victims. Out of 135 votes, 114 had been in favor of the measure, whereas 21 had been in opposition to.

“We’re heiresses of the witches, the poisoners and the healers,” Catalonian parliament member Jenn Díaz advised Vice Information. “There was an evolution – right now they name us feminazis. There’s a connection between witch hunts and femicide. We wish reparation and an understanding that the previous is just not as distant as we expect.”

“The Witch No. 1” – Salem witch trials lithograph. (Picture Credit score: Joseph E. Baker / Wikimedia Commons / Public Area)

Between 1580 and 1630, it’s estimated that fifty,000 people had been sentenced to demise for witchcraft throughout Europe. Of that quantity, roughly 80 % had been ladies.

The witch hunts in Catalonia had been a few of the first and started domestically, with villagers enlisting the assistance of witch hunters. Whereas the overwhelming majority of Spaniards had been skeptical of the existence of witches, due to the Inquisition, rural areas below the rule of feudal lords had been extra prone to imagine in accusations of witchcraft and magic.

These accused of witchcraft had been sometimes impartial ladies or those that practiced conventional drugs, and the vast majority of accusations got here following a pure catastrophe, a failed harvest or the unexplained demise of a kid. In Catalonia, a confession alone was sufficient to show guilt, until the Inquisition was known as in. Within the majority of these situations, the accused had been let out, because of an absence of proof.

These unfortunate sufficient to be discovered responsible had been hanged, in accordance with the secular courts of justice. It was cheaper than burning the ladies on the stake and didn’t waste firewood.

Villagers punished after being convicted of witchcraft. (Picture Credit score: Bettmann / Getty Photographs)

Catalonia wasn’t the primary area in Europe to confront its historical past relating to witch trials. In 2008, Switzerland pardoned a “witch” accused of killing a younger lady in 1782, whereas in 2011, the federal government of Vardø, Norway erected a tribute to the world’s witch trial victims.