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

Author: (Italian) Carlo Ginzburg (Ginzburg, C.), 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 drew the attention of the Catholic Church, leading to a series of investigations that spanned 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 from the Friulian region, vividly depicting how these "Benedanti," under the relentless pressure of the Church, gradually confused their own identities and ultimately identified themselves as witches. Moreover, he masterfully reconstructed the psychological state of the peasants during that era, making this book a seminal work in the study of popular culture history.