Week IX Discussion section on ITALY BENANDANTI and SPAIN SALAZAR

Reading:

Documents of trials against Paolo Gasparutto and Battista Moduco in Appendix
of Ginzburg, The Night Battles, plus Ginzburg’s discussion pp 1-32, 147-171

These 16th century Roman Inquisition trials give evidence of a very early type, even archaic,
witch belief system, in which the forces of evil (witches or malandanti, those who walk badly)
are balanced and opposed by human forces of good (benandanti, those who walk well).
These documents, discovered by Carlo Ginzburg in the 1960’s, in the archives of Udine (in the
northeastern province of Friuli, Italy) have become famous for their demonstration of the wide
gap separating learned, clerical ideas about witches from the older beliefs of the peasantry.
Ginzburg argues that the benandanti are basically a fertility cult whose goal is to protect the crops
and people from disease. The question then becomes: how did questioning by the Inquisitors
influence the benandanti’s view of themselves?

Topics for discussion

Trials as historical documents:
How did these trials come about? Who made the denunciation to the Inquisition?
What can you tell about the social identities of the people involved?

Cultural levels:
Look for the different cultural perspectives visible in these trial records, that of the peasant
benandanti and that of the Inquisition:

1) what is the benandanti’s view of themselves and their own social role?
2) what is the Inquisitor’s interpretation of them and their activities?
(see the sentences at end of trial, as well as questions during trial)

Suggestions for paper topics:

CONTEXT: A history paper has to place documents in their specific context, so be sure to
include a statement of where, when and (in general) why these trials were taking place. The
Roman Inquisition was founded in 1540’s to eliminate Protestant heresy; by the 1570’s, this had
been effectively accomplished, and the Italian network of local Inquisitors turned to suppression
of magical beliefs and practices categorized as “superstitious”. Although there was no
widespread campaign of witch hunting in Italy, Inquisitors were certainly aware of the image of
the witch prevalent in northern European witch trials in the same period.

ANALYSIS OF DOCUMENTS:

This paper should use the trial records to present the benandanti’s view of themselves and that
of the Inquisition. Present your own interpretation of the difference between these two cultural
levels. How do the concerns of the benandanti differ from those of the Inquisition? Select
evidence that supports your view.

CITATIONS: When quoting the trial records, be sure it is clear who is speaking: a witness,the
Inquisitor or one of the defendants. If it is not clear from context, include a note,such as :
Testimony of Paolo Gasparutto, 15 June 1580 (p. 180)