Nighttime battles (16th and 17th century witchcraft and agricultural worship)

Author: (Italian) Carlo Ginzburg, translated by Zhu Geshu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-01
Features: In the 16th-century Friulian region of Italy, a peculiar nocturnal activity prevailed. Farmers born with the afterbirth would, on certain nights of the year, fall into a trance-like sleep, while their souls would leave their bodies to join a "battle" with witches in the fields. This ancient ritual for praying for a bountiful harvest drew the attention of the Catholic Church, and a series of investigations were launched over nearly a century. The Inquisition strove to classify the midnight wanderers, the "Benedanti," as heretical witchcraft, and their intervention ultimately led to the demise of these traditional beliefs. Carlo Ginzburg meticulously compiled and studied the details of a series of religious trials in the Friulian region from the Church archives. He not only vividly describes how these "Benedanti" gradually confused their identities under the Church's relentless pressure, eventually labeling themselves as witches, but also masterfully reconstructs the psychological state of the peasants during that era. This makes the book a significant work in the study of popular culture history.